Point Import Operation
On this page, you will find general help for the ProRaster product family, including links to documentation, instructional videos, and training videos.
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The Import Multi-Banded Points Operation imports general X,Y,[Z],[V,…] point data from files in ASCII format into an MRP. Drop down the Point Processing menu button and select Import Multi-banded Points to begin an operation.
The import operation is repeatable, and editable. After you execute the operation, the parameters will be saved in an XML file which will thereafter be listed on the Import Multi-banded Points menu. Select this item in the menu to reopen the property dialog.
You can choose to restart the operation. Simply edit the parameters as required and execute the operation again. Alternatively, you can choose to add new data to the existing MRP file. Identify the new source files you want to import and execute the operation to extend the MRP file.
The operation generates an MRP file with a PNT flavour. The band structure is not fixed and will need to be specified by you in the import dialog. In addition, you will need to make sure the coordinate system is correct, set the cell size, and specify the input source files.
The operation property dialog is almost exactly the same as the Import LiDAR dialog. Please refer to the help for the Import LiDAR operation to get a basic understanding of this dialog. The first key difference is the “Edit file import properties” button. This will be activated once you have added one or more ASCII source files. You need to hit this button to define the band structure of the MRP.
Secondly, you will need to explicitly define the coordinate system of the MRP as it is not automatically acquired from the source files. The second key difference is that this operation supports reprojection of the data during import. Make sure you define the coordinate system of the source data and the coordinate system of the MRP. If they differ, the source data will be reprojected into the MRP coordinate system during import.
Thirdly, it is possible that any values in any input band, including X,Y, and Z, might be invalid. The operation allows you to define a Data Conditioning filter to recognise invalid values in each band. If either X or Y band values are invalid, the point will not be imported. For all other bands the MRP supports validity by band and by value.
Fourth, hit the “Cell Size Calculator” button to open a calculator dialog that will help you decide on a cell size for line-based survey data, based on the line spacing, tie line spacing, and along line station spacing.
Finally, the operation expects that all the input data files have the same format and can be read and processed in the same way. If you have data in different formats or different projections, then you need to run the operation separately for each group of data files, and import into the same MRP file using the “Accumulate” Temporal Storage Mode.
Band Structure
Once you have selected the input data files, hit the “Edit file import properties” button to open the “ASCII Import properties” dialog. In this dialog you will map ASCII columns to bands, define all band properties, and define Data Conditioning filters to invalidate band values.
When the dialog first opens there is little to see. The combo box at the top-right will contain the first 12 lines of the data file. Drop the box down to preview these lines.
We expect to read data in a column delimited format. CSV files are a common example, where all columns are delimited by a comma. In the example shown, tabs and spaces are used to delimit the columns. There may be multiple lines at the top of the file which will have to be skipped, and there may be a specific line that contains the columns titles.
To skip over header lines at the top of the file, adjust the “Skip Header Rows” control. As you change the number of rows the data line preview will be updated. If there is a column title line, then adjust the “Band Title Row” control to select this line. For any line index zero or greater, a combo box will appear to the right showing the titles acquired.
You can now populate the band list control. The easiest way is to hit the “Auto Fill” button, which will add a new band for each column in the file. Alternatively, you can add new bands manually by hitting the blue “+” button. You can also delete selected bands in the list by hitting the red “-“ button.
In this example, I have no band titles or header lines. When I auto-fill it reads the first data line and populates the band list with that information. Now, I need to set the Type, Name and Datatype, and optionally the DC Filter.
Firstly, set the X and Y bands. Scroll down the list and select the appropriate band. Click on the “Type” item to highlight it, then click again. The item will turn into a combo box. In the list you will find X, Y, Z, and Data. You must set the Type of one band to X and one to Y. If a Z (RL) band is present, you should select Z. All other bands ought to be set to “Data”. As you set the X, Y and Z bands, they will automatically shift to the top of the list, and the Name and Datatype will be set automatically.
You can then proceed to set the Name (an editable string) and Datatype (a combo box dropdown) of the bands you wish to import. You can delete any rows that you do not want to import. Note the Datatype has the following meaning –
REAL4/REAL8 Decimal values, 32 bit or 64 bit.
INT1/INT2/INT4/INT8 Signed integer values, 8/16/32/64 bit.
UINT1/UINT2/UINT4/UINT8 Unsigned integer values, 8/16/32/64 bit.
STRING UTF-8 string.
Finally, you can define a Data Conditioning Filter (DC Filter) for each band. This is a combo box dropdown list, and you can choose from any Data Condition Filter that you have previously defined. You will define these using the Data Conditioning Filter Editor. Recall that in a DC Filter you define data values and data value ranges that are considered invalid. If you know your data has a specific “null value” you can create a filter with this value in the Value list, or you can define all values above or below a known valid range as invalid.
If you wish, you can turn invalid values into a valid “background” value. For example, if you are importing geochemical assay values and your Au(Gold) assay value is -999 if it was “undetectable”, then you might identify this value is invalid, and then convert it to the background value of zero. In this scenario it makes more sense to record the assay as zero than as non-existent.
In the example above, I have defined the X,Y, and Z bands as well as the data bands I want to import. All other bands have been deleted. I have chosen a filter for each band, each of which identifies “null values” of a particular type. Note that you can drag and drop bands to reorder them (but it will always write X, Y and Z if defined into the MRP first).
Finally, you should define the coordinate system of the data files. If you do not define a coordinate system the operation will assume that it is the same as the MRP coordinate system. If you define a coordinate system that is different to the MRP, then the X and Y coordinates are reprojected during import and stored in the MRP in the reprojected coordinates. Note that Z bands data is not modified by reprojection. In this case, my data files are in geographic coordinates (longitude & latitude) and my MRP will be in Map Grid of Australia 2020, zone 50.
If you wish to edit an operation and it no longer appears on the menu button as a recently executed operation, you can drag & drop an Import Multi-banded Points XML file onto ProRaster Scientific and the import dialog will open reflecting the properties recorded in the XML file.