Polygons

Polygons identify areas of interest and can provide limits for other tools, including Cut / Fill, Surface Comparison, and Export Surface . You can define polygons manually, generate them from source surface boundaries, or import them from another package. Related polygons can be grouped together into sets.

Polygons tab

You can manage polygons and polygon sets by switching to the (Polygons) tab located to the right of the viewer on the Home page.

Polygons group

The Polygons group lists all saved polygons. The following controls are available:

Draw polygon

Define a new polygon. See Defining a polygon on this page for instructions.

Upload polygon

Upload an existing polygon from file. See Importing a polygon on this page for instructions.

Select polygon

Selected polygons display in the view. If a single polygon is selected, the (Edit polygon) button appears.

Download polygon

Download selected polygons as either AutoCAD DXF or Maptek OBJ files.

Delete polygon (appears when at least one polygon is selected)

Select multiple polygons and click the button to delete them all at once. Deleting a polygons removes them from the list. A confirmation dialog appears before the polygon is deleted.

Edit polygon (appears when a single polygon is selected)

Edit the selected polygon. See Viewing and editing a polygon on this page for instructions.

Clear selected

Remove all polygons from the view.

Selected settings (appears when hovering over a polygon in the list)

Manage the following polygon settings:

  • Name

  • Which sets the polygon is a member of

  • Owner

Defining a polygon

Polygons are defined by a sequence of points that establish the polygon vertices.

To define a polygon:

  1. On the (Polygons) tab, make sure the Polygons group is expanded.

  2. Click the (Draw polygon) button. The view will enter polygon definition mode.

  3. Define the polygon vertices by clicking on the surface in the view.

    Instructions for defining the polygon also appear in the view.

    • Click on the surface to add successive points to the polygon.

      Note:  A polygon cannot intersect itself. The polygon definition tool will not allow you to add a point that will result in a self-intersection.

    • Press Space to complete the polygon.

    • Press Esc to cancel and exit polygon definition mode.

  4. To save a completed polygon, click the (Save polygon) button in the Polygons group.

    Then, in the Save Polygon dialog, enter a name for the polygon and click Save.

Viewing and editing a polygon

Saved polygons are listed in the Polygons group.

  • To display a polygon in the view, select its checkbox in the Polygons list.

  • To edit a polygon, make sure it is the only selected polygon, then click the (Edit polygon) button.

    The polygon will become editable in the view.

    • To move a single point, drag it.

    • To move the whole polygon, click inside the polygon and drag.

    • To insert a new point, hover over an edge to highlight it. Click to define a new point. Move the mouse to position the point and then click again to complete.

    • To delete a point, right-click on it.

    • To cancel editing, press Esc.

    • To save changes to the edited polygon, click the (Save polygon) button.

    Instructions for editing the polygon also appear in the view.

Importing a polygon

You can import polygons that have been defined in another software package such as Maptek PointStudio.

To import a polygon:

  1. Make sure no polygons are selected in the Polygons list.

  2. Click the (Import polygon) button to open the Upload Polygon panel.

  3. In the file browser that appears, select one or more files defining polygons and click Open.

    Note

    Files defining polygons must be one of the following formats:

    • Maptek Object file (.maptekobj)
    • AutoCAD DXF file (.dxf)
    • GeoJSON file (.geojson)

  4. In the Polygon Upload panel, select the coordinate system the polygons are in, then click Upload.

Downloading polygons

You can download polygons for use in another application, such as AutoCAD or PointStudio.

To download polygons:

  1. Select the required polygons from the polygon list.

  2. Click the (Download polygon) button.

  3. In the panel that appears, enter an elevation, select the file type and coordinate system from the respective drop-downs.

    Note:   In Geospatial Manager, polygons are horizontal 2D objects, having no elevation value. Adding a non-zero elevation applies a z-coordinate to the downloaded object.

  4. Click Download.

The polygon will be saved as a file called polygon.dxf or polygon.maptekobj in the download folder configured in your browser.

Note

Depending on your browser security settings, it may report a warning message like “Insecure download blocked”. If this occurs, click Keep (or the equivalent in your browser) to continue.

Generating a polygon from a surface boundary

You can automatically generate a polygon representing the boundary of a source surface.

To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Make sure the Surface Items tab is selected and you are not in polygon definition or edit mode (press Esc to make sure).

  2. Hover over the surface in the list that you want to generate a polygon from. The boundary of the surface will display in the view.

  3. Click the (Generate polygon) button in the list item.

    The boundary polygon will become editable in the view.

    • To move a single point, drag it.

    • To move the whole polygon, click inside the polygon and drag.

    • To insert a new point, hover over an edge to highlight it. Click to define a new point. Move the mouse to position the point and then click again to complete.

    • To delete a point, right-click on it.

    • To cancel editing, press Esc.

    Note

    Some surfaces may have crossing edges that produce invalid polygons. These will be indicated by red points.

    Invalid polygons cannot be saved. You will need to inspect them and reposition points accordingly.

  4. To save the polygon:

    1. Switch back to the Polygons tab.

    2. Click the (Save polygon) button.

    3. In the Save Polygon dialog, enter a name for the polygon and click Save.

Polygon sets

A polygon set groups multiple polygons together. The set can then be selected as a whole to display all members of the set at once, or used in any tool that requires a polygon input. A single polygon can belong to multiple polygon sets. Adding a polygon to a set makes it visible to all users.

The Sets group on the (Polygons) tab allows you to manage polygon sets.

The following controls are available:

Create a new set
Click this to create a new set. In the panel that appears, enter a name for the set.

  • In the Polygons area, select the polygons you want to add to the set.

  • Click Save to save the polygon set.

Tip:  To add a polygon to a set quickly, select the required polygon and mouse over it. When the cursor changes to a hand, drag the polygon onto the set.

Select set
Select sets to display member polygons in the view.

Clear selected
Remove all polygons from the view.

Expand set
This allows you to see which polygons are part of the set. You can also toggle the visibility of individual polygons within the set.
Collapse set

Set settings (appears when hovering over a set in the list)
Manage the following set options:

  • Name

  • Polygons in the set

  • Owner

Delete set (appears when hovering over a set in the list)
Delete the polygon set. This does not delete the polygons within the set.