Survey Plans¶
What is a survey plan?¶
In R3Survey, a survey plan is a named grouping used to organise drawing layers. Each plan consists of multiple layers corresponding to the different types of survey features it contains (boundaries, easements, reference marks, etc.).
Working with multiple deposited plans in one drawing is common in cadastral surveying. Organising each plan into its own layer set makes visibility management, calculations, and data isolation much simpler.
Adding survey plans¶
Manually with R3PL¶
Type R3PL and enter a plan number at the command line. R3Survey automatically creates and configures all component layers for that plan.
Alternatively, open the Plans tab of the Survey Plan Settings form (R3PLANLAYERSETTINGS) and click Add.
Importing from LandXML¶
Use R3IMPORTLANDXML to import a LandXML file. This creates a new survey plan and imports parcels, reference marks, and other survey features into the drawing. Additional metadata (lot numbers, areas, street names, reference mark details) is stored in AutoCAD XRecords.
Use the R3 Properties Palette (R3PROPERTIES) to view LandXML attribute data stored in XRecords.
Layer naming¶
Each survey plan gets a set of layers named by combining the plan identifier with the component type. For example, plan DP31357 gets layers like DP31357_BOUNDARIES, DP31357_CONNECTIONS, DP31357_REFMARKS, and so on.
The naming scheme is configured in R3PLANLAYERSETTINGS.
Plan components¶
A component is a type of survey feature within a plan. Every survey plan in the drawing shares the same component list — each plan gets one layer per component. Components should be configured before adding survey plans, as they cannot be deleted once a plan exists.
Standard component types:
| Component | Default Layer | Description | Default Parcel Classes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boundaries | BDYS | Lot and association property boundaries (state: proposed or existing) | Lot, Association Property |
| Roads | ROADS | Road, reserved road, and railway parcels | Road, Reserved Road, Railway |
| Easements | EASE | Easements and related secondary interests | Easement, Covenant, Positive Covenant, Profit A Prende, Restriction On Use Of Land, Restriction On User |
| Hydrography | HYDRO | Water bodies (rivers, creeks, etc.) | Hydrography |
| Administrative Areas | ADMIN | LGA, parish, county boundaries | Administrative Area |
| Miscellaneous | MISC | Other parcel types | Building, Common Property, Designated Area, Footprint, Exclusive Use Area, License, Permit, Caveat, Lease |
| Adjoining Boundaries | BDYA | Adjoining and existing parcels for context (state: adjoining or existing, never proposed) | Any class |
| Reference Marks | REFMARKS | Reference mark ties | — |
| Control | CTRL | Control traverse between SCIMS marks | — |
| Connections | CONNECTIONS | Connection lines (SCIMS to boundary corners) | — |
| Symbols | SYMBOLS | Boundary corner and reference mark blocks | — |
| T0 | T0 | Text tier 0 — 2.2mm (lineweight 0.18mm) | — |
| T1 | T1 | Text tier 1 — 2.5mm (lineweight 0.25mm) | — |
| T2 | T2 | Text tier 2 — 3.5mm (lineweight 0.35mm) | — |
| T3 | T3 | Text tier 3 — 5.0mm (lineweight 0.50mm) | — |
| T4 | T4 | Text tier 4 — 7.5mm (lineweight 0.70mm) | — |
To add or modify components, open the Components tab of R3PLANLAYERSETTINGS:
- Click Add Component
- Enter a name
- Select a component type
- Assign default layer properties (colour, linetype, plot settings)
Working plan¶
When a drawing contains multiple survey plans, the working plan is the plan you are actively preparing. Commands like R3ADDLABELS, R3ADDRMLABELS, R3INSERTCORNERS, and R3NUMBERLOTS operate on the working plan's layers.
Set the working plan in the Plans tab of R3PLANLAYERSETTINGS by selecting a plan and clicking Set Working Plan. The working plan is shown with a ★ star next to its name. New plans created with R3PL automatically become the working plan.
If no working plan is set, commands fall back to detecting the active plan from the current drawing layer, or use the only plan if the drawing contains just one.
Survey plan colours¶
Each plan can be assigned a colour that overrides individual component colours — useful when viewing multiple plans overlaid on each other. Enable Override Component Colour on a plan to apply the plan colour to all its component layers. Disable it to revert each layer to its own assigned colour.
Default plan colours are configured on the Colours tab of R3PLANLAYERSETTINGS.
Swings and survey plans¶
Each survey plan layer can have an angular swing associated with it. When you switch to a layer that has a stored swing, R3Survey automatically applies that swing to R3TRAV and R3PROPERTIES. This is useful when different plans in a drawing use different azimuth systems.
Use R3SWING to associate a swing with a plan's layers. See Swings.
Switching layers during traverse¶
While in R3TRAV, you can switch to a different component layer using a single-letter prefix at the bearing prompt:
| Prefix | Component |
|---|---|
b |
Boundaries |
a |
Adjoining Boundaries |
r |
Reference Marks |
i |
Easements & Interests |
c |
Control |
o |
Connections |
See R3TRAV — Layer change options.
Creating a block from a survey plan¶
R3CREATESURVEYPLANBLOCK groups all objects in a survey plan into a single AutoCAD block. This makes it easy to move, rotate, and overlay surveys. Blocks can later be exploded back to original entities while preserving their properties and XRecord data.
Procedure: Run R3CREATESURVEYPLANBLOCK, then select any object belonging to the plan. R3Survey identifies all associated objects and creates the block.
Managing plan layers¶
| Command | Effect |
|---|---|
R3HIDEPLANLAYERS |
Hide all layers for a selected plan |
R3SHOWALLPLANLAYERS |
Show all survey plan layers |
R3ISOLATEPLANLAYERS |
Show only one plan's layers |
R3ISOLATEALLPLANLAYERS |
Show all survey layers, hide non-survey layers |
See Survey Plan Layer Commands for details.
NSW Digital Plans¶
Survey plans in R3Survey are the foundation for NSW ePlan lodgement. The plan metadata (datum, LGA, parish, purpose, etc.) populates the LandXML header, and the component layers determine which entities are included in the export. See NSW Digital Plans for the complete workflow.
Notes¶
- Configure components before adding plans — they cannot be deleted once a plan exists
- Layer renaming after plan setup can cause issues — configure plans before drawing