Point Codes

A Copan point code (or feature code) is intended as an abbreviated yet very useful point attribute. It can determine several other characteristics of a point. Although any string of 13 printable characters can be used for a point code, for Copan to fully exploit them,

point codes must conform to the format (described below) and
there must be an appropriate external point codes table.

Point Codes Table

A codes table is a user-managed, tab-delimited, ASCII lookup file, normally found in the Auxiliary Files folder.

The first line should contain 5 or 6 tab-separated headings (the last one being optional):

    Code  Description  Type  Block  Layer  [Desc]

Each subsequent line must contain 5 or 6 tab-separated fields:

a point Code — a required non-negative unique integer,
a code Description — up to 31 characters — used by List Points and Export to Ascii,
the Type of point code (see below), used by List Points, and Export to Ascii,
blank (for future use),
blank (for future use),
a code Desc (i.e., abbreviated form of Description) — up to 13 characters — optionally used by Edit Point, List Points, Export to Ascii, and COGO.

Note that

There must be 4 or 5 tabs on every line.
Although the fifth column is optional, the Desc attribute could be used in many places, so you're advised to fill it in.
While a Codes Table can have any name, Copan looks for one named codes.txt until told otherwise.

Point Code Formats and Types

For a point's code Desc or Description attributes to appear correctly, the point code format must be basic or extended in nature:

basic format I where I is the integral point code, or
extended format I.A where A is a string of alphanumeric characters.

For a point's code Extension attribute to appear correctly the point code type must be either basic or one of three kinds of extended types (listed here along with their formats):

basic I where I is just the integral point code,
hole I.D where D is the invert depth, in hundredths of a distance unit (e.g., cm),
culvert I.C where C is the culvert diameter, in hundredths (cm),
tree I.T.S where T is the trunk diameter, in hundredths (cm), and S is the spread diameter, in distance units (m),

See the Codes Table Example (below) for a sample of a topographic codes table.

Examples

Suppose this is an excerpt of your point codes table:

Code    Description    Type    Block   Layer    Desc
0       trav station   basic   TRAV    control  TS
1       lamp stand     basic   LAMP    util     LS
:       :              :       :       :        :
8       catch basin    hole    CATCH   util     CB
:       :              :       :       :        :
13      decid tree     tree    D_TREE  veg      DTree
:       :              :       :       :        :
36      culvert        culvert CULV    topo     culvert
:       :              :       :       :        :

The following could be an excerpt from List Points (option 7):

Code         Desc        Extension
------------ ----------- -----------------
0            TS
0.7          TS          type 7
1            LS
1.3          LS          type 3
8.125        CB          1.25 deep
8.85         CB          0.85 deep
13.150.10    DTree       1.5 trnk 10 sprd
13.90.15     DTree       0.90 trnk 15 sprd
36           culvert
36.35        culvert     0.35 diam

Note that

The first and third point codes are basic so have no Extension.
The .7 and .3 in the second and fourth point codes are merely user-determined codes that might be used to sub-classify the point. For example, 1, 2, or 3 could be used to specify wood, metal, or concrete as the type of lamp stand.

Codes Table Example

This is a portion of a typical Codes Table. Note that because it is tab-delimited, if you look at an actual file, the columns may not appear as neatly aligned as they do here. Also note that the codes need not be consecutive (there are no codes 23-26).

Code  Description          Type     Block    Layer     Desc
0     traverse stn         basic    TRHUB    MONUM     trav. stn.
1     lamp stand           basic    LAMPS    UTIL_F    LS
2     power pole           basic    POWPL    UTIL_F    PP
3     guy wire             basic    POINT    UTIL_F    GW
4     traffic light        basic    TRAFS    UTIL_F    TL
5     utility box          basic    UTILB    UTIL_F    UB
6     transformer box      basic    POINT    UTIL_F    transf. box
7     electrical box       basic    ELECB    UTIL_F    EB
8     catch basin          hole     EXTCB    UTIL_F    CB
9     sanit manhole        hole     SANMH    UTIL_F    sani. MH
10    storm manhole        hole     STMMH    UTIL_F    storm MH
11    power manhole        hole     BCHMH    UTIL_F    power MH
12    telephone manhole    hole     TELMH    UTIL_F    tele. MH
13    deciduous tree       tree     DTREE    SGL_TR    decid. tree
14    coniferous tree      tree     CTREE    SGL_TR    conif. tree
15    fire hydrant         basic    FIREH    UTIL_F    FH
16    water valve          basic    WATRV    UTIL_F    WV
17    gas valve            basic    GASVL    UTIL_F    GV
18    sign post            basic    SIGNP    UTIL_F    SP
19    parking meter        basic    PARKM    UTIL_F    PM
20    guard post           basic    GARDP    UTIL_F    GP
21    tank cap             basic    POINT    UTIL_F    tank cap
22    monitoring well      basic    MNWELL   MNWELL    MW
27    manhole              hole     MANHL    UTIL_F    MH
28    bore hole            basic    BH       BOREHOLE  BH
29    steps                basic    POINT    PTS-LA    steps
36    culvert              culvert  CULVERT  PTS-LA    culvert

updated: 18-Jun-2009