Survey Points

Survey Points

Survey points are not ordinary CAD geometry. They live in their own database inside the drawing, each with an ID, coordinates, an elevation, a description, a layer, and a label style. Deleting a point removes its label with it; importing a DXF keeps them.

World X = Easting, World Y = Northing, World Z = Elevation.

What a point holds

Points are drawn as a screen-facing X marker, sized from the plot scale so it stays readable at any zoom and any view orientation.

Creating points

Ribbon: Survey → Points Command: CREATEPOINTS, CRTPTS

Click in the drawing to place points. Clicks on existing markers select them.

The panel stays open and every click in the drawing places a point — there is no separate toggle to arm. Clicking an existing marker selects it rather than stacking a new point on it.

Panel fields

Duplicate-ID policy

Used when a new or moved point would collide with an existing ID:

The same policy applies when copying or moving points.

Press Esc to close the panel — the log says Selection cleared; CREATEPOINTS closed.

Viewing and editing points — VIEWPOINTS (VWPTS)

Opens Viewpoints — survey database, a table of every point with a footer count (N point(s)).

Coordinates are shown and edited in world values.

Rejected edits are reported: VIEWPOINTS — ID must be a whole number (no spaces or extra text). and VIEWPOINTS — duplicate ID ….

Save and Load write and read the whole database as JSON, defaulting to gosurvey_points.json.

Point labels

Each point can carry a label linked to it. The label follows the point when it moves, and is removed when the point is deleted.

Label styles

Set per point in the Properties panel:

• None
• Point number only
• Point number and description
• Description only
• Point number and elevation
• Point number, elevation, and description
• Northing and easting
• Point number, northing, and easting
• Point number, northing, easting, and elevation

Labels using {north} and {east} placeholders display world coordinates.

Label templates and placement

Settings → Drafting carries the point-display settings:

Each label style has an editable template. Press Edit Template to open the editor, which offers:

• Insert attribute — Number, Northing, Easting, Elevation, Description
• Formatting — Bold on/off, Italic on/off, colour tags
• Tags: b, i, u, color:RRGGBB, /color

Apply to all points / Apply all templates to survey points pushes the edited templates onto the existing points.

Because labels are positioned in plotted inches, changing the plot scale repositions every label so the sheet keeps looking the same. See Plotting.

Importing points from CSV — IMPORTPOINTS (IMPPTS)

The dialog

1. Browse… to the CSV file.
2. Column order — pick the layout that matches the file:

3. First row is header (skip) — tick if the file has a header line.
4. Check the File preview and the Validation summary. Refresh preview re-reads the file.
5. Import. If some rows are bad you are asked to confirm: Import N valid row(s) and skip M bad row(s)?

Per-row problems are reported in the command log with the line number and reason — for example E (easting) is not a valid number or duplicate ID …. If the list is long, the log says (Additional problem lines omitted from this list.)

Precision

CSV coordinates are world (state-plane) values. GoSurvey converts them into the drawing's internal frame in double precision before storing, so imported points land exactly on matching DXF geometry rather than a fraction of a foot away.

Getting points out of Civil 3D

Civil 3D COGO points are custom objects and are not written as standard DXF entities, so they cannot be recovered from a plain DXF. Export them from Civil 3D as a PNEZD or PENZD CSV and import that; use DXF for the linework. Either order works — see Import and Export.

Exporting points to CSV — EXPORTPOINTS (EXPPTS)

1. Choose the output path (defaults to points.csv).
2. Column order — the same four presets.
3. Write header row — optional.
4. Export.

Export writes world coordinates and adds a tab to the Reports panel with a summary.

Failures are reported plainly: EXPORTPOINTS — could not write <path> or EXPORTPOINTS — no file path.

Points and DXF

• Export writes each point as a native POINT / AcDbPoint at world coordinates with its own layer and ByLayer colour, plus $PDMODE / $PDSIZE in the header so it displays as an X. Point identity — ID, label style, description — travels in GOSURVEY XDATA, so a GoSurvey DXF round-trips with full survey identity while any other reader still sees a valid POINT.
• Import rebuilds a point from that XDATA. A POINT without it imports as a plain snappable cross marker.
• Importing a DXF keeps the survey points already in the session and replaces only the CAD geometry. Reconstructed points are merged with the existing ones; a colliding ID prompts you to overwrite or offset the imported IDs.

Full detail: Import and Export

Points in other commands

Common problems

Related

Point Groups and Surfaces · Coordinate Alignment · Traverse Editor · Import and Export · Inquiry Commands