Station Polyline/Centerline

This command will station a polyline or centerline file at a given interval distance. The options for this command are set in the dialog shown below. After setting the options, click OK on the dialog and then pick the polyline or select the centerline file.  All settings can be saved as (.STA) files and loaded for reuse, and for storing multiple stationing schemes.  Polyline/Centerline station labels are also dynamic, and so will update when changes are made in the geometry.

Distance for Stations is the primary interval for stationing. On Curve allows for a different interval for curve segments verses line segments.

Distance for Intermediate Stations is the intermediate interval for stationing. On Curve allows for a different interval for curve segments verses line segments.

Beginning Station is the beginning station of the centerline for stationing.

Locate Even Stations labels the stations at the distance interval (i.e. 2+00, 3+00, etc.).

Locate Odd Stations labels the non-interval stations at the polyline/centerline end points and PC and PT points.

Locate User-Entered prompts you for individual stations to label.

Without the Increment Station Labels from Beginning Station option, the program increments the station labels from zero. For example, if the station interval is 100 and the polyline starting station is 145, then the program will label 2+00, 3+00, etc. With this option active, the station labels are incremented from the starting station. In this example, the program would then label 2+45, 3+45, etc.

Label Deflection Angles adds this annotation to the stationing. Settings for this are specified in the Label Deflections Setup, accessed by the Deflections Setup button.

When Specify Start/End Stations is checked, only the stations between and including the specified starting and ending stations will be labeled. If locate centerline points and offset points are toggled on, only points within the specified stations will be located.

When Erase Previous Station Labels is checked,  previous station labels are erased when new ones are generated.

The PC/Spiral Setup PC button accesses the PC/Spiral Setup dialog, where settings are controlled for lines and/or symbols and/or labels at the starting and ending (PC and PT) stations of an arc of the centerline as well as for the spiral special stations (TS, SC, CS, ST).

When Label PC On Centerline is checked, the station of the PC and PT will be labeled on the centerline as well as the PC and PT lines. When not checked only the PC and PT lines will be labeled.

Draw  PC Symbols controls whether symbols are placed at these locations.  If checked, the desired symbol is selected by picking on the box to the right.

Label PC Radius controls whether this point is labeled.

Max Length controls the maximum length for the PC lines to be drawn described above.

Back in the main Station Polyline/Centerline dialog box:

Draw PI Lines draws a 2 segment polyline in both tangent directions from the PI as a marker for the PI.

When Label PI Stations is checked, the PI station is labeled at the PI point.

When Locate PI Points is checked a point will be created at the PI of a horizontal curve graphically and written to the active coordinate file.

When Label Station Text is checked, this command places station text along the polyline at the angle of the corresponding segment. After toggling this option on, the Label Setup button will become available for selection. Select it to configure the label settings as desired. Select the Marker Setup options to modify the size of the markers for certain types of stations. See definitions following the dialog box.

Also under PC/Spiral Setup is Curve Table Setup which controls whether to draw data tables for the curves and spirals. When this option is on, the program creates a data table with the selected fields for each curve and automatically places each table to the outside of the curve.

Label Setup

• Text Layer is the user-specified layer for text labels to be drawn on.
• Text Style is the user-specified text style for labels.
  
• Decimals determines the number of decimal places of the stationing labels to be drawn for the odd stations and user entered stations only.
  
• Text Size Scaler determines the size of the station labels. This value multiplied by the horizontal scale setting in Drawing Setup results in the size of the label. For example, if the horizontal scale is set to 100 and the text size scaler is set to 0.10, the station labels will be 10 units.
• Text Offset Scaler works like text size scaler above controlling the distance the text labels will be offset from the centerline.
  
• If the Flip Text For Twist Screen setting is checked and the drawing has been twisted using the twist screen command, the label text will be flipped to read in the proper direction of the stationing.
  
• Label Intermediate Stations: If the intermediate distance is the same as the station distance then no intermediate station ticks or labels will be drawn. For example, with the above entries and 0+00 for the first station the stations will be labeled with descriptions as follows: 0+00 0+50 1+00 1+50, etc.
  
• Station + at Tick Mark labels the station text along the polyline with the '+' of the station text at the station's location on the polyline. See Marker Set up for marker size manipulation settings.
• Horizontal Offset shifts the station label along the centerline.
• Station Prefix adds to the front of the station labels.
• Remove Zeros removes the specified number of least significant digits from the station label if these digits are all zero.
  
• Label Northing/Easting of Starting Point adds this label information, including prefixes and/or suffixes as specified.
  
• Use Label Stations to specify whether to label the stations perpendicular or parallel to the centerline.
  
• Specify the Position of the station labels, either above or below the centerline. This is only available when labeling stations using the parallel option.
  
• Align determines the alignment of the station label, either left or centerline, centered along the centerline or to the right of the centerline. This option is only available when using the perpendicular option for station labels.
  

The Marker Setup options control the size of markers for different station types as well as the layer the markers will be drawn on. The Half Size Main options draw a perpendicular tick mark on only one side of the centerline. Otherwise a full marker is drawn that goes on both sides of the centerline. There are separate Half Size options for the main station interval, intermediate station interval and odd stations.Specify whether to define the Centerline By picking a 2D polyline or 3D polyline in the drawing or selecting a centerline (.CL) file.

• Using a 2D Polyline will result in horizontal distance stationing along the polyline.
  
• Using a 3D Polyline will result in the slope distance stationing along the polyline.
  
• Using a Profile Polyline uses a polyline on a profile grid where the X coordinate represents the station and the Y coordinate represents the elevation. The station labels will use the distance along this profile polyline.
  
• Using a CL File will result in horizontal distance stations as with the 2D Polyline option only a prompt for the centerline to use will display.

Use Station Type to specify the stationing format to use.

Use Type of Curves to specify whether you are labeling a roadway curve (arc definition) or railroad curve (chord definition).

Locate Centerline Points will locate points and store them in the current CooRDinate file.

Locate Radius Points will locate the radius points of any arc segments.

Starting Point Number determines the starting point number for the points to be located.

Vertical Exaggeration applies to Profile Polyline mode. This factor is the ratio between the horizontal and vertical scales on the profile grid.

There are two ways to Set Elevations for the centerline points and offset points to be created.

• The 3D Polyline option gets the elevation of the point from a specified 3D Polyline within the drawing.
  
• The Profile option will determine the elevation of the point based upon the same station in the profile file. You will be prompted for the profile file to read for the elevation reference.
  
• With the None option selected, no elevations will be determined for the points.
  

When Include Station in Description is checked, the station along the centerline will be included in the resulting offset point.

Description Prefix is an optional user-specified prefix to be added to the point description.

Description Suffix is an optional user-specified suffix to be added to the point description.

When Label Sta Equations is checked on any station equation, contained in a centerline (*.cl) file will be labeled. This option is only available when stationing a centerline file (*.cl).

Locate Offset Points will create points at the specified left and right offset distances from the centerline. Options for setting the elevations and descriptions of the points are available from the Offset Setup dialog.

• When Use Slopes is on, it makes available the Percent Slopes fields for defining the slope from centerline both right and left for determining the elevations of the offset points.
  
• Enter the desired Offsets left and right.
• Enter the desired Percent Slopes from centerline to the left and right offset points.
• The Vertical Offset is added to the elevation of the offset points.
  

Prompts

Station Polyline Dialog
Polyline should have been drawn in direction of increasing stations.
Select polyline that represents centerline: select a polyline

Closeup of Station + at Tick Mark option

Labels with Label PC on Centerline checked on

Labels set to perpendicular and Max Length of PC lines set to 75.0

Labels with Draw PI Lines, Label PI Stations and Locate PI Points all checked on

Labels using Centerline By 2D Polyline  (Horizontal Station)

Labels using Centerline By 3D Polyline  (Slope Station)

Pulldown Menu Location: Centerline
Keyboard Command: stapl
Prerequisite: A polyline or CL file