Map settings

Use the Map settings to change the appearance of information shown in the Map screen, and to configure map behavior.

To open the Map settings, tap and then select Settings. The available settings depend on the connected instrument.

To change the information that is shown in the map, such as labels and symbols, tap and then select an option from the list.

The following settings are job‑specific and must be set in the map for each job: vertical exaggeration scale, groundplane, and surface options. Other settings apply to all jobs.

To change the information shown in the map, tap the check box(es) to show or hide:

  • name labels next to points

  • code labels next to points

  • elevations

  • points from the stakeout list
  • hatched polygons in a background file (including DXF files or Shapefiles)

To display labels and elevations for points in data files such as DXF, RXL, or LandXML, use the check boxes in the Map data controls group (see below).

Symbols

To change the symbols used for points and lines, select an option from the Points and lines field:

  • Select Dot symbols to:

    Show all points with a uniform dot symbol.

    Show line and polygon features using the simple solid or dashed Field line style from the Feature Library.

  • Select Method symbols to:

    • Show points by the method used to create the point. For example, different symbols are used for topo points, control points, keyed in points and as-staked points.

    • Show line and polygon features using the simple solid or dashed Field line style from the Feature Library.

  • Select Feature library symbols to:

    • Show points using the symbol defined for points of the same feature code in the feature library (FXL) file. Points that do not have a feature symbol associated are displayed as a small circle.

    • Show line and polygon features using the custom Line style from the Feature Library.

For more information on selecting point and line styles from the Feature Library, see To add or edit a feature library in Trimble Access.

Label color

To change the color used for labels, select it from the Label color list.

Lighting effects

The Lighting effects check box controls whether shading and refraction are automatically applied to surfaces. Lighting effects give more graphical depth to surfaces, but can introduce shading or shine effects in small areas on some surfaces.

Monochrome map

To display items in map files in grayscale, select the Monochrome map check box.

Abbreviate labels

By default, point name and code labels are abbreviated to show only the first 16 characters. To display the complete label, clear the Abbreviate labels check box.

Automatic pan to current position

If the current position is off‑screen and the previous position was on‑screen, select the Automatic pan to current position check box to automatically center the map on the current position. If no current position is available, for example during a station setup, the map does not pan.

Vertical exaggeration

To emphasize vertical features which might be too small to identify relative to the horizontal scale, enter a value larger than 1.00 in the Vertical exaggeration field. The default setting of 1.00 indicates that the horizontal and vertical scales are identical, which gives a true representation of the data.

Map orientation

Select whether the plan view of the map is oriented to North or to the Reference azimuth.

Reference azimuth

The Reference azimuth field shows the value entered in the Reference azimuth field of the Cogo settings screen of the job properties (see Cogo settings). Editing the Reference azimuth field in the Map settings screen updates the Reference azimuth field in the Cogo settings screen.

3D map views are always oriented to the Reference azimuth. The Reference azimuth is also used by the map Limit box to align the Limit box surfaces with map data. See Limit box.

To find the reference azimuth value, tap the line in the map you want to orient the map to, and then tap Review. In the review pane, if required select the line from the list and tap Details. Copy the value in the Azimuth field and then tap in the Map toolbar and select Settings, and paste the Azimuth value into the Reference azimuth field.

To explode polylines contained in DXF, Shape, 12da and LandXML files into individual line and arc segments, select the Explode polylines (DXF, Shape, 12da & LandXML check box. This check box also applies to Surpac STR files if you are using them with the Trimble Access Mines app.

To create points at the ends of lines and arcs and at all points along a polyline, or at the center of DXF circle and arc elements, select the Create nodes (DXF, Shape, 12da & LandXML) check box. The created points can then be selected for stakeout or Cogo calculations.

Surpac background files already have the node points available. Clearing the Create nodes check box does not hide these node points.

Some applications use a value such as ‑9999.999 to represent null. For the Trimble Access software to correctly treat this value as null, enter the correct value in the Null elevation (DXF only) field.

To show or hide text in a DXF file, tap the Display DXF text check box. Disabling text display in a DXF file that includes a lot of text can improve map performance.

To show or hide names, codes, and elevations for items in DXF, Shape, 12da and LandXML files, tap the appropriate Display check box(es) in the Map data controls group. These check boxes are provided separately to the check boxes for other data files to give you more control over which labels are shown.

For Surpac (.str) files (used only with the Mines app), a name is generated for every selectable feature in the file, and points and polylines are placed in layers based on their string numbers. Polylines are named based on the naming used for the points that define them but, if this cannot be done, are assigned the name 'L' plus their counter within the string layer. If points have codes they are respected.

To show station values on lines, arcs, polylines, or roads, select the Display station values check box. This check box applies to DXF files, RXL alignments, RXL roads, LandXML roads, GENIO roads, or 12da files.

If the station interval value is null no station labels are displayed. If the station interval is 0 the station labels for the start and end stations plus any PI, PC or PT stations are displayed. If the station interval is a numeric value labels for all stations are displayed (depending on the zoom scale).

To configure the groundplane displayed in the map, select the Display groundplane check box and then enter the elevation of the groundplane. Background imagery from Trimble Maps or a background image file is drawn at the ground plane elevation.

The groundplane elevation is used as a visual reference when viewing the map in 3D. It is not used in calculations.

To change how surfaces appear in the map, select one of the following from the Display field:

  • Color gradient
  • Shaded
  • Triangles
  • Color gradient + triangles
  • Outline

Enter a value in the Offset to DTM (Vertical) field to raise or lower the surface when viewing from the map.

To modify a surface, for example to delete some triangles, see Creating a surface from existing points.

To change how the road surface appears in the map, select one of the following from the Display field:

  • Color gradient
  • Shaded
  • Outline

To select a surface, the BIM model must be shown in the map as a solid object, not as a wireframe. See Map data transparency.

Use the Surface selection mode field to choose what is selected when you select surfaces in the map:

  • Select the Individual faces option to select only a single face of the object at a time.

    If you select multiple faces, each face is treated as a separate surface.

  • Select the Whole object option to select the whole object as a single surface.

    Any hidden parts of the object are also selected, such as parts that are used to join the object to another object.

For example:

  • When measuring to the top of a concrete slab, select the Individual faces option and then select the top face of the slab to ensure that when measuring to the surface the software will measure only to the top face rather than to the closest point of the whole concrete slab.

  • When performing a surface inspection of a square pillar, select the Whole object option so that when you tap the pillar all 6 faces of the pillar are selected and used in the inspection.

Software functions that apply to surfaces can be used whether the Surface selection mode is set to Individual faces or Whole object.

Items selected in the map remain selected when you change the Surface selection mode. However, if you set the Surface selection mode to Whole object, then selecting an object first deselects any individual faces of the object that are already selected.

Point cloud options apply only to scan data from a Trimble SX10 or SX12 scanning total station.

To configure the display of point clouds in the map:

  • Select the Color mode for the point cloud.

    Select... To...
    Scan color Indicate the scan the points belong to
    Station color Indicate the station used to measure the points
    Gray scaled intensity Indicate the reflective intensity of points using a gray scale
    Color coded intensity Indicate the reflective intensity of points using a color
    Color by elevation Indicate the elevation of points using a color.
    Cloud color Show all points the same color
  • if you select Color by elevation as the Color mode for the point cloud, enter the Minimum elevation and Maximum elevation values.
  • Select the Point size.
  • Select the Maximum surface points value to limit the number of points used to create a surface. If more than the maximum number of points are selected for the surface, the software automatically downsamples to meet the maximum value selected.
  • Select the Display uncoordinated scans check box to display scans captured at scan stations. Because there are no coordinates for scan station points, these scans appear at the center of the project area in the plan view of the 3D map.