The Legal Description Writer gives you the ability to create
a detailed legal description from
an AutoCAD polyline. This description consists of calculated calls,
point descriptions from Carlson points, and numerous user defined
terms. The programs values
for these terms are easily
replaced, and are stored as defaults with each use.
Legal Description Writer Dialog
This initial
and primary dialog box is shown above, and described below.
Pick Boundary Polyline: This button is used to designate the AutoCAD polyline boundary used. The boundary should be a closed polyline in AutoCAD. Tools are provided in the Edit menu if you need to reverse the polyline or change its origin point.
Pick Reference Lines: Used to select lines that tie into the polyline boundary used for the legal description. These should be LINE objects that have one endpoint exactly the same as the beginning point of the boundary polyline. If a Carlson point exists at the end of the line away from the boundary, the routine will pick up its description, otherwise you will be prompted for the description. You can choose any number of reference lines, simply press enter to conclude the selection of reference lines.
Header File: This button and edit field are used to designate the optional header text file. If a valid file is selected it will be written into the top of the output.
Footer File: This button and edit field are used to designate
the optional footer text file. If a file is selected it will be written
at the end of the
output.
Output Options allows you to select where Legal Description Writer should send the output.
Report Viewer: The output is sent to the Carlson Standard
Report Viewer.
Text File: The output is sent to an external text file as designated in the output file section described below.
Mtext Object: This creates a mtext object in the current drawing. Upon choosing OK you will be prompted for a starting point (which is the upper left corner) and well as a second point that determines the width and angle. By default ortho is turned on for this second point. Press the F8 key to toggle its status.
MS Word: When the legal description tool initializes, it attempts to determine if Microsoft® Word (97 or 2000) is installed. If it is installed, this option will be available, otherwise this radio button will be grayed out. If this option is chosen and Microsoft® Word is not running, it will open up a new unnamed word session with the contents of the legal description displayed. If you already have Microsoft® Word open, place your cursor at the position in the document where you would like the legal description inserted. You may repeat this operation to place multiple boundary definitions in a single word document.
Output File: This button and edit field are used to designate
the necessary output text file.
This file can then be brought into your word processor and finalized.
Note that the appearance
of the output file can be affected by the status of the 'Use Paragraph
Format' toggle in the
Legal Description's General settings.
Bearing Format: Designate the character or word used in each bearing direction. Standard values are the letters N, S, E, or W. One possible option is the entire words NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, and WEST. It is important to keep in mind that spaces are literal, meaning that if you don't have a literal space after N/S, and before E/W, a space will not be formatted into the bearing. To use Azimuth, place a check in the Use Azimuth box and the General Prefix will be set to AZ.
1-Words Quads: For example bearings that are due NORTH, the default is to generate N 00_ 00' 00 E. If the 1-Word Quads toggle is turned on, the program will substitute the single word (which you can change) for the direction, these usually being NORTH, or DUE NORTH.
Symbols: This section allows you to designate the precision for bearings, as well as the symbols used. Turn on/off the toggles for degrees, minutes, and seconds to control the precision. For example, if you wish to round to the nearest minute, simply clear the toggle from the second field. For each field (degrees, minutes, seconds), you can supply the character or word to be used. You can quickly fill in these fields with the two buttons to the right.
Line Segment Specifications
This section is used to establish the terms used when the course of
a call is a
line segment, as is often the case. Simply supply the beginning and
ending terms for
these line calls.
Curve Segment Specifications
This large subdialog is used to establish the terms and options
used when creating the
course of a curve. Basic options include beginning and ending terms, as
well as the words for left and
right if chosen. In the large table of curve options, you can choose
the items you wish to report, in
the order you want them to appear. Simply place a number in the
sequence field indicating the
items you wish to report, making sure that there are no duplicate
numbers. In the example below,
the program would output the curve direction, arc length, radius
length, chord bearing, and
chord length, radius length, chord bearing, and chord
length, and in that order. Each field can also have a
unique prefix/suffix.
Distance Specifications
This subdialog is used to establish the terms and precision used
when creating a distance
for the course of a call. The precision and suffix apply to curves as
well. Simply choose the
desired distance precision from the popdown, and supply the beginning
and ending terms for the line calls.
Note the availability of dual distance
reporting. If
you would like to report dual distances such as
feet/metric, turn on the toggle in the lower left corner of the dialog.
Note that the primary units are the units set in the
Settings menu, Drawing Setup. If you have English set as
your units in Drawing Setup, then the alternate units will
be metric. The opposite also applies. If your units in
Drawing Setup is set to metric, then the alternate units will
be English.
Description Specifications
In the process of following the polyline definition for a boundary,
the legal description writer
can look for descriptions of the points at the endpoints of the
polyline. These can be extracted by
setting the data source to the corresponding point from the coordinate
(.CRD) file, meaning the points
do not have to be plotted on the screen. A second option is point
block, in which the program
will read the information from the drawing, and not require the
presence of a coordinate (.CRD) file.
Prefix: General term applied before the actual description.
Suffix: General term applied after the actual description.
Unknown: The text designated here
will be
placed in the description if the program does not find
a valid description at that coordinate location.
The words `Unknown Point' may be used.
General Specifications
This dialog controls general specifications which can affect the
entire description. Each
group of items are explained in detail below.
Description Body: Enter the beginning and ending terms for the description.
String Case: Choose the button corresponding to the string case conversion desired. If you want no changes made, choose none. Choosing upper, lower, or proper case conversion will affect the case of all text throughout the description, except bearing letters.
Use Paragraph: If this toggle is
on, the program
will output the description without carriage returns
after each line. This approach makes a nice paragraph
style when brought into a word processor with word wrap.
If the toggle is cleared, the program will place
carriage returns at the end of each call.
Area
The legal description writer can output several types of areas.
Basic options include
beginning and ending terms. In the large table of area options, you can
choose the items you wish to
report, in the order you want them to appear. Simply place a number in
the sequence field indicating
the items you wish to report, making sure that there are no duplicate
numbers. You can edit the
prefix/suffix for each and control decimal precision of each
field output.
Reset: This option will reset all settings to their original default values.
Save: This
option saves the legal description settings to a file. The file
will be saved with an extension of (LGL).
Load: This
option loads previously saved legal description (*.LGL) files.
Pulldown Menu Location:
Survey
Keyboard Command: legal
Prerequisite: Polyline or line boundary
File Name: \lsp\legaldes.lsp