Trimble Business Center

Is anyone else having the issue with Trimble Business Center breaking joined lines after exporting linework to an SVL file? The DXF export is fine and maintains joined lines but the SVL breaks them and changes their colors as well. 

Is this an issue that you are seeing in the Field Systems or after round tripping the data Out and back into TBC?

I have heard people say that the import back into TBC shows the lines as broken, however the Field Systems work with the data just fine - I cannot comment further on this without a formal test. The colors output to SVD/SVL use a 16 color palette only - and so colors that are beyond the default 16 colors get mapped on a cyclic basis (Color 17 = Color 1 again etc._ so if you are not using just a basic 16 color palette you will see colors mis mapping as I dont believe that SVL supports the RGB values required for color mapping correctly. We may have updated this, however this is not a new issue.

Let me have some more detail on what you are actually doing and I will take a look for you. What version of GCS900 are you writing to?

Alan

This has not been confirmed in the field or on an emulator. This is strictly round tripping the SVL back into TBC for verification. As for the color change I am using the standard orange color (not a custom color) and it is being changed to red. 

Yes - if you import a previously exported .svl back into TBC you will find the lines broken, usually at the PC/PT and at what appears to be random locations. This is how the system works. It was explained to me that the export basically breaks the data into grid cells so that the controllers only need to load the data in the vicinity of the machine for memory management purposes.

The only way to truly know that your lines are broken/unbroken how you expect them to be is to load the .svl into a PCS/GCS emulator and select each line in question individually. It is painful to say the least but if the configuration of the lines truly matter, as they do with slipform curb/paving machine, it is a necessary evil. Once loaded into the emulator, you "should" find the lines connected as expected. However, there are multiple reasons why they may not be as expected. If there is a line, even a small segment of a line, under the line in question, the line in question will break unexpectedly. At some point, you'll need to select each and every line individually (during export or copy to new layer, etc) to avoid this scenario. Selecting by window or by layer is not your friend in this instance. Another issue is, if you want a line to remain broken, there needs to be separation between the ends or they will join back together. I usually leave 0.10' but the gap can probably be less. The "trim by distance" is helpful with this.    

It would be very helpful if Trimble came up with a way/tool for us to be able to verify our data (as all good users do) in TBC. Loading and checking in the emulator is, as I mentioned, very very painful.

Hope this helps answer your question.

-Rich

I usually don't concern myself with color too much but I have noticed the color shifts to basic colors as Alan has mentioned. As long as the line work is viewable on the white background, and the subject linework is a different color than the extraneous information i've included, it's good to go.

-Rich

Rich,

If I were to select all my layers by window, then deselect and reselect one item, would that one item remain unbroken? 

My dozer operators like to use the offset feature for the curb line when grading the right of way, however with the broken lines and the hassle of selecting every broken curb line, we have instead exported another layer for the offset. However would like to minimize the amount of linework displayed if possible.

Thanks,

Sean

Sean - I don't completely understand your first question, however, I have found that if you want to maintain the lines as setup in TBC, the export must be very "clean". I.E., you can't have lines over lines, lines touching lines that you expect to remain unbroken, lines touching lines that you expect to be broken, etc. The quickest and most dependable way I have found to do this is to copy the lines you want to a new layer by selecting each line individually. You don't have to copy each individually, you just have to select each individually then copy as a group. Selecting by Layer, Window, All, etc has not accomplished the outcome that I was looking for. I'm not sure if lines with different properties (layer, color, name, etc) will affect the subject line but I am not willing to take that chance when it comes to setting up the alignment line for a slipform paver doing curb. Nothing touches that line and it remains intact in the machine controller as expected...... so far. <<<<<anti-jinx>>>> lol

I will try next week to get to the bottom of the Color Mapping to SVL format. The breaking of the lines is the SVL format, so roundtripping is going to do this, I am advised that this is no issue in the field systems.

I think the color mapping uses a 16 color palette - these do not necessarily agree with the standard colors in TBC, and when you start adding Custom Color in TBC they will just get mapped on rotation to the 16 colors in an SVL format.

Let me get the details of exactly how this works.

Alan

I got this response from development today - I will try to make some use out of it early next week after the Memorial Day break, but I thought I would share it now

Just a note on the Colour mapping, the colour circle translation were stated in the old GCS900 manuals.

se the screenshot below. The SVL supports 8 colours, but when you are using dxf as background you should be able to have 16 colours.

the mapping is based on the autocad colour number.

I have also attached link to  a coloured circle as machine files to test the visibility on the CB460 display.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eiwRN6kZjOZYWZGQylDY3M1hzlG98fk7