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MM 1000 (2016) Introduction To Micromine (2016-08)
MM 1000 (2016) Introduction To Micromine (2016-08)
MM 1000 (2016) Introduction To Micromine (2016-08)
Beginner
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Micromine 2016 Training MM 1000 – Introduction to Micromine
Email: mm@micromine.com
WWW: http://www.micromine.com
Licence Agreement
The use of the software described in this manual is subject to a licence agree-
ment with MICROMINE. The software may only be used or copied in accord-
ance with the terms and conditions of that agreement.
Disclaimer
MICROMINE Pty Ltd and its subsidiaries will not accept any liability whatsoever
for any loss or damage arising from the use of the software or any other soft-
ware product mentioned in this manual; nor for any technical or editorial errors
or omissions made in this manual.
The mention of any other computer software product within this manual does
not imply any endorsement of such product by MICROMINE.
Copyright
MICROMINE is the owner of the software, and of all icons and logos within the
software, together with all soft- and hard-copy documentation. This manual
contains information protected by copyright. No part of this manual may be
photocopied or reproduced in any form without prior written consent from
MICROMINE.
© Copyright 1999, 2001 – 2015 by MICROMINE Pty Ltd and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
Editor: Authors:
Frank Bilki David Bartlett Alan LeBlanc
Frank Bilki Deb Marriner
Andrew Greenhill Erik Scheel
Michael Haffenden Tenille Szolkowski
Trademark Acknowledgment
Micromine, Geobank Mobile, and Geobank are trademarks of MICROMINE Pty Ltd and its subsid-
iaries. Other brands and product names mentioned in this manual are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
Introduction
This course is designed to show you how to start using Micromine and to in-
troduce some of the program’s key features. To make it as realistic as possible
it’s based on a scenario that will be familiar to many Micromine users.
Purpose
Phase 1 of the drilling program indicated a substantial resource. Your task is
to integrate and process the original data in order to evaluate the prospect
with a view to designing the Phase 2 drilling program. The purpose of the new
drilling program will be to provide in-fill data to enable the classification of the
resource as inferred, indicated or measured. The lessons that follow describe
the tasks you’ll need to undertake to achieve your objective.
Objectives
As a result of this course, you’ll have learnt to:
Approach
This course will be predominantly hands-on. Each new topic will begin with a
brief introduction followed by a practical exercise. A small training database
will be used for all exercises.
Trainee Prerequisites
The following skills are essential for obtaining the maximum benefit from this
course:
Because each part is self-contained, the page, lesson, and exercise numbers
reset to 1 at the beginning of each document. Your trainer will introduce each
part to you at the appropriate time.
Getting Help
Where appropriate, references to topics in Micromine’s help system are in-
cluded. These references provide further information about the current task as
well as topics that are related to that task. They also give you an opportunity
to become familiar with the help system.
For example:
Micromine also includes an offline help system, which is accessible via Help |
Contents. We recommend using the web help when you are connected to the
internet and the offline help whenever you are in the field.
Icon Meaning
Exercises
For exercises, the text uses a combination of bold and italic type to indicate
the correct response:
Style Denotes
Bold type The names of menu items, dialog boxes and
prompts that invoke or contribute to the primary
process being undertaken.
Italic type Entries you must type, or items you select from a
list, in dialog box responses and table fields.
A screenshot of the relevant form or dialog box with the correct entries.
A tabular display. The first column contains the name of the dialog
prompt and the second column contains the text or value to be entered.
For example, this screenshot of a dialog box (form) contains parameters you
might need to enter:
The same information could also be presented within the text as a table:
Prompt Setting
Name Templates
Location C:\MmData\
Create folder for project Enabled
Title File Template Location
Units METRIC
Use existing project as Disabled
template
System Prerequisites
Licensing
You must have a valid Micromine licence to complete the exercises in this
training manual. If you don’t have a licence, your trainer may supply you with
a temporary training licence for the duration of the course.
If you have been issued a temporary training licence, you must return the
security key (dongle) and delete the licence file at the end of the course.
A GIS application such as QGIS should be installed in order to view a GIS file.
Micromine Options
Micromine automatically applies the relevant options when it is installed. If you
share your Micromine licence with another person, confirm the following op-
tions before you begin the course. Check that in:
English is selected.
Beginner
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Micromine 2016 Training MM 101 – Micromine Basics
Tables
Sidebars
Exercises
Lesson 1 – Preparing a
Notes:
Micromine Project
Duration: 20 minutes
In Micromine the project is the primary place for storing and organising your
data. This lesson introduces you to projects and how you use them.
You must create at least one project to begin working with Micromine. A
project is a folder (or directory) where you store files containing related
information.
Once more than one project has been created, you can select the desired
project from a list of all projects. When you select a project, all of the files,
macros and form sets stored with that project are made available to you.
When you’re working in a project there’s no need to enter a file path (i.e.
C:\Projects\Tenement1\...) to create or open files. The only time you work
outside the project is when you need to access external data.
To create a project, you enter a project name, a path and a project title.
You subsequently refer to that project by its name. A project may be located
on the computer you’re using, or on a network. In either case we recommend
that you place all projects under a single parent folder.
You must also set the units for a project to metric or imperial when you first
create it. The default is metric. Imperial is only used when rock densities are
measured with a tonnage factor.
Notes:
When you create a new project you can optionally use file structures, form
sets and macros from a similar project. This is a good approach because it
means you can reuse existing work and promote consistency between projects.
Some Micromine users create a template project and save any reusable file
structures, macros and form sets within it.
Micromine does a number of different things when you create (or attach) a
project: it creates a corresponding project (.PRO) file in your Micromine user
profile, it optionally creates the new project folder, and it adds default template
files to the folder if they don’t already exist.
You can rename, move, delete and attach projects. Renaming simply changes
the project name, whereas moving a project manages the entire process of
moving all of the project files from one location to another.
Because files from different projects are stored in different folders, you can
use the same filenames in each. For example, the projects “Demo” and
“Training” can both have files named Collar.dat, Survey.dat and Assay.dat.
By default, when you open Micromine it will automatically load the last project
you were using.
Make sure the training data is installed on your PC or some location on your
network. You’ll need this data throughout this training course. See Installing
the data set for details.
Notes:
C:\MmData\Training
You have just attached the Training project. Note how the Micromine window
title bar (at the top of the screen) displays the new project’s name and title.
7. From the Vizex Forms pane near the top left of your screen, click the
expand icon next to the Saved View form type. You should see two
entries, Introducing Vizex and String Editor, immediately below the
Saved View label:
8. If you don’t see the entries shown here, check with your instructor
before proceeding.
In this exercise you’ll create a new project that could potentially be used as a
template for future projects. It’s not intended to store any real data, just the
various file structures that might be re-used elsewhere.
4. Click OK to create the project. Micromine will open in the new project
and display its name and title at the top of the Micromine window.
5. Switch back to the Training project by selecting File | Project | Open,
or clicking the Open Project toolbar button.
Under normal circumstances you’d begin creating template files within the
Templates project. When you next create a project you can enable Use
existing project as template and then enter this project’s name. You can
then choose which items you want to re-use from the template project by
selecting from the options shown in the group at the bottom of the dialog.
The Project Manager gathers together all of the tools for managing projects.
With it you can open, create, attach, detach, delete, move, and rename pro-
jects. You can also view extended metadata on each project, including its lo-
cation (path) on your file system and the time you last used it. Metadata
columns are sortable; to keep the last-used project at the top of the list simply
sort the last opened column in descending order.
The associated Project toolbar includes many of these tasks, along with direct
access to Windows/File Explorer, and special browse tools that step forward
or backward through the project list.
In the next exercise you’ll detach a Micromine project. This involves deleting
the project (.PRO) file, which contains the reference to the project folder. It is
rather like deleting a shortcut from your Windows desktop; you remove the
reference to the folder but keep the folder and its contents intact.
Alternatively, you may wish to delete a project. This method deletes the .PRO
file along with the project folder and its contents. By default, deleted files are
sent to the recycle bin.
To detach a project:
From now on, the Templates project won’t appear in the list when you select
File | Project | Open from the main menu.
To delete a project and all of the files it contains, follow the same procedure
but click the Delete button instead. Alternatively, choose File | Project |
Delete from the main menu. If you use this method, you must disable Detach
only to delete the entire project.
To attach a project:
Good Practice
If you created the project folder in Windows, disable the Create folder for
project option when you use Project | New.
Encourage consistency in the way you store and process your data, and
in the appearance of output.
Reduce set-up time because you won’t have to re-create data file
structures, colour sets, macro files and form sets.
Help Topics
Projects Projects
Files
Duration: 40 minutes
Data files are the basic data container in Micromine. In this lesson you’ll learn
about the different types of data files and how to create and work with them.
After this lesson you’ll be able to:
Micromine uses several types of tabular file. The main types are Data, Survey
and String. These files are differentiated by file extension. The data file has
the extension DAT, the survey file SVY, and the string file STR, but in practice
you refer to them by type rather than by their extensions. There are no other
fundamental differences between these types of file. In fact, a file with exactly
the same structure could have any of these extensions.
The main reason for having the different extensions is so you can group similar
files in a project. For example, geological data is often stored in data files;
contour strings and other string type data is stored in string files; and survey
information from total stations or theodolites is stored in survey files. You can
also arrange files into project subfolders for greater clarity.
Micromine also uses some non-tabular file types (for example, grid surfaces,
annotations and wireframes); however, it handles their creation and manage-
ment for you.
Notes: You must create the tabular files needed for a project. To do this you give the
new file a name and then define its structure. That is, the names and char-
acteristics of the fields in the file and the order in which they are stored.
Field Types
Micromine supports three different field types: CHARACTER, NUMERIC and
binary. The content of your data will determine the field type, for example:
Binary fields
Binary and numeric fields both hold numerical data. A binary field stores a
number using binary zeroes and ones that are not human readable, whereas
a numeric field stores readable text that represents that number. Binary fields
usually have better numerical accuracy, may reduce file size and may produce
noticeable speed improvements over numeric fields. Micromine supports the
following binary field types:
REAL
FLOAT
LONG INTEGER
SHORT INTEGER
The data will not be altered in any way if it is stored in a NUMERIC field, making
this field type ideal for assay information.
Table 2.1 summarises the properties of binary field types. REAL and FLOAT Notes:
fields can handle decimal values. The ranges listed in the table are not really
relevant; what is important is the number of significant figures (digits) of pre-
cision; REAL fields have around twice the precision of FLOAT fields. Using the
wrong type won’t affect the overall scale of a number but will affect its level
of accuracy.
LONG and SHORT INTEGER are integral types that cannot handle decimals.
They do not use significant figures; instead they have very specific limits on
the size of numbers that can be stored, also listed in Table 2.1. Using the
wrong type can be a problem with integer fields because a SHORT INTEGER
will simply ignore data beyond its limiting value of ±32,767. When in doubt
you should always use a larger field type.
Binary precision
Binary fields are not precision-limited. For example, consider a NUMERIC field
defined with three decimals. When you perform a calculation the result is
stored with exactly three decimals. All other decimals are discarded. The same
calculation carried out on a REAL field stores the full 15 decimals of precision
in the file, even if only three decimals are displayed.
Backward compatibility
Binary field-enabled files can only be used in Micromine 2011 and later.
However, these files are easily exported to earlier Micromine versions by using
File | Utilities | Convert Binary to ASCII.
File Processing
In general, Micromine processes data files to create output. You must tell a
function (in Micromine) the name of a file and the fields it should use from that
file. The function then loads data from the file and performs its task. This is a
fundamental operating concept of Micromine.
Notes:
The main file preparation and processing tool is the File Editor, which provides
many useful features and data processing tools.
One of Micromine’s strengths is that you can copy the contents of a file or
change its structure at any time. Such flexibility is very convenient. However,
if you’re not using a central database it’s very easy to create copies of master
files and mistakenly enter new data into the copy instead of the original. To
avoid this, be sure to establish a convention that clearly defines your file nam-
ing procedures. A better alternative is to store your master data in a geological
database management system such as MICROMINE’s Geobank.
Options on the New File dialog give you control over the level of automation.
For full control over the file’s structure and contents, enable Auto open
file for editing and disable Use Template.
For complete automation, disable Auto open file for editing, enable
Use Template, and choose a template File.
Creating a file involves two steps. Firstly, you define the file's name and type,
such as data or string, and secondly you define the name, type and width
of each field (column) contained within it.
WIDTH can be up to 255 for character or numeric fields. Binary fields have Notes:
fixed widths as listed in Table 2.1. Fields should be kept as short as possible
without compromising the data.
Because you’ll be using the data set supplied as part of this course you only
need to create a couple of new data files in later lessons. However, to reinforce
the idea of the template project this task will show you how to create a collar
file that could be used as a template.
Before you begin this exercise make sure that you are in the Training project.
The Micromine window title bar (at the top of the screen) should display
Training – Micromine Training. If it doesn’t, select File | Project | Open and
open the Training project that you attached earlier.
1. Select File | New from the main menu. Alternatively, you can click the
New File toolbar button.
2. Enter the following values into the New File dialog box:
Prompt Setting
File Collar_Template
Type DATA
Title Collar Template
In the workplace you’d typically disable the Auto open option unless you
wanted to immediately start entering data. However, you’ll leave it enabled for
this exercise so you can see the newly created file.
You define the file structure in this window. To do this you must supply:
Press the Tab key to move right from field to field and Shift+Tab to move to
the left. You can also use the arrow keys to move up and down, or just click
on a cell with the mouse. Press Enter to create a new row, or press Ctrl+R
to replicate existing data onto the row below.
7. Once you’ve entered these values, click Close on the toolbar in the
(New) window.
8. Click Yes to confirm you want to create the file.
The new file will open into a File Editor window. You could now start entering
values, but for this exercise you’ll leave the file empty and close it instead.
9. Close the File Editor window by clicking the [ ] in the file tab:
Alternatively, you can click the [X] at the top right of the Editor window (at
the same height as the tab!) or the Close toolbar button.
1. Select File | New from the main menu. Alternatively, you can click the
New toolbar button.
2. Enter the following values into the top half of the New File dialog:
File Test_Collar
Type DATA
Title From Template
Because you enabled Auto open... and disabled Modify new..., Micromine
silently created the file instead of requesting further input. You should only
enable Modify new file structure if you wish to control the structure of the
to-be-created file.
8. Inspect the structure of this new file and note that it’s the same as
the original template.
9. Close the File Editor once you’re done.
You can see from this exercise how much time using templates can save,
especially when you’re creating files with many fields. Additionally, using
templates promotes consistent file structures within and across projects. In
the workplace you’d normally keep template files in a separate project, such
as the one you created in Optional Exercise 1.2.
Notes:
The Modify File function is located in the File menu of the main Micromine
window and the File Editor. You can also right-click (F6) on a file field in a
dialog box (as shown above) and select Modify from the menu that appears.
If you add fields to a file using Modify File, no data will be lost. However, if
you delete a field that contains data, the data will be lost.
This task shows you how to add new fields to a soil geochemistry file, which
currently contains sample coordinates along with analytical results for gold and
silver. The new fields are needed for merging a new suite of base-metal
analyses recently received from the laboratory.
Cu F 0
Pb F 0
Zn F 0
8. The file structure should look like this once you have finished editing:
The OLD_NAME, T, W and D fields are system fields that Micromine uses
to track your changes. Don’t edit them!
Select File | New and enter the file’s name and type, then
Optionally, enable Auto open file for editing, and
Define the structure by specifying each field’s name, type, width, and
number of decimals.
Select File | New and enter the file’s name and type, then
Disable Auto open file for editing, and
Enable Use template and choose the template file, and
Disable Modify new file structure.
Good Practice
Wherever possible, use templates or form sets to create new file structures.
(Form sets are introduced in Lesson 3.) Two options are:
Create a set of template files and store them in a folder that has been
set aside for that purpose. When you create a file using File | New,
retrieve a suitable template and use it to define the file structure.
Create a series of file definitions using File | Create or Modify File,
saving each one as a form set. When you create a file using File |
Create or Modify File, simply open the appropriate form set and use it
to define the file structure.
Help Topics
Modifying a file Files and Fields > Files > Modify File
Creating a file from Files and Fields > Files > Create or Modify File
a form
Character, numeric Files and Fields > Fields > Binary fields
and binary fields
So far you’ve only seen the simplest of dialogs, but as you continue to learn
Micromine they will become increasingly complex. Lesson 4 and onwards rely
on your ability to work with Micromine’s dialogs, so now is a good time to learn
about the process of entering parameters.
One of Micromine’s greatest strengths is its ability to save dialog settings once
you’ve created them, and recall those settings whenever they’re needed in
future. A simple analogy is using AutoComplete or Autofill on your web
browser: every time you visit, say, your online banking website this utility
automatically fills out the form for you, saving you time and effort. Micromine’s
forms work in much the same way.
Dialogs
Although Micromine is generally very easy to use, some advanced dialogs may
contain dozens of controls arranged in different groups. The best way to fill
out such a dialog is to work through it as if you were reading down the columns
of a newspaper: from the top down, working left-to-right. In a tabbed dialog
you can treat the tabs as if they were pages of a magazine. Using this system-
atic approach ensures that your responses are made in the right order, which
is important because other prompts on the dialog may change depending on
your earlier choices.
Once you choose a filename Micromine will try to select all of the required
fieldnames, so you may not have to do this yourself. If a numeric or binary
field is selected, Micromine will also automatically calculate the minimum and
maximum values of that field.
Notes:
Fill out a complex dialog by starting at the top of the left-hand column and
working down, and repeating for the right-hand column.
Click it to pick it
Some dialog prompts are highlighted in a different colour (usually red). These
prompts are compulsory: you must enter a value before continuing. Other
prompts may be left blank if they’re not relevant.
Form Sets
Micromine provides an elegant way to reuse dialog entries: You save them as
a form set, which you can easily recall for later reuse.
A form set contains the saved contents of a dialog. It does not include
any data.
Notes: To save the contents of a dialog as a form set you generally click the Forms,
Save or Save As button located at the right of the dialog. The exact layout
will vary according to the context of the dialog, but in general Micromine pro-
vides these ways to manage form sets:
Graphical windows that are not part of Vizex, such as graphs and charts,
have no buttons. Instead, form sets are accessed from the toolbar (e).
The chart toolbar only appears where relevant.
(e)
Clicking the Forms button will display the Forms dialog, allowing you to save
your entries with a Title of your choice. The title can be any descriptive text,
since Micromine only needs the form set’s ID Number, which must be unique.
Micromine automatically manages this number, which rarely needs changing,
although you may do so if you wish to control the ordering of form sets.
Each function keeps an independent list of form sets, avoiding duplication. For
example, more than one function could have a form set Number 1 with the
title “Testing”.
Clicking the small arrow at right of the Forms button will display a small
utility menu with options for managing previously saved form sets and saving
or clearing the current form.
Even if you forget to save a form set, every Micromine dialog is automatically
saved to a default form set. Re-opening a dialog will recall the default set;
your entries are always available even after restarting the computer. As soon
as you change a value, however, the previous entry will be lost.
Once you save a dialog as a form set, its Title will appear at the top of
the dialog. If you don’t see the title, you’re not working with a saved
form set! In Vizex, default (unsaved) form sets are always marked as
Untitled, so you can see at a glance whether or not you’ve saved them.
In this exercise you’ll display some geochemical sample locations and save the
display parameters as a form set.
Assuming you’re happy with how the sample locations are displayed, you can
save the settings as a form set.
10. Inspect the Save Current Values dialog and note how the form set
has automatically been given the Number 1.
Notes: 11. Enter the Title Soil geochemistry (overwriting the default Untitled title)
and click OK. Note how the name Soil geochemistry now appears on the
title bar at the top of the dialog.
12. Click OK on the Point dialog and note how the name in the Display
pane has now changed to Soil geochemistry.
You use the same process to make further changes to the form set: Double-
click the form set in the Display pane, make the changes on the dialog, click
Save, and lastly click OK.
To reuse a form set, redisplay the original dialog, click the Forms button at
right, and then Open the form set.
If you plan to use the entries on a dialog more than once then you
should save that dialog as a form set. The small effort of initially creating
a form set is more than compensated by the time saved in reusing it.
Form sets enable you to create libraries of Vizex display layers, consist-
ently reuse settings for repetitive tasks without re-entering values, and
automate Micromine by writing macros (All of which are covered in sub-
sequent lessons or courses).
For convenience you can also create form set folders to group related form
sets. Form set folders are essential in any complex project containing many
form sets and are introduced in MM 102 – Displaying and Manipulating Data.
Most of these options may also be accessed via the Forms button and its
utility menu at right of any Micromine dialog.
Form sets represent the saved contents of Micromine dialogs, and are
essential for speed, consistency, and automation of repetitive tasks.
Form sets allow you to automate the entry of settings within Micromine,
much like an AutoComplete utility on a web browser would do.
The Form Set Manager is essential for managing form sets in a large
project.
There are numerous form shortcuts, such as the right-click menu and
click it to pick it.
Compulsory prompts are highlighted in red; you must provide a value for
these before using the form. You can change the colour under Tools |
Options | Colours and Fonts.
Good Practice
Anything worth doing more than once is worth saving as a form set.
For example, to import text files that all have the same format, create a form
set containing the import parameters. This will save you re-entering the import
parameters every time you need to import data in the same format.
Help Topics
File Processing
Duration: 105 minutes
The data that describes a prospect or mine can be collected and recorded in a
variety of ways. These include survey data from GPSs and total stations, rock
sample data from geologists’ notebooks, drillhole logging data, compass trav-
erse notes, data files from aerial surveys and aerial photography, along with
existing data in a variety of third-party formats.
Getting all of this information from different formats into a project and into a
coherent and useful state can be challenging. This lesson describes some of
the processes that can be used to get data into a Micromine project.
Importing Notes:
Linking
Merging
When you import tabular data you create a Micromine version of the source
data as it existed at that moment. The source data may be any supported
tabular format, and you can control which fields are written to the Micromine
target file. The data must be re-imported if the source version changes.
When you link data you create a permanent connection to the source data,
which may only originate from an ODBC data source or Microsoft Access
database. Linked data is easily refreshed to stay up-to-date whenever the
source version changes.
When you merge tabular data, you select fields in a source file and merge
them to the correct fields in the target file by matching values in a key field.
You can also append data. The source data may be a text or Micromine file.
Before you begin using these techniques, it’s worth reviewing the different
types of text file that you’ll meet when you undertake these processes.
If you use Geobank Mobile to collect field data, you can exchange files in
native Micromine format. Geobank Mobile and the Micromine File Editor
contain many data entry and processing functions created specifically for
geoscience data. It’s usually cheaper and more efficient to buy Geobank
Notes: Mobile or use the Micromine File Editor than to customise a non-
geological spreadsheet or database application.
The next two alternative exercises will teach you to import the analytical data
briefly mentioned in Exercise 2.3, in preparation for merging it into the existing
soil geochemistry file. Alternative Exercise 4.1 uses an Excel workbook and
Alternative Exercise 4.2 a text file. They create the same target file; the best
source file will depend on your preferences or workplace scenario. Your in-
structor will help you to choose a method.
In Exercise 4.3 you’ll merge the imported data into the geochemistry file.
Micromine treats the data in each worksheet as if it was a database table, and
it must therefore be correctly formatted. Each worksheet must contain a simple
header followed by columns of consistent data, with each column containing
the same data type from top to bottom. The worst possible data is a workbook
formatted to look like a traditional paper log, with a collar description, down-
hole survey data, and geological logging on a single worksheet.
The next exercise will teach you to import data from Excel.
In this exercise you’ll import the new analytical data from a Microsoft Excel
workbook. To import the data:
The .xlsx extension will not be visible if Windows is set to hide extensions
for known file types.
3. Click the browse ( ) button in the Sheet response and choose Notes:
New_Assay_Results from the list.
4. Enter the Target File name New_Assay_Results and ensure the Type is
set to DATA.
5. Enable Select all at the top of the Fields to Import group to import all
fields.
Select all is usually the best option unless you want to import specific fields.
Some elements are treated as REALs and others are treated as LONGs or
CHARACTERs. This is normal; although REALs are preferable, data containing
numeric exceptions is always treated as CHARACTER. In the workplace you
may wish to modify the imported file’s structure, remembering that binary
fields cannot store numeric exceptions.
Most applications can export and import CSV files, making it a popular
exchange format. A typical scenario might involve recording field data using
the built-in software on a laptop or tablet. On return to the office it would most
likely be uploaded to a Micromine project. CSV is ideal for this situation.
You import text using File | Import | Text, and the easiest way to do so is
to automatically define the output file structure. You do this by choosing
Determine from Input file in the Output File Structure group, and then
using the Scan Rows or Scan File buttons to determine the structure.
Make sure you’re using the built-in file viewer. To ensure this is the case, select
Tools | Options | Editor from the main menu and check that Built-in is
selected in the Text Viewer group.
In this exercise you’ll import the new analytical data from a CSV file. To import
the text file:
The .csv extension will not be visible if Windows is set to hide extensions
for known file types.
3. Right-click the text file name to display it in the text viewer. Confirm that
it’s in comma-delimited format, and note that the first row is a column
header for Sample number and the nine additional elements (Cu, Pb, Zn,
Ba, Mo, Sb, As, Hg, and Tl). Close the text viewer once you’re done.
4. Set the Format to COMMA DELIMITED.
5. Enable Field Name Header and choose One row.
This file contains no rows to ignore so there’s no need to apply any Rows To
Ignore options. You can use these options to ignore metadata, internal
headings or footers in a more complex file.
Some elements are treated as binary fields and others are treated as
NUMERICs. This is normal; although binary fields are preferable, data
containing numeric exceptions is always treated as NUMERIC. Remembering
that binary fields cannot store numeric exceptions, you may wish to override
the default assignment by right-clicking the input file to inspect the data, and
then clicking the Preview button to alter the output structure.
11. Right-click the Report file and select View from the pop-up menu to
inspect its contents. Close the report once you are done.
All of the errors are of the type Input value missing. The reason will become
clear when you view the output file.
12. Right-click the Output File and select View from the pop-up menu to
verify the file contents. Most of the missing values originate from the Tl
(Thallium) column.
Importing from a text file requires a small amount of effort to determine the
file structure and configure the import options. However, as you saw in the
preceding exercise it does offer a reasonable level of validation.
MM 102 introduces methods for exporting data from Micromine, and MM 103
covers some additional export options.
You may have noticed that the New_Assay_Results file contains another six
fields for elements associated with hydrothermal sulphide alteration. You’ll
learn to handle these fields in the following exercise.
Successfully merging the records in the two files requires a field with the same
values in both the target and source files. This is known as a key field. If the
key field in each file contains duplicate values, you must either:
The Merge function processes the target file record by record. It finds the key
field in each record and reads the value it contains. It then looks for the same
value in the key field in the source file. When it finds an equivalent value, it
takes the data from the fields you’ve chosen and writes it to the corresponding
fields in the target file.
The source and corresponding target field names must both be defined when
you set up the merge operation. However, Micromine will automatically create
the target fields if they don’t already exist.
Notes: You may alternatively use File | Merge | Text to merge fixed-width text data
instead of importing the text beforehand. This method is not suitable for the
CSV format and is not covered in this course.
In this exercise you’ll merge the new assay data into the soil geochemistry file.
The sample identifiers in both files are unique, which means you can use the
field containing the sample IDs in each file as the key field for the merge.
You know that the Sample field is common to both files. And, because there
are no duplicates in the Sample field in either the source or target files, you
can use Sample as the single key field.
1. Click the Key Fields button. (If the button is disabled, select the Use
key fields option lower down the dialog.)
2. Click the list ( ) button for Source Field for Key # 1 and choose
SAMPLE. Micromine will automatically find the matching Target Field
name.
3. Because the sample numbers consist of alphanumeric values, set the
Match to CHARACTER. Close the Key Fields dialog once you’re done.
Micromine will ignore the letter prefix of each sample number if you omit the
preceding step.
You only need one key field so there’s no need to proceed to the next row.
You must now define the merge fields, which is very similar to defining the key
field. However, Micromine simplifies the process whenever the field names are
the same in both the source and target file.
Alternatively, you can map individual source/target field pairs by clicking the
list ( ) button and choosing a Source field, then clicking and choosing the
matching Target field.
Because the base-metal field names are the same in both files, Micromine
automatically mapped each source field to its target field. You must manually
enter the rest.
4. Enter (or copy and paste) the remaining hydrothermal sulphide target
field names.
5. Close the Merge Fields dialog once you’ve finished the field mapping.
6. Set the Match to FIRST, which will only merge the first occurrence of
each key field value.
7. Enter Unmerged in the Unmerged file response, Duplicate in the
Duplicate file response, and Merge_Stats in the Report file response.
These files will record the results of the merge process.
1. The final stage of the process is to run the merge. Do this by clicking the
Run button on the dialog box.
2. Micromine will display a report describing the results of the process.
Inspect the numbers and then click Close to dismiss it.
3. Right-click | View the three output files.
Notes: The Merge_stats file reproduces the report window, whereas the Unmerged
and Duplicate files list any source sample numbers that were duplicated or not
merged. In this exercise there are none.
1. Press F6 to modify the file, or select File | Modify File from the File
Editor menu, to display the NVG_Geochem.DAT (Modify) window.
2. Select all of the rows from Ba to Tl (hint: drag your mouse down the row
headings at left of the file).
3. Right-click | Cut, or select Edit | Cut, or press Ctrl+X to cut the
rows.
4. Select the EAST_LOCAL field name and then right-click | Paste, or
select Edit | Paste, or press Ctrl+V to paste the rows into their new
location. The pasted rows will be inserted above EAST_LOCAL.
5. Change the new fields to FLOATs (hint: start from Zn’s TYPE and press
Ctrl+R to replicate the ‘F’ down the column.) Be sure to stop before you
reach EAST_LOCAL.
6. Close the structure editor (answering Yes when prompted to modify
the file).
Note how the below-detection values are converted to half of their original
numeric values. This is a normal part of converting text into binary data.
7. Close the File Editor and Merge Files dialog once you are done.
Cancel to return to the dialog. From there you can modify the target file Notes:
structure or merge parameters.
You can sometimes ignore the warning. For example, assay results usually
need fewer than seven digits of precision, and converting a REAL to a FLOAT
during a merge won’t unduly affect the data. Always make this choice with
care, and when in doubt always use a larger data type.
Now that you know a little more about the soil geochemical data you’ll add
labels for the Au1 geochemical data to the display:
2. The Point dialog will open back on the Points tab, which is where you
last left it. Switch to the Label tab and complete it as shown here:
Prompt Setting
Show labels Enabled
First row Enabled
Text field (first row) AU1 (click the list button)
Position Top-right
(double-click to choose option 12)
Angle 45 (type the number)
Decimals 0
Text properties Tahoma, Size Scaled 8 Grid units
(double-click the AaBbYyZz text)
You can quickly choose the Tahoma font in the Text Properties dialog by
typing the letter ‘t’. Micromine will jump directly to fonts beginning with that
letter.
Notes:
3. Click the Save button at the right of the Point dialog to save the
changes, and then click OK to redraw the labelled points. Your display
should look like this screenshot:
Although it’s possible to display most of these formats in Vizex without con-
version, in the following exercise you’ll import topographic contours from an
Esri Shapefile and convert them to a Micromine string file. Displaying CAD or
GIS data in Vizex is covered in MM 102 – Displaying and Manipulating Data.
Micromine will automatically fill out most of the output field names for you.
1. Select Display | String from the main menu to display the String
dialog.
2. Ensure that the Input Data tab is active and the file Type is set to
STRING.
Notes: 3. Click the browse button in the File response and choose the
NVG_Topo_Contours file. Micromine will fill out the rest of this tab.
4. On the Display Options tab, set the Default colour to light brown.
5. Click the Save As button at the right of the dialog to save your settings
as a form set with the Title Topographic contours.
6. Click OK to apply the settings. Your display should now resemble this:
7. Conclude this exercise by selecting Edit | Remove All from the main
menu.
The last two exercises have briefly introduced Vizex, which is fully explained
in MM 102 – Displaying and Manipulating Data.
The necessary drivers are usually installed whenever you install a database
product. If your organisation uses Micromine 64-bit, you should obtain 64-bit
database drivers to avoid compatibility problems. Alternatively, you can
temporarily switch to Micromine 32-bit to import data from an ODBC source
without a 64-bit driver.
Setting up a new ODBC connection involves creating a Data Source Name Notes:
(DSN). There are three types of DSN, and choosing between them may seem
complex at first. However, they differ only in their degree of visibility to the
rest of the users on your computer or network. You need only create the DSN
once; from then on you re-use it each time you reference the database.
File, which is shared among all users on a network. It’s neither user-
dedicated nor local to a particular computer.
On most computers, the User and System DSN’s are grouped under the
category Machine Data Source.
You use an ODBC connection two ways in Micromine: You either import the
data or link to the database. When you import, Micromine creates a snapshot
of the data. The files created in the Micromine project are ordinary data files,
exactly the same as those you might create yourself. Because of this the newly
created files are independent of the database and can be used even if the
connection to the database is lost. However, you must re-import the data if
anything in the database changes.
Notes: fails. Additionally, the underlying database controls the structure of linked
data, so you can’t modify (or edit) the linked version.
In the workplace you probably want to create an ODBC link (via File | Link |
ODBC) so that Micromine always has access to up-to-date data from your
company’s database. However, because you may need to edit this file later
you’ll import the data instead.
You’ll use a file DSN to connect to the training database, which contains four
tables of drillhole data (collars, downhole surveys, assay, and lithology). You’re
only interested in one of those: the Collar table. Simply repeat these steps to
import the other tables.
Your training data must be in exactly the same location as listed above or
the DSN will fail. However, the file you create in here is not essential for
the remainder of the course and you can safely skip this exercise.
4. The Select Table dialog box will appear. You’ll see the names of the
four tables in the database: Assay, Collar, Lithology and Survey.
5. Highlight the Collar entry and click OK.
6. Fill-out the remaining prompts in the dialog as shown below and in the
screenshot on the facing page:
Prompt Setting
Target File NVG_Collar_Import
Determine structure Selected
Select all Enabled
Preview Enabled
Number of records (optional) 20
Notes:
7. Click Import. The contents of the Collar table will be previewed. If you
need to change the structure of the target file you can do so here.
8. Click OK. Micromine will import the contents of the Collar table from the
MS Access database, reporting the total number of records.
9. Dismiss the message box, and then confirm the import by right-
clicking the Target file and choosing View from the pop-up menu.
10. Close the file and Import ODBC dialog once you’re done.
The File Editor has a menu available under Edit | Tools that contains a
collection of basic functions for importing, exporting and merging data; sorting
and validating files; and performing field-based calculations. Many of these
tools also have toolbar buttons.
Notes: Micromine files are displayed in a familiar grid layout. You navigate up and
down through the file by using the keyboard up and down arrow keys, as well
as Page Up and Page Dn to go one page at a time. Of course, you can scroll
using the mouse, too. To move from one field to the next, press Tab or
Shift+Tab, or click into the field with the mouse. To create a new record,
press Enter at the end of the file.
The File Editor supports standard Windows shortcuts for editing text:
Ctrl+C (Copy)
Ctrl+X (Cut)
Ctrl+V (Paste)
By using these shortcuts, you can easily transfer blocks of data between
Micromine and a spreadsheet application in either direction. However, the File
Editor also provides many other unique shortcuts that are designed to
automate repetitive geological data entry tasks. You can access these
shortcuts by opening the Records menu, some of which are summarised in
Table 4.1. Refer to the lesson summary for a complete list of shortcuts.
The add (Ctrl+A), replicate (Ctrl+R) and execute (Ctrl+T) tools also
operate on multiple records, by pressing Ctrl+Shift+[Letter] instead of
Ctrl+[Letter]. These standard shortcuts all have a matching toolbar
button if you prefer to use the mouse instead of the keyboard.
Exercise 4.8: Use the File Editor’s data entry tools Notes:
You’ll put some of these tools to work. This exercise always refers to the
keyboard shortcut for each function, but you can also use the menu or toolbar
if you prefer to use the mouse. The corresponding button icon is always shown.
Refer to Table 4.1 or the lesson summary to convert between keyboard
shortcuts and menus or toolbar buttons.
1. From the main Micromine menu, select File | Open and open the
Example_Assay file. Alternatively, click the Open File toolbar button.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the file and select (click) the last HOLE value,
which should read T17.
4. Now press Ctrl+R ( ) four or five times. Each time you choose this
command it replicates the T18 value to the record below.
5. Select (click) the first blank FROM value in your new T18 hole and type
in a value of 0 (zero).
Notes:
8. Observe how Micromine has applied the new increment value to all
records below the selected cell.
9. Select the first blank TO value, type a 4 into that cell, and repeat the
Ctrl+Shift+A ( ) function. Your file should now resemble this:
That was pretty quick, but it would be better if you could perform all of those
actions at once. Fortunately, there is a way.
Notes:
Copying the previous TO value into the FROM field is an excellent way to
ensure that your interval data has no gaps or overlaps. Even if you
manually edit a TO value, the next FROM value will always be correct.
7. With the TO field selected, click the Increment button and set the
increment value to 4. Your Execute Parameters dialog should now look
like this:
Notes:
Before you can use the execution parameters you must always have a
starting record containing actual values. The cursor must also be
somewhere in this record before creating any new data.
11. Press Ctrl+T ( ) and observe the result: All of the rules are applied at
once. Press Ctrl+T a few more times to add more records. Your file
should now look like this:
If you know how many records you need to add (you might be drilling a
series of 100 m Reverse Circulation holes, for instance), you can scroll to
the end of the file, press Ctrl+Shift+T, and type the number of new
records into the Execute Many dialog.
Calculator
You use the Calculator to quickly perform simple algebra or more complex
data manipulation.
You access the Calculator by selecting the File | Fields | Calculate menu
(best for macro automation) or clicking the Calculations button on the
File Editor toolbar (best for interactive calculations). The menu option requires
you to choose a file, whereas the File Editor option always works on the
currently displayed file.
Input A and Input B can be field names, numbers or temporary variables. The Notes:
result can be a new field, existing field or a temporary variable. Each step in
the calculation occupies a separate row in the dialog, and a toolbar provides
options for adding, removing, and moving calculation steps:
In this exercise you’ll use the File Editor Calculator to calculate the INTERVAL
lengths for the new records you’ve just added to the Example_Assay file. You’ll
also overwrite the interval lengths for the existing records.
Temporary variables become invaluable when you need to perform more com-
plex calculations. It’s useful to think of a temporary variable as being the same
as the Memory button on a standard calculator, the only difference being that
you have ten (labelled #0 to #9) instead of just one.
Now you’ll calculate the mid-point of each sample interval to illustrate the user
of a temporary variable in a more complex calculation.
1. Reopen the Calculator and change the Function from Minus to Plus.
2. Click the Result response, currently set to INTERVAL, and clear the field
name by pressing Ctrl+Space.
3. Type in #1 in its place to create a temporary variable.
4. Press Enter to create a second calculation row.
5. Click the first Input on the second row and type in #1 to reference the
temporary variable.
6. Click the Function field on the second row and select Divide by.
7. Click the second Input and type in 2.
Notes: 8. In the second Result field type in MIDPOINT. This will create a new
field in the file called MIDPOINT, which will hold the mid-point of each
interval:
Source data for Micromine may originate from tabular data such as
spreadsheet files, text files, database tables and third-party formats, or
spatial data such as GPS data, CAD drawings or GIS layers.
There are several ways to get tabular data into Micromine, namely
linking, importing, and merging. More than one method may suit a
particular data type – for example, text files may be imported or
merged, whereas database tables may be imported or linked.
You can merge analytical laboratory data into an existing Micromine file
by importing the data to a temporary Micromine file and then merging
that into the destination file. An alternative technique uses the Merge
Lab Data function, which is described in MG 202 – Drillholes 1.
The File Editor understands the relationship between Hole ID’s and
From-To intervals, and can be much more efficient than a spreadsheet
application for entering tabular data.
Use the Calculator to perform a calculation on a Micromine file.
Select File | Import | Microsoft Excel from the main menu, then
Select the input File, and input Sheet, then
Enter a target File name, and
Choose the Fields to Import.
Don’t use LAYER as an output field name: it’s reserved in many CAD/GIS
file formats.
Help Topics
Importing from Excel Files and Fields > Files > Import > Microsoft Excel
Importing text data Files and Fields > Files > Import > Text
Importing or Files and Fields > Files > Import > ODBC
linking ODBC
Importing CAD/GIS/GPS Files and Fields > Files > Import > Vector
(CAD/GIS/GPS) Data
The File Editor Files and Fields > Files > File Editor
Calculate (Expression) Files and Fields > Fields > Calculate (Expression)
Good Practice
If you’re importing text files that all have the same format, create a form set
containing the import parameters. This will save you re-entering parameters
every time you need to import data in the same format.
Whenever you import tabular data that did not originate in Micromine, right-
click and view the input file before importing it. After importing, right-click and
view the newly created Micromine file to ensure it’s correct. If not, you can
change settings and re-import without closing and re-opening the dialog.
Duration: 40 minutes
The first two options are designed to validate the contents of fields in a file,
whereas the last three are designed to validate drillhole and trench data.
File | Fields | Validate is more powerful because it can validate any number
of fields in one pass and you can set validation ranges on numeric fields. You’ll
use this function in this lesson.
The Validate function checks the specified fields in the target file for correct
values. If it finds an incorrect value it will write an error message to a report
file, along with the name of the field and the number of the record in which
the error was found.
A check file is used to validate the contents of fields where there’s a fixed set
of possible values, which most commonly applies to character fields. The Val-
idate function determines whether the values are correct by comparing them
against the check file. If a value exists in the target file but doesn’t exist in the
check file, it’s considered an invalid entry. You must have previously created
the check file.
Although it’s possible to use a check file to validate numeric fields (e.g. 1 =
MINED, 0 = UNMINED), most numeric validation is done by range checking.
The Validate function determines which values are valid by testing if they fall
within the ranges that you specify. Range checking helps to eliminate
typographical errors and other mistakes that often occur in data entry.
There are many ways to create a check file. If your company uses a
corporate database, you should be able to create one by importing the
relevant lookup table or pick list from the database. Otherwise you can
use File | Fields | Extract Unique to list all codes – including errors –
that exist in the main data table. Clearly you must correct the errors in
the extracted data before using it as a check file.
The Fields Validate dialog is split into two parts: The left-hand portion
controls the input, check, and report files, and you define the various validation
rules in the Fields to Validate list on the right.
2. Fill out the left-hand column of the Fields Validate dialog as listed:
Prompt Setting
Input File NVG_Lith_with_Error
Type DATA
Data type DRILL HOLE
Check file NVG_Valid_Lith
Type DATA
Report file Invalid_Lith
The listed codes are all confirmed as being valid; therefore, any codes in
NVG_Lith_with_Error that are absent from the check file will be recorded as
invalid. (Description and frequency are not needed here.)
Both data types validate in exactly the same way; only the way in which
errors are reported changes. If you use the GENERAL data type, errors
are reported as being on LINE x of the input file. If you use DRILL HOLE,
errors are reported as being on LINE x, HOLE y, FROM a TO b.
4. Now, set up the Fields to Validate list as shown here (press Enter to
create the second row):
When you enable Case Sensitive, values in the file you’re validating must
match the case of your check file or they’ll be recorded as invalid. For example,
ANDS would be seen as being different to ands or Ands.
5. Click the Run button on the dialog to run the process, and dismiss the
Errors were detected message box.
6. The Fields Validate window will disappear, leaving the Report Viewer Notes:
docked at the bottom of the window.
7. Double-click a record in the Report Viewer. This will take you to the
matching record in the Input File, which you can correct if necessary.
8. Close the file and Report Viewer window once you are done.
It detects:
Notes: Micromine performs this validation by checking the relationship between the
files and the relevant fields, as illustrated below. For example, it checks for
missing holes by listing the hole IDs it finds in each file and then checking to
see if any are missing from any of the other files.
Hole ID Collar
Coordinates
Total Depth File
Hole ID Survey
Survey Depth
Azimuth/Inclination File
Alternatively, you can validate all files in one pass using Drillhole | Validate Notes:
| Drillhole Database. Creating and validating a drillhole database is
explained in MM 102 – Displaying and Manipulating Data.
As you can see, drillhole data undergoes comprehensive testing. You should
always validate drillhole data to ensure trouble-free use in later processes.
Prompt Setting
File NVG_Collar
Type DATA
Hole field [Automatic]
Easting, Northing, Z field [Automatic]
Total depth field [Automatic]
3. Switch to the Survey File tab and make the following entries:
Prompt Setting
Use Survey File Enabled
File NVG_Survey
Type DATA
All other fields... [Automatic]
Azimuth correction [Blank]
Apply to 1st azimuth Disabled
Prompt Setting
Use Interval File Enabled
File NVG_Assay_with_Error
Type DATA
All other fields... [Automatic]
5. There are no event files to validate, so skip the Event File tab.
Prompt Setting
File DH_Valid
Check for missing intervals Enabled
Allow zero length intervals Disabled
Check for missing holes Enabled
Check deviations in 3D Selected
Check maximum deviation Enabled
Check inclinations/azimuths Not available
Check sample interval lengths Disabled
Valid inclination/ Not available
azimuth change
Max 3D deviation (deg/m) 0.05
Max interval length Not available
Grade field Not available
7. Click OK. You’ll receive a message saying, There were X errors found.
These errors are written to the Report File and will be shown in the
Report Viewer when you click OK to dismiss the message box.
8. Inspect the report file and note the errors. The file begins with some
downhole survey errors caused by consecutive surveys deviating by
more than 0.05° per metre.
These errors could in fact consist of valid data and it’s entirely up to you to
determine whether or not corrections are required. For this exercise you’ll
assume they’re valid.
9. Scroll to the bottom of the file and double-click the last record.
10. Close the file and Report Viewer in preparation for the next exercise.
You probably noticed that Micromine knew the names of the fields in the
drillhole files. You can set the fieldnames that Micromine allocates to
dialog prompts by selecting Tools | Form Sets |Options from the
main menu and switching to the Defaults tab. Here you can enter the
fieldnames you use at your site.
To ensure consistent results you must validate data before using it.
Validation is important for data that will be stored in a central database.
The value of a resource project may depend on the validity of its data.
Validation processes can be automated on sites with consistent codes.
Drillhole data should be validated before using it in other drillhole
processes.
Good Practice
Help Topics
Lesson 6 – Filters
Notes:
Duration: 45 minutes
Micromine filters allow you to subset data of interest from a larger dataset
based on a condition that you specify. This might be useful if, for instance, you
only wanted to work with drillholes completed during 2016. Most functions
have a filter option, and filters can be saved as form sets. As you’ve already
seen, form sets allow you to re-use previous settings.
Once you enable the filter you then edit the conditions by right-clicking (or
pressing F4) on the filter number. The number is blank in the screenshot
above, but will appear here once you save the filter as a form set. To choose
an existing filter, click the form button at right of the filter number (or press
F3) and choose the form set from the list.
You edit embedded form sets by right-clicking the form set number on
the parent dialog.
The Filter dialog is divided into three areas: groups of settings at the top and
bottom of the dialog and a list of conditions in the Filter Conditions grid. If
you open a filter from within another function the filter will automatically
choose the correct filename. The rest is up to you.
The Records group allows you to subset by record numbers (say, records 0
to 100). It’s very easy to accidentally leave this option enabled, so please re-
member to disable it afterwards! In the event that a filter gives you exactly
everything you don’t want, enable the Reverse filter option to invert the filter
result. You should also remember to clear this option afterwards.
This filter condition only accepts records with a local easting greater than or
equal to 24900, and rejects records with an easting less than 24900. The field
name is EAST_LOCAL (chosen by clicking the list button), the operator is
Greater than or equal, and the value is 24900 (entered by typing). Enabling
the Numeric checkbox against a binary field instructs Micromine to compare
the coordinates at the full precision of the field, ignoring the displayed
decimals.
You can simplify a large or complex filter result by enabling Hide Unfiltered
Records from the file editor’s Filter menu or via the pulldown menu on
the Use Filtered Records button. With this option enabled, records that
do not pass the filter will be hidden altogether.
You must use a filter equation if a filter is too complex for a simple AND/OR
combination, which is covered in MG 201 – Surface Geology.
Using Wildcards
In addition to using Boolean operators to combine filter conditions you can
also use these wildcards to catch a variety of different values:
Wildcard Meaning
? Any single character
* Any characters (including blanks)
+ Any characters (excluding blanks)
! Everything except the filter value
(logical NOT)
$ Any string containing the filter value
You’ll put a filter to work in this exercise by revisiting the geochemical point
display from Exercise 4.5 and graphically illustrating the filtered results. Your
task is to create a filter to subset all geochemical samples whose coordinates
fall within the following ranges:
24900 – 25000E
15900 – 16000N
First, you need to reload the Point display you created earlier. To do this:
1. From the Vizex Forms pane at the top left of your screen, click the ex-
pand icon next to the Point form set type. You’ll see a single entry,
Soil geochemistry, immediately below the Point label.
2. Right-click the Soil geochemistry form set and select Open from the
pop-up menu. This will allow you to edit the form before displaying it.
Now you’ll modify it to only show data falling within the coordinate ranges:
3. Switch to the Input Data tab and enable the Filter check box.
4. Right-click (or press F4) the blank filter number to edit it. The Filter
dialog will appear.
5. Click the list ( ) button in the first Field Name cell and choose
EAST_LOCAL from the list.
6. Set the Operator to Greater than or equal.
7. Type 24900 into the Value cell and enable the Numeric check box.
8. Press Enter to create a new row, and repeat Steps 5 through 7 for the
remaining filter conditions. Your filter should look like the screenshot
overleaf.
Notes:
HINT: Use the ditto command (Ctrl+’) to copy from the cell above.
13. Select Edit | Remove All in preparation for the next lesson.
Filters are an extremely versatile way to subset only the data of interest
from a larger dataset.
Most Micromine functions have a filter option.
Filters can be saved as form sets, allowing them to be re-used.
Multiple filter conditions must be combined using a Boolean operator.
Right-click the File response and choose View from the pop-up menu,
then
Observe the relationship between records on white (accepted) and grey
(rejected) backgrounds.
Good Practice
Help Topics
Filters Files and Fields > Files > Filters > Using Filters
Notes:
Beginner
.
Micromine 2016 Training MM 102 – Displaying and Manipulating Data
Understanding Clipping........................................................................................................................ 45
The View Toolbar ................................................................................................................................ 46
The Display Limits Dialog ..................................................................................................................... 47
DISPLAYING AN INCLINED VIEW ..................................................................................................................... 51
The Rotate Tool .................................................................................................................................. 51
Understanding Rotation ....................................................................................................................... 51
The Display Limits Dialog ..................................................................................................................... 51
SECTION CONTROL FILES ............................................................................................................................. 53
ADDING DOWNHOLE INFORMATION................................................................................................................. 54
Creating a Text Colour Set ................................................................................................................... 56
Creating an Interval Hatch Display ....................................................................................................... 59
CREATING A PLOT FILE ................................................................................................................................ 63
LESSON 4 – SPATIAL EDITING ........................................................................................................ 68
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................... 68
The user Interface .............................................................................................................................. 68
Using the Spatial Editing Tools ............................................................................................................. 68
The Editing Toolbars ........................................................................................................................... 69
Editing Strings .................................................................................................................................... 72
Creating New Strings (or Points or Polygons) ........................................................................................ 74
Snapping ............................................................................................................................................ 75
CREATING NEW FILES ................................................................................................................................. 78
Controlling the File Structure ............................................................................................................... 78
INTERPRETING GEOLOGICAL SOLIDS ............................................................................................................... 79
Naming the Interpreted Strings ............................................................................................................ 79
Interpretation Steps ............................................................................................................................ 82
LESSON 5 – WORKING WITH DTMS ................................................................................................ 88
INTRODUCING DIGITAL TERRAIN MODELS (DTMS) ............................................................................................. 88
Draping Images onto DTMs ................................................................................................................. 91
Tables
Sidebars
Exercises
Lesson 1 – Vizex
Notes:
Duration: 45 minutes
Vizex is Micromine’s graphic environment and is what you see whenever you
open Micromine.
You use Vizex to display, edit, and interact with all Micromine data types, as
well as data from many mining, CAD, GIS, GPS and image processing applica-
tions. Micromine data types include basic elements like points, strings and
polygons, and compound information like downhole data, dynamic contours,
wireframes, block models and open pit or underground mine designs. The
broad range of editing tools includes snapping, smoothing, weeding, gradients,
curves and draping, along with CAD and wireframing tools. Vizex also supports
seamless transitions between plans, sections and inclined views.
Introduction
The Visual Explorer (Vizex) is a fully interactive viewing environment for all
Micromine and many third-party data types. You add data to Vizex in a few
different ways: by dragging-and-dropping it, by using the Vizex Forms
pane to configure its appearance before loading it, or by using the Display
pane to change the properties of the visible layers.
Any Vizex display can be saved as a Saved View, which can easily be recalled
at a later stage. This gives you a means of quickly restoring a view without
having to rebuild it from scratch. Vizex displays can be exported or plotted to
a variety of formats including 3D PDF, simplifying the process of sharing 3D
data with colleagues who may not have access to Micromine.
In this exercise you’ll load a previously saved view containing some example
display layers.
1. Expand the Saved View list by clicking the expand icon to the left of
the Saved View node. This node is located at the top left of your screen,
immediately under the menu and toolbar.
2. Drag the Introducing Vizex saved view into the graphic display to load it
as a layer group.
You can read about saved views and layer groups in Strategies for Using Saved
Views and Layer Groups at the end of Lesson 2.
3. Vizex will load a number of different layers into the window and change
the window extents to match those of the saved view:
Vizex consists of three main windows (Figure 1.1): the graphic display, which
covers most of the screen, the Vizex Forms pane, which normally docks at
the left edge of the screen, and the Display pane, which also normally docks
at the left. If having these windows at the left is not your preference you can
easily dock them against any other window edge, stack them over each other,
float them over the graphic display, or drag them onto a second monitor.
The Vizex Forms and Display panes may be auto-hidden by clicking the Auto
Hide button at their top right hand corners, temporarily reducing them to a
small tab at the docked edge and maximising the graphic display area. Hover
the mouse over a tab to restore it to the view.
There are numerous toolbars at the top (and possibly sides) of the screen,
which provide a variety of tools for selecting and manipulating data, and for
manipulating the view. Depending on the specific menu options you select,
Vizex may also add additional toolbars.
Contour: Labelled 3D contours drawn Drillhole: Drill data with many label,
on-the-fly from wireframes, grids or pattern and symbol options. Drillhole
strings. Classified by line, label and solids and between-hole seam
colour. Exploration module. correlation in Exploration module.
Pie Chart: Multivariate point data with Image: Raster data such as satellite
each variable displayed as a pie imagery and aerial photographs, from
segment, classified by radius and colour. many file formats. May be positioned
Exploration module. in any 3D orientation.
You can also drag supported files directly into Micromine from Windows/File
Explorer, an email client, or a compressed file archive, and drop them into the
Vizex Forms pane, the Display pane, the File Editor, or the Script Editor. Certain
file types will prompt you to choose from a collection of items, and others may
display a dialog for importing data that can’t be displayed in its native format.
1. Display the Project Explorer pane by clicking the tab at the bottom of
the Vizex Forms pane.
2. Locate the Example_Topo_Contours.STR file.
3. Using the left mouse button, drag the file into Vizex.
Although the Vizex Forms pane and the Project Explorer pane will both display
data in Vizex, they have different purposes and workflows. The Project
Explorer is a convenient tool for displaying data without having to configure
it beforehand. But, if you load the same data tomorrow you will lose any display
settings that you configured today. The Project Explorer can also target other
windows like the File Editor and Plot Editor.
In comparison, the Vizex Forms pane has a more formal workflow that relies
on creating, saving, and reusing form sets. Once you save a form set, you can
redisplay it at any time and instantly see all of your display settings. Unlike the
Project Explorer, the Vizex Forms pane only targets Vizex.
We recommend using the Project Explorer to display data you’re seeing for the
first time or only intend to use once, and the Vizex Forms pane to display data
you intend to reuse on an ongoing basis. In either case you can always save
a form set for any data you decide to reuse.
Display Pane
The Display pane lists the currently loaded display layers, and you use it to
manage those layers. From here you can hide or show a layer, remove it,
change its properties, or save it.
Notes:
To show or hide a layer, simply click the checkbox alongside it. When you
remove a layer (by right-clicking it and choosing Remove from the pop-up
menu, or by clicking it and pressing the Delete key), it’s removed from the
graphic display and the Display pane. However, the form set you used to load
the layer is still available for selection in the Vizex Forms pane.
In layer order, objects are drawn in order from the bottom of the Dis-
play pane upwards, like sheets of paper on a traditional light table.
In 3D order, objects are drawn in 3D sequence from the most distant
to the closest, irrespective of their order in the Display pane.
In layer order you modify the display by dragging the layers into the desired
order. The bottom layer is drawn first, the one above that is drawn next, and
so on. Conversely, in 3D order the distance from each individual object to your
viewpoint determines the drawing sequence; closer objects are always drawn
in front of more distant ones.
Vizex always defaults to 3D order, but you can switch between the two modes
by clicking the Toggle Depth Testing button near the top of the Display
pane. The next exercise will introduce the Display plane and the drawing order.
This exercise will show you how to manage the graphic display using the
Display pane. First, you’ll edit and save a layer’s properties:
Notes: 2. Switch to the Display Options tab and click the list ( ) button in the
Colour field response (about half way down). Choose RL from the list.
3. Click the form button in the Colour set response and choose set
number 3, which is titled NVG_TOPO DTM Colours.
4. Click Save As, enter the Title Example Topo contours, and click OK
twice to save and apply the changes.
You’ll learn more about saving and using form sets throughout the course.
Now you’ll show a hidden a layer:
5. Click the check box next to the Aeromag data layer to show it. Make
sure it’s visible before proceeding to the next step.
The aeromag surface hides all of the other data because its values are so much
larger than the topographic elevation. You’ll fix this by changing the drawing
order:
6. Right-click the Aeromag data layer in the Display pane and choose
Move to Bottom from the pop-up menu. Alternatively, drag it to the
bottom of the list.
Because Vizex is in 3D order, lowering the Aeromag data layer has no effect
on the display! In 3D order the spatial location of the data, not its position in
the layer list, controls its appearance. You can fix this by switching the display
to layer order instead.
7. Click a blank part of the Display pane (below the listed layers) to
ensure there are no selected layers. Alternatively, click the Vizex node
at the top of the layer list.
8. Click the Toggle Depth Testing button near the top of the Display
pane to turn off depth testing.
Now everything else is visible, and the Aeromag data appears below the other
layers because it’s below them in the Display pane.
9. Select the Aeromag data layer in the Display pane and press the Delete Notes:
key on the keyboard to remove it. Or, right-click and choose Remove
from the pop-up menu.
10. Leave the view open in preparation for the next exercise.
The View toolbar includes a number of tools for zooming and panning, includ-
ing a zoom undo and redo memory. (The remaining buttons are introduced in
Lesson 3 – Working with Drillholes.)
This exercise will introduce you to the basic view tools. First, you’ll learn to use
the middle mouse button:
3. Click the Pan Tool and drag the mouse in the display.
4. Click the Zoom Tool and drag a medium-sized rectangle in the
middle of the screen. When you release the mouse, Vizex zooms to the
extents of that rectangle.
5. Click the Previous View button to return to the previous extents.
6. Click the Pan Tool and hold the Ctrl key. Now drag the mouse
vertically in the graphic display to activate an alternative dynamic
zoom.
7. With the view zoomed-in, right-click on the Example drillhole trace layer
in the Display pane and choose View Selection from the pop-up
menu. The view will adjust to fit the drillhole trace layer into the screen.
Note how the drillholes are surrounded by a blue rectangle, which
indicates the layer is selected.
Notes: 8. Lastly, click the View All button to restore the view to its original
state.
Grid Settings
Vizex includes a variety of coordinate grid overlays. You load or change a
coordinate overlay by selecting View | Grid | Grid Settings from the menu
or clicking the Grid Settings button on the Grid toolbar.
Vizex normally calculates the best grid spacing to present a reasonable number
of grid lines using spacing values that increase in a 1, 2, 5, 10 sequence.
However, you can enable User-defined Line Spacing to control the spacing
yourself should you need a specific grid spacing.
This exercise will take you through the process of loading a predefined grid
using auto-spaced dotted gridlines with mE, mN, and mRL labels.
The grid stays visible after you select Edit | Remove All because it’s a
property of the view, not the data.
Notes:
You create additional windows in one of two different styles: full-size windows
that are tabbed or tiled with the main window, or variable-size overviews that
can either be docked or floating.
The New Overview Window option creates an overview that may omit
some layers to simplify the overview. You set which layers are visible by
clicking the Toggle Object Overview Window Visibility button in the
Display pane toolbar.
The two window conversion options maintain the original window contents.
You predefine which layer types appear in the overview window by selecting
Tools | Options | Vizex, switching to the Layer Defaults tab, and then
selecting or de-selecting the desired Vizex form sets in the Overview list.
Whenever you open multiple full-sized windows, you can use Ctrl+Tab to
rapidly switch between them. This does not, however, apply to floating
windows, which are excluded from the tab sequence.
To create a new Vizex document, click the Open New Vizex Instance
toolbar button. In addition to the new window you’ll also see an empty Vizex
node in the Display pane, and you’re free to choose data for that window.
Saved Vizex form sets must, however, originate from the same project as the
original window.
Click the Open New Vizex Instance toolbar button (you can also
use this to create a completely new Vizex document)
Load any form set or saved view from the Vizex Forms pane, or
Load any form set or saved view from the Display menu.
This lesson has covered the fundamentals of Vizex and has shown you how to
work within it. Here’s what you’ve learnt so far:
Expand the Saved View list by clicking the expand icon to the left of
the Saved Views node in the Vizex Forms pane, and
Double-click or drag the saved view into the graphic display, or
Right-click | Load the saved view.
To save a view:
Expand the appropriate form set list by clicking the expand icon to
the left of its type in the Vizex Forms pane, then
Drag the form set into the graphic display, or
Double-click the desired form set to load it.
Click the layer in the Display pane and then press the Delete key, or
Right-click the layer in the Display pane and choose Remove from
the pop-up menu.
Deselect all layers (by clicking a blank part of the Display pane, below
the listed layers, or by clicking the Vizex node), and
Click the Toggle Depth Testing button.
To modify the display order of layers (only applies to layer order mode):
Drag the layers in the Display pane into the desired order, from the
bottom up, or
Right-click a layer and choose Move to Top or Move to Bottom.
Select the Pan Tool and hold the Ctrl key whilst dragging vertically.
Good Practice
Always load Vizex forms from the Vizex Forms pane and change the prop-
erties of layers from the Display pane. If you try to change the properties of
an Untitled layer from the Vizex Forms pane, you risk duplicating the layer
instead of changing its properties.
Use the Project Explorer to display data you’re seeing for the first time or only
intend to use once, and the Vizex Forms pane to display data you intend to
configure and reuse on an ongoing basis.
Display layers that haven’t been saved as form sets appear in the Display pane
as Untitled layers, whereas those that have been saved are listed by title. You
should only leave temporary, once-off layers Untitled.
Any layer worth viewing more than once is worth saving as a form set.
Help Topics
Vizex Forms pane Vizex > Windows > Display Pane > Vizex Form
Sets Pane
Depth testing Vizex > Windows > Display Pane > Depth testing
(link on page)
layered Display
Duration: 60 minutes
Once you acquire and validate the data for a project the next step is to combine
the different data sets into a multi-layered display. The tasks in this lesson
demonstrate how to create a display in which all data sets in the project can
be integrated.
Symbolising Data
Vizex forms include a large number of symbology options, such as foreground
and background colour, symbol (marker), size (scaling), line style and pattern.
Many forms support compound symbology, for example to combine colour,
marker and scaling using three different attribute fields. In most cases you
create a specific form set, such as a colour set or symbol set, to define each
component of your symbology. However, there are exceptions: colour can also
be read directly from a field containing appropriately formatted RGB values,
and scaling is defined using ranges or a simple equation.
The following topics and exercises introduce some of the Vizex form types and
their associated symbology by setting up an example of each. Because of
Micromine’s consistent design you’ll be able to use the techniques you learn
here on other Vizex forms.
Most surface geochemistry data can be displayed as points. Colouring and siz-
ing the point symbols according to their geochemical value increases the visual
effectiveness of the geochemical display.
A colour set makes it easy to differentiate between values, regions and other
objects in the display. Micromine provides you with many tools for creating
colour sets, and because they are saved as form sets you can use them
anywhere in a project, and can even export them to other projects. This
promotes consistency and saves time.
There are two types of colour sets: numeric and text. You use numeric colour
sets with numerical data and text colour sets with character data. In this lesson
you’ll create a numeric colour set.
Refer to the help for information on displaying colour directly from a file field.
Point symbol sizes in Vizex may either be fixed or scaled. Fixed symbol sizes
are stated in points. They always stay the same size regardless of the zoom
level, and zooming in or out therefore changes the visual relationships between
neighbouring symbols.
Scaled symbol sizes are stated in real-world units (e.g. metres). They grow
larger when you zoom in and smaller when you zoom out, preserving the visual
relationships between them. This method generally produces a better display.
Vizex has two methods for varying the size of each symbol in a Point layer:
factor, which adjusts the size of each symbol based on the values in the
scaling field, and ranges, which limits the symbols to the sizes you specify.
The factor method works by multiplying the symbol sizes (either fixed or
scaled) by the corresponding values in the scaling field. It takes some optional
parameters (base value, minimum radius and maximum radius), which may be
needed if the original symbol is fixed-size. They are described in the help.
A natural log transform may optionally be applied, which varies the symbol
sizes in proportion to the logarithms of the original values. It is generally only
needed for data with a strong positive skew, such as the assay values of many
precious metals.
Now is a good time to recap the ways to manage Vizex form sets and layers,
before you begin the next exercise.
Notes: To display a new Vizex form, double-click the required form type in the
Vizex Forms pane. For example, to display new strings, double-click the
String type. Alternatively, select the type from the Display menu.
To display a previously saved form set, click the expand icon next to the
matching form type in the Vizex Forms pane to expand its list, and then
drag the desired form set into the graphic display. For example, to load the
Topographic contours form set, click the next to the String type, and then
drag Topographic contours into the display.
Alternatively, you can double-click the saved form set to load it.
First you’ll reload the Soil geochemistry form set you created in MM 101:
1. If the Point list is not already expanded in the Vizex Forms pane, click
the expand icon next to the Point form to expand it.
2. Drag the Soil geochemistry form set into the graphic display. You’ll see
the original labelled black circles in the graphic display and the Soil
geochemistry layer name in the Display pane.
Next you’ll open the Point dialog to change the properties of the layer:
3. Double-click the Soil geochemistry layer in the Display pane to open the
Point dialog.
4. Click the Points tab to activate it.
5. About half-way down the Points tab, click the list ( ) button in the
Colour field response and select Au1 from the list that appears.
The colour field is the one whose values will determine the symbol colours.
Now it’s time to create the colour set. First you get the numerical values:
6. Right-click the Colour set response. The Edit Colour Sets (Numeric)
dialog will appear.
7. Change the Decimals at the top right of the dialog to 2.
8. Click the Assign button at right to open the Assign dialog.
Because you opened this dialog from an existing form the File and Value field Notes:
responses will be automatically filled out.
Five equal ranges are calculated. There’s also provision for values above and
below these ranges, which means the colour table contains seven entries.
There are three methods for assigning values to a numeric colour set:
RANGES, which divides the data equally between the min and max val-
ues, PERCENTILE, which splits the data into sorted groups containing the
same number of values, and STATISTICAL, which arranges the data by
the mean and standard deviation.
Alternatively, you can type your own values into the Value column.
Next you allocate a colour to each range, which you’ll do in this exercise by
creating a gradational colour ramp between blue and red:
1. Double-click the colour box beside the first entry (labelled < 3.00).
2. Select a dark blue colour and click OK, or double-click dark blue.
3. Double-click the last completed row (>= 726.00) and select red.
4. Right-click anywhere in the colour table and choose Colour Ramp All
from the pop-up menu. The intermediate values will receive colours that
vary between red and blue (ignore the blue selection highlight):
Notes: Now that the colour set is created, it’s time to save it:
5. Click the Save As button (on the Edit Colour Sets dialog).
6. Enter Soil geochem Au1 as the colour set Title. There’s no need to
change the number of the colour set; Micromine automatically finds the
next available number.
7. Click OK. Note how the title Soil geochem Au1 now appears at the top of
the Edit Colour Sets dialog.
8. Return to the Point dialog by clicking Save and Close. The number
allocated to the colour set will appear in the Colour set response.
In addition to colour ramping, there are two other ways to add colours to
a colour set. You can either double-click each colour box and choose a
specific colour from the colour selection, or Select a standard palette
from the Palette option towards the right of the Edit Colour Set dialog.
The colours are completed, so now you can scale the symbols. Begin by
configuring the original symbol to use a scaled size:
Prompt Setting
Default size factor: [Blank]
Scaling field: AU1 (click the list button)
Natural log transform: Enabled
Method: Factor
6. Click the Factor Values button and inspect the options on the dialog.
They are not needed for this display, so simply close the dialog once you
are done.
Now that the Point layer is completed, it makes sense to save the changes for
later re-use:
7. Click the Save button (on the Point dialog). Micromine will save the
new settings, overwriting the previous version.
8. Click OK on the Point dialog to update the display, which should now re- Notes:
semble this screenshot:
It’s important to save form sets if you plan to use them more than once,
but how do you know if they’ve been saved? Micromine gives you three
kinds of confirmation:
The Title of a saved form set appears at the top of the dialog. If you
don’t see the name, you’re not working with a saved form set.
In Vizex, new (and unsaved) form sets are marked in the Display pane as
Untitled, so you can see at a glance whether or not you’ve saved them.
If you’ve modified a layer but haven’t saved it, the layer name will be
shown in blue instead of black text.
You’ll learn to display and label property boundaries in the next exercise.
In this exercise you’ll display a string file containing property boundaries. First,
select the data and set the display options:
1. Double-click the String form type in the Vizex Forms pane to open the
String dialog. Or, select Display | String from the menu.
2. Ensure that the Input Data tab is active and the file Type is set to
STRING.
3. Click the browse button in the File response and choose
Properties.STR from the list.
Micromine automatically found the right coordinate fields; however, you must
provide the name of a string field that uniquely identifies each property.
You’ll learn more about string fields in Lesson 4 – Spatial Editing.
4. Click the list ( ) button in the String field response and choose
PROPERTY.
5. Switch to the Display Options tab and set these Line Style options:
Prompt Setting
Line field: SURVEYED (list button)
Property survey status
Line set:
(form button)
Line type: Solid
Line width: 0.13 mm (THIN)
6. Remove any Colour field and Colour set entries and set the Default
colour to dark green.
7. Switch to the Polyline Labels tab and set the following options:
Prompt Setting
Label Polylines: Enabled
Only display labels for
Enabled
polygons:
Label Field (1): PROPERTY (list button)
Tahoma Scaled 20 Grid units
Text properties:
(double-click AaBbYyZz text)
8. Click the Save As button on the String dialog and set the Title to
Property boundaries.
9. Click OK to save the form set. Note how its title now appears at the top
of the String dialog.
10. Click OK on the String dialog to return to Vizex and update your display.
11. To view all of the boundaries, right-click the Property boundaries layer in
the Display pane and select View Selection from the pop-up menu.
Most people use a GIS to manage their property boundaries and although you
used a string file in this exercise, in the workplace you should use the original
GIS file. You’ll learn about displaying GIS data later in this lesson.
In the next exercise you’ll use an ER Mapper ECW image with georeferencing
data supplied in Micromine’s GRF format.
In this exercise you’ll drag the image into Vizex, and then configure the layer
and save it as a form set:
In addition to horizontally referencing the image, the GRF file also sets its
elevation to 1600 metres, which is the average elevation of the surface
topography in that area.
5. Switch to the Display Options tab and drag the Transparency slider
to around 20%. This will stop the image overpowering the other
information in the display.
6. Ensure Interpolation is set to BILINEAR.
7. Click Save As to save a form set with the Title Air photo. Click OK on
the Save Current Values and Image dialogs to return to Vizex.
8. Observe the result. Some of the property boundaries and geochemical
samples have disappeared! However, if you look carefully you’ll see they
are still there – they’re faintly visible below the image.
This is a plan view (essentially in 2D) so you can solve this problem by
switching from 3D order to layer order:
9. Click the Vizex node in the Display pane to deselect all layers. Alterna- Notes:
tively, click a blank part of the Display pane, below the layers.
10. Click the Toggle Depth Testing button to put Vizex in layer order.
Now everything is faintly visible, below the image.
11. Right-click the Air photo layer and choose Move to Bottom from the
pop-up menu. Alternatively, you can drag it to the bottom of the layer
list. The photo is now below the other layers.
In 3D order, objects are drawn in 3D sequence from the most distant to the
closest, irrespective of their order in the Display pane. You normally use 3D
order when you’re working in an inclined view.
Lossless compression does not alter the image quality. However, the resulting
file may be larger than for lossy conversion. Additionally, compressing images
from another compressed format (such as JPEG) may increase the file size,
depending on the original compression settings.
1. Switch back to the Vizex Forms pane and then double-click the
CAD/GIS form type.
2. Switch to the Input Data tab and click the browse button in the
File response.
3. Navigate to the Import directory and choose nvg_geology.shp.
This will set the elevation of the data to the average topographic elevation.
13. Click the Save As button to save a form set with the Title Surface
geology.
14. Click OK on the Save Current Values and CAD/GIS dialogs to display the
geology map.
15. The geology map appears above the geochemical points and property
boundaries, so drag the Surface geology layer between the Soil
geochemistry and Air photo layers.
This view is now complete, and if you inspect the Vizex Forms pane you’ll
notice that the Point, Outline, Image, and CAD/GIS form types all have an
expand icon next to them, meaning they contain at least one saved form
set. Because you’ve saved these layers as form sets you can quickly reload
them any time you wish to reuse them.
You can demonstrate this by creating and then reloading a saved view.
1. Select View | Save Vizex View from the main menu. Or, double click
the Saved View node in the Vizex Forms pane and choose Save on the
Forms dialog.
2. Enter the Title Regional plan and click OK to save the view.
4. Expand the Saved View list in the Vizex Forms pane by clicking the
expand icon to the left of the Saved View node.
5. Drag the Regional plan saved view onto the graphic display (or double-
click it) to open it.
Vizex has reconstructed your layers, achieving the same result as if you had
individually loaded each one by hand.
Micromine will create a plot file and open a plot layout containing the plot
data. You’ll learn more about plotting in MM 104 – Plotting 1.
6. Close the Plot Editor window by clicking the Close button on the
Plan.PEX tab.
7. Lastly, select Edit | Remove All to clean up the display.
Alternatively, you can export the view to 3D PDF via View | Export
Vizex Scene to | 3D PDF, as detailed in MM 103 – Showcasing Your
Project.
Although you might be tempted to save a single view containing all data from
every project area, and then toggle the individual layers as needed, it’s not a
good way to work. Each layer consumes memory, even when it’s turned off or
outside the current view, and loading many unused layers simply burdens your
computer for no real benefit. Saving a handful of different views gives you the
same convenience without wasting your computer’s resources.
To produce a series of drillhole cross-sections that share the same data, save
one view that contains the data for all sections within the project area, and
then define a series of named sections in a section control file, as
described in the next lesson. Don’t save different views to for each section;
although saved views do store view orientation parameters, it’s not their main
purpose.
There are two ways to save a view, by select View | Save Vizex View from Notes:
the menu, or by double-clicking the Saved View node and choosing Save
from the dialog. Whenever you save a view you also save edit locking, snap
status, depth testing, perspective, and overview visibility.
Similarly, there are several ways to load a saved view; by dragging it into
Vizex, by double-clicking it, via right-click | Load, or via right-click |
Add as Group.
There are a number of ways to create a layer group, which involve right-
clicking multiple selected items in the Vizex Forms pane or Display pane (hold
the Ctrl key to select them), and then choosing an option from the menu. The
Vizex Forms pane includes options to Add as Group or Display as Group.
It also includes a Display All option for displaying the form sets in a Vizex
form set folder.
The right-click options in the Display pane comprise Create Group, with a
corresponding Ungroup.
This lesson has taught you to construct a basic Vizex display, as well as create
and modify colour sets. Here’s what you’ve learnt so far:
Click the expand icon next to the appropriate form type in the
Vizex Forms pane to expand its list, then
Drag the form set into the graphic display, or
Double-click the form set.
Right-click the layer in the Display pane and choose Save Form As, or
Double-click the layer in the Display pane to open its dialog, then
Click Save As to create a new form set, or Save to overwrite an
existing form set.
Deselect all layers (click a blank part of the Display pane below the
listed layers, or click the Vizex node at the top of the Display pane), and
Click the Toggle Depth Testing button.
To modify the display order of layers (only applies to layer order mode):
Drag the layers in the Display pane into the desired order, from the
bottom up, or
Right-click a layer and choose Move to Top or Move to Bottom
from the pop-up menu.
To save a view:
Good Practice
Because Vizex form sets are so simple to create it’s easy to create multiple
versions of the same information. For example, you could create a String form
set for topographic contours coloured by elevation, and another with the same
contour data coloured according to whether they’re index or intermediate
contours.
Saving Display Layers as form sets is one of the key concepts for
efficiently using Vizex. Doing this allows you to very quickly rebuild a
complex display without redefining each layer.
A simple rule is: Any layer worth displaying more than once is
worth saving as a form set.
Help Topics
Image file formats Vizex > Display > Image > Supported raster image
formats
Depth testing Vizex > Windows > Display Pane > Depth Testing
(link on page)
Drillholes
Duration: 120 minutes
Lessons 1 and 2 focused on the basics of Vizex and introduced a few Vizex
form types. Drillholes are an integral part of Vizex and this lesson will teach
you to manage drillhole data and display the holes in plan, section and inclined
views.
Introduction
Vizex supports the downhole data summarised in Table 3.1. It uses a highly
efficient method called a drillhole database for handling the underlying data,
allowing you to easily manage all drilling data related to your project. Once
you’ve created the database, simply use Vizex to display any combination of
downhole information in any view orientation.
This lesson will introduce the drillhole database and teach you how to create
and manage your drilling data. You’ll also learn to create and display a variety
of downhole information.
A simple drillhole database could consist of only one data file, but a typical Notes:
drillhole database uses three or more data files related to one another by the
ID of each drillhole. The files you’re most likely to use are:
Begin by specifying a collar file. Most modern drill data includes downhole
deviation survey data, so a downhole survey file is also needed. Together these
files control the location and trajectory of each drillhole.
Consequently, straight holes only need two points – at the collar and the end
of hole. However, curved holes are given a trace interval that varies according
to the curvature of the hole; the more curved the hole, the shorter the trace
interval and the more points required to draw it.
Notes: Vizex automatically tracks the relationship between event and interval files and
the associated collar and survey files, which means you don’t have to do it
yourself. The advantages of this system are:
In this exercise you’ll learn to build a drillhole database. The database has
some errors, which you’ll manage in the next exercise.
First, create the new database and specify the collar and survey files:
Collar attribute fields are used for labelling and filtering drillholes. You’ll learn
to label drillholes in the next exercise and to filter them in MG 202 –
Drillholes 1.
The survey file contains LOCAL and UTM azimuth fields, which is normal for a
resource project that uses a local grid. Clearly you must choose the right one
when creating the database.
Now it’s time to add the related downhole files (events and intervals):
8. Click the Event Files tab and then click the Add button.
Notes:
9. A new dialog will appear; select the Event File NVG_Structures. As be-
fore, Vizex will automatically fill out the compulsory fields.
10. Click OK. Vizex will add the file NVG_Structures.DAT to the database.
You’ve now set up the files for the new drillhole database. The last step is to
have Vizex validate and relate them and then build the database.
14. Click OK to build the database. Vizex will scan and validate the input
files, calculate the drillhole traces and then create the database.
Most drillhole databases are regularly updated through the addition of new
holes, merging of new assay and downhole survey data, and correction of
errors. To keep Micromine up to date you must refresh the drillhole database
whenever you change the underlying data.
Whenever the source data for a drillhole database includes underlying ODBC
or Access links (see MM 101 – Micromine Basics), Micromine will automatically
refresh the links along with the drillhole database, ensuring the drillholes are
fully updated.
If your project contains multiple drillhole databases, you can use Drillhole |
Database | Refresh Databases to refresh them all.
Automatic Validation
Micromine provides an auto-validation option that addresses the dynamic
nature of most drillhole databases, which is accessible via Tools | Options |
Drillhole Database. This function automatically performs all of the default
validations you learned about in MM 101. However, you can also optionally
check for missing holes and missing intervals, as shown in this screenshot:
As with previous validation runs Micromine opens the Report Viewer. For the
most part the errors are identical to those of the original validation; however,
you’ve also discovered an unexpected error in the NVG_Structures event file.
Notes: A missing hole ID in an event file isn’t a critical error and can be safely ignored,
but you would not have discovered it without performing this step.
In the following exercise you’ll use the first four tabs to set some basic drillhole
trace properties.
1. Click expand icon next to the Drillhole folder on the Vizex Forms
pane, and then double-click the Trace form type. Or, choose Display |
Drillhole | Trace from the menu.
With the database selected and the trace enabled you can now set some visual
properties of the traces. You’ll colour them according to their assay values,
display the Hole ID at the top and drill date at the bottom of each hole, and
symbolise the collars. You’ll use a previously calculated colour set to colour the
traces.
6. Enable Colour Coding and then click the browse button in the Notes:
Interval file response. Note how only the two interval files you added
to the database are listed. Select NVG_Assay.DAT.
7. Click the list ( ) button in the Colour field and choose AU1 PLOT.
8. Click the form button in the Colour set and select Drillhole Au1
(deciles) from the list.
9. Switch to the Hole Name tab and enable Show Hole Name.
10. Fill out the Top Label and Bottom Label groups as listed here:
Prompt Setting
Top Label > Location: AUTO
Top Label > Label: HOLE
Bottom Label > Location: CENTRE
Bottom Label > Label: DATE
Notes: 16. Double-click the blank Default symbol box (about half way down the
form), choose the large circle-dot symbol, and set its size to scaled 3
grid units. Click OK to apply the change.
These settings are worth re-using so you’ll save them as a form set:
17. Click the Save As button at right of the dialog and Title the new form
set Simple assay display.
18. Lastly, click OK on the Save Current Values and Trace dialogs to load
the traces, which should look something like this:
By default, Vizex creates each new view in plan orientation. However, a ver-
tical section, which may be orthogonal or oblique to the coordinate grid, is the
usual way to view subsurface drillhole information. (Oblique sections are
known as transform sections in Micromine.)
Micromine provides three ways to set the orientation, location and thickness
of a vertical section: the Vizex Sections toolbar and associated Sections
window, the Display Limits dialog, and via a Section Control File.
Use the Towards Distance and Away Distance boxes to control the
section thickness.
Optionally, use the Step to define a custom step distance between
sections.
Use the Clip View button to enable or disable section clipping.
The Sections window contains other tools for working with sections. It
provides direct access to the Display Limits dialog and any previously saved
Display Limits form sets, and a short-cut to Standard Sections such as PLAN
or LOOKING NORTH.
The remaining tools in the Sections window are dedicated to section control
files, which are introduced later in this lesson.
Notes:
The following topics explain the two main ways to use the Vizex Sections
toolbar and Sections window.
The Section Tool gives you a quick way to define a vertical section in any
orientation. Simply click the Section Tool button and drag a section line
across the display. Or, click the section’s start and end point. You can optionally
restrict the line to multiples of 30° or 45° by holding the Ctrl key as you drag.
When you release the mouse, Vizex will draw the section defined by the line.
This tool also clips the view using the current towards and away distances.
(See Controlling the thickness and Understanding Clipping for more infor-
mation on clipping.)
You can use the Section Tool even when the view is already a
section, making it very useful for setting up a ‘plane of the vein’ display.
For example, to view a long section through a dipping vein, start with a
plan view and drag a section parallel to the dip direction of the vein,
followed by a second section down-dip. Lastly, change the Roll to zero
(via the Display Limits) to correctly orientate the view.
Notes:
If you inspect the status bar cursor coordinate after using Section or Elevation,
you’ll notice that one of the coordinate values (depending on the view
orientation) remains fixed at the value you entered.
This control is not available for oblique (transform) sections; you should use
the Section Tool instead.
You set thickness of the section corridor (in any view orientation) with the
Towards Distance and Away Distance boxes, which remember previous
settings in the same way as the Section or Elevation box. Once the corridor
has been defined you can switch clipping on and off by clicking the Clip View
toolbar button.
When Clip View is enabled you can use the Previous Section and Next
Section buttons to browse through your data:
The default step size applied by the Previous and Next buttons is equal to the
total thickness of the section corridor, which is the sum of the towards and
away distances. It’s shown on the toolbar as a number in square brackets, as
illustrated above. You can use a custom step size by entering a different value
in the Step box, which will be shown without the square brackets. Delete the
custom step size (or re-enter the default value) to restore the default step size.
Understanding Clipping
As you’ve seen there are many ways to define the orientation and location of
a vertical section. However, you always use the towards and away distances
to define the thickness of the slice or corridor that will be displayed, by entering
values in the Towards Distance and Away Distance boxes. These values
represent the thickness of the corridor either side of the section plane, as
illustrated in Figure 3.1 overleaf.
Whenever you enable Clip View only the data falling within the corridor
defined by the distance values will be visible. So, if only part of a drillhole falls
within the data corridor, only that part will be visible and the remainder of the
hole will be excluded.
Notes:
The first six view buttons highlighted above correspond to orthogonal stand-
ard views. Their function differs from the corresponding standard sections in
the Sections window because they don’t automatically apply Clip View when
they are used. Instead they take whatever default clipping settings were
applied beforehand. In particular, the Plan standard view is useful for
returning to a plan view after having displayed a section.
There is one extra standard view icon than there are standard sections
because Looking Up is included as a standard view.
This part of the View toolbar also includes four isometric buttons for quickly
setting up an oblique and inclined view. On all buttons the shaded side of the
cube denotes the viewing direction.
The second way to set up a vertical section is by using the Display Limits
dialog, which you can access by:
The Display Limits dialog has three tabs, two of which are relevant to vertical
sections: Orthogonal and Transform (oblique). You can also define the
thickness of section corridor on the Display Limits dialog. The settings that are
applied will depend on which tab is active when you click the OK button.
The Orthogonal tab contains three main groups that allow you to vary the
View Type, view Limits, and clipping Window. The three groups are:
For example, for a Plan view, only the Z Section response is enabled and
the value you enter will set the screen elevation. Similarly, for a Looking
North view only the North Section response is enabled and the number
you enter will set the screen northing, or, if you’re Looking West, the
Section you enter will set the easting.
The Transform tab allows you to define an oblique cross section, controlling
orientation and location together. You do this by entering the endpoint coor-
dinates that define the section into the Section group; Vizex calculates the
bearing and length of the section based on those numbers. Vizex also provides
a preview window so you can see how the section will relate to the real world.
Although this technique gives you very precise control of settings that can also
be saved as a form set, the Section Tool is a faster way to draw a
transform section.
First, load a ground surface profile to provide some context for the drillholes:
1. Click the expand icon next to the Wireframe form (in the Vizex
Forms pane) to expand its list, and drag the DTM (2D slice) form set
into the graphic display.
Next, set up the section display using the Sections Window and Vizex
Sections toolbar:
2. Click the Sections tab underneath the Vizex Forms pane to reveal the
Sections Window.
3. Click the expand icon next to the Standard Sections node to
expand the list of standard sections, and double-click LOOKING NORTH.
Vizex will switch the view to looking north orientation and apply clipping.
However, the section number and towards and away distances are set to
default values that are not what you need for this display.
4. Enter the value 15900 into the Section or Elevation box on the
Sections toolbar.
5. Enter 15 for both Towards Distance and Away Distance. Micromine
will apply each change as you move off the box.
Now that the section is set up you can browse through the data:
Note how the value in the Section or Elevation box automatically updates each
time you change section. Moreover, the status bar at the lower right corner of
the screen shows the current 3D cursor coordinate (which incorporates the
section number when the view is orthogonal).
7. Click the Plan View button on the View toolbar to return to plan
view.
8. If necessary, reset the plan view by right-clicking the Simple assay
display layer in the Display pane and choosing View Selection from
the pop-up menu.
Observe how Vizex shows the section extents as you drag the mouse, as shown
on the following page. When you release the mouse, Vizex displays the
transform section.
Notes:
10. Click the Display Limits button on the Sections toolbar to open the
Display Limits dialog.
11. Note how the contents of the Transform tab have been filled out, and
then close the Display Limits dialog.
12. Click the Next and Previous Section buttons to browse the
data. Observe how the oblique orientation is maintained as you go.
13. Click the Move Section Plane button and drag the mouse vertically
within the graphic display.
Observe how this tool allows you to smoothly move the section plane through
your data instead of jumping in regular steps.
14. Click the Plan View button to return to plan view and then right-
click the Simple assay display layer and choose View Selection.
If you’re in a clipped section view while rotating, the section corridor will rotate
with the data, allowing you to view your section from different angles.
Understanding Rotation
Although the visible objects appear to move when you use the Rotate Tool
, your viewing location (the camera position) is actually moving around the
stationary objects. It pivots around an imaginary point (the viewpoint), which
is situated near the centre of the screen.
Most people want to rotate the view sideways or towards and away. To carry
out these to actions, either drag your mouse horizontally through the centre
of the screen to rotate the view sideways, or vertically through the centre
of the screen to rotate it towards or away. The view will twist diagonally if
you drag from a corner.
Constrained rotation
Pressing the X, Y, or Z key whilst rotating the view will limit the rotation
to the corresponding real-world axis. For example, pressing the Z key will
rotate the data about the Z (elevation) axis.
Pressing the U, V, or W key will have a similar effect, limiting the rota-
tion to the X, Y, and Z axes of the screen, respectively.
Most of the controls are beyond the scope of this training and should be left
at their current values, but you may alter the Inclination, Azimuth, and Roll
values if you’d like to view your data from a specific direction. Vizex will
automatically calculate the other parameters based on your changes.
Notes: The Window group is identical to the Orthogonal and Transform versions.
4. Once you finish viewing the inclined view, double-click the LOOKING
NORTH Standard Section to return to a cross-section view.
5. Click the pull-down button next to the Section or Elevation box and
choose 15900 from the list.
6. Select the Rotate Tool and drag the mouse in the graphic display. Notes:
7. As you rotate from the looking north view, observe how the section cor-
ridor, defined by a blue box, rotates with the data. Also note how the
section is highlighted as a pale blue plane.
8. Once you’ve completed viewing the section, click the Previous View
button until you return to the looking north view on a northing of 15900.
Alternatively, double-click the LOOKING NORTH standard section and
then choose 15900 from the Section or Elevation box.
9. Leave the display open in preparation for the next exercise.
Depth Testing : turn on for oblique views; turn off for plans and
vertical sections.
Sections within an SCF are known as named sections. You can use an SCF
to instantly move to any named section or browse through the sections,
regardless of their orientation and thickness.
You’ll use an existing SCF in the next exercise and learn to create a section
control file in MG 202 – Drillholes 1, which is part of the Exploration course.
This exercise shows how a section control file makes it easy to get to a specific
section.
1. To open the file, click the Open Section Control File button in the
Sections toolbar or window, and Open the NVG_Sections file.
2. You should now see NVG_Sections listed in the Sections window. Click
the expand icon next to it to expand the list of named sections. Alter-
natively, double-click it.
3. Double-click any named section to go immediately to that section.
4. Use the Previous and Next Section buttons on the Section
Control File toolbar to browse the sections.
5. Double-click 15900mN in the named sections list to return to that
section.
6. Leave the display open in preparation for the next exercise.
This example should give you an idea of the versatility of section control files.
There are many other tools for working with SCFs, which are described in more
detail in MG 202 – Drillholes 1.
Now that you’ve set up a coloured trace display based on assay value you’ll
place some assay labels using the same colour set:
Notes:
If more than one Label Field is selected, they will appear in columns to
the right or left of the drillhole depending on which side you select.
9. Switch to the Display Options tab and set the label Side to RIGHT.
10. Set the Text Properties to Tahoma Scaled 1 Grid unit.
11. Click Save As and save the form set with the Title Au Assay (deciles).
12. Click OK on both dialogs to load the labels.
With the assays labelled you’ll repeat the exercise to display lithology labels.
1. Double-click the Interval Label form type a second time and switch to
the Input Data tab.
2. The name of your Training database already appears in the dialog, so go
directly to the Interval file response.
3. Click the browse button in the Interval file response and choose
NVG_Lith.DAT.
4. Click the list ( ) button in the first Label field and choose LITH. You
have no lithological colour set at this stage, so blank out the existing
Colour set and ensure the default colour is BLACK:
5. Switch to the Display Options tab and set the label side to LEFT.
6. Set the Text Properties to Tahoma Scaled 2 Grid units.
7. Click Save As and save the form set with the Title Lithology (black).
8. Click OK on both dialogs to load the labels. You’ll see black labels
appear down the left hand side of each drillhole trace.
To simplify your colour set you can group similar values in one of two ways:
Auto Group, which groups the codes by the first n characters, or manual
grouping, where you decide which codes will be gathered together. Auto
grouping is best for hierarchical codes, such as standard Geological Survey
codes, where there’s a distinct hierarchy in the code structure. Non-hierarchical
codes are best handled using manual grouping. You’ll use manual grouping in
the following exercise.
In this exercise you’ll create a text colour set, grouping related codes to
simplify the colours.
1. Double-click the Lithology (black) layer in the Display pane to open its
dialog, and switch to the Input Data tab.
2. Right-click the LITH Colour set response to create the colour set. The
Edit Colour Sets (Text) dialog will appear.
3. Click the Assign button at the right of this dialog.
4. Micromine automatically identifies the file and field you’re working on, so
just click OK on the Assign dialog after it appears.
5. Click once anywhere below the ANDS | DACT entry in the Text column
to deselect it.
Notes:
6. Repeat Steps 3 through 5, this time with the FAUL and FBX codes.
7. Lastly, disable Add selected items to group and click the double right
arrow to move the remaining codes (NC, SED, and VEIN) as separate
entries. Your Assign dialog should look like this:
8. Click OK to close the Assign dialog. Your newly created groups will be
transferred to the Edit Colour Sets (Text) dialog.
With the codes created you can now turn your attention to the colours.
2. Click Save As and save the colour set with the Title Basic lithology.
3. Click Save and Close to return to Vizex. Note how the form set ID
appears in the Colour set response of the Drillhole Values dialog.
4. Do NOT click OK on the Interval Label dialog!
You’ll save these Drillhole Value settings as an alternative version of the black
labels form set you created earlier.
Note how the labels on the drillholes are no longer black, the layer name in
the Display pane is now Lithology (coloured), and a new form set appears
under the Interval Label form type in the Vizex Forms pane.
Had you not saved the Interval Label settings as a new form set Vizex
would have listed the layer name in the Display pane using blue text,
indicating it had been modified but not saved.
If you want to overwrite the old settings when you modify a Vizex form
set, click Save before you click OK.
Hatch sets allow you to place a fill pattern into any enclosed region. There are
three main uses for hatch sets:
Micromine includes large number of hatch patterns. However, you can use any
TrueType or OpenType font if you require additional patterns.
When you set up a hatch set you independently control the pattern, foreground
and background colours, symbol size and outline of each pattern. Additionally,
many Micromine functions allow you to independently control or override the
foreground and background colours.
With the Exploration module you can alternatively create a Solid Trace, which
draws the drillholes as 3D cylinders and is ideal for an inclined view.
In a drillhole interval hatch the filled regions are rectangles extending between
each FROM-TO interval, with widths that you specify in real-world units. So, a
hatch pattern with a width of four in a metric project is literally four metres
wide. Plotting it at 1:1,000-scale would produce a hatch width of 4 mm on the
paper. You can optionally use the contents of a numeric field to vary the hatch
width.
In this exercise you’ll add a geological hatch pattern to each drillhole trace,
building on an existing hatch set in which only some of the patterns have been
created.
1. Double-click the Interval Hatch Vizex form type and ensure the Input
Data tab is active.
Next, edit the hatch set and define the missing patterns:
8. Right-click the Hatch set number and choose Edit from the menu.
9. You’ll see the partially completed hatch set with code groups that were Notes:
Assigned using exactly the same procedure as Exercise 3.9.
10. Double-click the empty hatch pattern for the NC (No core) entry to open
the Fill Pattern dialog. Create a fill using a combination of pattern and
foreground, background, and border colours.
11. Repeat for the SED (Sedimentary Rocks) entry. Your hatch set should
resemble this (the labels are optional):
12. Click Save As to save the hatch set with the Title Basic lithology.
13. Click the New button next to the form set Number to pick up the first
available number (2) instead of 51.
14. Click OK followed by Save and Close.
The Colour Control option allows you to override the foreground and
background colours of a hatch set, and is best used whenever your
hatches are too simple or too complex to use a hatch set.
A typical too-simple scenario arises when you want to display values with
different colours using the same hatch pattern. Here you would use a
single Hatch along with a Foreground colour set.
A too-complex scenario might arise when many rock types are subjected
to many alterations. Instead of creating a hatch set containing all
possible rock/alteration combinations, create a rock type Hatch set and
use a Foreground colour set to overprint the alterations.
If you inspect the Side list, you’ll see that Vizex only provides options for LEFT
and RIGHT. Fortunately, there is an easy way to centre the hatch.
Notes: Lastly, save as a form set and then display the Interval Hatch settings:
4. Click Save As on the Interval Hatch dialog and save a form set with
the Title Drillhole lithology.
5. Click OK to return to Vizex. Your display should look like the screenshot
on the following page.
Offset the two interval label layers so that they aren’t overlapped by the
hatch pattern.
Switch the display to layer order mode.
1. Double-click the Au assay (deciles) layer to open its dialog, and switch to
the Display Options tab.
2. Enter an Offset distance of 2 for the Labels group.
3. Enter an Offset distance of 2 for the Ticks group.
4. Click Save followed by OK to save the form set and update the display.
5. Repeat the Steps 1 through 4 for the Lithology (coloured) layer.
6. Click the Vizex node in the Display pane to deselect all layers. Or, click
a blank part of the Display pane, below all listed layers.
7. Click the Toggle Depth Testing button to put the display into layer
order mode.
Note how the drill traces, which were originally visible down the centre of the
hatch, have disappeared as shown here:
8. Zoom in on a drillhole and observe how the label ticks stop exactly at
the edge of the hatch polygons.
9. Restore the view by right-clicking the Drillhole lithology layer in the
Display pane and choosing View Selection from the popup menu.
10. Keep the display open in preparation for the next exercise.
1. Click the Generate Plot File toolbar button. Or, select Plot |
Generate Plot File from the menu.
2. Enter a Plot file name of 15900mN. Don’t change any of the other
responses.
3. Click OK to make the plot file.
4. Micromine will create a plot file and open a plot layout of the plot data.
Naming the plot file with label text, such as 15900mN, will make it easier
to automate the plot title, which you’ll learn in MM 104 – Plotting 1.
The lessons and exercises you’ve covered so far are a preamble to sectional
geological interpretation, which is covered in Lesson 4.
This lesson has taught you to manage and display drillhole data. You’ve worked
with various kinds of downhole data, such as interval labels and hatch patterns.
Additionally, you’ve seen how to view data in cross section and inclined view
orientations, and how to set up text colour and hatch sets.
Double-click the desired Vizex form type in the Vizex Forms pane, then
Select the Database and appropriate files, and
Set up the display parameters as required.
Select the Standard Section from the Sections Window to set the
orientation, then
Enter the Section or Elevation, Towards Distance, and Away
Distance on the Sections toolbar to set the location and thickness, and
Optionally set the Step value.
Good Practice
The standard views on the View toolbar are different from the standard sec-
tions on the Sections Window. Choosing a standard view only changes the
view orientation, taking whatever default clipping and towards/away distances
were set beforehand, whereas choosing a standard section always applies
clipping. Use standard views, particularly Plan, to reset the view without
applying clipping, and use the standard sections to view a new section
orientation.
Use drillhole hatches to emphasise downhole variations. You can add as many
hatches as needed (for example for lithology, groundwater, oxidation state,
each of which would be offset from the others for clarity) to produce an
informative 3D graphic log. Optionally, use a numeric field to control the hatch
width.
It’s common for Micromine projects to contain many plot files. You can
automate the process of titling plots if you name the files with text that could
appear on the plot title, for example a file name of 15900mN representing the
section at 15900mN. This technique is covered in MM 104 – Plotting 1.
Help Topics
The Section tools Vizex > View > Sections and section control files
Much of the information in a mineral project is spatial data that you create
through the process of spatial editing. Geological examples include heads-up
air-photo or geophysical interpretations and sectional drillhole interpretations.
In engineering spatial editing is most often used for planning and design.
Use the Vizex Layers, String Editor, and String Editor Tools, and String
Tools toolbars
Move and copy a string
Insert, delete, and snap points
Create a new string file for a sectional interpretation
Create and name polygons within that string file
Interpret geological shapes using both fact and interpretation.
Introduction
Vizex contains a suite of tools for editing many form types. With these tools
you can create points, lines, and polygons; smooth and simplify strings; define
gradients and curves; drape strings onto a wireframe and snap to any other
object in the display. You can also easily insert, move and delete points, as
well as move, copy and delete entire strings. A range of CAD tools provides
advanced editing options.
New objects are always added to the active layer. If you haven’t chosen
an active layer, or if it’s the wrong type (for example, you can’t add a
string to a wireframe), Vizex will prompt you to choose an active layer.
You can change more than one layer at a time. Edited layers are marked with
an asterisk (*) in the Display pane, but the files aren’t saved until you specif-
ically do so, or attempt to remove or refresh them. Micromine provides a
number of ways to save your edits, which also depend on your preferences
and the task at hand.
If you forget to save your work, you’ll be prompted to save when you remove
or refresh an unsaved layer. However, we recommend that you always
explicitly save each file.
Select Active Layer pull-down list: Allows you to set an editable layer
as the active layer or create a new editable layer on-the-fly.
Active layer: Provides an alternative way to set an active layer.
String Editor
Snap Mode: Toggle snapping on and off; set snapping to object, point,
line, grid or intersection.
Between Tool: Toggle the creation of points between two mouse
clicks. Use with Snap Mode to snap between two points.
Enable Dynamic Input: Enables dynamic input of distance/direction.
Insert Points: Toggle the insertion of points into existing strings.
New Points: Draw new points.
New String: Draw a new string, which may be open or closed.
New Polygon: Draw a new closed string.
New Circle/Circumcircle: Draw a circle from a radius or three points
on the circumference.
New Ellipse: Draw an ellipse from a centre and two radii.
New Arc/Circumarc: Draw an Arc from a centre point and a start and
end point or three points on the circumference.
New Symmetrical Polygon: Draw a symmetrical polygon from a
centre point and radius.
New Two-Point/Three-Point Rectangle: Draw a rectangle from two
or three corner points.
Angle/Distance: Add a point by defining the bearing and distance to it
Enter Point from Keyboard: Add a new string point using the
keyboard.
Gradient tool: Set the gradient for a string.
Curve: Extend a string by appending a curve to the end point.
Extend String: Add points to the end of a string.
Close String: Closes a string, connecting the start and end points with
a new segment.
String Tools
Editing Strings
During a spatial editing session, the edit mode changes according to whether
your mouse pointer is above a point or a string, and whether that string is
already selected. You also control the edit mode by holding the Ctrl key. Vizex
gives you visual feedback on the selected editing mode by changing the shape
of the mouse pointer.
Some edit modes, for example extending, closing or reversing a string, are
available from the right-click context menu. Like the context editing modes,
the functionality changes according to what you’re doing at the time. Table 4.1
summarises the mouse context edit modes.
Many edit modes are only accessible after you activate the Select Tool,
so it’s a good idea to keep this tool active while you’re editing.
You use three main tools to control most of the editing process:
You’ll learn to use and combine these modes in the next exercise.
In this exercise, you’ll load a saved view containing several layers that you
might use for a sectional drillhole interpretation. You’ll then explore the edit
modes listed in Table 4.1, along with snap and insert modes.
1. Expand the Saved View list by clicking its expand icon in the Vizex
Forms pane.
2. Drag the String Editor saved view into the graphic display.
Vizex will load four layers, but only one, a string file containing a series of rock
unit interpretations, will be visible.
5. Place the mouse pointer over a string segment and drag to move the
entire string.
6. Hold the Ctrl key, place the mouse pointer over a string segment, and
drag to create a copy of the string.
Notes: 7. Release the Ctrl key, place the mouse pointer over a point and drag to
move it.
8. Hold the Ctrl key and click on a point to delete it.
9. Click the Snap Mode button and ensure that it’s set to Snap to Point
. Alternatively press the S key to activate Snap Mode.
10. Click on a point and drag to move it. Note how Vizex snaps to other
points in this layer as you drag.
Snap mode only applies within a certain tolerance; move closer to an obvious
polygon corner if you don’t see any snapping.
Zoom in using the mouse wheel if you need a smaller snap tolerance.
11. Change Snap Mode to Snap to Line using the pull-down menu at the
right of the Snap Mode button.
12. Click on a point and drag to move it. Note how Vizex now snaps to lines.
13. Click the Snap Mode button to deactivate it and then click the Insert
Points button to activate insert points mode. Or, press the S key to
deactivate Snap Mode and the I key to activate Insert Points.
14. Click on a string segment to insert a point.
15. Inspect the Geological Section 15900mN layer in the Display pane, and
note that it has an asterisk next to it indicating it’s been edited.
16. Right-click the Geological Section 15900mN layer in the Display pane
and choose Refresh from the pop-up menu. Answer No when
prompted to save your edits. The layer will revert to its unedited state.
To draw the new object, click the New Points , New String or New
Polygon toolbar button based on the object type you wish to create. (Only
New Points will be available for a point file.) Or, right-click anywhere in the
graphic display and choose New String or New Polygon from the pop-up
menu. Vizex will change the mouse pointer to a precise (crosshair) cursor to
indicate the change of mode. You can now add points as required.
You finish a new string in several different ways, depending on whether you Notes:
want to leave it open or closed. To finish the string and leave it open:
Vizex will change the mouse pointer back to the Select Tool to indicate the
new string is finished. To close the string:
Choose New Polygon when you create it and use one of the above
methods to finish it. The string will automatically close.
Digitise the last point over the first. Provided you’re reasonably accurate
Vizex will automatically snap the two points.
If you used New String , create an open string as above and then
right-click and choose Close String from the pop-up menu.
Closing a string automatically finishes it and changes the mouse pointer back
to the Select Tool.
To set the properties of a string, select it and switch to the Properties window
(tabbed with the Vizex Forms and Sections panes). You can edit any prop-
erty that is not shown in grey text. Use the Property Window toolbar
button to reopen the Properties window if you can’t see it.
You can optionally configure Vizex to prompt you for the properties every
time you create a new string. To enable this option, select Tools |
Options | Vizex from the menu and switch to the String Editor tab on
the Vizex Options dialog. Enable Prompt to edit properties on adding
a new string to activate this option.
Snapping
Most on-screen digitising incorporates pre-existing data. For example, you
would typically interpret cross-sections from existing drillhole information or
draw a geological map over satellite imagery or geophysics. With Vizex you
can snap to virtually any visible object; thus you can improve the accuracy of
a cross-section interpretation by snapping to true 3D drillhole intervals.
Although snapping works for nearly every layer type it is not appropriate, and
isn’t enabled, for types like images or grids. Additionally, you might want to
display a layer but intentionally avoid snapping to it. You control the snap
status of a layer by selecting it in the Display pane and clicking the Toggle
Snap Status button. When this button is down the layer can be snapped-to;
when the button is up it can’t.
Notes: To snap to a point, activate Snap Mode and move the mouse near that point.
You’ll see a small square, the snap cursor, following your mouse pointer.
Once the snap cursor is in the right place, click the mouse to snap to that
point. Don’t move your mouse pointer over the point as it will hide the snap
cursor and make it harder to tell which point is being snapped.
Snap Mode works in two ways: you either click the mouse to a snap single
point or you drag the mouse to follow a string. Vizex always displays a snap
cursor showing the currently-snapped point and highlights the currently-
followed string segments with a dashed line.
In this exercise you’ll create a couple of new polygons and experiment with
Snap Mode and following a string.
A dark green rock unit has been logged at the western side of the drilling, and
now you’ll produce a simple interpretation of this unit.
6. Move the mouse onto a drillhole until the snap cursor finds one of the Notes:
dark green contacts, taking care to not hide it with your mouse pointer.
Click to add a point.
7. Repeat for the remaining five points that define the green unit – but
don’t try extending the interpretation beyond the drillholes at this stage.
8. Once you’ve digitised the sixth point (without closing the polygon),
Right-click the mouse. Vizex will automatically close the polygon.
9. Switch to the Properties window and set the String value to ANDS.
Your display should resemble the screenshot overleaf.
Optionally, the next part of this exercise will briefly show you how to follow a
string. This action is discussed in detail in MG 201 – Surface Geology.
10. Click the New Polygon button to create another new polygon.
11. Click and drag the mouse down the western side of HW1 (the red
polyon). As you proceed, you’ll see a faint line appear along that edge.
When you’ve reached the bottom of HW1, release the mouse. Vizex will
immediately draw the shared line.
12. Experiment with following other boundaries or lines.
Notes: 13. Once you’re satisfied with your digitising, press Ctrl+S to save the
edits.
14. Leave the display in preparation for the next exercise.
Creating new point or string files in Vizex is straightforward: pull down the
Select Active Layer list on the Vizex Layers toolbar and choose [New]
(Layer type) from the list. For example, you create a new string file by pulling
down the list and choosing [New] String.
Once you’ve made the selection Vizex will place a new layer in the Display
pane, named Untitled (Untitled.EXT) and automatically set as the active
layer. (EXT varies according to the layer type you requested – DAT for points
and STR for strings.) Untitled appears twice because the form set and the
underlying file both have no title.
Create a layer using Select Active Layer. As soon as it’s created right-
click it in the Display pane and choose Open Input File from the pop-
up menu. Then modify the file using the method you learned in MM 101.
Open the Vizex Point or String dialog (as required). Right-click the File
response in the Input Data tab and choose New from the pop-up
menu. Enter the file name, choose the file type and then manually
define the structure.
A minimal point file should contain the 3D coordinate fields described above.
Both file types may contain as many additional fields as needed. Consider
creating a template to simplify the process if you regularly use this method.
Although we recommend naming the fields as listed you may use any field
names that suit the purpose. For example, it’s common to use a LABEL field
as a string field.
You can set the view to any orientation, including oblique/inclined, for
interpretation. Additionally, you can simultaneously edit in multiple
windows, such as in plan and cross section.
Give each object a unique name wherever there’s more than one object in a
section. For example, if a lode is bifurcated or splayed by a fault use a suffix
(e.g. NO4_F for Number Four Lode Footwall) to keep the names unique, as
shown in the three example sections on the preceding page.
Notes:
Although you don’t have to name the strings this way your workflow will
go more smoothly if you do. It will also simplify the wireframing stage.
In Exercise 4.1 you edited an existing string file. In this exercise you’ll create
a new string file, which will comprise a simple bounding box that defines the
limits of the to-be-created geological model.
2. Pull down the Select Active Layer list in the Vizex Layers toolbar and
choose [New] String from the list. Note how Vizex places a new layer
called Untitled (Untitled.STR) in the Display pane.
In the next exercise you’ll continue the quartz vein geological interpretation.
You need this approach because drillholes are rarely, if ever, located exactly
on the plane of the section. The slight mismatch between the holes and the
section means some intervals will fall slightly off the section plane. Initially
concentrating on the facts by snapping to existing points creates a 3D
coordinate framework for your new string. By inserting the interpreted points
into this framework you allow Vizex to place the points at their true 3D loca- Notes:
tions, which produces the most accurate result. If you had started freehand
digitising, Vizex would put the new points exactly on the plane of the section
instead of the drillholes.
1. Right-click the Quartz vein interpretation layer and make it the Active
Layer.
2. Click the Clip View button to enable clipping.
3. Switch to the Sections window (tabbed against the Vizex Forms pane)
and expand the NVG_Sections list.
4. Double-click the section 15925mN.
5. Click the New Polygon button to start drawing a new polygon.
1. Click the Snap Mode button (or press the S key) to enable Snap
Mode, ensuring that it’s set to Snap to Point .
2. Digitise a polygon around the red drillhole intervals to produce a basic
quartz vein shape, observing the location of the snap cursor as you go.
Don’t extend it beyond the drillhole data at this point.
3. Right-click to finish and close the polygon.
4. With the polygon selected, switch to the Properties window and enter a
STRING value that matches the vein in the previous section.
1. Click the Insert Points button (or press the I key) to activate Insert
Points mode.
2. Click the Snap Mode button (or press the S key) to turn off Snap
Mode.
3. Insert points by clicking on a string segment and, in the same action,
dragging each newly created point to its final location.
4. Repeat the fact/interpretation steps for the other veins on this section.
5. Your screen should resemble the screenshot overleaf.
Notes:
1. Move to the next section by clicking the Next Section button on the
Section Control File toolbar or pressing Shift+Page Down.
2. Repeat the fact/interpretation steps for the veins on the new section.
In this lesson you learned to do spatial editing in Vizex using various editing
modes, editing tools and context menus. You also learned to perform a sec-
tional interpretation.
To start editing:
Create a new editable layer choosing [New] (Layer type) from the
Select Active Layer list, or
Double-click the Vizex form in the Vizex Forms pane, then right-
click the File response and select New from the pop-up menu.
Right-click, or
Press Esc, or
Double-click the last point, or
Close the string by clicking the last point over the first.
To copy a string:
Hold the Ctrl key, then click and drag the string to produce a copy.
To delete a point:
To delete a string:
Click the Insert Points toolbar button (or press the I key).
Click the Snap Mode toolbar button (or press the S key).
To follow a string:
With snap mode enabled, drag the mouse along the object boundary.
Good Practice
Always keep the three editing toolbars (Vizex Layers, String Editor, String
Editor Tools) visible so that you can begin editing at any time. Similarly, keep
the Properties window visible so that you can set the properties of a newly-
created string by clicking it.
Become familiar with the keyboard and right-click shortcuts so you can speed
up the editing process. For example, it’s quicker to toggle snap mode and
insert points mode by pressing S and I than it is to move the mouse to the
toolbar each time.
If you need a different file structure to the default structure produced by the
[New] (Layer type) option, create a file template and use that to create a new
file using the right-click | New method.
Help Topics
The Active Layer Strings > Edit > Working with the Active Layer
DTMs
Duration: 20 minutes
Interactively select the points and strings from the display and click the
Create Wireframe button.
Click the Create Wireframe button and then follow the instructions
in the Selection Assistant.
Select DTM | Create Surface from the main menu. This option is
takes place outside of Vizex and is ideal for process automation.
When you use an interactive method the Selection Assistant will prompt you
to optionally use another string to restrict the extents of the DTM, and will
then open the Build DTM dialog. You must supply the output wireframe’s
Type, Name and Colour. The wireframe Type gives you a convenient way
to group similar wireframes; for example, you might have DTMs of pre- and
post-mining topography, which could be placed in the DTM wireframe type.
The Name is any name you specify. Enabling the Auto load option will
immediately display the newly created DTM in Vizex.
The Processing Options tab provides many advanced construction options. Notes:
Use Define Projection Plane to build the DTM in a direction other than
PLAN. Use Generate Terrain Features to build a DTM from topographic
contours: Simple mode prevents contour lines from being self-connected,
minimising flat triangles, and Advanced mode creates topographic relief in
otherwise flat areas. Disabling Generate Terrain Features (the default setting)
allows the creation of flat triangles for pit designs with haul roads.
In this exercise you’ll use the topographic contours you imported from ArcGIS
to produce a topographic DTM.
First, create the view and select the Create DTM option:
1. Expand the String form type by clicking its icon in the Vizex Forms
pane.
2. Drag the Topographic contours form set into the graphic display. Vizex
will load the contours you created earlier.
3. Click the Create Wireframe button on the Wireframe Tools toolbar
to reveal the Selection Assistant.
Step 1 of the Selection Assistant is highlighted, asking you to select the strings
from which to create the DTM. It has also automatically activated the Select
Tool. You’re now ready to select the contour lines:
4. Drag a rectangle that encloses all of the contour lines. The selected lines
will be highlighted when you release the mouse. Drag a larger rectangle
if you didn’t select them all. You can repeat this step as often as needed
to get the right selection.
5. Right-click the mouse or click the Accept Selection button to go
to Step 2, which asks you to specify an optional restriction string.
Although this dialog includes an auto-load option, you need to learn about
manually loading a wireframe and won’t use it here.
2. Ensure that the Input Data tab is active and the Wireframe group is
set to Single.
3. Click the Type browse button and choose DTM.tridb from the list.
4. Click the Name list ( ) button and choose Topo from the list.
5. Switch to the Draw Options tab and set Draw Style to 3D Shaded
(Hollow).
6. Enable Use Colour coding and click the Colour set form button.
7. Choose NVG_TOPO DTM Colours from the list of available colour sets. Notes:
8. At this point the DTM is worth seeing, so click OK to display it. Your dis-
play should look like the screenshot on the preceding page.
In this exercise you’ll drape an air photo onto the DTM. Begin by reopening
the Wireframe dialog and choosing the image file:
1. Double-click the Untitled (DTM Topo) layer in the Display pane to open
its dialog. It will open back on the Draw Options tab, which is where you
last left it.
2. Switch to the Drape Options tab and choose Image.
3. Click the Image file browse button and navigate to the Import
folder. Select the MMI_Image.ecw file.
4. Ensure the Georeference option is selected.
5. Click the Save As button and save a form set with the Title Topo DTM
with airphoto.
6. Click OK on the Save Current Values and Wireframes dialogs to display
the modified DTM.
Optional: Change the transparency of the DTM via the Display Options tab.
7. Double-click the Topo DTM with airphoto layer in the Display pane to
open the dialog.
8. Switch to the Advanced Options tab and drag the Transparency
slider to about 20%. Click OK to apply the changes without saving them
to the form set.
9. Once you’re finished experimenting with the transparency, select Edit |
Remove All from the menu to clean up the display, answering No
when prompted to save changes.
Notes:
If you generate a regular plot file the Plot Editor won’t be able to
correctly interpret the wireframe and it may be drawn poorly, if at all.
To create a DTM:
Select the input strings and points from the display and click the Create
Wireframe button, or
Click the Create Wireframe button and then follow the Selection
Assistant, or
Select DTM | Create Surface from the main menu.
To load a DTM:
Double-click the Wireframe form type in the Vizex Forms pane, and
Set up the Wireframe dialog as needed.
Good Practice
Always choose a default colour when you create a new DTM. If you don’t it
will be displayed in solid black and no texture will be visible when you view it.
You should not use a colour set to change the default colour of a DTM. Instead,
right-click its name on any dialog that references it and change the colour on
the Wireframe Properties dialog. Or, use the Wireframe Manager
(Wireframe | Manage | Wireframes) to change colours.
Auto draw style will automatically switch between 3D Shaded (Hollow) mode
in plan view and 2D Slice mode in section view.
Help Topics
Beginner
.
Micromine 2016 Training MM 103 – Showcasing Your Project
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 1
LESSON 1 – CREATING A REALISTIC VIEW .......................................................................................2
DRAPING AN IMAGE ONTO A DTM..................................................................................................................... 2
ADVANCED DRAPING TECHNIQUES .................................................................................................................... 4
ENABLING PERSPECTIVE MODE......................................................................................................................... 6
SETTING THE BACKGROUND COLOUR ................................................................................................................. 6
CONTROLLING THE LIGHTING .......................................................................................................................... 8
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER ........................................................................................................................... 10
Hiding the Horizon............................................................................................................................... 10
CHANGING SURFACE SHININESS ..................................................................................................................... 11
LESSON 2 – CREATING A FLY THROUGH ANIMATION .................................................................... 15
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 15
CREATING A FLIGHT PATH ............................................................................................................................ 16
SETTING FLIGHT PATH OPTIONS .................................................................................................................... 18
REFINING A FLIGHT PATH ............................................................................................................................. 19
Creating a Fly-through: Art or Science? ................................................................................................. 21
RENDERING A FLY-THROUGH AS A MEDIA FILE ................................................................................................... 22
Choosing Parameters for Video Rendering ............................................................................................ 23
LESSON 3 – STEREOSCOPIC 3D ...................................................................................................... 27
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 27
3D VIEWING ............................................................................................................................................. 27
CONFIGURING A STEREO 3D VIEW .................................................................................................................. 28
Stereo Mode ....................................................................................................................................... 28
Parallax .............................................................................................................................................. 29
Camera offset/Eye separation .............................................................................................................. 29
LESSON 4 – SAVING AND CREATING OTHER OUTPUT .................................................................... 31
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 31
SAVING A VIEW.......................................................................................................................................... 31
LOADING A SAVED VIEW .............................................................................................................................. 32
CREATING A PLOT OF A VIZEX VIEW ................................................................................................................ 32
GENERATING A SCREENSHOT ......................................................................................................................... 33
CREATING A 3D PDF .................................................................................................................................. 33
PRODUCING A VIRTUAL REALITY FILE .............................................................................................................. 34
Choosing a Virtual Reality Viewer ......................................................................................................... 35
Sidebars
Tables
Exercises
Notes:
Introduction
Communicating complex spatial concepts to non-technical audiences is an im-
portant part of the resource development workflow. Whether your audience
includes joint venture partners, potential investors or local townsfolk, they’re
unlikely to have ever used 3D modelling software and most probably lack the
3D acuity to mentally convert a printed plan or cross section into a 3D model.
For example, the two images below cover essentially the same area. Although
an earth scientist could easily interpret the upper image and mentally picture
the data in 3D, the lower image will have a far greater impact on a non-
technical person. The people who invest in a project or approve project funding
are often non-technicians so it quite literally pays to present your project data
in a form that they can understand.
The following lessons teach some of the ways to showcase your project,
including creating a realistic view, creating and rendering a fly-through
animation as a media file, and saving a view in a variety of formats.
Lesson 1 – Creating a
Notes:
Realistic View
Duration: 15 minutes
With the DTM selected you can now drape the image:
5. Switch to the Drape Options tab and select the Image option.
6. Click the Image file browse button and navigate to the Import
folder. Select MMI_Image.ecw from the list.
7. Vizex will automatically set the Georeference Source to Micromine
(GRF). The dialog should resemble screenshot overleaf.
Notes:
Now that the settings are defined you can save them as a form set:
8. Click the Save As button and save a form set with the Title Topo DTM
with airphoto.
9. Click OK to display the draped image on the wireframe.
The draped appearance of the image will be more realistic if the image and
DTM both contain enough detail. You must also ensure that the image is ref-
erenced to the same coordinate system as the DTM, otherwise it won’t drape
properly.
Notes: You can optionally control the transparency of the DTM by changing the
Transparency slider on the Advanced Options tab. This tab also allows you
to control the amount of smoothing in the triangle edges by adjusting the
Smooth Wireframe slider.
The most obvious alternative might be to display the pit as a simple wireframe
with nothing draped on it, but that creates a different kind of visual conflict
when the surrounding landscape still includes a draped airphoto. Pit walls with
perfectly even colour just don’t exist in the real world:
The image must match the context of the display: use a rock texture for pit
walls and a snippet from an airphoto for to-be vegetated surfaces such as
rehabilitated waste dumps. It must also contain an even texture with no
uniquely identifiable features, or they will be repeated across the wireframe
and destroy the illusion. However, even a well-chosen image can overwhelm
the display, as shown in the screenshot on the following page.
Notes:
An effective way to avoid this problem is to load each wireframe twice. The
first copy simply displays the wireframe in a single colour (chosen to match
the local landscape) and the second copy includes the tiled image. By adjust-
ing the transparency of the tiled image wireframe you can reveal it just strongly
enough to add texture whilst preserving the underlying colour:
Your computer’s graphics card controls the amount of detail that can be
draped onto a wireframe. To inspect this amount, select Tools | Check
Graphics Configuration from the main menu. The Maximum texture
size shows the maximum amount of detail that can be draped. Images
larger than this will be sub-sampled to fit.
Vizex uses the same principle for producing a realistic view: objects that are
further from the current viewpoint appear smaller than objects close to it, and
parallel lines appear to converge over distance. You achieve this by selecting
Perspective Mode on the View toolbar. Without it your data will be
drawn in orthogonal mode and the display will lack depth.
1. Click the Perspective Mode button on the View toolbar and inspect
its effect on the data.
2. Use the Rotate Tool to turn the view in so you are looking at the
DTM from a low angle.
3. Toggle Perspective Mode on and off and inspect its effect. Note
how the sense of depth is severely reduced when it’s turned off.
4. Leave it turned on in preparation for the next exercise.
Vizex offers three different background colour modes, which are accessible
from the View | Vizex Background Options menu:
The colours for Sky and Ground mode are already set by default, but it’s useful
to inspect them before applying them to the view.
3. Right-click the Colour set response for the Sky Hemisphere and
choose Edit from the pop-up menu.
Sky colours are defined in terms of altitude above the horizon, measured in
degrees from zero (the horizon) to 90 (the zenith). Note that 0 and 90 do not
appear in the colour set as they are implied by the first and last ranges. Also
note how the sky is pale near the horizon, becomes darker as the altitude
increases, and then becomes pale again approaching the zenith.
Ground colours are defined very simply, using a pale brown at the nadir (di-
rectly below) and slowly grading to a darker brown at the horizon.
Sky blue?
The sky is a much lighter blue than many people realise, especially near
the horizon. Additionally, the gradation of colour in the sky is not linear;
the colour changes quickly within about 15° of the horizon, and much
more slowly as the altitude increases towards the zenith (90°).
Notes:
Scene Light: One or more point lights that cast a glow evenly in all
directions and can be positioned anywhere relative to the data.
Head Light: A point light that illuminates the data from the viewing
position, like the headlights of a vehicle. Because it always originates
from the viewing position, shadows and highlights will change as you
rotate the view.
In the following exercise you’ll add a third light to illuminate the hillsides from
the south, which currently appear a little too dark.
Azimuth: 180
Altitude: 60
3. Click OK to apply the new light and note the effect on the DTM as you
do so. Your display should resemble this screenshot (compare this result
with Exercise 1.3):
Early Micromine versions used a different lighting model, which you may
want to restore under some circumstances. For compatibility the Vizex
Lighting dialog contains form sets for both Version 11 and current (from
Micromine 2010 onwards) default lighting. You can easily switch between
them by clicking the Forms button and choosing the desired form set.
For an above-ground view it’s also essential to create an illusion of a real aerial
view. Useful ways to do this are:
Get close to the data so that the edges of the screen hide the front,
left- and right-hand edges of the DTM, creating the illusion that the DTM
continues forever.
Position the viewpoint as if you were realistically flying above the data
at low altitude to create a sense of depth and drama, and
Position the viewpoint so that the DTM hides the horizon, giving the
illusion that it is the horizon.
Micromine draws the horizon (between the sky and ground hemispheres) at
an infinite distance and an altitude of zero, just like the real horizon. You can’t
change its position (just like the real horizon), so you may need to use other
methods if you can’t hide it using the tips above.
You’ll apply the techniques for creating an aerial view illusion in the next
exercise.
SRTM data is available for most of the earth’s surface within 60° north or
south latitude, and may be imported and converted to a DTM or directly
viewed in Vizex.
You’ve already done the preparatory work for the view so the only
remaining task is to position the viewpoint to create the illusions described
above.
1. Rotate, pan, and zoom the data until you produce a satisfactory view.
Your display might resemble this:
2. Compare this view with the one shown in Exercise 1.4, and keep it open
in preparation for the next lesson.
Although the change in viewpoint is subtle, it has a major effect on the illusion
of reality. Within the limits of the available data this view does almost look like
a photograph from the window of a low-flying aircraft, even though you know
the DTM stops just beyond the screen. In comparison, because the edges of
the DTM are visible in Exercise 1.4 that view looks more like a model in a
transparent box.
For example, consider the magnetic data in the following images (from a
different project area), which includes regions of high and low geophysical
relief. The upper image uses a headlight with no shininess. Although this
Notes: lighting mode reveals the obvious structures in areas of high relief, the low-
relief region at the top of the image is almost completely featureless.
In comparison, the lower image uses directional lights with a low lighting angle
(40° from the northeast) and around 50% surface shininess. Note how far
more texture is now visible in the flat region near the top of the image.
If your daily tasks include using airborne or surface geophysics, consider dis-
playing the data in Vizex as a grid surface and using lighting and shininess to
highlight structural trends within it. This technique is detailed in MG 201 –
Surface Geology.
Open a Wireframe form and switch to the Drape Options tab, then
Select Repeat (Tile) mode, and
Load the image file.
From the main menu, select View | Vizex Background Options, then
Choose a background mode, and
Set the desired colour(s) or colour set(s).
From the main menu, select View | Vizex Lighting Options, then
Enable or disable a Scene Light or the Head Light as needed, and
Enter the Azimuth and Altitude of the Scene Lights.
From the main menu, select View | Vizex Lighting Options, and
Drag the Object Shininess slider to the desired level.
Good Practice
Many government and private organisations provide online access to free ele-
vation data, so consider searching online if you need to extend your DTM to
create a better view.
Help Topics
Through Animation
Duration: 30 minutes
Introduction
A fly-through serves the same purpose as the view you created in Lesson 1:
it presents complex data in a realistic and easily digestible format. The camera
movement in a fly-through creates an enhanced sense of depth—nearby
objects move past more quickly than distant ones—and an enhanced sense of
drama. It also allows you to naturally direct the viewers’ attention from one
part of your project to another.
Defining the path along which the camera will fly, called the flight
path. Each point in the flight path is called a viewpoint.
Setting the direction in which the camera will look at each viewpoint in
the flight path, called the view direction.
The actual flight path and changes in view direction are smoothed on-the-fly,
requiring only a few viewpoints to create a smooth fly-through. Once the flight
path file is created it can be replayed using any data that exists within the
same coordinate space as the original data.
Vizex displays the Flight Path toolbar while you’re editing or playing a fly-
through. This toolbar is split into three sections and contains all of the tools
that you need to create or open, record, modify, play back and create a movie
from a fly-through.
You use the buttons near the centre-left of the toolbar, highlighted overleaf,
to manipulate the flight path.
Notes:
Play
Stop Playback
Move First
Move Previous
Move Next
Move Last
Insert Viewpoint After
Insert Viewpoint Before
Delete Current
Modify Current
Before creating a fly-through animation it’s important to plan the overall flight
path and the view directions of key viewpoints in the animation. This process
is known as storyboarding the fly-through. Work on the flight path can begin
once the storyboard is created.
Before you begin the fly-through you’ll storyboard its key viewpoints. This fly-
through will be a simple south-to-north loop. You’ll start with an overview, fly
in from the south, and then fly low over the hills towards the north. As you
reach the northern edge of the data you’ll look back towards the south but
continue flying upwards and away from the data in a northerly direction.
You’ll finish the fly-through where you began, giving you the opportunity to Notes:
play it as a continuous loop. The six key viewpoints are shown here:
1 2 3 4 5 6
To give the flight path some context and give you the opportunity to fly below-
ground, you’ll begin by adding some drillhole data to the display:
1. Expand the Drillhole Trace list in the Vizex Forms pane and drag the
Example drillhole lithology form set into the display.
Vizex will add a Flight Path layer to the Display pane and display the Flight
Path toolbar.
3. Click the Plan View button followed by the View All button (on
the View toolbar) to reset the view. If necessary, manually adjust the
zoom level so the data resembles Viewpoint 1 of the storyboard.
4. Right-click anywhere within the Vizex window and choose Display
Limits from the pop-up menu.
5. On the Display Limits dialog, ensure the 3D View tab is active, and
then click Forms followed by Save As. Set the Title to Flythru start-
end and click OK on both dialogs to return to Vizex.
6. Click the Insert Viewpoint After button on the Flight Path toolbar
to record the first viewpoint.
Now that the start (and end) viewpoint is defined you can record the rest of
the fly-through.
7. Rotate your viewpoint downwards (by pushing the data away) about 45°
to resemble Viewpoint 2, and click Insert Viewpoint After .
8. Now zoom in and rotate the view until it resembles Viewpoint 3. Click
Insert Viewpoint After to record it.
9. Using the Seek Tool , click a point on the far side of the DTM to
immediately fly to it. Rotate the view horizontally by 180° so that it
resembles Viewpoint 4. Click Insert Viewpoint After to record it.
The Seek Tool is a simple way to move beyond the middle of your
data. Holding the Z key while you rotate the view horizontally by 180°
will make it easier to rotate.
Notes: 10. Move backwards and upwards so that you pull away from the data, and
then add Viewpoint 5.
Viewpoint 6 is the same as Viewpoint 1, so you’ll re-use the Display Limits form
set that you created earlier.
11. Click the Sections tab at left of the screen to display the Sections win-
dow, and then expand the Display Limits list.
12. Double-click Flythru start-end to apply it to the display, and then click
Insert After to record Viewpoint 6.
13. Save your work by clicking the Save toolbar button, or by selecting File
| Save from the main menu. Name the file Training.
14. Lastly, click the Play button to test your fly through.
Note that the number of markers on the Flight Path Slider (to the right of
the toolbar buttons) corresponds to the number of viewpoints that you
recorded. If necessary, you can use this to advance to a specific viewpoint in
the fly-through.
You control the appearance of the spline, and other properties of the flight
path, through the Flight Path Options dialog, which you open by clicking the
Flight Path Options toolbar button, selecting Display | Flight Path |
Flight Path Options from the menu, or double-clicking the Flight Path layer
in the Display pane.
In addition to displaying the spline you can also control the Spline Tension.
Minimum tension produces a very smooth but ‘loose’ spline whereas maximum
tension forces the spline to closely follow your original flight path.
You control the duration of the fly-through using the Time option. The number
you enter here either represents the duration of the fly-through (TOTAL
FLIGHT PATH mode) or the time between viewpoints ( BETWEEN EACH VP
mode). Use TOTAL to hold a constant flight speed, or BETWEEN to vary the
flight speed according to the distance between viewpoints: the further apart
they are, the faster the flight. You’ll explore some of these options in the next
exercise.
Prompt Setting
Colour: Red
Width: 0.13 mm (THIN)
Type: dotted
4. Switch to the Point Labels tab and enable Label Points and
Sequence number.
5. Click OK to apply the changes.
6. View the entire loop by clicking the Looking West button followed
by the View All button.
Note the appearance of the spline. You can see that even with only six
viewpoints the flight path is still very smooth. Plus, the points are labelled,
making it easy to match the flight path string with the flight path slider.
7. Play the fly-through and inspect the effect of the new time value.
8. Save your work by clicking the Save toolbar button or selecting File
| Save from the main menu.
9. Drag the Flight Path Slider back to Viewpoint 1 in preparation for the
next exercise.
Choose a time value that matches the time within which you can show
the fly-through, for example to synchronise to a recorded voiceover. But
don’t make it too short or the fly-through will be too fast, potentially
nauseating your audience.
Notes: You make these changes by editing the flight path string with the regular Vizex
editing tools or interactively using the tools on the Flight Path toolbar. You’ll
make changes to the string in the next exercise. As you adjust each viewpoint
the spline will automatically adjust to show the final position of the flight path.
In this exercise you’ll begin by modifying Viewpoints 3 and 4 so that the flight
path passes very close to the hillside.
You want to change the heights of these viewpoints. Given that the flight path
is a north-south loop it is most easily seen in a looking west direction. You
can then safely change the viewpoint heights without accidentally changing
their horizontal positions.
1. If you have not already done so, click Looking West followed by
View All to view the flight path from the side as shown here:
2. Adjust the position of Viewpoints 3 and 4 so that the spline (not the
original string) just grazes the top of the DTM.
Note how the spline automatically adjusts itself to the new viewpoint locations.
You may need a couple of attempts to avoid sending the spline below-ground.
Or, you might wish to deliberately send it below-ground to highlight the drilling Notes:
information.
You could also interactively make the same changes with the following Flight
Path tools:
Rendering a Fly-through as a
Notes:
Media File
Although it’s easy to play a fly-through animation in Micromine, it can also be
played outside Micromine by rendering the fly-through as a media file. This
makes it extremely versatile for events such as trade shows, board meetings
or in-house presentations. You render a fly-through as a media file by clicking
the Create Movie button.
1. In the Display pane, click the checkbox next to the Flight Path
(Training) layer to hide the flight path.
Prompt Setting
File: Training
Type: AVI
Cinepak Codec by Radius
Compression method:
(Micromine 32-bit only)
Quality: Around 80%
Width: 640
Height: 360
Frames/second: 30
Show live preview: Enabled
Although you requested 30 frames per second when you rendered the movie
this applies only to playback. The video will be rendered at the best frame rate
your computer can manage. If the data is complex this might be only one or
two frames per second; thus it might take several hours to render a complex
video.
Consider the intended use of the video when you choose a video size and
frame rate. If it will be viewed online choose a small size and low frame rate
to keep the file manageable. On the other hand, choose a full high-definition
(HD) widescreen format for maximum impact in a boardroom presentation.
You should also consider the final output device. There is no point rendering a
full HD video if it will only be shown on a 1024 × 768 projector; you will only
be wasting rendering time and disk space if you do. Table 2.1 and Table 2.2
list some suggested video sizes, frame rates, and quality ratios.
In the preceding exercise setting the dimensions to 640 × 360 produced 16:9
widescreen output in a small window. For full high-definition output you should
set the dimensions to 1920 × 1080, but be aware this will produce a much
larger file – up to nine times larger.
A video codec (coder-decoder) carries out the compression process. The co-
decs available to you will depend on your individual computer; be aware that
your video may not be playable on other computers if you render it using an
obscure codec.
Although listed here, MICROMINE does not warrant or endorse these products.
Adjust the view orientation so the edit will be applied in the plane of the
screen, then
Use the Select Tool to select to move a viewpoint, or
Ctrl+click a viewpoint to delete it, or
Use the Insert Points tool to add a viewpoint.
Turn off the Flight Path layer to hide the flight path, then
Click the Create Movie toolbar button, and
Enter the filename and choose the desired type, compression (codec),
quality, size and frame rate.
Good Practice
Check the lighting and background beforehand. Ensure that all parts of your
data are adequately lit by adding lights if needed, and use the Sky and Ground
background to add realism to the fly-through.
Plan a storyboard of the key viewpoints before you start editing, optionally
saving each viewpoint as a Display Limits form set. Having an idea of the order
in which you visit different parts of your project will make it easier to create
the flight path.
Always begin a flight path by recording the key viewpoints from your
storyboard. This will give you visual control over the fly-through as you’ll
literally be able to see where you are going. The flight path string will be
automatically created as you go.
Display the spline so you can see the path that will actually be flown.
Whenever you need to move a viewpoint, change the view direction so that
the intended movement is in the plane of the screen.
Help Topics
Lesson 3 – Stereoscopic 3D
Notes:
Duration: 10 minutes
In this lesson you’ll learn to create a real-time stereo 3D display that, when
viewed with stereoscopic glasses, will produce a true sense of 3D depth. After
this lesson you’ll be able to:
Introduction
Nowadays many movies are released in 3D; a well-produced 3D movie draws
in the audience, making them feel as if they are part of the action. Creating a
stereo 3D view (or movie) in Micromine serves the same purpose for
communicating complex project data to non-technical audiences. Like a 3D
cinema, presenting your data in stereo 3D draws in your audience and makes
them feel more involved with the project.
3D Viewing
You perceive the world in 3D because you have two eyes that are separated
by a short distance (the interpupillary distance or eye separation). Your
left eye sees the world slightly differently from the right, and your brain
subconsciously merges the two views into one.
Notes: 5. Click OK to apply the changes. Your display should look like this:
6. Once you have finished viewing in 3D, click the Toggle 3D View
toolbar button to disable the 3D stereo.
7. Keep the display open in preparation for the next lesson.
Use vertical split screen for printed output that matches a traditional
stereographic air-photo pair.
Printing the image at the same size as a pair of 9-inch x 9-inch air-
photos will allow it to be viewed under a traditional mirror stereoscope.
Some devices can combine the two images without mirrors.
Parallax
The difference between the left and right views is caused by parallax: the
slight shift in the position of foreground objects relative to the background as
seen by each eye. You control the zero-parallax distance, which is the distance
at which there is no difference between right and left views.
Setting the parallax to Front will place the zero-parallax distance at the front
of the data, creating a view that appears to extend behind the screen.
Conversely, setting parallax to Back will put the zero-parallax distance at the
rear of the data, making the view appear to project in front of the screen.
Setting the parallax near the back is ideal for large audiences at longer viewing
distances. A value of 60% to 80% will make the view appear to float in the
space immediately in front of the screen in the style of a 3D cinema. Having
the parallax too far forward won’t cause discomfort at large viewing distances,
but it will reduce the 3D depth of the display.
A view that covers a small area needs a greater offset than a view that covers
a large area. Similarly, a small audience at a short viewing distance needs a
smaller offset than a large audience at a long viewing distance.
In this lesson you learned to work with a stereoscopic 3D view. The topics that
you’ve covered are:
Good Practice
Always test your stereoscopic settings for the current data and viewing dis-
tance. The settings you use for a small group gathered around a computer will
be very different from a large group viewing a projected image. It is better to
underwhelm your audience with conservative stereoscopic settings than it is
to nauseate them with aggressive settings.
The mouse pointer is always situated in the screen plane and is not part of the
3D scene. Seeing it amongst your data can produce conflicting depth cues,
which may cause discomfort, and in most situations it is best kept out of the
way. If you must include it, keep the parallax near the front so that the data
always appears to be behind the pointer.
Help Topics
In this lesson you’ll learn to create plot, image, PDF and virtual reality output
of your view for use in other applications.
Introduction
The views that you created in the preceding lessons serve many
communication purposes ranging from reports and presentations, posters and
wall charts, to interactive virtual reality files. Micromine provides many tools
for saving or exporting a view into a variety of formats that suit these and
other purposes.
Saving a View
You often need to save a view so that you can re-open it for later use. This is
easy to do in Vizex using the same Saved View concept you learned in
MM 102 – Displaying and Manipulating data. You simply choose View | Save
Vizex View from the menu. Alternatively, double-click the Saved View node
in the Vizex Form tree and then click the Save As button.
Loading a saved view gives you a quick way to reload your data.
1. Select Plot | Generate Vizex Plot from the main menu and then click
OK to accept the entries on the Generate Vizex Plot dialog.
2. Click once anywhere within the plot area to select the plot frame. Its
borders will be highlighted in red.
3. Select the Pan Data Within Frame button on the Plot Editor
toolbar.
4. Hold the Shift key and drag the mouse around within the plot. Note
how the view can be rotated as if you were still in Vizex.
5. Hold the Ctrl key and drag the mouse vertically within the plot. Note
how the view can also be zoomed as if you were still in Vizex.
6. Close the Plot Editor window by clicking the on the tab or upper right
corner of the window once you’re done. Answer No when prompted to
save changes.
Generating a Screenshot
Notes:
Screenshots are frequently used in reports and presentations, and the Vizex
Generate Screenshot option offers a major advantage over regular Windows
screen capture tools: you can adjust the resolution from 72 dpi to a maximum
of 600 dpi. To generate a Vizex screenshot, either click the Generate
Screenshot toolbar button or select View | Generate Screenshot from
the main menu.
Micromine will optionally create 2D and 3D georeferencing files along with the
image whenever you enable Create georeference files. This means you can
reload the image in Vizex; it will appear exactly where the screen plane was
when you generated the screenshot.
Creating a 3D PDF
Sometimes sending a static screenshot to management, colleagues, or clients
is not enough to properly exhibit your project. With Micromine, you can save
a simple Vizex view as a 3D PDF file. An advantage of this format is that anyone
can view and interact with your data in 3D using Adobe Acrobat Reader. This
technique is excellent for sharing 3D models with remote site offices or head
offices where people may not have access to a Micromine licence.
Notes: A 3D PDF document resembles a plot layout, with the data contained within a
frame on a page. The 3D Tools toolbar includes options for navigating within
the data, making measurements, modifying the lighting, and generating cross
sections. It also includes a Model Tree control for showing or hiding individual
layers, in much the same way as Vizex.
Adobe Acrobat Reader must be installed before you can view the file.
5. When the PDF window appears, enable 3D content and then click within
the view to see the data.
6. Experiment with the navigational tools within the 3D PDF.
Some navigation tools are the same as Micromine: to rotate, drag with the
left mouse button; to zoom, roll the mouse wheel. Others are different: to
pan, either Ctrl+drag or drag with both mouse buttons.
A virtual reality viewer must be installed before you can view the file.
5. Inspect the tools provided by the viewer and use them to interact with
the view.
6. Once you’re done close the virtual reality viewer and File Explorer, and
then select Edit | Remove All from the Micromine menu.
Although listed here, MICROMINE does not warrant or endorse these products.
Before moving to the next part of the course it’s important to restore the
lighting and background to their original settings:
In this lesson you learned to save and export a view in a variety of formats.
The topics that you’ve covered are:
To save a view:
To load a view:
Expand the Saved View list in the Vizex Forms tree, and
Drag the desired view into the graphic display.
To create a 3D PDF:
Select View | Export Vizex Scene to | Virtual Reality File from the
main menu, and
Enter the Output Name and set the Type to the desired format, then
Optionally, enable Include current viewpoint position.
Good Practice
Vizex plots may be used in two ways: either directly from the current Vizex
view (the default), or referencing a saved view. The current Vizex view option
allows you to immediately place any Vizex view into a Vizex plot.
You can interact with the data in a Vizex plot as if you were still in Vizex, which
is useful for refining the plot before printing it. See MM 104 – Plotting 1 for
more information on Vizex plots.
Help Topics
Saving and loading Vizex > View > Save/Load Vizex View
a Vizex view
Virtual reality files Vizex > View > Export Vizex scene to
Notes:
Beginner
.
Micromine 2016 Training MM 104 – Plotting 1
MM 104 – Plotting 1
Table of Contents
Sidebars
Tables
MM 104 – Plotting 1
Table of Contents
Exercises
Plot Editor
Duration: 30 minutes
In this lesson you’ll learn to open, modify and print a plot layout that you
created in MM 102 – Displaying and Manipulating Data. The result will be a
drillhole cross section with an automatic plot title. You’ll also print the layout
to PDF or XPS (if available).
Introduction
The Plot Editor is where you create plot layouts of your project data and
then print them to a PDF/XPS file, plotter or other output device. Plot layouts
may be as simple or as complex as you need, with multiple frames incorpo-
rating other plots, coordinate grids, legends, images and tables.
This lesson will teach you the basics of the Plot Editor. In later lessons you’ll
create a more advanced layout that displays a cross-section and plan on the
same layout.
The Plot Editor toolbar contains essential tools for interacting with a plot
layout, the Layout toolbar provides the tools necessary to design a plot layout,
and the Annotation toolbar includes tools for marking-up a plot layout.
Docked at left of the Plot Editor window are the Plot Frames window, through
which you manage the frames on a layout, the Plot Forms window, which
contains definitions for ready-made plot frames, and the Properties window,
with which you edit the properties of any frame on the layout. You’ll explore
many of these tools and windows over next few lessons.
Notes:
Plot Frames
Window
Properties
Window
1. Select Plot | Open from the main menu. Or, click the Open button
on the Main Micromine toolbar.
2. Ensure the file type is set to Plot Document (*.PEX).
3. Select the file 15900mN.PEX and click Open. You screen will resemble
the screenshot on the following page.
Whenever you generate a plot file using Auto load, Micromine creates the
plot document and gives it the same name as the plot file. Although Auto load
is not compulsory it does make the two files easier to manage. The relationship
between them is fully explained in MG 204 – Plotting 2.
If you need to open a plot file without a matching plot document, just Notes:
change the file type to PLOT (*.PEL) when you use Plot | Open.
Micromine displays the newly opened plot layout using the default 2D layout
template, which was automatically applied when you created the file in
MM 102 – Displaying and Manipulating Data. You can see that much of the
configuration has already been done and only minor changes are needed.
Hide or close the Vizex docking windows to clear additional space for the
Plot Editor window.
1. Click the Page Setup button in the Plot Editor toolbar to open the
Page Setup dialog. Or, select Plot | Print | Page Setup from the main
menu. The margins will be highlighted in red.
2. On the Plot Settings dialog, click the Forms button and browse to the
Metric | Landscape | A2 Landscape form.
Notes: 3. Double-click the form set, or click Open, to apply it to the layout, and
then click OK.
4. Click the Zoom to Full Page button in the Plot Editor toolbar to
zoom the layout to the new paper size.
5. Click anywhere outside the page (on the window background) to
deselect the paper margins. The red highlight will disappear.
1. Click within the plot frame (the box containing the plot data) to select it.
You’ll see its border highlighted in red.
2. The Properties window should be visible. If not, click the Properties
button in the Plot Editor toolbar to display it.
3. Select the X Scale value in the Properties window and change it to
500.
4. Depending on which layout template was used you may also need to
change the Y Scale. If it’s disabled, there is no need to set it.
The rectangular boxes on a plot layout are called frames, and the plot
frame is simply the one containing the plot data. Depending on the
layout, other frames might contain title text, a scale bar, a legend or a
company logo. Managing the frames on a plot layout is covered in
MG 204.
You can edit anything listed in the Properties window using black text. Items Notes:
listed in grey text must be edited from the relevant dialog.
Now that the scale is correct you can position the data.
1. Click the Pan Data Within Frame button in the Plot Editor
toolbar.
Ensuring the plot frame is selected (its border should be highlighted in
red), drag the data until it is centred within the frame.
2. Note the changes to the X Centre and Y Centre values in the
Properties window.
You can also use Pan Data Within Frame to rescale the data by
Ctrl+ dragging the mouse vertically in the frame. Once you know the
approximate scale, enter the nearest sensible value in the Properties
window.
With the data configured it’s time to work on the marginalia – the information
around the margins of the plot frame.
There are two ways to supply title text for a layout: you can either enter it
yourself or you can use a plot form to quickly load predefined text. You’ll learn
both techniques in the next two exercises.
1. Double-click the TITLE frame containing the text Plot Title / Description
of Plot Title to open the Text dialog. (You’ll also see the frame border
turn red.)
Hover your mouse over a frame to see its name in the status bar.
2. In the Free Text edit area, replace the existing text with Introduction to
Micromine / Training Plot. (The ‘/’ represents a line break. Press Enter
to create it.)
3. Click OK to apply the new title. Your TITLE frame should resemble this:
In this exercise you’ll use a plot form to change the title text into an automatic
title that combines the project title and plot filename.
4. Click OK to apply the change to the layout. The title now contains text
automatically constructed from the project title and plot filename.
You change the contents and properties of any frame in a plot layout by
double-clicking it.
1. Click the Save button in the Plot Editor toolbar, or select File |
Save from the main menu, or press Ctrl+S.
2. Leave the layout open in preparation for the next exercise.
Plot | Print | Page Setup gives you an alternative way to configure the
page. It’s the same as clicking the Page Setup button on the Plot Editor
toolbar.
To send the layout to the printer, select Plot | Print | Print. Or you can click
the Print button on the Plot Editor toolbar, or press Ctrl+P.
In the next exercise you’ll print the layout to PDF or XPS if a suitable printer
driver is installed.
1. Select Plot | Print | Print Setup and choose a PDF printer. Choose
Microsoft XPS Document Writer if no PDF printer is installed.
2. On the Print Setup dialog, change the Paper Size to A2 and the
Orientation to Landscape, then click OK to return to the Plot Editor.
3. Click the Print button on the Plot Editor toolbar and then click OK on
the Print Setup dialog to print the layout.
4. If prompted for a filename, navigate to your project folder, enter
15900mN and click OK or Save.
If a preview or PDF window appears, confirm that the layout was printed
correctly and then close the window once done.
2D Plot: Displays a plot file. Can be Vizex Plot: Displays a Vizex View. Can
interactively zoomed and panned. be rotated, zoomed and panned.
Empty: Used for grouping other frames, Image: Supports many file formats.
such as a neat-line (border) or title block. Ideal for a company logo or site
photograph.
Legend: May be constructed manually Text: Any mixture of literal text and
or from colour, hatch, line or symbol predefined or user-defined substitution
sets. parameters.
North Arrow: Various north arrow Scale Bar: Shows reference plot scale.
symbols. Adjusts to changes in paper size or plot
scale. Different styles available.
This lesson has introduced you to the Plot Editor and the process of editing a
layout. Here’s what you’ve learnt:
You can also use the Auto Scale option on the 2D Plot dialog.
Select Plot | Print | Print Setup and choose the desired paper and
printer, then
Click the Print button on the Plot Editor toolbar, or
Select Plot | Print | Print to print the layout.
Good Practice
Always enable Auto load whenever you use Plot | Generate Plot File .
This option saves time through not having to manually open the layout; it also
automatically creates and names the plot layout (.PEX) file.
An exception to this suggestion is when you are producing multiple plot files
from a macro and intend to print them using a master layout. In this situation,
which is introduced in MM 105 – Macros, you would typically disable Auto load.
It’s useful to plot your ongoing drill sections to PDF to create a human-readable
archive of all drilling in the project. Consider using pdfFactory, which you can
evaluate free of charge from http://fineprint.com/pdf/.
(Note, although listed here, Micromine does not warrant or otherwise endorse this
product.)
Help Topics
Layout
Duration: 25 minutes
In this part of the training you’ll learn to make simple modifications to a layout,
which are the first steps towards designing your own customised layout tem-
plate. The lesson covers two important techniques: using a layout template
to change the entire design, and modifying a plot frame to change the
contents of a specific plot element.
Introduction
A plot layout consists of any combination of plot frames containing plot
content, and other frame types containing supporting information or
marginalia. Modifications to a layout can be as broad as applying a completely
new template or as subtle as changing the properties of a single plot frame.
Using a Template
A common way of enhancing a drillhole cross section is to place a plan view of
the holes along one edge of the layout. The plan view is oriented parallel to
the section plane and matches the scale and location of the section. It shows
the location of the holes in relation to the section along with the thickness of
the clipping windows towards and away.
Micromine makes this process easy provided you’ve created a plan plot that
covers the entire project area. To incorporate the plan plot, apply a Section+
Plan layout template and then specify the name of the plan plot.
1. Ensure the Plot Frames window is visible. If it is not, click the Frames
tab to display it.
2. Right-click the 15900mN.PEX filename at the top of the tree.
3. Choose Apply Template from the pop-up menu:
Note how an empty plan window now appears at the top of the layout. The
grey text indicates that the frame is a 2D Plot frame called Plan Plot. The new
template has reformatted the entire layout.
Bottom refers to the location of the title frame, not the plan window.
6. Optionally, change the Paper Size back to A2 (use the paper size form
set, not the box on the dialog) and reselect the Auto title text.
7. Click anywhere within the Master Plot (section) frame to highlight it, and
then change the X Scale in the Properties window to 750.
8. Double-click anywhere within the Plan Plot frame to open the 2D Plot
dialog.
9. Click the Plot file browse button and choose the Plan plot file you
created earlier. Or, choose Example_Plan for an example containing
drillholes as well as surface information.
10. Click OK to apply the settings.
11. Your display should resemble the screenshot on the following page.
12. Using the Pan Data Within Frame button, drag the data within the
section view. Note how the plan view updates as you release the mouse.
Notes:
By using a template, it was possible to add the plan plot with minimal effort.
The Layout Templates folder contains many other templates, and you’ll learn
to manage your own templates in MG 204 – Plotting 2.
The Grid frame is subordinate to the Plot frame and is said to be a child of
the plot. There’s no direct way to modify the grid’s properties from the layout
so you must use the Plot Frames window to access it instead.
1. Ensure the Plot Frames window is visible. If it is not, click the Frames
tab to display it:
Notes:
2. Click the expand icon next to the Master Plot list to expand it. It
contains one child frame, the Master Plot Grid.
3. Double-click the Master Plot Grid frame to open the Grid dialog.
4. Click the Forms button at right of the Grid dialog and browse to the
Label Inside Border | Label=metres folder.
5. Choose Auto Spacing [DOTTED] from the list and click Open to apply it.
The spacing of the grid lines is currently automatic, but you’ll change it to a
fixed 100 m interval.
6. In the Line Settings group, enable Make all spacings the same and
change East Spacing to 100.
7. Click OK to apply the changes.
8. Optionally, repeat Steps 2 through 7 for the Plan Plot coordinate grid.
9. Your display should resemble this:
Notes: 10. Click the Save button on the Plot Editor toolbar to save your work.
Because a Grid frame is a child of its Plot frame you can only modify its
properties from the Plot Frames window.
1. Double-click the [Image “LOGO”] frame to display the Image dialog. Its
border will be highlighted in red.
2. Click the Image file browse button and choose Micromine_Logo.jpg.
3. Ensure that Maintain aspect ratio is enabled.
4. Click OK to apply the new logo. Your display should resemble this:
5. Save and Close the layout (click the on the 15900mN.PEX tab) once
you’re done.
This lesson has introduced the basic ways to modify a plot layout. Here’s what
you’ve learned:
Good Practice
Use pre-existing templates and plot forms where possible to speed up the
process of creating a plot layout.
Micromine supports popular image formats like JPG, GIF, TIF or PNG. When
making a logo file it’s important to ensure the image is large enough to make
high quality hardcopy output.
The largest paper you’re likely to use might be A0 or ARCH E, which means
the LOGO frame might be around 185 mm × 65 mm (7.2 × 2.5 inches). The
image should be big enough to accommodate this. A simple rule is: if you view
the logo at 100% scale on your computer screen it should just about fill the
screen. If it’s only 65 mm high on your screen, it’ll be too small to print at
maximum quality.
Help Topics
Templates Plot Editor > Working with files and templates >
Creating a layout from a template
Plot Forms Plot Editor > Working with plot frames >
Managing frame form sets
Adding a plot to a Plot Editor > Working with plot frames >
2D Plot frame Adding a 2D Plot
Duration: 15 minutes
In this part of the training you’ll learn to use a Vizex Plot layout to create a
plot of a Vizex view.
Introduction
A Vizex Plot layout is any layout containing a Vizex Plot frame, which differs
from a 2D Plot frame in three key areas:
It gets its data directly from a Vizex View instead of a plot file.
It handles the texturing and shading required to draw wireframes, block
models, draped images and 3D interpolated grids in 3D Shaded mode.
It can be interactively rotated within the layout in addition to the
interactive panning and zooming of a 2D Plot frame.
With a Vizex Plot layout you can interact with the view as if you were using
Vizex, and once it is positioned as desired you can print the layout as normal.
Or, you can create a layout containing one or more Vizex Plot frames and
then load a Vizex saved view into each frame. This method is best suited to
layouts containing multiple Vizex Plot frames or a combination of 2D and Vizex
Plot frames.
You’ll learn the Generate Vizex Plot option in the next exercise.
3. Click the Perspective Mode button on the Vizex View toolbar, and
then rotate the view into an inclined orientation.
4. Select View | Save Vizex View, or double-click the Saved View
node, and Save the view with the Title DTM and drilling.
5. Select View | Vizex Background Options and enable Sky and
Ground mode, then click OK.
6. Select Plot | Generate Vizex Plot from the main menu, and then
click OK to accept the settings on the Generate Vizex Plot dialog.
Micromine will automatically load the view into a default Vizex plot layout.
7. Your display should resemble this screenshot. (Vizex windows have been
closed for clarity):
In the workplace you’d work on the layout, filling out the frames in the title
area, or perhaps by applying a different layout template. For brevity you’ll
complete the next exercise using the default layout.
1. Click anywhere in the Vizex Plot frame to select it. Its border will be
highlighted in red.
2. Click the Pan Data Within Frame button in the Plot Editor
toolbar.
3. Drag the mouse within the frame to pan the data.
Because the view was created in perspective mode it appears as if you are
flying above the data rather than panning a map.
4. Hold the Shift key and drag the mouse to rotate the data.
5. Hold the Ctrl key and drag the mouse to zoom the data.
1. Double-click in the Master Plot frame to open the Vizex Plot dialog. The
frame border will be highlighted in red.
2. On the Vizex Plot tab, choose the Saved Vizex view option.
3. Click the Saved Vizex view form button and choose the DTM and
drilling saved view.
4. Inspect the contents of the Override Display Limits group, which
were created the instant you started interacting with the view.
5. Click OK to apply the change.
6. Click the Save button in the Plot Editor toolbar or select File |
Save from the main menu, or press Ctrl+S.
7. Ensure Save as type is set to Plot Document (*.PEX).
8. Enter the File name Inclined_View and click Save to save the file.
9. Click the on the Inclined_View.PEX tab to close the Plot Editor window
once you’re done.
10. Back in Vizex, select View | Vizex Background Options, change the
background back to Simple, and then click OK.
11. Select Edit | Remove All to clean up the display.
1. Up-to-date information: Because Vizex Plots don’t use a plot file they
always display the most up-to-date information. Using a Vizex Plot layout
whenever your data is rapidly changing will ensure that the layout
always displays the most up-to-date information.
2. Quick plotting: It’s faster to create a Vizex Plot layout using an
existing template than it is to create a plot file.
Simply generate a Vizex Plot, click OK to use the current template, and
then send it to your printer or PDF software.
3. Complex shading: Vizex Plots handle complex texturing and shading
more efficiently than 2D frames. Texturing and shading are required for
draped images, 3D shaded wireframes and 3D shaded interpolated grids.
This lesson introduced the Plot Editor’s Vizex Plot layouts. Here’s what you’ve
learned:
Create a Vizex view containing the data you wish to display, and
Consider enabling Sky and Ground mode and Perspective Mode for
a more realistic view, then
Select Plot | Generate Vizex Plot from the main menu.
Double-click the Vizex Plot frame to display the Vizex Plot dialog, then
On the Vizex Plot tab, select the Saved Vizex view option, and
Choose the Saved View.
Ensure you have completed the Saved View steps above, then
Click the Save button in the Plot Editor toolbar, or
Select File | Save from the main menu, or
Press Ctrl+S.
Good Practice
Vizex Plot layouts work directly from the current Vizex display (or a Saved
View) and can handle complex shading and texturing. Use a Vizex Plot layout
for creating quick plots, communicating complex ideas to non-technical audi-
ences, whenever your data is rapidly changing, or if you need to support
shading or texturing.
Help Topics
Saving a Vizex view Vizex > View > Save/Load Vizex View
Vizex Plot frames Plot Editor > Working with plot frames >
Adding a Vizex plot
Notes:
Beginner
.
Micromine 2016 Training MM 105 – Macros
MM 105 – Macros
Table of Contents
Sidebars
MM 105 – Macros
Table of Contents
Exercises
Lesson 1 – Introduction
Notes:
Duration: 10 minutes
This lesson will introduce the reasons for automating Micromine and give you
an opportunity to run an example macro that demonstrates one of Micromine’s
automation methods.
Automating Micromine
Micromine includes many individual tools and functions; in your daily activities
it’s normal to combine two or more of them into a workflow that produces an
end result. For example, adding the latest drilling results to a database might
require you to import, merge and then validate the data, with each step in this
workflow using a different Micromine function. You would then re-run this
workflow every time you wished to add new data.
Saving these steps as form sets avoids the need to re-enter the settings each
time, but you would still need to run them manually whenever you received
new data. Running anything manually increases the risk of human error, so a
much better alternative would be to somehow make them run automatically.
Micromine’s automation methods serve this purpose.
There are two ways to automate Micromine: macros and the Python pro-
gramming language. Although either method may be used to automate a
given workflow, macros are better suited to simple workflows and Python
programming is better suited to more complex workflows in workplaces where
maintainability and distribution are important.
Introducing Macros
A macro is a file containing a list of instructions that Micromine performs in
sequence without further input. Each instruction is defined by its process
(menu) name, form set ID and optional parameters. Any function that
appears on the Micromine menu may be used as a macro instruction, and once
a macro is set up you can run it repeatedly without intervention.
Notes: Repetition: To perform the same operation many times without having
to sit at your computer. A geological example involves plotting many
cross sections at the end of a drilling programme. This macro would
redraw the drill data as many times as there were cross sections.
Perform Complex Tasks: To perform a complex task via a sequence
of simple commands. For example, you might regularly extract assay
files from a database, perform a significant intersections grade
calculation and report the results. This macro would combine the simple
commands to automate this complex task.
Auditability: To document your Micromine workflow by listing the form
sets, in order, in that workflow. Generally, you would not run this
macro.
Before learning to write a macro you’ll run a ready-made example in the next
exercise so you can observe the result.
In this exercise you’ll run a macro that performs a task you carried out earlier
in the Introduction course: Removing everything from the Vizex window and
then loading a drillhole trace and a digital terrain model.
1. Select Scripting | Run Macro from the menu. Or, click the Run
Macro toolbar button.
2. On the Run Macro dialog, click the Macro Name browse button and
choose Load Drillholes and DTM from the list.
3. Type (or copy and paste) the name Load Drillholes and DTM into the
Report File response at the bottom of the dialog.
If you give the report file the same name as the macro you’ll be able to
track which reports correspond to which macros.
Anything loaded into Vizex will be removed, and the drillhole trace and digital
terrain model layers will then be loaded to replace them.
5. Micromine will return you to the Run Macro dialog once the macro is
finished. This gives you an opportunity to review the report file and
confirm that the macro was successful.
6. Close the Run Macro dialog and retain the view in preparation for the
next lesson.
This simple example shows how quickly a task, such as loading display layers,
can be carried out using a macro. Whilst you would not typically use these
steps on their own as shown here, loading data into Vizex does form the
beginning of virtually every macro for plotting drillhole sections. You will reuse
this knowledge in an upcoming exercise.
This lesson has introduced the concept of macros and their purposes:
Good Practice
Always consider automating any workflow that consists of more than one or
two steps, and that you need to run more than a couple of times.
Help Topics
Duration: 50 minutes
This lesson will teach you to write, test and run a macro, which you can use
to automate a variety of Micromine tasks.
Creating a Macro
Writing and using a macro is a three step process:
1. Create, test, and save all form sets that will be accessed by the macro.
2. Write the macro file, referencing the previously saved form sets.
3. Run the macro and check the result.
The following topics describe these steps in detail using a section plotting
example.
Once you’ve defined the form sets that make up your workflow it’s time to
write the macro file. To create a new macro file, choose Scripting | New
Macro from the main menu. Or, choose File | New and set the Type to
MACRO. The macro structure is predefined so there’s no need to use a tem-
plate in either case.
Macro files are ordinary Micromine files and you can use standard data entry
shortcuts like Ctrl+A (add) or Ctrl+R (replicate) while you are editing
them. The macro PROCESS and Form fields incorporate permanently
attached lookup tables that assist with selecting a process and its
corresponding form set; the PROCESS lookup table reproduces the main
Micromine menu (as shown below) and the Form lookup table lists the saved
form sets corresponding to each process. Simply click the corresponding
button to display either lookup table.
Each line in a macro file represents an individual step or action, which usually
requires you to select values for both the PROCESS and Form fields:
1. The process corresponds to the menu item you would have chosen if
you were performing the same task manually.
2. The form corresponds to the matching saved form set.
Abort: Typing YES into the PAR field (see below) will terminate the
macro if an error occurs. Otherwise the macro will ignore each error and
proceed to the next step as if nothing was wrong.
Comment: Ignores all other text on that line, making it useful for
labelling the fields in a macro. You can also use an exclamation mark (!)
to comment out an existing macro line.
In any process that makes a plot file it reproduces the output Plot file
response of the Generate Plot File dialog, equivalent to manually
entering the name whenever you create a plot file.
In the Plot Editor (PLOTPRINT) process it contains the name of the
plot document that controls the appearance of the plot. A lookup table
button (the Plot File button) will appear next to each PLOTPRINT
process, simplifying the task of choosing a plot document.
BMP File: The name of a bitmap file to which you can dump the screen.
Append-ROP: Use to append a Report, Plot or Other output file.
PAR: When using the ABORT command, the PAR field should contain
YES or NO to indicate whether or not the macro should abort.
The Advanced Macros white paper contains more information on these fields.
You’ll write a new macro file containing the Abort and Comment commands in
the next few exercises. Although the initial steps in this macro duplicate those
of the preceding example, recreating them will give you an opportunity to see
how the example was created.
Most of the form sets you will be using have already been created, but you do
need to create and test the form set that displays the first section. In Exercise
3.6 of MM 102 you interactively displayed the sections by opening a section
control file and selecting a specific named section from the Sections
window:
You can alternatively display a section from the main menu by selecting
Scripting | Macro Section Functions | Go to Section by Name. You’ll
save this dialog as a form set for the macro.
If you can’t remember the section name you can copy and paste it from
the section control file by right-click | Viewing it beforehand.
4. Click Forms followed by Save As and enter the Title Section 15760mN.
There’s no need to use form set folders here because this dialog has no
interactive equivalent.
6. Click Run to test the form set by applying the change to Vizex.
Note how the view now displays section 15760mN as if you had selected it
from the Sections window. If it did not work then you should re-do the
preceding steps and check the file and section names.
With the form sets created you can now turn your attention to writing the
macro.
You’ll see a blank macro file appear in the File Editor. Observe how the
PROCESS and Form fields have lookup table buttons.
This macro can be divided into four basic steps, which are examined in more
detail below:
The first lines of any well-written macro should add the Abort command and
include comments that describe the field contents:
1. Click the PROCESS button and note how the popup menu reproduces
the main Micromine menu.
2. Select Macro | Comment from this menu. Note how the COMMENT
command now appears in the PROCESS field.
3. Enter Output plot file in the Plot File field and Stop on error in the PAR
field.
4. Double-click the right-hand borders of the headings to widen the col- Notes:
umns and display the full comment text.
Notes:
However, loading individual Vizex forms is usually better because you can
control each one in a separate macro process. You can add or remove
layers by adding or removing (or temporarily commenting out) lines in
the macro without having to recreate the saved view each time.
This process does not have a form so there is nothing else to do.
6. Press Ctrl+R (or click the Replicate One button) eight times to add
the remaining sections (there are ten in the section control file and
you’ve already created processes for the first two).
If you were to run the macro now, Micromine would display every cross section
without creating the matching plot files. Your final task is to instruct it to create
a plot file for each section.
Every macro process that adjusts the Vizex view can be made to create a plot
file by simply entering the appropriate name in the Plot File field for that
process. To save time and prevent data entry errors you will copy the names Notes:
from the section control file.
You’ve just written a macro that will automatically make ten plot files.
Running a Macro
To run a macro, select Scripting | Run Macro from the menu or click the
Run Macro toolbar button. Running a macro means executing the com-
mands stored in the macro file, which you do via the Run Macro dialog.
Micromine will step through the commands as if you were operating it.
You may include any number of macro files in one macro run. This allows you
to create smaller macros that are easier to develop and test, and then combine
them on the Run Macro dialog to perform complex operations. The dialog
may be saved as a form set to simplify the creation of macro libraries.
Notes: You add a macro to the form by selecting a Macro Name. Pressing Enter
within the Macro Grid will create a new line, allowing you to run multiple
macros. They are run in the order you list them. To start from an intermediate
macro, click the Start At button next to the file where you’d like to begin. The
files before it will be ignored. Click the Delete Row(s) button to delete a line
and its corresponding macro. The right-click menu and Macro Grid toolbar
(on the Run Macro dialog) provide other options for managing multiple macros.
You must enter a compulsory Report file name. It’s essential that you check
this file after the macro has run because any pop-up messages that would
have been displayed during a manual run will be written to this file. At the very
least you should scan the report for errors, which are always highlighted with
blocks of hash ‘#’ symbols, like this:
Time: 08:48:48
#### ERROR IN COPY STRUCTURE ####
----------------------------
If you give the report file the same name as the macro, you’ll be able to
track which reports correspond to which macros.
As expected you’ll see Vizex loading the layers and then quickly stepping
through the named sections, as well as momentarily displaying each section in
the graphic display.
Any messages that would have appeared as pop-up dialogs during interactive
use are written to the macro file instead. It’s important to check for warnings
such as these to ensure the macro behaved as intended.
This lesson has introduced the techniques for writing and running a macro.
The topics that you’ve covered so far are:
For each process in a macro file you must generally provide at least two items
of information:
Good Practice
Keep your macros short and limit them to achieving a single outcome when-
ever possible. Short macros are easier to develop and maintain, and you can
combine them in the Run Macro dialog to perform a more complex task.
Use a systematic approach for managing form sets saved for macros. Consider
prefixing their titles, for example with (M), or saving them in subfolders so
they are separated from other interactive form sets.
Well-written macros usually include the ABORT command and always include
comments.
Giving report files the same names as the macros will allow you to track the
relationship between them.
If you’re writing a macro that incorporates a section control file, copy and paste
the section names from the control file into the Plot File field of the macro.
Help Topics
Macro functions Scripting and Macros > Macros > Macro functions
Macro processes Scripting and Macros > Macros > Macro processes
Macro
Duration: 30 minutes
This lesson will teach you to automate the Plot Editor using a macro. Auto-
mating the Plot Editor makes it easy to send a large number of plots, such as
drill sections at the end of a drilling programme, to an output device without
having to sit at your computer.
1. Create a master plot layout and save it with replaceable parameters. The
plot layout acts as the “form set” in a Plot Editor macro.
2. Write a macro file incorporating the Plot Editor.
3. Run the macro.
Notes:
Figure 3.1: Creating many plots using a master layout and macro
In the next exercise you’ll preview an example macro that shows how to create
multiple plots from a single plot layout with one replaceable parameter. In the
subsequent exercises you’ll then create, preview and run a more sophisticated
version of that macro that uses three replaceable parameters.
1. Select Scripting | Open Macro from the menu and open the Plot to
Device macro.
Right-clicking the Form column in a macro lets you preview that form without
running the macro. In the case of a PLOTPRINT process, the preview shows
the plot layout referenced in the Plot File column. This is ideal for validating
the plots before sending them to a printer.
3. With the plot layout open, double-click anywhere within the master plot
frame, switch to the 2D Plot tab, and compare the Plot File response
with the plot filename shown in the layout’s Scale frame.
Although the Scale frame clearly includes an actual plot filename, the Plot File
response on the 2D Plot tab still shows “%1”. Whenever you preview a plot
layout, Micromine automatically replaces %1 with the current plot file name. Notes:
The same applies when you run the macro.
4. Close the layout and then repeat the preceding steps for other
PLOTPRINTs, noting the different plot filenames.
5. Close the layout(s) and Plot_to_Device macro once you are done.
To run this macro, uncomment the PRINTER line, modify the form set to suit
your output target device, and then run it via the Run Macro dialog.
Replaceable parameters are a key macro feature and may be used in any
macro to represent any value that changes from one process to the next.
Once you’ve identified the entries whose values will change you then substitute
those values with replaceable parameters. These parameters are identified
by a % (percent) symbol followed by a number, for example %3, and will be
replaced with actual values when the macro is run. You can define replaceable
parameters %1 through to %99 (although only %1 to %30 are present in the
default macro structure), and the actual values must be held within the
corresponding fields in the macro file.
If you refer back to the Make_Dh_Sections macro it will be clear that not all
form sets need replaceable parameters. For example, form sets that load data
Notes: into Vizex don’t change from one run to the next and generally don’t need
replaceable parameters, whereas section numbers, view centre coordinates,
file names usually do change and do need replaceable parameters. Thus the
choice of whether or not to use replaceable parameters will depend on your
preferences and the complexity of the macro.
Default values (in the form of %x="value") are convenient for writing and
testing a new macro using real data. They will automatically be replaced with
parameter values at run-time. However, default values aren’t compulsory, and
in some situations it may be safer to delete them once the macro is ready for
regular use. This usually applies wherever a default value is inappropriate or
misleading; for example, your macro might require each step to use a different
(and unique) value. Clearly, a default value would increase the risk of duplicate
values. Or, you might require a process to fail if a compulsory value is missing,
which won’t happen when the macro can fall back to a default value.
In this exercise you’ll set up a master plot layout for a macro that sends your
cross sections to an output device. You’ll add three replaceable parameters to
the plot layout, assign default values to two of them, and define the individual
plot file names in the macro. (In this course you’ll send them to PDF or XPS
software, if installed.)
1. Select Plot | Open from the main menu. Alternatively, click the Open
button on the Main toolbar.
1. Browse to the 15900mN.PEX file you created in MM 104 – Plotting 1.
2. Ensure that the appearance of this layout is correct (scale, grid, etc.). In
particular, confirm that the Title text uses the @projtitle and @plotfile
substitutions for ease of automation.
3. Once you’re satisfied with the result, double-click anywhere within the
Master Plot frame to display the 2D Plot dialog.
4. On the 2D Plot tab, replace the Plot file value (currently 15900mN) with Notes:
the replaceable parameter %1.
Deliberately leaving out the default value forces the macro to supply each file-
name. Otherwise you could end up printing 10 copies of the same (default)
plot file. However, you will add default values to the X- and Y-centres:
Field Comment
Plot File: Master plot layout
PAR: Stop on error
%1: Input plot file
%2: X-centre
%3: Y-centre
Any macro that incorporates the Plot Editor should always use this process.
8. Right-click the Form field (avoiding the lookup table button) to open the
Select Printer Parameters dialog.
9. Set up the dialog as shown below. Be sure to choose the same paper
size and orientation as those in your plot layout.
Prompt Setting
Mode: Plot Editor Printer
Printer name: Any installed PDF software, or
Microsoft XPS Document Writer
Paper size: A3 or A2 (must match the layout paper size)
Orientation: Landscape
10. Click Forms, followed by Save As, to save these settings as a form set
with the Title PDF (or XPS) A2 (or A3) Landscape.
Omit Steps 6 to 10 if you don’t have any of the printers listed in the Notes:
table. If you’ve already completed these steps, close the Printer
Parameters dialog and press Ctrl+D to delete the PRINTER process from
your macro. You can complete the remainder of the exercise without
referencing a specific printer.
There’s no need to use form set folders because this dialog has no interactive
equivalent.
11. Close the Printer Parameters dialog. Note how Micromine has
automatically placed the new form set number in the Form field.
Because you added default values to %2 and %3 in the master plot layout,
you only need to enter values in the macro whenever you need to override the
defaults. Otherwise, simply leave them blank.
1. Click the cursor onto the PLOTPRINT process and press Ctrl+Shift+R
to replicate it to the remaining rows.
2. Repeat for the Plot File Macro_Master. Your macro should look like this
(some column widths have been reduced to fit the page):
3. Right-click in the Form field (within the grey editor cell) for any
PLOTPRINT process to preview that section as it appears in the master
layout. This is useful for checking the layouts for errors before
committing them to the output device.
4. Optionally, refine the X- and Y-centres (in the %2 and %3 columns) for
any plots that don’t fit within the master layout.
5. Save and Close the macro.
With the macro written, the last remaining step is to run it.
1. Select Scripting | Run Macro (or click the Run Macro toolbar
button), click the Macro Name select button and choose
Plot_Dh_Sections.
2. Change the Report File name to Plot_Dh_Sections.
3. Click Run to run the macro.
While the macro is running the Micromine window title will display [Executing Notes:
Macro Process X/Y from Plot_Dh_Sections, where X is the current process and
Y the total number of processes.
4. Use the installed PDF or XPS viewer on your computer to view the file(s),
inspecting the location of each plot’s data with respect to the frame.
Sending the plots to PDF or XPS like you did here creates a human-readable
copy of the plot layouts that is still suitable for hardcopy plotting.
This lesson has shown you how to use a macro to automate the Plot Editor.
The topics covered are:
Good Practice
Plotting to PDF is useful even if the final destination of the plot is a physical
hardcopy, because it gives you a human-readable digital record of your data
through time.
Help Topics
Lesson 4 – Launching an
Notes:
External Application
(Optional)
Duration: 15 minutes
This lesson will teach you to launch an external application from a macro,
which you can use to view the results of a macro outside of Micromine. After
this lesson you’ll be able to:
Introduction
Often the purpose of a macro is to prepare and export Micromine data for use
in another application such as a GIS. Part of this workflow might involve
automatically launching the target application so that it can manipulate or
display the data without user intervention. To simplify this process some of
Micromine’s export functions include an Open file option to automatically
launch the target application, namely:
File | Export | Excel (and the Export Excel button in the File Editor)
File | Export | Google KML
This lesson will teach you to launch any application from Micromine without
relying on the open file option.
Launching an Application
You launch an application via the Run External Program option on the
Scripting menu. This function takes three main items of information, the most
important of which is the location and name of the program file (application)
that you wish to launch. You can optionally supply the path (location) of the
data if it is not held within the project folder, along with optional program
command arguments.
In some situations, Micromine will be locked until you close the external
application. This behaviour is normal and depends on how the application uses
the data. You should determine this behaviour in your workplace before relying
on the existence of the data elsewhere in the macro. Alternatively, you can
force this behaviour by enabling Wait until the program finishes on the
Run External Program dialog.
Notes: In the next exercise you’ll create a macro to export and display data in a GIS.
In this exercise you’ll write and run a short macro that exports a string file of
topographic contours to an Esri Shapefile, and then opens that file in QGIS.
(In your workplace you may substitute the program file name of your usual
GIS application.)
For brevity you’ll set up the form sets as you write the macro.
You may not know how to label the fields right now. If so, just add an
empty comment line and enter the labels once the macro is more mature.
Observe how Micromine converts this to default value format and automatically
determines the input fieldnames.
Depending on how QGIS was installed the program file path may be different
on your machine. Your trainer will provide the correct location. Or, you may
substitute the path and filename of another GIS. Refer to Obtaining an
Application File Path for information on finding the location of an application.
5. Click the Forms button followed by Save As and enter a Title of View
exported shapefile.
6. Close (don’t run) the dialog.
7. Replicate (press Ctrl+R) ExportedTopoContours.shp into the %2
field. Your macro should look like this:
1. Select Scripting | Run Macro (or click the Run Macro toolbar
button), click the Macro Name select button and choose View_In_GIS.
2. Change the Report File name to View_In_GIS.
3. Click Run to run the macro.
4. Click OK to dismiss any QGIS dialogs and note the appearance of the
contours in QGIS.
5. Close QGIS once you’re done.
Notes: This simple example (most of the work was in setting up the Export CAD/GIS
dialog) shows how easily a Micromine file can be handed off to an external
application. It is possible to extend on this interoperability by using more so-
phisticated macro or Python scripting techniques.
You can force the application to retain control over the macro by enabling
Wait until the program finishes. Furthermore, some printing applications
can optionally be configured to generate the output filename from the input
data, making them suitable for use within a macro. You should consult your
printing application’s documentation to see if it supports this feature.
This lesson has taught you to launch an external application from a macro.
The topics covered are:
To launch an application:
Good Practice
Help Topics
Exporting to Excel Files and Fields > Files > Export > Excel
Exporting to Files and Fields > Files > Export > Google KML
Google Earth
Exporting to CAD/GIS Files and Fields > Files > Export > CAD/GIS
Run External Program Scripting and Macros > Run External Program
(Optional)
Duration: 10 minutes
This lesson will introduce Micromine’s second automation method, the Python
programming language, by comparing the load layers example macro with a
Python script version.
Introduction
Python is a popular and widely used programming language, the core features
of which are embedded in Micromine 2013 and onward. It encourages ad-
vanced users to develop and share custom automation workflows in a much
more rigorous way than macros.
The facing page illustrates a code snippet from a Python script. The MMpy
object shown in bold is the connection (or binding) between Python and
Micromine. This snippet also illustrates comments in green, a for-loop,
which repeats a series of actions, and an if-else statement, which executes
different parts of the script based on a condition. Macros do not support these
essential programming features.
AppendFiles.set_field("SRCTYPE","2") Notes:
Programming with Python isn’t for everyone, so don’t worry if the code snippet
scares you a little. Programming requires knowledge of (or a desire to learn)
concepts that are beyond the ability or interest level of many users. However,
having access to both simple and advanced automation tools gives you the
flexibility to choose between simplicity and power.
You can easily experiment with and learn about Python scripting by using
Micromine’s Record Script capability. Simply select Scripting | Record
Script from the main menu to begin recording, and then carry out your
task as normal. You can even run an existing macro. Once the task is finished
just reselect Scripting | Record Script to stop recording. Micromine will
prompt you to save the script as a Python (.py) file, which you can run and re-
run whenever you need to carry out that task.
Before you run the script you’ll compare it with the original macro:
1. From the main menu, select Scripting | Open Macro and choose
Load Drillholes and DTM.MCR from the list.
2. Now select Scripting | Open Script and choose Load Layers into
Vizex.py from the list. For clarity you may prefer to dock the scripting
editor window against a side of the Micromine window.
3. Inspect the two files.
The files carry out similar actions (the Python version loads more layers than
the macro), and yet their appearance and functionality are very different.
4. Close the macro once you’re done, ensuring you leave the script open.
5. Click the Run Script button (or press F5) to run the script. As
expected it produced essentially the same result as the macro.
6. Close the Scripting Editor once you are done.
At first glance the example script probably looked overly complex, but much
of that complexity arose from another advantage scripts have over macros:
they don’t need form sets. Instead every parameter of every form is listed
(along with its value) in the script. For example, these two lines of Python:
have the same meaning as these form set entries used by the macro:
Not relying on form sets makes it easy to share a script with other users
without having to worry about giving them the corresponding form sets.
Conclusion
This script could easily be shared with other users in your team who need to
display exactly the same data. Whether you choose to do so via a script or a
macro (like the one at the beginning of this session, along with its form sets)
is entirely up to you. However, if you see advantages in the script method then
we encourage you to attend the Python Scripting training course.
This lesson has introduced you to the Python programming language and
Python scripting within Micromine. The topics covered are:
About Python:
Good Practice
If all users in your team need access to the same custom automation, but
distributing form sets is a hassle, consider using Python scripting instead of
macros.
Help Topics
Notes:
Beginner
.
Micromine 2016 Training MM 106 – Wireframing 1
MM 106 – Wireframing 1
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 1
LESSON 1 – GETTING STARTED..........................................................................................................2
THE BASIC WORKFLOW .................................................................................................................................. 2
LOADING THE INPUT DATA.............................................................................................................................. 3
DATA QUALITY CONTROL ............................................................................................................................... 4
Maintain Quality from the Start .............................................................................................................. 5
Additional reading: the difference between a DTM, a surface and a solid .................................................. 6
LESSON 2 – CONSTRUCTING THE WIREFRAME .................................................................................9
BUILDING THE WIREFRAME ............................................................................................................................. 9
Making a Wireframe the Active Layer .................................................................................................... 10
Building a Wireframe ........................................................................................................................... 10
VALIDATING THE WIREFRAME ........................................................................................................................ 12
FIXING VALIDATION ERRORS ......................................................................................................................... 15
Validating Multiple Wireframes ............................................................................................................. 15
Swapping Triangle Edges ..................................................................................................................... 16
Adding Tie Lines .................................................................................................................................. 16
CLOSING ENDS .......................................................................................................................................... 20
Creating Intermediate Sections ............................................................................................................ 20
LESSON 3 – SAVING YOUR WORK ................................................................................................... 26
SAVING THE WIREFRAME .............................................................................................................................. 26
SAVING TIE LINES ...................................................................................................................................... 27
SAVING MODIFIED INPUT STRINGS ................................................................................................................. 28
Sidebars
Tables
MM 106 – Wireframing 1
Table of Contents
Exercises
Notes:
Introduction
This session introduces the process of creating a wireframe solid that you can
use to model 3D shapes such as geological units or structures, ore grade en-
velopes or underground mine workings.
However, before you learn about wireframe solids it’s useful to revise the
process of carrying out a drillhole interpretation. Starting with a series of
vertical cross-sections, you correlate the object of interest (perhaps a
mineralised vein) between holes to produce essentially 2.5-dimensional
interpretations on each section.
Clearly the mineralised vein exists in three dimensions and the drillholes should
therefore be correlated in 3D. You do this in Micromine by linking a polygon
from one section to the matching polygon on the next, creating a three-
dimensional shape as you go. This process, called building a wireframe or
simply wireframing, produces a mesh of interconnected triangles that can
represent a surface (such as a fault plane or weathering horizon) or a solid
(such as a rock unit or ore grade envelope). Because wireframes are
constructed from triangles they are also known as triangulations.
Duration: 15 minutes
In this lesson you’ll learn about the overall wireframing process along with the
specific steps you should carry out before starting.
Load Quality
Build* Close Save
strings control
The Build step, marked with an asterisk in the preceding diagram, is usually
the most time-consuming part of the procedure because it’s a recurring sub-
process. It can be further broken into three steps:
Build
Fix Validate
Much of the wireframing workflow is non-linear: you load and check your Notes:
strings once and then spend a period of time iterating through the build-
validate-fix cycle, periodically saving your work, until you’re happy with the
result. Only then will you have a closed and validated wireframe solid. So,
although the following pages present these steps in a linear fashion, you’ll
need to repeat some of them often before you complete your wireframe.
The differences between solids, surfaces and DTMs are explained in the
additional reading at the end of this lesson.
1. Display the Project Explorer pane by clicking the tab at the bottom of
the Vizex Forms pane.
2. Locate the Example_Qtz_Vein_Interp.STR file and drag it into Vizex.
3. Double-click the Untitled (Example_Qtz_Vein_Interp.STR) layer in the
Display pane and then switch to the Display Options tab.
4. Click the list ( ) button in the Colour field response and choose
STRING.
5. Click the Colour set form button and choose Orebody names.
6. Click Save As at right of the String dialog and enter a form set Title of
Qtz Vein interp. Click OK on the Save Current Values and String
dialogs to display the input strings.
7. Highlight the Qtz Vein interp layer in the Display pane and then click
the Colour Legend button to display the string colours. Make note of
the colours used for each mineralised zone.
8. Dock the floating dialog under the Display pane as shown:
Notes:
Position: Display your strings and drillholes together and compare their
positions. Are they in the same coordinate space? Performing a coordi-
nate transformation on one dataset but not the other can produce this
problem. Correct any coordinate discrepancies before continuing.
Snapping: Do your string vertices snap to the tops and bottoms of
drillhole intervals? If not, is it important for your project that they do?
You can snap un-snapped vertices by nudging each one with Snap
Mode turned on.
Closure: Are your strings closed? Mistakenly including an open string in
a wireframe will produce a surface instead of a solid. To close an open
string, select the offending string and then right-click and choose Close
String from the pop-up menu.
Viewpoint: Set the view orientation so you can easily see the front and
back of each section as well as separately seeing each section. It may
not be possible to find a single view that works for the entire project so
change it as often as needed. A confusing viewpoint with overlapping
strings will make it hard to know exactly what you’re linking.
Once you’ve established the quality of the input data you’re ready to start
wireframing. Detailed quality control is beyond the scope of this manual and
is covered in MG 211 – Wireframing 2. At this stage you’ll assume the input
data is valid and will perform a simple visual check of the match between the
strings and drillholes.
1. Expand the Drillhole Trace list in the Vizex Forms pane by clicking
the expand icon to the left of the Trace form in the Drillhole folder.
2. Drag the Example drillhole lithology form set into the graphic display.
3. Vizex will display the drillhole data from which the interpretation was
created; even a casual glance will show that the strings are in the same
coordinate space as the drillholes.
4. Using the Pan Tool (drag with the middle mouse button), dynamic
zoom (roll the mouse wheel), and Rotate Tool , zoom in on each
section and slowly rock the view back and forth, inspecting the
interpreted strings and their relationships with the drillholes. Look for
incorrectly snapped points and any other obvious errors.
5. Once you’re done, click the check box next to the Example drillhole
lithology layer in the Display Pane to hide the drillholes.
6. Click the Plan View and View All buttons to reset the view.
Keeping the Select Tool active and using the middle mouse to pan
and zoom, and Shift+middle mouse to rotate, will enable you to quickly
switch between view manipulation and string selection without wasting
time moving the mouse to the toolbar area and back.
Notes:
Additional reading: the difference between a DTM, a
surface and a solid
In MM 102 you worked with a DTM, which is one kind of wireframe supported
by Micromine. In this document you’re working with a solid, and you’ve read
references to a third kind of wireframe, a surface.
In other words, how many times would a vertical hole drilled at a random X-Y
location intersect the wireframe? The wireframe is a DTM if the answer is al-
ways one no matter where the hole is drilled. If the drillhole ever intersects
the wireframe more than once it’s a surface or solid.
Does the wireframe have an outside edge, with some triangle edges not
connected to other triangles? It’s a DTM or surface if it does. Otherwise, it’s a
solid.
There are many ways to build wireframes in Micromine, and identifying the
right kind of wireframe will help determine the best tool for the job. As a guide
Table 1.1 summarises the various kinds of wireframe and lists the most
appropriate way to construct each kind.
DTM Topography
Recumbent
Surface fold surface
Ore grade
Solid envelope
Kind of
Best Construction Method
Wireframe
This lesson has covered the basic workflow of wireframing and has introduced
you to basic visual quality control.
Use the Project Explorer or Vizex String form to load a string file.
Load the original drillholes along with the strings and check:
Position – are the drillholes and strings in the same coordinate space?
Snapping – do the string vertices snap to drillhole intervals?
Closure – are the strings closed?
Viewpoint – choose a view that gives you a clear view of the strings.
Good Practice
Perform your quality control checks right at the beginning by interpreting your
open or closed strings with wireframing already in mind. Ensure that you sys-
tematically check the naming, snapping and closure of each string before
moving onto the next one. By doing this you’ll be less reliant on performing a
specific QC step before wireframing.
Keep the Select Tool active and use keyboard and mouse combinations
to switch between the Select Tool and view manipulation. With the Select Tool
enabled you can still pan and zoom using the middle mouse wheel and button,
and you can rotate by using Shift+middle mouse button.
Help Topics
Wireframe
Duration: 45 minutes
Build
Fix Validate
This lesson will cover the build-validate-fix cycle in more detail. Once you’re
finished, you’ll be able to:
Notes: The manual method gives you complete control over the process, and you’ll
learn this method in the next few lessons. Automatically building a wireframe
is very fast but is based on mathematics and may not represent the reality
you’re trying to model. The implicit modelling workflow uses radial basis
functions (RBFs) to model surfaces or solids. Although it is heavily mathemat-
ical, many of its options give you a large amount of geological control.
Building a Wireframe
You use Build Wireframe mode to build a wireframe. This process involves
clicking a string on one section and then clicking the matching string on the
adjacent section. Vizex will link the two strings with a series of triangles. If
you’re satisfied with the result, continue by clicking the matching string on
each following section.
If you refer to Lesson 1 you’ll recall that one of the quality control checks was
to choose the correct viewpoint. This is especially important when you’re
wireframing because you must be able to easily visually identify each string
before you click it. Take time to adjust the view, as a poor viewpoint that
obstructs your view of the strings will make wireframing more difficult.
In the following exercise you’ll build the MV2 wireframe represented by the Notes:
green strings.
1. Pull down the Select Active Layer list and choose [New] Wireframe
from the list. Vizex will create a new display layer called New Wireframe.
This tool allows you to interactively select all strings matching the conditions
you specify. In this exercise you need to select all of the strings that are not
MV2* (the green strings) so that you can use a visibility tool to hide them.
Prompt Setting
Method: New selection
Layer (1): Qtz Vein interp
Field (1): STRING
Operator (1): Not equal
Value (1): MV2* (note use of wildcard)
Numeric (1): Disabled
3. Click OK to apply the selection, and inspect the result: everything but
the green strings is highlighted.
4. Click the Invisible button on the Vizex Object Visibility toolbar.
Notes: If you can’t see this toolbar, right-click a blank part of the toolbar area and
choose Vizex Object Visibility from the list of available toolbars. Alternatively,
select View | Toolbars | Customise from the menu.
Although they are still loaded in memory the non-essential strings are now
invisible.
Now it’s time to set the viewpoint and build the wireframe:
1. Rotate the view until you can clearly see each string and can also clearly
see the front and back of each.
2. Click the Build Wireframe button to activate Build Wireframe mode.
Note how the cursor now shows an icon that matches the current
triangulation method.
3. Click the first (southern-most) string to select it.
4. Now click the string in the next section and observe the result: Vizex
links the two strings with triangles. Your screen should look like this:
Notes:
Visual validation is very important and simple to do: turn the wireframe
around and look at it from all directions. Does it make geological sense? Does
it accurately represent the shape you’re trying to create? Has it left out
required volume or included unnecessary volume?
If the wireframe is complex you may need to visually validate every link. On
the other hand, if the wireframing is simple you can link several sections before
validating. No matter how simple the wireframe, you should mathematically
validate it at least once at the end of the construction process, or more often
if there’s a risk of interaction between different wireframe parts.
Notes: Regular validation will alert you to potential problems before they
become too deeply entrenched.
In the following exercise you’ll validate the work you’ve completed so far.
1. Rotate the view and inspect the solid. Look for sections where
volume may be lost or where the wireframe is geologically nonsensical.
You can ignore the 2 open section(s) since they are normal for a solid whose Notes:
ends haven’t been closed yet. Your validation report should find no other
errors. Ultimately Micromine should find zero problems, proving that the solid
is closed and valid.
Undo: If the invalid link is the last one you created, undo it by pressing
Ctrl+Z, or right-click | Undo, or clicking the Undo toolbar button.
The simplicity of this method is a good reason to validate regularly.
Select Triangles by Construction String: If the invalid link is
surrounded by valid links and can be identified by the strings originally
used to create it, delete the offending triangles by selecting the two
strings, then right-clicking and choosing Select Triangles by
Construction String from the pop-up menu.
Select Triangles by Line: If the geometry of the invalid link is complex
you can delete the offending triangles by clicking the Select Triangles
by Line button (or pressing K), dragging a line through the triangles
to highlight them, and then pressing Delete on the keyboard.
Once you’ve deleted the invalid links in a problem wireframe you must consider
how to replace them with valid links. There are many ways to correct a
wireframe, two of which are described below. Advanced remediation methods
are covered in MG 211 – Wireframing 2.
Notes:
Swapping Triangle Edges
Often a wireframe appears visually invalid because a pair of adjoining triangles
is connected in the wrong way. The Swap Triangle Edge tool provides a
simple way to flip the direction of the join. Simply select the tool and then
hover your mouse over the edge between the offending triangles. The cursor
will change to a circular arrow; click on the edge to flip it. Many times this
simple repair is all that’s needed.
Don’t get carried away with adding tie lines. Creating too many tie lines not
only wastes time but can increase the number of problems instead of reducing
them.
Less is more: use the fewest tie lines needed to fix the problem.
Pick the worst problem: focus on the most invalid parts first.
Pick obvious vertices: focus on the sharpest corners.
You add tie lines with the New Tie Line button. When you first click this
button you’ll be asked to Select Active Tie Lines. If you already have a tie
line file loaded choose that from the list. If not, choose [New] String and create
the file. Once you’ve chosen the tie line file Micromine will automatically switch
to string edit mode with Snap Mode enabled.
To build a tie line, click a vertex in one section and then click the matching
vertex in the next section. Micromine will join them with a line segment, which
constitutes a single tie line. To continue with this or any other tie line, click the
start and end vertices for each segment.
In order to preserve the integrity of the input data, always edit tie lines in
a separate layer. Don’t add them to the original input string file.
The validation you carried out in Exercise 2.2 identified one minor problem: a
small amount of lost volume in the links between sections 15790 and 15820.
In this exercise you’ll use Swap Triangle Edge to fix the lost volume south
of 15820. You’ll then repair a fictional error north of 15820 by deleting triangles
and adding a tie line. You’ll finish by rebuilding the solid.
1. Reset the view by clicking the Plan View button followed by the
View All button.
2. Zoom and pan the display to focus on the region between sections
15790 and 15820.
3. Turn the view so you can clearly see the crease just south of 15820.
4. Click the Swap Triangle Edge button and position your mouse over
the edge that forms the crease. Make sure the cursor is a circular arrow:
5. Click the mouse once and observe the effect on the wireframe. The
crease has been removed (overleaf).
Notes:
Now you’ll delete triangles and add a tie line to fix a fictional error in the link
north of 15820:
6. Switch to the Select Tool and select the strings at 15820 and 15845
North. Hold the Ctrl key as you select the second string.
7. With the strings selected, right-click in the graphic display and choose
Select Triangles by Construction String from the pop-up menu, as
shown here:
9. Right click and choose New Tie Line from the pop-up menu, or
alternatively click the New Tie Line toolbar button.
10. On the Select Active Tie Lines dialog, choose [New] String.
Notes:
11. Click OK. Micromine will create a new layer called Untitled (Untitled.STR)
and switch to string edit mode with Snap Mode enabled.
12. Rotate the view sideways slightly so you can clearly identify the
vertices that make up the top of the vein.
13. Click near a string vertex at the top left of the gap to start a tie line,
ensuring that the tie line snaps to the correct point.
14. Click near the matching vertex in the next section. Micromine will join
the two vertices with a tie line segment.
15. Repeat Steps 12 to 14 to add a tie line to the bottom of the vein. Your
display should look like this screenshot:
16. Press Esc or click the New Tie Line button to finish adding ties.
Closing Ends
Notes:
A wireframe is not a solid until you close the ends. Before then the wireframe
is merely a complex surface that can’t be used for volume or grade/tonnage
calculations.
It’s tempting to simply close the wireframes along the existing sections at
either end of the model. However, if your sections originated from a drillhole
interpretation this will close the wireframe straight down the drillhole traces
on the end sections and you’ll lose volume as a result. Additionally, you’ll
literally split the affected drill intervals lengthwise and won’t know if they fall
inside the wireframe or not.
Instead, extend the wireframe by half a drill line spacing beyond the end
sections. This is a three-dimensional extension of how you normally terminate
polygons half way between two holes on a 2D vertical section.
The quickest way to extend a wireframe beyond the end sections is to create
intermediate sections. This technique is also essential for modelling splits or
bifurcations in a wireframe, which are covered in MG 211.
Closing the end of a wireframe is simple: you select the string that represents
the end, right-click in the graphic display, and choose Close End from the
pop-up menu. Alternatively, you can click the Close End toolbar button.
Or, use Close End to Point to create a conical end. This option does not
require an intermediate section.
Lastly, the Close Holes option is ideal for closing hard-to-find openings in
a large or complex wireframe.
All three options require a distance and direction, which may be specified in
terms of X, Y, Z offsets, azimuth / inclination / distance, or distance perpen-
dicular to the plane of the data or plane of the screen.
Whenever copy or replicate are used the original strings are left in place and
the actions are applied to the copies. The strings may optionally be resized
to a percentage of their original sizes. This is useful if you wish to taper the
wireframe to, say, 80% of its original size to represent your decreasing
confidence in its shape beyond the drilling.
The average drill line spacing for this project is 30 m so it’s logical to make
intermediate sections 15 m past the end sections. Because the intermediate
sections are not based on any real data you’ll also resize them to 80% of their
original size. Once the sections are created you’ll extend the solid to them and
then close ends.
1. Switch to a Plan view and pan to the southern end of the solid.
2. Click the Select Tool and then click the string at the southern end of
the solid to select it.
3. Right-click in the graphic display and choose Copy/Move Strings
from the pop-up menu.
4. Fill out the Move String dialog as shown below to move the string 15 m
south and resize it to 80% of its original size.
Prompt Setting
Mode: Azimuth/Inclination/Distance
Azimuth: 220
Inclination: 0
Distance: 15
Copy: Selected
Resize: Enabled [80%]
6. Switch back to Build Wireframe mode and extend the solid to the
new string.
7. Right-click and choose Close End from the pop-up menu. Or, click the
Close End toolbar button.
If you don’t deselect the current string when you move to a different part
of the solid Micromine will attempt to (incorrectly) link the two parts.
This lesson has extended the basic wireframing workflow to incorporate the
build–validate–fix cycle and has introduced a technique for creating interme-
diate sections to close ends. Specifically, you’ve learned:
To validate a wireframe:
Use the Measure Tool to draw a line to the rough position of the
new section, matching the known strike and dip of the wireframe, then
Make note of the Length, Azimuth, and Inclination values in the
status bar or Properties window, and
Use those values in the steps below.
Good Practice
Validate often. It’s better to take a few seconds to validate than to spend days
building a wireframe only to discover it contains too many errors.
Keep data integrity in mind whenever you add tie lines or adjust the source
strings. Tie lines should always go in their own file.
Always deselect the last string of the current wireframe part if you plan to work
somewhere else, otherwise Micromine will try to join the two parts. Needless
to say this will cause validation errors at worst and a visually invalid wireframe
at best.
Help Topics
Wireframes Wireframe
The Active Layer Vizex > Windows > Toolbars > Vizex Layers >
Active layer (page topic)
Select by Condition Vizex > View > Toolbars > View >
Select by Condition (page topic)
Copy/Move Strings Strings > Edit > Context menu options >
Copy/Move Strings (page topic)
Duration: 15 minutes
Saving your work is simply a matter of saving each of the files with which
you’ve been working (wireframe, tie lines, input strings). However, some data
management and integrity decisions are needed, especially if your work will
be audited by banks, clients or consultants.
Although it’s possible to save all of the files at once it’s best to save them
separately so you can control the destination of each data element. You control
which layer is saved by selecting it in the Display pane before saving.
Save a wireframe
Save tie lines, using a name that relates them to the wireframe
Save modified input strings without altering the original input data.
However, you’re not restricted to just these types. Faults or shear zones can
be modelled as surfaces or solids that you can group under the Fault type.
Similarly, for solids of underground workings you might use the Stope type.
If none of supplied wireframe types suit your requirements, you can easily
create your own. Just select Wireframe | Types | Manage from the main
menu and click the New button on the Manage Wireframe Types dialog.
Whenever you create a new wireframe type you must also define the attributes
for that type. The simplest way is to use another type as a template. Or, disable
the template option to define your own attributes.
Always specify a default Colour when you create a new wireframe. If you
don’t the wireframe will be displayed in black and no texture will be visible.
In the following exercise you’ll save the wireframe with the Type Ore and the
Name MV2.
1. Right-click the Untitled (New Wireframe) layer in the Display pane (or
anywhere in the graphic display) and choose Save from the pop-up
menu.
You may alternatively select the layer and click the Save button on the
toolbar or press Ctrl+S to save it.
2. Click the Type browse button and choose Ore.tridb from the list.
3. Enter the Name MV2 and set the Colour to dark green.
4. Click OK to save the solid.
In Optional Exercise 2.3 you learned about separating tie lines from the input
strings; when you save the tie line file you should name it in a way that relates
it to the wireframe. For example, if your wireframe is named Sth Lode v1, one
possible name for the tie line file might be Sth_Lode_v1_Ties. The tie line file
is still a string file, so although you’ve separated the tie lines from the input
strings you should still set the file Type to STRING when you save it.
In the following exercise you’ll save your tie lines as a string file with the Name
MV2_Ties.
To reload the tie line file (perhaps after shutting down Micromine for the
evening), load it as a String layer and then click the small triangle immediately
to the right of the New Tie Line button. Choose Select Active Tie Lines
from the button menu and select the tie line file from the list.
The input strings you use for a wireframing project most probably represent a
series of sectional interpretations made by snapping to drillholes. However, if
you add end or intermediate sections to the string file, it no longer consists of
a pure sectional interpretation. This is because the new sections did not
originate from actual drillholes and therefore no longer represent the raw
drillhole information.
Because of this change in data origin you should consider saving modified
strings to a new file instead of saving them to the original one.
This does not apply to error corrections, which you should save back into
the original file whenever possible.
In the following exercise you’ll save the modified input strings to a new file
called MV2_Interp, which relates it to the solid.
1. Right-click the Qtz Vein interp layer in the Display pane and choose
Save As from the pop-up menu.
2. Enter the File Name MV2_Interp. As you did with tie lines, naming the
file this way relates it to the wireframe.
3. Click OK to save the file.
4. Micromine will place the new file name (MV2_Interp) into the Qtz Vein
interp form set, protecting the original file from accidental modification
at a later date.
5. Optional: To view the newly created wireframe in context, click the
check box next to the Example drillhole lithology layer in the Display
Pane to show the drillholes. You may wish to also expand the
Wireframes form type and load Topo DTM with Airphoto.
In this lesson you learned to save the various files that contribute to a built
wireframe. Topics covered are:
Right-click the layer in the Display pane and choose Save from the
pop-up menu, or
Click the Save button or press Ctrl+S, and
Name the file according to the wireframe it’s related to and, if necessary,
its version number.
Right-click the layer in the Display pane and choose Save As from
the pop-up menu, or
Highlight the layer in the Display pane and select File | Save As from
the menu, and
Name the file according to the wireframe it’s related to and, if necessary,
its version number.
Good Practice
Don’t rely on the Save All option to save your files, as you may uninten-
tionally overwrite an existing file, particularly if you’ve modified the input
strings.
Help Topics
Notes: