Frequently Asked Questions

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GEOVIA Surpac

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

FAQ - System Setup and Optimization
FAQ - The Surpac Geological Database
1. The DDB "database definition" file
2. Converting and archiving databases
FAQ - Plotting
1. My colours aren't plotting correctly
2. How do I plot from Windows
FAQ - Graphics
FAQ - Block Modeling
FAQ - Miscellaneous Tips
1. Specifying a complex range of files "Range Files"

FAQ - System Setup and Optimization

Error message "sentinel not attached or found"

This is caused for one of several different reasons:

The sentinel is in fact missing or damaged (damage can occur due to using LAPLINK or some other high speed backup device like a zip drive through the sentinel) contact GEOVIA to order a replacement.

This will incur a replacement cost if it is determined that the sentinel was damaged in such a manner.

The sentinel driver has not been installed if running on Windows NT (the system needs to be rebooted after driver installation )

The sentinel device requires a certain voltage level to be present at the LPT port for correct operation.

Some computers have insufficient voltage to enable the older sentinel types i.e.. sentinel numbers <2000. Attaching a printer to the sentinel and turning the printer may rectify the problem. If the sentinel cannot be found contact GEOVIA for a replacement.

The CMOS settings for the LPT port on certain computers may be customized for particular communications devices, these settings may conflict with the sentinel device (ECP is recommended).

Error "cannot find translat.ssi". The "-trans" switch

A program switch has been implemented to allow you to specify an alternative translate file. This is handy if you want to keep more than one version of the software available. The translate switch is called '-trans' and it works as follows. Simply add the translate switch and the name of the alternative translate file to the command normally used to run your software. (This is commonly set as a property of the icon startup)

For example:

surpac2 -trans c:\ssi_v5\share\etc\translat.ssi

Error "cannot find defaults.ssi". The "-defaults" switch

A program switch has been implemented to allow you to specify an alternative defaults file. This is handy if you want to keep more than one version of the software available. The defaults switch is called '-defaults' and it works as follows. Simply add the defaults switch and the name of the alternative defaults file to the command normally used to run your software. (This is commonly set as a property of the icon startup)

For example:

surpac2 -defaults c:\ssi_v5\share\etc\defaults.ssi

Problems starting Surpac

Surpac requires an executable "surpac2.exe", a file describing the directory structure "translat.ssi" and a file setting default values to various parameters "defaults.ssi" to run. This can be initiated from the command prompt, from a Windows icon, or a batch file.

It can be very useful to have a number of icons to have a different startup directory, simply copy or create a new icon and modify the "Start in" directory path.

Lack of memory problems

The recommended minimum memory configuration for running Surpac is 128MB. The software will run with less but may require the assistance of virtual memory (hard disk swap space used as memory) and is therefore not recommended. Additional memory is advised when multitasking other memory intensive applications such as MS Access, Excel or when using large data sets often encountered in Geological Databases, Block Modeling or DTM creation.

Each operating system has it's own method for allocating virtual memory or swap space to aid memory management. Windows memory management is modified in the Control Panel / System Properties. It is suggested that sufficient virtual memory (and therefore hard disk space) be allowed for complex operations on large data sets e.g. a complex Block Model at 256 resolution with a number of attributes could take in excess of 250 MB in swap space.

Error in graphics subsystem

Some users have experienced an annoying "Error in Graphics Subsystem" message and/or the use of incorrect fonts (e.g. italic fonts) when Surpac starts up. Many of these problems have been traced to problems using fonts under Windows.

Surpac uses a third-party graphics library known as HOOPS to implement all graphics rendering and GUI interactions. Whenever HOOPS detects an error Surpac will report a generic "Error in Graphics Subsystem" message.

To obtain more information on the HOOPS error the user option "report hoops errors" can be set to "on" in the defaults.ssi file. The offending font can then be deleted from your font library accessed from the control panel. The most common problem font is "Music" or "Music symbol" font, for some a font called Anastasia and some other fonts installed by Corel Draw may cause this error to report. Contact GEOVIA for more details.

The Defaults.ssi file

See "System Defaults" in the Online Help.

Logicals, organizing your data

There is provision for a dedicated file to manage "logicals" or shortcut paths. At this time, forms have a restricted field length for the entry of data names or directory paths, therefore a number of predefined path logicals have been supplied to point to the existing Surpac directories. ie. SSI_ETC: refers to a directory path which might be something like c:\ssi_v5\share\etc.

A system default file called translat.ssi manages these system logicals and various other user defined defaults see "System Defaults" in the Online Help. Additional logicals can be placed here or in a separate user created file called logicals.ssi.

By default the system will load system logical definitions from the translat.ssi file. It will then load user logical definitions from SSI_ETC:logicals.ssi if the file exists. Finally the system will load the file given by the user_logicals specifier as defined in Defaults.ssi eg.

user_logicals=SSI_ETC:logicals.nt

Display properties "how to optimize"

Frequently the display may need to be altered to suit a particular monitor or users requirements. Some of these display parameters are controlled by the operating system, some by the monitor and video hardware type and some by the settings in the Defaults.ssi file in the SSI_ETC: directory.

Common problems are

The text is too small
Colours are poorly displayed
The screen takes a long time to redraw

Overall text size is controlled by the operating system, eg. in Windows the control panel desktop properties can be manipulated to get the preferred number of pixels across the screen 640*480, 800*600, 1024*768 or higher resolutions if the video card/monitor combination will allow.

The number of colours displayed is also very important when considering solid model lighting effects and shading. It is generally preferable to choose a relatively high number of colours as this will improve the general appearance of coloured and shaded objects. Using 256 colour is not recommended unless using laptops that will only support 256 colour display. It is recommended to choose 16 bit or higher colour for good colour rendering.

Configuring a new digitiser

Surpac uses both WINTAB and ASCII communication settings to configure digitisers. Full details for setting up a new digitiser are covered in the On Line Help.

Older digitisers missing detailed setup instructions can still be configured with some persistence. The critical stage is to establish communications through assigning the correct Com port at a matching baud rate and then checking the format of the message string. The message string is a series of ASCII characters denoting the x and y position on the digitiser tablet that are sent to the computer after each digitiser mouse click, these will be displayed in the Surpac message window and the format deduced by counting the positions of the characters. eg.

xx13245,76894zz ( digitiser string displayed in the Message Window )

message length = 15 ( total length of message)
x offset = 2 ( number of leading characters to ignore )
x length = 5 ( length of x coordinate value )
y offset = 8 ( number of leading characters to ignore )
y length = 5 ( length of y coordinate value )

FAQ - The Surpac Geological Database

The DDB "database definition" file

The DDB file is a fundamental part of a Surpac database. It contains information about the path to the data, name of the database, names and order of the tables. It is critical that it be maintained in a good state together with the data which will reside in a subdirectory immediately beneath the directory containing the DDB file.

If any editing of the DDB file is undertaken then a backup should be made.

If the database is moved or renamed then the first three lines of the DDB file should be edited to reflect the new directory path and database name. ie. the example below should have a daughter subdirectory called woody.pdx containing a number of files that may not be edited including collar.px and collar.db and each of the other tables.

DATABASE woody     (database name)
TYPE "paradox"          (database type)
DB_SPECIFIC "directory=c:/ssi_dem/training"      (database path)

Converting and archiving databases

Databases can generally be converted from historic databases only if all relevant data is preserved intact. It is strongly advised that a copy of the data be preserved in a text format as this ensures maximum flexibility if you choose to use some other product at a future time.

A copy of the DDB file which describes the names and validation criteria the database used and a copy of the DSC format file that was used to unload the database to text files are both very useful additions to the backup. Unloading data in free format ie. comma delimited is often advisable to reduce space.

To convert a database that has been stored with a valid DDB file and a group of text files simply connect to the DDB file from the Geological Database main menu ( no database is strictly necessary for this step ) select Copy Database, you will be prompted for the new name and new database type.

A copy of the database will now be made and connected to. A subdirectory containing the database will be made containing the relevant .px and .db files. This blank database can then be loaded using an existing format file ( .DSC file ) using the Load Database function. If the format file does not already exist then it will be necessary to identify which fields will be loaded from which text files and whether they are fixed or free format. When you choose Load Database you will be prompted for a format file name and a new file will be created if necessary, defaulting to the database name.

Using a geological database with Microsoft Office 2013

Microsoft Office 2013 no longer supports .mdb files. However you can use the .accdb file format instead. If you have an existing .mdb file, convert it by opening it in Microsoft Access 2010 or 2007 and choose the Save and Publish command (for example File > Save and Publish) to save it as an .accdb file.

FAQ - Plotting

My colours aren't plotting correctly

Colours used for plotting are stored stored in file called HPGL2.PEN.

This file describes a list of pen numbers from 1 up to 999 and their corresponding Crayola colours. Surpac plots are designed to contain pen numbers that are translated to colours when the *.pf file is processed for plotting into a *.lf file using the Plot Driver function.

It is common to customise the Plot Preview function to display the same colours as the Plot Driver colours to check the presentation of the plot. These colours are defined in the Defaults.ssi file with the following defaults:

The pen and clash colour options specify colours to be used during plot preview for the different pens in a plot and for identifying plot clashes. Extra pen numbers and corresponding colours may be added as required ( watch the spelling! )

pen1=red
pen2=blue
pen3=green
pen4=orange
pen5=black
pen6=purple
pen7=pink
pen8=brown
clash colour=dark blue

If plots are not being plotted in the colours expected then there may be a misspelling in the colour names used in the Plot Driver defaults (stored in the HPGL2.PEN file ) or the plotter may be set to it's own palette of colours overriding the software defined colours from Surpac.

How do I plot from Windows?

Producing Hardcopy Plots in Surpac

It is possible to submit plots created from the software to a plot device directly from the software without having to issue a specific plot command in another window. This can be done by inserting a definition in the SSI_ETC:defaults.ssi file for a plot command. The plot command directs the .lf file created by the software to the plot device.

To achieve this you must insert the plot command specifier in the defaults.ssi file. Examples follow.

Please note that if you are using a plot command that is an intrinsic operating system command such as copy, then you will need to update the plot command specifier in the defaults.ssi file.

For Windows NT it is

plot command=cmd.exe /c copy !AS com1:

If you want to use network printers and/or plotters with the plot now function then you can achieve this simply by using the copy command. You need to find out the network name of the host computer that has the printer queue that you wish to plot to, and also the name of the print queue. As an example if a machine called pluto has a print queue called hp1200c then your plot command in defaults.ssi for Microsoft Windows NT is

plot command=cmd.exe /c copy !AS \\pluto\hp1200c

Producing Hardcopy Plots under Windows File Manager or Explorer

Often it is more desirable to save the plot to file rather than plotting directly to a peripheral. The correct choice in the plot driver form is then to use Plot Now (y/n) = N.

This will result in a plot file *.lf in the current working directory. This file can be sent to the plotter using the methods as shown above while in a MSDOS window or by setting up a small batch file to copy the *.lf file when double clicked in the Windows file manager or explorer.

The *.lf extension will have to be associated with a MSDOS batch file such as:

@echo off
command.com /c copy %1 lpt1:

ie. Send the '.lf' file to the plotter attached to the lpt1 port on the local machine

@echo off
command.com /c copy %1 \\bingo\hp650c

ie. Send the '.lf' file to a print queue called hp650c attached on a network machine called bingo

To associate a file in explorer in Windows, select view options and then select file types and choose new type. Type the extension as "lf" (no quotes) and choose new under the actions: box and enter an appropriate action description such as "send plot to plotter".

The application used to perform the action is the batch file as described above. It is then possible to double click on the associated *.lf files in explorer or file manager and send to the plotter. The description "send plot to plotter" would be displayed when using the right mouse button to select the associated *.lf file in the Windows Explorer.

Producing Hardcopy Plots in Surpac

Method 1 - Windows plot spooler

A Windows plot spooler is now available for Windows platform. If you specify the System command field on the PLOT DRIVERS form as WINDOWS a new field called Windows Printer will be displayed. You select the appropriate printer from this list and the software will then automatically output the '.lf' file to the selected printer.

The windows print spooler is intended as an alternative to using DOS copy commands in your plot command line. Either method will still work and it is left as a matter of preference as to which one you use.

You can permanently set the Windows plot spooler to be the default device by setting the plot command parameter in the SSI_ETC:defaults.ssi file. Please refer to SSI_ETC:defaults.mst for an example of this parameter.

Method 2 - Windows drivers

A Windows plot device driver is now available. By using the windows driver you will have access to any printer/plotter that has a windows printer driver. When you use the windows plot driver the resulting plot is queued directly to the associated windows print queue and therefore no '.lf' file is produced.

You will be able to select the windows plot driver from the list of supported plot drivers presented in the plot device form.

FAQ - Graphics

What are layers and how are they best used

Layers are a means of displaying different data sets such they can be manipulated individually using the Layers commands in the Settings menu in Graphics. Attributes about each of the layers which can be altered are:

Visibility - Current layer visible Y/N
Selectability - Current layer selectable i.e. identify point, identify segment etc. Y/N
Active - Curent layer active i.e. save file saves the active layer

Layers can best be described as if a number of plans were viewed on a light table with the uppermost (Active) plan being edited using the lower plans for positional information only. The quick command for accessing the Layers Status command is ( alias L )

Multiple viewports Surpac utilises the concept of multiple viewports. Now it is possible to view more than one set of data at once and also to display the same data rendered in different ways or from different viewing positions. eg. an open cut pit design can be simultaneuosly viewed in plan view, section view and long section.

When the same layer is visible in two separate viewports it is drawn the same, that is with the same colours and styles, however the viewing parameters (viewing position, viewing type, face visibility, etc) can be different between the two viewports. To view the same data with different drawing parameters (eg. some strings drawn as markers in one viewport but polylines in the other) you simply need to load the same file into two different layers and make the appropriate layer visible in the appropriate viewport.

To further enhance viewports the viewer rotate mode is enabled whenever the "Function:" prompt is displayed. This provides a simple means to rotate (left mouse button), roll (right mouse button), or dolly (middle mouse button, or left and right mouse buttons together on two button mice) by simply clicking and dragging the mouse in the viewport. Further default viewer settings can be selected from the Defaults.ssi file.

Improve the display performance, recommended graphics cards

Under Customise > Default preferences > Graphics > Hardware settings, the recommended settings are:

Hidden surface removal algorithm - hardware z-buffer
Graphics display driver - OpenGL
External display driver - Fastest
Backface culling - Closed Objects
Double buffering - selected
Display lists - selected

The following is a list of recommended graphics cards.

Microsoft Windows 7
Desktop	Laptop
nVidia GeForce Series (high end)	nVidia GeForce FX Go
nVidia Quadro Series (high end)	nVidia GeForce 4 Go
	nVidia Quadro FX Go

Note: On-board graphics processors and integrated graphics cards are not recommended for running Surpac.

String file cleanup utilities. Where are they?

The Graphics Points menu contains a number of "cleanup" utilities Clean Layer, Clean String and Clean Segment. Clean String and Segment will prompt the user to select an appropriate string whereas Clean layer will operate upon all data in the current active layer.

Strings, Segments, Objects and Trisolations. What are they?

Strings

All data are stored as strings. A string is a sequence of three dimensional coordinates delineating some physical feature. All points defining a single string are stored in string sequence and assigned a common string number. String numbers may be in the range 1 to 32000 inclusive.

Segments

Segments are simply portions of strings. Any string can have up to 32000 segments. A segment is named according to the string to which it belongs therefore string 3 can be made up of segments 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3. Segments are always the same colour as the string to which it belongs.

Objects

An object refers to the data stored in a DTM file generally representing either a surface, i.e. topography, or a 3 dimensional model such as an orebody or geological structure.

Trisolations

A trisolation is a subset of an object. Therefore object 3 can be made up of trisolations 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3. Trisolations are always the same colour as the object to which they belong.

How can I use the viewer better? What is the assist key?

When selecting, digitising or dragging a point in graphics, the Viewer may also be invoked by pressing the Assist key. The Assist key may be mapped to any key by configuring the keymaps.ssi file.

The Assist key is mapped to F11 on PC systems. If the Viewer is invoked by using the Assist key, the VIEWER menu will be displayed until the Viewer is exited. The previous menu will then be displayed and the prompt to select or digitise a point will be re-displayed to allow you to continue with the previous operation.

FAQ - Block Modeling

How do I prevent coincident block faces in my cross sections?

Sectioning a block model orthogonally to the X, Y or X axis allows the possibility of creating sections that are exactly coincident with block faces. The software will provide warning messages in the message window if it identifies this possibility. Two options are available to the user:

Generate the sections such that the section plane falls on the centroid of the smallest possible sub-block size.
Offset the sections by a small increment such as 0.0001 to avoid the possibility of hitting the block faces.

It is important that the user checks the data if it is suspected that block faces might be sectioned as duplicate segments will be formed if this occurs raising the possibility that erroneous volumes might result if used as input for the String File Volumes option.

Real, Character, Integer, Float:-attribute type pros and cons.

Real

Saves a decimal number in double precision

Float

Saves a decimal number to single precision thus saving space during the saving process

Character

Saves a character value

Integer

Saves an integer number with no decimal places

It should be noted that care should be taken when editing attributes to preserve the attribute type and to be aware that it is viable to perform mathematical operations on numeric attributes only. Numeric attributes have the advantage of being easier to specify ranges for and it is possibly to Colour by Attribute on numeric attributes only.

Constraint combinations "AND, OR" explained.

When saving constraint combinations it is possible to use the AND/OR syntax to define how best to combine the blocks that satisfy the constraints.

This example shows two constraint files con1.con and con2.con which are intersected. This produces only those blocks which are inside con1 and con2.

Constraint Expression

(a AND b)

Complex constraint by combining constraint specifications

This example shows how constraints may be combined using logical expressions. The constraints mimic the classic sectional estimation technique where sectional outlines (all segments of String 1 in files sec2000.str and sec20100.str) are extended halfway to the next section (in the y direction). The constraint expression gives all blocks that are between the limiting planes and within the outlines and then combines each of the subsets thus formed.

Constraint Expression

((a AND b AND c) OR (d AND e AND f))

Converting centroid models from different packages.

There are a number of techniques that may be employed to transfer data from one block model to another. Typically modelling packages can export centroid models with attributes attached to Y,X,Z coordinates. The typical sequence followed to import this data into a Surpac model are as follows:

Import Coordinates or Import from Text to convert the data into a string file
If the data is very large it is often wise to Classify Strings by a range of Elevations or Northings to allow the data to be broken up into a number of string files thus greatly speeding the loading process to the block model
Create a Surpac Block Model that extends over the same extents with the same minimum block size. It is sometimes necessary to create more than one model to match the data extents. There are significant speed advantages to creating multiple models at lower resolutions than trying to create a master model at a high resolution ie. 512 * 512 * 512 is potentially a very large number.
Choose which fill operation is appropriate, Nearest Neighbour Fill is usually best when transferring centroid data to identical blocks.
It would be wise also to record a macro of the fill process to allow the operation to be automated
Repeat the operation for each attribute that needs to be transferred.

Please see the Online Documentation for detailed notes on loading constrained models and other data management techniques dealing with large data sets.

Data management tricks and tips

The latest data management technique for optimising the usability of the Surpac Block Model is the ability to load constrained block models. With this technique it is feasible to have a master block model space that can be updated from a number of identically sized models containing different attributes. This can be extremely memory efficient due to block aggregation. Alternatively a large model containing many attributes can be selectively loaded into a new model space with any of the attributes and inside any physical constraint. Thus it is possible to create a model containing just the area of investigation ie. the North East quadrant above 500 elevation containing only the SG and Copper PPM attribute thus using perhaps a tenth of the memory resources required by the master model. In the same way a master model can be updated by any changes made to this constrained model.

FAQ - Miscellaneous tips

Specifying a complex range of files "Range Files"

Non uniform ranges are often very lengthy to type in, and may conveniently be stored in a file with a file type of `.rng'.

The first and last lines in the file are START RANGE and END RANGE respectively. A sample range file `section.rng' follows:

START RANGE
4200, 4220, 5
4225
@OTHER RANGE
END RANGE

To specify this range to any module, enter @SECTION when prompted.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

FAQ - System Setup and Optimization

FAQ - The Surpac Geological Database

FAQ - Plotting

FAQ - Graphics

FAQ - Block Modeling

FAQ - Miscellaneous Tips

FAQ - System Setup and Optimization

FAQ - The Surpac Geological Database

FAQ - Plotting

FAQ - Graphics

FAQ - Block Modeling

FAQ - Miscellaneous tips