[Qgis-user] Re: Azimuth and Distance Plugin (was Re: your old qgis plugins)

Darren Cope darrencope at gmail.com
Wed May 18 10:35:52 PDT 2011


Thanks Fred--the inconsistent entry is a problem for sure, and perhaps part
of why I'm getting confused! This one in particular does not close--like you
said, many of them do not. However, as long as it's pretty close...

Darren Cope
http://darrencope.com
http://dmcope.freeshell.org


2011/5/18 Fred LaPlante <flaplante at flos-inc.com>

> OK, looks like we are both talking about the same 'English' system of metes
> & bounds.  Your parcel looks just like mine. And none of the bearings look
> nearly precise enough to guarantee closure. The most conspicuous absence is
> lack of a True vs magnetic notation. For Canada that can be a killer - and
> magnetic can easily vary 40min in ten years. Also I see that the surveyor
> didn't enter the bearings in a consistent way as he walked around the
> property so the bearings have to be reversed manually, or a negative sign
> used.
>
> Anyway, I'll get a copy of qGis running and see what I can do with your
> drawing.
>
> Fred
>
>
> On 5/18/2011 1:19 PM, Darren Cope wrote:
>
>> Thanks Fred,
>>
>> I've (re)attached the image example--the coordinates we deal with in
>> Ontario (and most of Canada) seem to  (almost all) come in the format shown
>> in my attachment. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me from a
>> 'usability' standpoint, but...
>>
>> Darren Cope
>> http://darrencope.com
>> http://dmcope.freeshell.org
>>
>>
>> 2011/5/18 Fred LaPlante <flaplante at flos-inc.com <mailto:
>> flaplante at flos-inc.com>>
>>
>>
>>    Wow! voices from the past.
>>
>>    Darren,
>>
>>    I haven't done anything with qGIS for over a year now. But this
>>    does remind me I need to get back to it again just to catch up on
>>    some things here on my desk. Unfortunately I 'upgraded?' my
>>    computer system to Windows7 since then and qGIS didn't make the
>>    transfer (though the data did make it!). So I will have to answer
>>    your questions from memory.
>>
>>    I think Mauricio got it all right. Here in Maine, USA, land
>>    boundaries in property deeds and maps are given in 'metes and
>>    bounds' that is nnn.nn feet North/South xxdeg East or West. (For
>>    example 950.5 feet N 30deg 45Min 20Sec East). So what I would do
>>    is to establish a starting point from whatever corner I could pin
>>    down on a map and then 'walk' around the property entering the
>>    distance and heading as given on the deed or property map. I have
>>    done this with the Az & Dist plugin for many land parcels in my
>>    home town. But having said that let me add that getting 'closure'
>>    is seldom achieved. I found the accuracy of the property deeds or
>>    maps even with signatures and seals of licensed surveyors was very
>>    poor. Sometime I got definitions like "900feet N 40deg E (plus or
>>    minus)". It seems only the surveyors markers mean anything and the
>>    legal description is only a guide to help find them. Surveyors
>>    tell me "Here in Maine everyone knows how to get to their property
>>    but no one really know where it is."
>>
>>    Unfortunately your plan didn't get to me so I can't be sure just
>>    what the difficulty is. If you could send me a copy, I will try to
>>    enter it into qGIS and see what happens. Perhaps a bug has gotten
>>    into the code since I last used it. But I still have my original
>>    plugin code so we should be able to get things working again.
>>
>>    Here is an extract from some instructions I wrote for the local
>>    town government. Perhaps this will be helpful.
>>
>>    Fred LaPlante
>>    Mercer, ME, USA
>>
>>
>>        5.4 Survey Data
>>
>>    Deeds normally provide a list of bearing and distance from a
>>    starting point around a property boundary in a consistent
>>    direction until returning to the start. The process describe here
>>    should accept most property descriptions as written.
>>
>>    Survey maps may be consistent as well, but sometimes a direction
>>    my appear as a ‘back bearing’ due to the nature of the survey.
>>    These can be handled with the addition of a minus ‘-‘ sign at the
>>    beginning of a bearing.Failure to catch this detail can produce
>>    some fascinating, but useless,drawings.
>>
>>     1. Open or create a layer for your new feature.
>>     2. Use properties to set transparency to 50-75%
>>     3. Enable editing of the layer.
>>     4. Open the ‘Azimuth & Distance’ Plugin.
>>     5. Verify both the Layer and Coordinate System (CRS) shown are
>>    correct.
>>     6. For most surveys, Boundary type survey is correct.
>>     7. Select North type that applies (enter magnetic declination if
>>        appropriate)
>>     8. Select Distance units. In USA this will probably be feet.
>>     9. Select Angle Type: Azimuth is a compass heading, Bearing is of the
>>        form N xx deg E
>>     10. Click ‘Capture from Map’
>>     11. Move mouse to location of starting point on base map.
>>     12. Under ‘Next Vertex’ enter direction and distance from survey
>>    or deed.
>>     13. Click ‘Add to Bottom’.
>>     14. Repeat above 2 steps as needed.
>>     15. Click ‘Export List’ to save your entries for a later time.
>>     16. Click Draw.
>>
>>
>>
>>    On 5/18/2011 11:14 AM, Maurício de Paulo wrote:
>>
>>        Hi Darren,
>>        I haven't worked on the plugin for a long time now.
>>        The terms are about what angle is given to the plugin.
>>        Bearing is measured from a given direction but with 180
>>        degrees for each side (Ex.: 90e means right. 90w means left).
>>        Azimuth is measured from a given direction but with 360
>>        degrees clockwise. (Ex.: 90 means right. 270 means left)
>>
>>        The polar/Radial means that the angles area going to be
>>        centered on the point given. It's usefull when you did angular
>>        measures from the same point. It's used when you measure
>>        angles and distances from a single point to draw a curve.
>>        The Boundary means that the angles are relative to the last
>>        point you measured. It's commonly used in the descriptive
>>        documents when the next point is calculated with angle and
>>        distance from the current point.
>>
>>        I think Fred can help more with the meaning of each term as
>>        many of them I couldn't translate to a common english idea.
>>        Fred Laplante is also involved in the project and implemented
>>        many of these concepts.
>>        Best regards,
>>        Mauricio de Paulo
>>
>>        2011/5/18 Darren Cope <darrencope at gmail.com
>>        <mailto:darrencope at gmail.com> <mailto:darrencope at gmail.com
>>
>>        <mailto:darrencope at gmail.com>>>
>>
>>
>>           Hi Mauricio,
>>
>>           I'm curious if you are still working on the Azimuth and
>>        Distance
>>           Plug in for QGIS? I am back to it again, and still having
>>           difficulties. I would like to be able to help you test if
>>        you are
>>           still developing. I have an example (attached) of a plan that
>>           needs to be entered using the distances and bearings shown (in
>>           that exact format). How would I go about doing so? I have tried
>>           every possible combination that makes any sense to me! I'm
>>        fairly
>>           certain I just don't fully understand the implications of the
>>           "Polar/Radial" and "Boundary", and "Azimuth" and "Bearing"
>>           settings. Perhaps you could explain?
>>
>>           Cheers,
>>
>>           Darren Cope
>>        http://darrencope.com
>>        http://dmcope.freeshell.org
>>
>>
>>           2009/11/11 Darren Cope <darrencope at gmail.com
>>        <mailto:darrencope at gmail.com>
>>        <mailto:darrencope at gmail.com <mailto:darrencope at gmail.com>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>               Hi Mauricio,
>>
>>               I'm not 100% sure what is going on with the precision. I
>>               suspect the snapping feature will solve this, as the
>>               difference is quite small. I zoomed in to 2:1 (e.g. as
>>        far as
>>               I could) and clicked as close as I possibly could to a
>>        corner
>>               vertex, and then when I drew my feature, it doesn't line up
>>               (although the difference is minute in terms of actual
>>        distance)
>>
>>               I guess I'm still not 100% clear on how the coordinates are
>>               entered. What does the 'zenith' column mean? I have a
>>        lot of
>>               plans that give angles relative to north or south (so
>>        they are
>>               displayed as Nxxdxx'xx"W or Sxxdxx'xx"E for example). I can
>>               convert these to a 360-based azimuth, but it would be
>>        nice to
>>               be able to enter these without doing any prior conversions.
>>
>>               It looks like the zooming issue is fixed now!
>>
>>               Thanks for all of your work on this--please let me know
>>        if I
>>               can provide any further information or testing for you.
>>
>>               Cheers,
>>
>>               Darren Cope
>>        http://dmcope.freeshell.org
>>
>>
>>
>>               2009/11/7 Maurício de Paulo <mauricio.dev at gmail.com
>>        <mailto:mauricio.dev at gmail.com>
>>        <mailto:mauricio.dev at gmail.com <mailto:mauricio.dev at gmail.com>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>                   Ok, thanks for the ideas. But could explain some of
>>        them
>>                   to me?
>>                   What happened with the precision of the starting point?
>>                   I've made some tests here and the precision should
>>        be ok.
>>                   I've made a teste with 0,0,0 and it drew fine.
>>        Could you
>>                   tell me how to reproduce the bug?
>>                   The snapping feature is my main priority now. I
>>        think this
>>                   is a great improvement.
>>                   DMS should be second in the list. But actually I
>>        need some
>>                   inputs on how is best entered a coordinate. We're
>>        talking
>>                   about azimuth here. And a DMS should have 3 numbers.
>>                   Something like 10o14'52'' is possible and easy for the
>>                   user. Is it ok?
>>                   About the much larger extent... Hum... Fixed on zoom to
>>                   selected feature. I think that should solve it.
>>                   Gratefully
>>                   Maurício de Paulo
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>        --         Mauricio de Paulo
>>        Engenheiro Cartografo
>>        MapeandoOBrasil <http://mapeandoobrasil.blogspot.com>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
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