July 2018 - Therion

"\legendbox" "\loadpicture" and absolute paths
by rowena 14 Mar '21

14 Mar '21

Hello, I am using the "\loadpicture" capability in "\legendbox" constructs to include map sections, elevations, etc. It all works nicely on my PC where I am using relative paths to the pdf files. My club has a desire to archive the map data for posterity - ie if my pc dies or I go walkabout, the map data should still be available so that others can add to the maps as they are extended. I would prefer to have the images included using relative pathnames, rather than absolute pathnames, so that future explorers can download the map data and extend it, without having to duplicate my file hierarchy. How can I include relative paths in the \loadpicture functionality? Thanks, Rowena

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extend
by Marco Corvi 02 Jun '20

02 Jun '20

i think that extend should take values in the interval [-1,1], ie also fractional values, plus some special value such as "ignore" to open loops, and "undefined" to let the program choose, because it's a nuisance to enter a decimal number for every shot (legs + splays). therion uses the left/right normal/reverse etc. solution, and users should be allowed to set extend also for splays, if they need to. for now, let's use left/right/vert, and ignore only to open loops btw, are vertical extend considered in the computation of the cave length by therion ? marco

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Page Size
by Markus Boldt 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

Hello, how is it possible to "say" Therion to make a PDF-File with for example a Size of DIN A4 (21 x 29,7 cm)? I have tried Page-setup 21 29.7 20 29 0.1 0.1 cm it doesn`t work I have tried Size 21 29.7 cm It doesn`t, too The command is ignored. Greetings Markus

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TerrainTool
by Graham Mullan 28 Jun '19

28 Jun '19

Mike McCombe's TerrainTool has been fixed and is available again from http://www.ubss.org.uk/terraintool/terraintool.php Download and enjoy. It may not use the latest data but it remains the most straightforward way of adding topographic detail to Therion 3D models. Graham

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Therion and DEM
by Xavier Robert 24 Jan '19

24 Jan '19

Dear all, For a quite large project, I am using a relatively high-resolution DEM (i.e. 1 px = 1 m), and I am trying to use it within Therion to produce a .lox-3D file. I am however facing some problems: If I export the full resolution DEM to a .th file (6540*4307 cells) with the line "grid 325816.2990788577 5106250.599820679 1 1 6540 4307 ». I have the error « therion: error -- dem.th [14] -- line too long ». This line 14 correspond to the first row of the DEM. ASC parameters are « #NCOLS = 6540, NROWS = 4307, XLLCORNER = 325816.2990788577, YLLCORNER =5106250.599820679, CELLSIZE = 1.0 » If I export the DEM with a 5 m pixel resolution (1308*861 cells) (with the line "grid 325816.299079 5106250.59982 5.001161440185831 5.001161440185831 1308 861 », I get the same error, If I export the DEM with a 10 m pixel resolution (654 * 431 cells) (with the line « grid 325816.299079 5106250.59982 9.996519721577727 9.996519721577727 654 431 »), everything compiles OK and the result is quite OK (https://www.groupe-speleo-vulcain.com/wp-content/themes/custom_theme/3d/JB.… ; be patient, it takes time to load), but not with the full resolution. The process to build each .th DEM is exactly the same, I do not touch any end of line. I edit the .asc DEM with vi to translate it into a .th file. I thus suspect that there is a size limitation for the DEM in Therion, I imagine a limitation in the number of row/columns of the DEM. Is that true ? If yes, what is this size limit for DEMs ? As anyone an idea how to overtake that and use the full resolution DEM ? Cheers, Xavier

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Scale dependant error when using area fills
by Tom Foord 20 Jan '19

20 Jan '19

Hi all I'm having some problems compiling a project which includes debris area fills. Depending on the exact symbol fill that I use, I am getting strange scale-dependant errors which seem to cause the compiler to loop endlessly until I force it to stop. I originally noticed the problem when using a custom area fill that I made by modifying the standard a_debris_AUT symbol fill. I've attached my modified metapost definition in the attached text file 'a_debris_WUG.txt'. The error occurs for any scale between 1:2000 and 1:4483 (outside of this range the project compiles fine). See attached output log 'Output log - a_debris_WUG.txt'. As you can see, the file seems to loop over and over again. Initially I thought this problem was specific to my custom fill, but then I noticed that I also get a similar error when using the standard a_debris_AUT fill, however this time the error only occurs when the scale is set to exactly 1:2000 (any other scale seems to be fine). See attached output log 'Output log - a_debris_AUT.txt'. Can anyone help with this problem? Thanks Tom

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tex-map \maplayout hiding special symbols (scalebar and northarrow)
by Bruce Mutton 30 Jul '18

30 Jul '18

I am trying again to understand control of map elements, independent of the standard map header. For now just considering scale-bars and north-arrows. The Therion Book, page 70 says… North arrow and scale bar may be displayed using * \ifnortharrow ▷ conditional; true if map projection is plan and symbol north-arrow is not hidden in layout * \ifscalebar ▷ conditional; true if scalebar is not hidden >From this, I assume that the following statements in a layout should prevent a north-arrow and scale-bar from being output. symbol-hide special north-arrow symbol-hide special scale-bar However I find that these elements are always output regardless of the layout. ie the symbol-hide statements have no effect for the special symbols, even though they work just fine for groups, lines and points. This is an example of what I am using; \def\maplayout{ \legendbox{100}{100}{NW}{\the\legendcontent} %insert default header with cave name, northarrow, scalebar, statistics etc \legendbox{17}{00}{N}{\northarrow } %insert just a northarrow \legendbox{17}{-100}{N}{\scalebar} %insert just a scalebar } I have also tried the likes of ; \legendbox{17}{-100}{N}{\ifscalebar\scalebar\fi } %try to insert a scalebar only if not hidden But this does not work either, as the scale-bar is still always output regardless of symbol-hide. Am I misunderstanding the usage of symbol-hide for special symbols, or have I broken something, or could there be a bug? Bruce

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Tex and Therion comment characters
by Bruce Mutton 27 Jul '18

27 Jul '18

Good evening I'm trying to sort out some problem I'm having debugging a tex-map routine. I'm trying to rule out things that might be causing unexpected results (other than the obvious which is that I don't know what I am doing). The comment character for tex is % The comment character for Therion data files is # Does it affect the way tex is interpreted by Therion if the two are combined, as in the two examples below? Mostly it seems to have no effect, but now I am wondering if I am mistaken, and sometimes it does? # Define Map title overrides code tex-map # % Output map title as determined by Therion 5.3 is stored in cavename. # % It will be empty if there are multiple maps selected for any one projection # % \edef\temp{\the\cavename} % cavename from Therion # % \edef\nostring{} % empty string # % \ifx\temp\nostring % test if cavename is empty # Define Map title overrides code tex-map % Output map title as determined by Therion 5.3 is stored in cavename. % It will be empty if there are multiple maps selected for any one projection % \edef\temp{\the\cavename} % cavename from Therion % \edef\nostring{} % empty string % \ifx\temp\nostring % test if cavename is empty Thanks Bruce

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shell script for creating .th2 and .th files for a given survey
by Jonny Prouty 21 Jul '18

21 Jul '18

Hello all, I have created a shell script for the most repetitive part of my therion workflow, setting up new .th and .th2 files to hold the actual sketch data to be digitized. The script has proven to be quite a time saver. I've cleaned it up a bit and added a usage statement and decided to release it into the wild. The script relies on imagemagick's display program, so as long as you have display and can run shell scripts, the script should run. I've only used/tested it on Fedora, but I imagine it will run on a mac without difficulty. It's possible you could get it to run in windows if you have a decent shell available. The script is far from perfect and still has plenty of rough edges, so feel free to comment and suggest changes if you feel compelled to. https://github.com/jonnyprouty/caving/blob/master/add_survey_trip.sh Best regards, Jonny Prouty

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Adding entrance breaks extended elevation
by Bruce Mutton 21 Jul '18

21 Jul '18

Hi all We've been surveying a cave from half way between two entrances, and working outwards towards those entrances over a number of survey trips. As each survey trip has been completed, I have been drawing, and constructing an extended centreline, and attaching scraps. The extended centreline is just a little bit complicated, with two loops, but I have managed to get the breaks where I want them, and offset passages to lay it out nicely. As each centreline is added, I modify the extend left and right for that survey to suit the extended centreline shape that I want. I have 'anchored' the downstream entrance with a dummy survey leg, until I surveyed downstream to that entrance and I could remove the dummy leg. I have 'extended right' to the downstream entrance. All has gone well until I surveyed out of the upstream entrance, extending left, mostly. But as soon as I add a station flag to the upstream entrance, the shape of the extended centreline is broken. It looks like Therion is overriding the 'extend start' that I have in the middle of the cave, and replacing it with a start at the top entrance. This completely scrambles the shape of the centreline and attached scrap drawings. It looks a bit like the default behaviour listed here <https://survex.com/docs/manual/extend.htm> (the first paragraph of the main text) for Survex. I have tried a few approaches to avoid this undesirable behaviour, but nothing yet has worked. I would rather not try to recreate the extend development from upstream, as Therion seems to want me to do, because even with such a simple cave, there is some complexity and time involved in figuring it out. Good, but no upstream entrance flag Bad, after adding upstream entrance flag the extends are broken station 4.24 "Top Entrance" entrance Any suggestions? Bruce

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