FAQ
FAQ
How do I start a drawing?
File → New. It opens in a new tab. To start from your own layers and styles, set a startup template in Settings → Files — see Files and Drawings.
How do I draw a line?
Type L and press Enter, then click or type points. Press Esc to finish. See
Drawing Tools.
How do I enter coordinates?
Type X,Y or X Y for absolute, @dx,dy for relative to the last point. Polar entry
(@100<45) is not supported — lock a bearing instead with A 45, then type the distance. See
Coordinate Input.
How do I draw a line by bearing and distance?
After the first point:
A 132d15m30s
248.55
A <bearing> locks the direction, then a number is the distance along it. 2P lets you pick the
direction from two points instead, and +90 turns off it. See Coordinate Input.
Which way do bearings go?
North is 0°, and angles increase clockwise. East is 90°, south 180°, west 270°. That is how you
type them, always. How they are displayed — decimal, DMS, or surveyor's — is set in UNITS.
How do I snap to an endpoint?
Press F3 to turn OSNAP on. Right-click the status-bar OSNAP button and tick Endpoint. See
Object Snaps.
How do I snap to something buried under other geometry?
Shift + right-click in the viewport. Choose a snap type, and you get a list of every snap of that type in the model, sorted by distance from your click.
How do I change layers?
Set the current layer in the dropdown at the right end of the ribbon before you draw. To change an
existing object, select it and use Layer in the Properties panel. LAYER (LA) opens the Layer
Manager. See Layers.
I turned a layer off and nothing happened. Why?
Layer On / Freeze / Lock are stored but not enforced yet — the Layer Manager says so. To hide
things today, use HIDEOBJECTS / ISOLATEOBJECTS, or VP Freeze in a paper layout.
How do I undo?
Ctrl+Z. Redo is Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Y. The Edit menu names the step it will reverse.
Undo history is per drawing tab and is cleared when the tab is closed.
How do I import survey points?
IMPORTPOINTS (IMPPTS), pick the CSV, set Column order to match — P,N,E,Z,D is PNEZD.
Check the preview before importing. See Survey Points.
How do I get Civil 3D points into GoSurvey?
Export a PNEZD or PENZD CSV from Civil 3D and import that. Civil 3D COGO points are custom objects and are not written into a DXF at all, so no third-party program can read them from one. Use DXF for the linework.
Will importing a DXF wipe my survey points?
No. DXF import replaces the CAD geometry and keeps the survey points already in the session. So CSV-then-DXF and DXF-then-CSV both work. Colliding IDs prompt you to overwrite or offset.
How do I calculate an inverse?
INVERSE (INV), then two picks. It reports ΔE, ΔN, horizontal distance, and bearing. Turn OSNAP
on first so you land exactly on the points. See Inquiry Commands.
How do I compute an area?
You cannot, inside GoSurvey. The only area it reports is a circle's, in the Properties panel. Export the boundary or the points and compute it elsewhere.
How do I change units or precision?
UNITS (UN / DDUNITS). Set Length → Precision, Angle → Type, and Insertion scale.
Note that insertion scale is a label only — it never scales coordinates. See
Settings and Options.
How do I set text size?
Two things multiply: Default text height (in) in Properties → General, and the annotation
scale on the status bar. At 1" = 50' with 0.10 in, new text is 5 model units tall and plots at
0.10 in. Set the scale before placing text. See Annotation.
How do I plot?
Switch to a paper layout, then press Plot on the Layout ribbon. There is no typed PLOT
command. Output is a vector PDF — GoSurvey does not print to a Windows printer. See Plotting.
How do I plot several sheets into one PDF?
Layout ribbon → Batch, tick the layouts, Plot to PDF…. Pages come out in layout order.
How do I export my drawing?
File → Export DXF… for ASCII DXF (AC1032). File → Export DWG… goes through an external
converter and is lossy — the dialog lists exactly what it drops. EXPORTPOINTS writes the points as
CSV. See Import and Export.
Why are the DWG menu items greyed out?
DWG needs an external converter. Install the free ODA File Converter, or set
GOSURVEY_DWG_CONVERTER to ODAFileConverter.exe or accoreconsole.exe.
How do I trace a PDF?
PA (PDFATTACH). Attach the page, then snap directly to it — snap targets are detected from the
rendered image, so they land on what you can see. Vectorize converts the detected lines to real
geometry in bulk. See PDF Underlays.
How do I move a local drawing to state-plane coordinates?
ALIGN (AL) with source→destination control pairs. One pair gives translation; two or more give a
full Helmert fit. Review the residuals before applying, and untick Apply Scale if the drawing is
already at true scale. See Coordinate Alignment.
How do I build a surface?
Create a point group first (Survey → Groups), then Survey → Surfaces → New from group…. Key the group on raw description so office edits do not break it. Rebuild picks up points imported later. See Point Groups and Surfaces.
Can I see elevations?
Yes. Run ORBIT (3DO) and drag to tilt the view. SURFELEV (SE) reads elevations and
grades off a surface. ELEV sets the elevation new geometry is drawn at, shown on the status bar as
UCS: Elev ….
Does GoSurvey have blocks?
No. There is no BLOCK, INSERT, or attribute support. DWG export writes geometry exploded.
Does GoSurvey have MIRROR?
The ribbon button exists but is disabled — it is not implemented. See Known Limitations.
What does the POLAR button do?
Nothing yet. It toggles and lights up, but polar tracking is not implemented — its own tooltip says "Polar tracking (UI only for now)".
Can I customise keyboard shortcuts?
No. Aliases and shortcuts are fixed. The right-click behaviour is configurable — Settings → User Preferences → Right-click Customization…
Is there an autosave?
No. There is no autosave, no backup file, and no drawing recovery. Ctrl+S often.
Can I open several drawings at once?
Yes — each is a tab, and each is completely independent: geometry, layers, points, layouts, plot scale, and undo history. The clipboard moves objects between them.
Will a new version open my old drawings?
Yes. GoSurvey opens drawings from any older version, converting as it loads, and does not modify the file until you save. If an update changes the file format, the update dialog tells you before you accept it.
How do I turn off update checks?
Settings → System → Updates → Check for updates on startup. With it off, GoSurvey makes no network requests at all.
Where are my settings stored?
gosurvey-user.json, beside the executable. Plot scale and insertion units are stored in the .gs
drawing instead. The undo history log is at %APPDATA%\GoSurvey\history.log.
The program says something I do not understand. Where do I look?
Press F2 for the full command console and scroll back. GoSurvey does not fail silently — the
reason is in the log. If it still does not help, right-click the log ▸ Copy log to clipboard and
open an issue.
Related
Troubleshooting · Known Limitations · Command Reference · Workflows