CHAPTER 2

Surpac Look and Feel

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Surpac Vision has seen the introduction of a new interface, making it much more intuitive and easy to use. The new interface has a familiar
look and feel, with typical Windows style drop down menu’s and tool bars.

Along with the new look of the interface, there is also now the ability to customise the look and feel of Surpac, through displaying context
specific menu’s and tool bars, by setting the screen to display the parts of the software that you do or do not use, or by creating your own
menu’s and tool bars.

Exercise 1 - Surpac Profiles

With the release of Surpac Vision, a new concept has been introduced to allow each user to have their own Surpac look and feel. This is done
through the use of Profiles.

A profile allows a user to display parts of the screen in a set way, and have Surpac remember these settings the next time the software is
started. A typical example of this is where a person may be working with a particular set of functions. To speed up work, the specific menus
and toolbars can be displayed directly on the screen so that it is not necessary that a menus tree is needed.

A set of standard profiles have already been created for use, but custom created profiles can also be created at any stage.

What you will learn

In this exercise you will cover the following topics:

 o How to use standard profiles.
o How to create a custom profile.
o How to start Surpac using a selected profile automatically.

 Standard Profiles
When Surpac is started you are prompted by a form to select a profile for use in this session of Surpac.
1 Launch Surpac Vision.
You are prompted to select a profile. Leave as <no profile> and apply the form.

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Note – you can apply a form in 3 ways. By clicking on the apply button, by pressing the Enter key or by pressing the F2 key.
 
Surpac will start with the default display. The standard display has two menus at the very top of the screen, the Main menu, and the
Applications menu the next down. Below that are the default tool bars. The first tool bar is the Status Items tool bar, and then below that is the
Main toolbar.
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2 Exit Surpac, and once closed, launch Surpac Vision again.
When prompted, select the survey profile.

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Now when Vision starts, the software will automatically display a slightly different set of menus and toolbars.
This has been done as the survey profile was created to display the menus and tool bars that are specific to using the surveying tools in
Surpac.

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Once a profile has been started, if you wish to display or hide any menu or toolbar you can by right clicking on the right hand side of any
menu or toolbar and then select the menu or toolbar that you wish to show.
 Custom Profiles
If you have certain menus or toolbars that you wish to be displayed most or all of the time, you can do this by creating your own profile. This
will allow you to select the profile when you launch Surpac Vision, and have the screen displayed in the format that you set. This includes the
size of the graphics region, the size of the file menu and the size of the message window.
1. Right click to the right any menu or toolbar to display the list of default menus and toolbars.

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2. Hide the Edit tool bar by clicking on the Hide option at the top of the list, or by clicking on the Edit option to remove the tick further
down the list.
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3. Now display the Solids menu.

Now you will save the current screen set-up to your own profile. You can give it any name you wish but do not use spaces in the
name. If you want a gap between words it is recommended that you use the underscore character.

4. Click on the File > Save > Profile.

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5. When the Save Profile form appears, enter in the name you wish to give your profile.

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Note – You should never overwrite the default profiles. This will make it difficult to recover the standard profiles, and may also be
overwritten by an updated installation of Surpac Vision.

6. Once the profile has been saved, you must close Surpac Vision, and then launch the software again.
7. When prompted, select your new profile and then press apply.

Surpac Vision will now start with the same screen set-up, as when you saved your profile.

Once you have created a profile, you can have Surpac automatically save the screen set-up for you when you exit. In doing this, the
menus and toolbars that you had displayed the last time you were using Surpac will be remembered.

8. Choose Customise > Auto save window layout

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Activate the function by checking the box.
Now when you shut Surpac Vision, the screen layout that you have displayed at the time of exiting will be saved to your current profile.
 Launching Vision with a set profile
You can set Surpac Vision to start with a selected profile, which means you do not need to choose it when you launch Vision.
You must make a change to the Surpac Vision icon for this to work.
1. Right click once on the Surpac icon, and select Properties.

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2. Select the shortcut tab at the top of the form.

3. The change needs to be made at the very end of the Target line.
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It is very important that there is a space between the end of the translate.ssi and the start of the –profile switch, and then another space
between the switch and the profile name.

translate.ssi -profile my_surpac

4. Click on OK and launch Surpac Vision.

When the software starts, you will not be prompted for a profile, and it will automatically be used in setting the screen set-up.
 
Exercise 2 – Surpac Vision System Files
Within Surpac Vision there are several ways to customise the software to make your work easier and quicker. This includes creating Surpac
logicals, making your own key short cuts and by allowing you to record macros or scripts to automate certain functions.
What you will learn
o Create and use Surpac logicals.

2.1 Surpac Logicals

Logicals in Surpac are a method of mapping a directory, where it is given a name, and pointed to a specific directory on you computer or
network. This is done to simplify recalling files, especially when there is a very long path name, as is often the case with a computer network.
There are two kinds of logicals that can be used within Surpac, system and user.
Surpac sets up system logicals when the software is installed, and they are kept in the file translate.ssi. These logicals are required by the
software for Surpac to work, and should not be edited. An example of the translate.ssi file is shown below.
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Note – It is recommended that you never add your own logicals to the translate.ssi file. This is because, when a newer version of Surpac is
installed the translate file may be overwritten and your logicals may be lost.
User logicals have been created to simplify the locating of data. In this exercise you will create a logical that will point to the Survey training
directory under the Surpac demonstration directory.
To make use of custom logicals, a file to hold them must first be created. This must be done using a text editor, and it is recommended that the
file be named logicals.ssi.
The easiest way to do this is to create a blank file using a text edit and then naming it correctly. In this case you will use WordPad, but you
can use any text editor you wish to use.
1. Go to the Windows start button and then start WordPad by going to Programs > Accessories > WordPad
2. Save the new document that is opened by default by going to File > Save As. The file will need to be saved to the etc directory of the
copy of Surpac Vision that you are using.
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3. Make sure that the Save as type is set to Text Document.

Now you can enter the logical that will be used by Surpac for the survey training files. The format is the same as the translate.ssi file.

4. Enter the logical definition as show in the following image, and save the file again. Make sure at the end of the logical line that you hit
the Enter key to get to the next line down.
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Note – Your Surpac installation may be different to that of the examples shown in the images, due to having a different version of the
software, or by selecting a different installation path when you first install Surpac. You must keep this in mind when setting logicals,
and setting other system parameters.

Now that you have added the logical, you must start Surpac again to be able to use the logical.

5. Close the current session of Surpac and then launch the software again. The profile you select will make no difference to the logicals.
6. Enter the following into your logicals file.

There are several methods you can use to see if a logical is working correctly. One easy way is to look on the file manager, towards
the bottom, where your logicals will be listed.

7. Locate the SURVEY logical and set it as your work directory in the file manager.
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8. Right click on the SURVEY logical name, and select the Set as Work Directory option.
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If this works then your logical has been set up correctly.
If this does not work, then you will need to check that the path names you entered into your logicals.ssi file are correct, and that Surpac is
looking in the correct directory for the logicals.ssi file.
Once the logicals are working, they can be used to recall files from any folder without the need to change to a specific directory.
Exercise 3 - Creating Surpac Shortcuts
For many years now, you have been able to initiate functions within Surpac with the use of keystrokes, or as they are known, short cuts. These
short cuts can be one or two keys, or can involve typing out an entire word. For as long as you have been able to use the short cuts, you have
been able to customise them, or even create you own. As well as running Surpac functions a short cut can also run a script.
What you will learn
o How to use Surpac short cuts.
o How to create Surpac short cuts.
3.1 Surpac Short Cuts
Surpac short cuts, or as they are also know, a Surpac alias, can be used, by simply typing in the few letters that are used for each specific
function. You do not have to use these short cuts if you do not wish to, but in some cases can speed up your usage of Surpac. These short cuts
are typed into the function chooser section on the top tool bar.

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When you use any function, the function name is shown in the function chooser field, with its default Surpac short cut shown in brackets at
the end of the function name.
A common short cut that is used is the recall file short cut, which is RF.
1. Type RF into the function chooser and then hit apply (F2 or Enter)

This will open up the recall file form, which you can then fill out to recall a file.

Another option you have is to create a short cut of your own for any Surpac function. In the following exercise you will create a short
cut for the move point function.

A list of the current default short cuts is kept in the file short.mst in the C:ssi_V4.0-Mshareetc directory. This file is one of the Surpac
alias files.

2. Open the short.mst file with a text editor.

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Once the file is open, you can scroll down the list to view the short cuts.

There are several options available when you wish to create your own short cuts. The first is to simply add them to the current
short.mst file. There is a danger in doing this, in that, if you upgrade Surpac at a later date, the short.mst file may be overwritten, and
as a result, your short cuts lost. As a result, we would recommend that you create a separate short cuts file, and add your short cuts to
this.

As with the previous exercise, the simplest way to create this short cut file, is to a new file from your chosen text editor, making sure it
is named correctly.

3. Start WordPad, and use the Save As function to save the file as my_shotcuts.mst.

As with the logicals file, the alias file must be saved to the etc directory of your copy of Surpac.

The format of the new short cut file needs to be in the same format as that of the short.mst file, with the chosen alias on the left in
quotes, and the command name on the right, also in quotes.
 The name of the function on the right of the short cut is a name controlled by Surpac. If you wish to find the correct name for a
function, view it in the command chooser in Surpac Vision by running the functions using the menu or toolbar first.

In the example you will create 2 short cuts. The first will be for drawing all of the strings on screen with the sting numbers displayed,
and the second will be for hiding a segment by clicking on it. Try these functions out first to see what the command names are.

4. Select Display > Strings > With string numbers

This will show you that the function name is Draw Strings.

5. Select Display > Hide Strings > Segments by selection

This will show you that the function name is Erase segment by selection

6. Enter in the command name to the right of the alias name, making sure that you use spaces between the two, and that there are double
quotes around the function name as you can see in the following image.
7. At the end of the line, press enter to move down to the next line.
8. Save the file as my_shortcuts.mst.

Now you must tell Surpac that you are going to be using another alias file. Within Surpac it is possible to use up to nine alias files, all
containing short cuts.

9. In Surpac Vision choose Customise > Default Preferences

10. Click on the Alias tab to the right of the form.
11. On the third line, Alias Three, use the browser to locate your alias file.
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Once you have filled out the form with the correct path and name of your alias file, press apply.

For Surpac to recognise the new short cut, you must close the software, and then restart.

12. Exit Surpac Vision.

13. Launch Surpac Vision.
14. Recall the file "ORE392.STR" into graphics.
15. Type "ES" into the Command Chooser and then click on one of the segments. That segment will then be erased.
16. Type "DRS" into the Command Chooser, and then press Apply to the form that is displayed without making any changes. The
segment that you erased will now be re-drawn, and all of the string numbers will also be displayed.

Exercise 4 - Keymaps
As well as being able to create your own Surpac short cuts, you can also assign functions or scripts to individual keys, or a combination of
keystrokes. An example of this are the function keys, which, by default, have certain functions assigned to them, such as F2 to apply. If you
wish, these can be customised to run any function you wish.
What you will learn
o How to assign a function to a key or set of keystrokes.

 Assigning Function Keys

In this exercise you will make the F7 function key recall a file. All of the key information is stored in a file called keymaps.ssi, which is kept
in the C:ssi_v4.0shareetc directory.
1. Open the keymaps.ssi file with a text editor.
2. Scroll down the list of key information until you find the function key definitions towards the bottom of the file.

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In this file you can see that all of the function keys at the top of the keyboard have been assigned a function. The exception to this is
the F10 key, which is reserved by Windows, and cannot be assigned a function.

The next step is to change the function that has been assigned to F7.
 3. On the line that defines the F7 key, add the following, making sure that all parts line up.

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For the changes to be recognised you must close Surpac and then re-start the software.

4. Save the text file as keymaps.ssi and then close the file.
5. Exit Surpac Vision.
6. Launch Surpac Vision.
7. Press the F7 key.

The recall file form should be opened.

As well as assign functions, you can also run scripts from the function keys on the keyboard.
Exercise 5 – User Created Tool Bars
As well as being able to customise the Surpac interface by displaying the menu’s and tool bars that are specific to the work you are doing, you
can also create your own menu’s and tool bars, with and function, or script on them.
What you will learn
o How to create your own toolbar.
5.1 Creating a toolbar
In this exercise you will create you own toolbar, with varying functions placed on it, and have it displayed when you start Surpac Vision with
your profile.
1. Choose Customise > Customise menus/toolbars

Surpac will take a few moments, and then display the Modify menus and tool bars screen.
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To create a custom toolbar, you will need to add it to the user toolbar area.

2. Click on the User Toolbar area, and then click on the New option on the menu.

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A new toolbar will be created, with the name Toolbar_1. The next step is to rename the toolbar to what you want it to be named.

3. Click on the new toolbar name, Toolbar_1, and then click on the Edit option on the menu.

This will allow you to rename the toolbar.

4. Enter the new name of My_Toolbar, and then press the Enter key.

Note – Do not use spaces in the toolbar names. If you want a break between words, use the underscore character.

Now you can start to add the functions you wish to have on your toolbar. The easiest way to do this, is to copy the functions from the
already existing Surpac toolbars.

5. Navigate up the toolbar and menu tree, and open the Surpac default toolbar list. Then open the Edit toolbar.
6. Highlight the functions that you wish to add to your toolbar, in this case the following functions

 Point Delete
 Segment Delete
 String Delete
 Segment Reverse
 String Reverse
 Segment Close
 Segment Join
 Segment Break
 Point Edit
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Once the functions have been highlighted that you wish to add to your toolbar, you can copy them to your customised toolbar.
1. Highlight the function names, and them click on the Copy option on the Menu.
2. Move down to your toolbar name, and highlight the My_Toolbar name.
3. Click on the Paste option on the Menu.

The functions will be added to your custom toolbar. If you wish to change the order of the buttons, you can click on the function and
use the Move Up and Move Down options on the menu.

4. Click on the Point Edit function, and use the Move Up tool on the menu to place it above the Segment Reverse function as shown in
the following image.

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 If you want to have a break in the icons on the toolbar, you can use a separator.

5. Copy a separator from the default Edit toolbar, and then paste in after, the String Delete function, and then another after the Point Edit
functions, and then after the String Reverse function.

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Once you have added the functions you wish to be on your toolbar, you will need to Apply the Modify Menus and Toolbars form.

6. Apply the Customise form.

As this is first time this toolbar has been created or edited, Surpac will ask you which profile to save the toolbar to. In this example
you will use the profile you created earlier called My_Profile.
7. Select you profile from the list, and then Apply the form.

Surpac will tell you that you will need to re-start Surpac for the toolbar to be recognised.

8. Close Surpac
9. Launch the software again, and select the My_profile from the list.

Surpac will now start with your new profile being displayed. It should look something like the following image.

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You can now add further functions to your toolbar.

10. Choose Customise > Customise menus/toolbars

11. Highlight your toolbar
12. Click on the New option on the menu.

You will be presented with a form that is asking what kind of a function will be associated to the icon you are going to place on the
toolbar. In this case, you will be creating an icon for the bearing and distance function.

13. Fill out the form as shown in the following image, and then Apply the form.
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The Image that you use is entirely your choice. You can use any image from the list of those available in the browser list, or you can
create your own icons.

The tip is the piece of text that will pop up when you hold your mouse over the icon, and can say whatever you like.

14. Add another separator above the Bearing and Distance function, and then Apply the form.

The new icon will be added once you have applied the form. Try a few of the icons out, and also, hold you mouse over the new icon that you
have added to see if your tip works correctly.
What you have covered
This chapter has covered some of the Surpac basics for helping you to customise Surpac, and make it even easier to use. The topics you
should now have a good understanding of are listed below.
 o Surpac Profiles
 Using the standard Surpac profiles
 Creating a custom profile
 Starting automatically with a profile
o Surpac Logicals
 Setting up custom logicals
o Surpac Short Cuts
 Using Surpac short cuts
 Creating custom short cuts
o Surpac Key Definitions
 Customising key commands
o Custom Toolbars
 Creating a custom toolbar

If you are unsure about any of the above topics you can review these topics at any stage.
Where to next
The next chapter will cover the basics of the Surveying Database within Surpac. This will also cover some very basic database theory.