3D work area

This function toggles between DRAW 3D WORK AREA and ERASE 3D WORK AREA. The default selection is ERASE 3D WORK AREA. You use DRAW 3D WORK AREA to display a three-dimensional boundary around data that is displayed in Graphics.

Usually, you would use this function before creating one or more planes. When you create a plane, the outline of the plane is displayed on the perimeter of the 3D plane boundary. For vertical and horizontal planes, the intersection of the plane and the boundary is a rectangle. For inclined planes, it can be a triangle, rectangle, pentagon, or hexagon.

To run this function: Choose Planes > 3D work area, or...

In the Function Chooser, type DRAW 3D WORK AREA, and press ENTER.
In the Function Chooser, type ERASE 3D WORK AREA, and press ENTER.

You can create a plane without first defining a plane boundary. If you create a plane without defining a plane boundary, the boundary is automatically created based on the extents of the data that is displayed in Graphics.

You can adjust the boundary coordinates by running this command multiple times and modifying the values.

Note: Defining a plane boundary does not limit the extent of the data displayed in a plane. The extent of a plane is always infinite. The boundary is used to define the origin of a plane, and to display the location and orientation of a plane.

You use ERASE 3D WORK AREA, toggled off, to remove the 3D work area from Graphics.

Fields on the 3D Work Area form

Field	Description
Extents tab
Calculate size based on	The method used to create the size of the 3D boundary. Options are: Open data: The extent of the 3D grid is based on the minimum and maximum X, Y, and Z values of all data in all layers. Limits defined below: The extent of the 3D grid is defined by the Lower left and Upper right values in this form. Block model: The extent of the grid is based on the minimum and maximum X, Y, and Z values of the current block model. Note: This option is displayed only if a block model is open.
Lower left Northing	The minimum Y value of the 3D grid.
Easting	The minimum X value of the 3D grid.
Elevation	The minimum Z value of the 3D grid.
Upper right Northing	The maximum Y value of the 3D grid.
Easting	The maximum X value of the 3D grid.
Elevation	The maximum Z value of the 3D grid.
Formatting tab
Show 3D work area with	The features that are displayed on the 3D grid. Options are: Axis highlighting and text labels: Each axis is displayed with alternating bands of the axis colour and white at the spacing interval specified. Numeric values appear along each axis at the spacing interval specified. Axis highlighting: Each axis is displayed with alternating bands of the axis colour (Y: green, X: red, Z: blue) and white at the spacing interval specified. No numeric values are displayed along any axis. Text labels: Numeric values are displayed along each axis at the spacing interval specified. The axes are displayed as a solid colour (Y: green, X: red, Z: blue).
Spacing along Northing (Y) axis	The increment at which axis highlighting and/or text labels appear for the Y axis.
Spacing along Easting (X) axis	The increment at which axis highlighting and/or text labels appear for the X axis.
Spacing along elevation (Z) axis	The increment at which axis highlighting and/or text labels appear for the Z axis.
Text height in pixels	The height in pixels used to display the labels for each axis and the text labels, if shown.

Output

When 3D work area is selected, a plane boundary is created using the values specified, and is displayed as a 3D box in Graphics.

When 3D work area is not selected, which means ERASE 3D WORK AREA isrun, the bounding box around the data is removed in Graphics.