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#72226 by ROBERT PENN
Tue Sep 05, 2017 4:39 pm
I originally put this post under the "How do I" listing, but since I had no responses I have moved it to here to hopefully get an answer.
I have a client that I have been working with for well over 10 years.
They install pressure sewer systems.
Basically I have drawn up a basic design site plan showing a design layout of the system which they then install and then they ask me to update the drawing as an "as constructed" layout with any changes that have occured on the site.
These drawings were then sent as A4 pdf files to the sewer authority. All no problems, straight forward and simple!
Since then the authority have asked that the drawings be sent as cad format (in dwg of course!) with metadata info added. For the last couple of years I have done that and I have added the metadata info to a symbol as text attributes. As far as I have been aware that has not been a problem.
Now the authority is asking for an .dxf file with "pump well location and symbol is required in the cad file, the pump well feature requires a cell of same nature as file attached ie : level, type]" The file attached is an *.asc file.
The client has bought a survey system of some sort where they will now pick up the co-orordinates of the pumps and add all the relevant metadata info to an *.asc file and I have been asked if there is some way of importing that info into my cad system. This is now where I have come stuck! Does anyone know how I can do this and if so how?

Any help would be appreciated.
#72227 by Dave
Tue Sep 05, 2017 5:15 pm
can he export to .dxf or .dwg

When you said .asc I immediately thought of ASCII text files.

"ASC file extension - Open, view and convert .asc files
An asc file extension is commonly used for ASCII text files. Editable in any text editor. ASCII means American Standard Code for Information Interchange."


DaveR
#72228 by ROBERT PENN
Tue Sep 05, 2017 5:32 pm
I've heard of the term ascii, but have to be honest, I have never used it/them.
I can open up a sample asc file that they have sent me, in notepad, and it looks like a dumbed down excel table (I'm sure its not dumb though!) with lots of columns and rows of data. (ie pump depths, tank diameters, date of installation etc etc)
I am assuming that this data is what they want me to add to the cad file in a symbol or point entity.
In the past, I have been adding this data manually into the symbol attributes from a hand written pdf from the client.
This data is collected on site from the tradesman with very little writing skills and lots of missing information that I have to go back and ask clarification for.
The client is trying to eliminate this by collecting the info with the new survey system, which he has just bought, which gives him an asc file, we are trying to figure out how to import this info into my cad file without me having to manually write the information in.

I guess at the end of the day the water authority wants to add this metadata to their database for all to see/use.

Any ideas?
#72229 by joshhuggins
Tue Sep 05, 2017 5:40 pm
Can you attach one of the files to play with? Wondering if getting it into a CSV or XLS file might be possible.
#72230 by Roger D
Tue Sep 05, 2017 6:27 pm
if it does look like a datafile, maybe you can save it as .cvs and then create a symbol that has attributes linked to the database file. You would then place the symbol, and pick the 1st item of the row, and the rest would fill in automatically.
#72231 by ROBERT PENN
Tue Sep 05, 2017 7:22 pm
Hi Josh,
Here is the sample asc file along with a tiff file from the authority asking for what they want at the end of the day.

PS I have had to change the extension of the asc file to be able to upload it, it is the doc file attached - rename that back to asc when you have downloaded. (or you can just read it as a doc file!)
Attachments
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Last edited by ROBERT PENN on Tue Sep 05, 2017 7:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#72232 by ROBERT PENN
Tue Sep 05, 2017 7:39 pm
Hi Roger,
Thank you for your input.
I haven't used cvs files or linked data from the symbol before.
I'll need to investigate this and see how we do it.
#72243 by joshhuggins
Wed Sep 06, 2017 1:04 pm
Yeah not sure how you would delimite (is that even a word?) this with out something to parse it for you that knows the structure. I used to have a program that you could program pretty simply to create a parsed output from a file like this, but for the life of me I can't think of it now and can't find it in my software cache. It was used to do exactly this with different types of log files.

Other option would be to use a editor program like UltraEdit which can copy text in a column mode and then copy and paste each column of data from the asc file and then save the new excel file to a CSV or Tab delimited TXT file for you with Datacad's symbol attributes. This might be the easiest method if the tables don't get too complicated.

Maybe someone else might have a better option?

p.s. - using databased lookups for symbols is awesome :wink:
Attachments
delimited.PNG
#72245 by Roger D
Wed Sep 06, 2017 1:33 pm
It's fairly easy to open the .asc file, convert do a search and replace on spaces to tabs, reduce multiple tabs down to single tabs, convert to table, add column titles, insert tab into excel, save as .cvs. Then have a symbol with attributes linked to the csv file.
#72251 by Dave
Wed Sep 06, 2017 5:47 pm
Open excel
Select Data Tab then From Text
Make sure all files is selected, bottom right
Select the .asc file
Click import
Make sure "Fixed width" is selected
Put a tick in "My data has headers"
If you click next it lets you move the column markers
Try clicking finish and see if it gives you what's needed
Save as csv

DaveR
#72273 by ROBERT PENN
Mon Sep 11, 2017 8:32 pm
Hi all,

Thank you all for your input. I have been away for a couple of days so sorry for the late response.
I have had further input from the client. It seems that he had his wires crossed and in fact what we need to do is export this asc file from the data he has given me from his survey equipment, not import it into datacad.
He has now given me an acad file from his survey software which basically gives me a load of random points. Presumably all the metadata info is within these points. This data (to my knowlegde) is not able to be read in Datacad (willing to be proven wrong!!). I have attached the imported file.
What I am thinking is that I export these points along (with the work that I do over the top of them on separate layers) to an Autocad file. I am presuming then, that we should be able to extract this metadata from within Autocad? I'm not that clever in Autocad - in fact try and avoid it as much as possible! - so will not know where to start, to see if this is possible. Any gurus out there that point me in the right direction?
Attachments
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#72275 by ROBERT PENN
Tue Sep 12, 2017 1:00 am
Hi Josh,
I think thats the idea Josh! They are just points - literally!
Heres the acad file anyway. Again, it wouldn't let me upload the file so I have had renamed it a doc file you will have to rename it back to dwg.

Thanks for looking Josh, much appreciated.
Attachments
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#72286 by joshhuggins
Tue Sep 12, 2017 4:20 pm
Was hoping for more points or maybe some other entities that might be hiding in the DWG file that might not have been making the conversion over but doesn't look like it. So the points do have z values/heights and seem to be divided up on corresponding layers but no descriptions of what the points themselves are supposed to represent or what they are marking. If you had another site or map and could coordinate the layer names and points with something else that is known then you might be able extrapolate something from this but you would need more info I would think. Sorry not much help. :?
#72291 by ROBERT PENN
Tue Sep 12, 2017 5:24 pm
Thanks Josh,
Yes the whole thing has been challenging.
Even more frustrating is that I haven't got hair left to pull out!! :roll:
Could you see any metadata information in the points in Autocad? and if so how do you see it.
I'm an Autocad novice (and hoping to stay that way!)

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