updated: 7-Dec-2009
Copan for Windows
File Locations
The Copan package includes a number of different files —
some are essential and others are supplemental to using Copan:
Project Files
Each survey project you work on may require a number of different project data files.
These include coordinate files, survey drawings, field data, azimuth-distance traverse data, transformations, etc.
All files related to a single job or project should normally be kept in a project folder,
and each project folder would normally go in your Initial Project Folder.
By default, your Initial Project Folder is
C:\Users\Owner\Documents\ (Win Vista),
C:\Documents and Settings\your-user-name\My Documents\ (Win XP), or
C:\My Documents\ (Win 98),
but it can be changed to any location you like.
Copan keeps track of what is known as the current project folder.
When you're about to open or create a project data file, you are shown the current project folder first,
and if you choose another location, the new location becomes the current project folder.
Coordinate Files
Virtually everything in Copan involves a coordinate file, or coordfile for short.
Even if you'd like only to process coordinates from another program, you must first create a new coordfile and then import them.
A coordfile is a standalone file containing a head record and a set of survey point records.
It is a binary file and has a .pts name extension.
See § Coordinate Files
on how to do basic coordinate file management and the content of point records.
Info Display File
Most Copan activities and results are logged to the info.display.txt file, located in
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Roaming\Copan\ (Win Vista),
C:\Documents and Settings\your-user-name\Application Data\Copan\ (Win XP), or
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Copan\ (Win 98).
The file is overwritten (or emptied) before each activity, so you may wish to Save As or print it regularly.
See § Info Display File
on printing or viewing the file.
Auxiliary Files
Some data, that may or may not be specific to a survey project, are used for reference.
They include
a point codes table (e.g., codes.txt), required when using code descriptions or extensions
(see § Point Codes).
Copan looks for them in your Auxiliary Files Folder which starts out being
C:\Program Files\Copan\Auxiliary Files\ (Win XP), or
but it can be changed to, say, a common location on a file server.
You or your colleagues are responsible for creating your auxiliary files.
User Manual Files
Copan looks for hypertext help documents (including this one) in your User Manual Folder.
Again, this starts out as
C:\Program Files\Copan\User Manual\
but can be changed.
To Change Default File Locations
- Program | Settings... | File Locations...
- Browse... to the desired Initial Project Folder location.
- Browse... to the desired Auxiliary Files Folder location.
- Browse... to the desired User Manual Folder location.
- Click OK.
updated: 7-Dec-2009