Importing Station Offset Elevation Data

TBC Work Processes (Info Only) TBC Corridor Modeling Work Process
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This question comes up a fair bit - How do I import Station, Offset, Elevation data into TBC?

To import Station, Offset, Elevation data into TBC you need the data to be in a .csv format (comma separated file) with the data lines in the order of one of the two following options

Station, Offset, Elevation, Description
Point ID, Station, Offset, Elevation, Description

The first line in the CSV file needs to read the following

TBC Excel

TBC on importing files reads the first line of a CSV file. If it finds TBC Excel it automatically reads it as Station Offset Elevation data.

In the TBC Project you will first need to create the alignment against which the imported data will be placed. The alignment will have a name and the station range must match or exceed the range of stations defined in the CSV file.

Run the Import command and browse to the folder location where the CSV file is stored. The files will be listed and those that meet the above criteria will be displayed as Station, Offset, Elevation file types. If they do not get picked up as Station, Offset, Elevation data files then it is likely that one of the following is the cause

  1. That the file is still open in Excel - this puts a lock on the file and it cannot be read by TBC - close the file and try the Import command again. You will need to close Import and restart Import once the file has closed to be able to retry reading the file.
  2. The file is incorrectly formatted - commonest issues are that the TBC Excel header line is missing or that you have it written as TBCExcel instead of TBC Excel or something like that.
  3. The file does not have at least 3 data fields for Station, Offset and Elevation on each data line

You can try to select the file in the list and Right Click on it to reset its File Type - you may be able to select Station Offset Elevation type and continue

Select the file and then in the settings below you have some options

  1. You can read the file with or without Point ID information - select the correct option
  2. You can read the file as Stored Sections or as Points only - select the option you want
  3. If reading the data as Points only - you can choose whether the points will be dependent on the alignment or not - if Yes then the points are stored with the alignment as a reference and the coordinates will be Station and Offset coordinates. You can then edit the points i.e. change the alignment or change the station and offset values to adjust their positions. If the alignment is edited or moved then the points will move with it. If you do not select the dependent points option, then the points are stored as N,E,Z values and have no relation to the alignment after import - you can move or edit the alignment and the points will not move as a result.
  4. Select the alignment that you want to import the point data against (uses the alignment stationing to determine the point locations).

Import the data - depending on your options you will now have either Point data or Stored Section Data and a Surface Model.

If you imported Point data you can create linework along the alignment using the point codes using the RPS Linestring by Station command - Click Here

Video Shows You How

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