Boundaries Tools

• Boundaries Tools Overview
• Point to Point Creation
• Boundary edit
• Slice Boundaries
• Multiple Cut lines
• Open Boundaries in Google Earth
• Boundaries Tools - Layer Menu

Boundaries Tools Overview

When the Boundary tab is selected on the right hand side, the relevant tools will be accessed in two different areas. Firstly, on the menu bar (this changes depending on which layer type is selected) and is explained below in Boundary Design Tools and secondly, in the Layer menu on the selected tab and is explained in Boundaries Tools - Layer Menu.

Boundaries Design Tools 

The Boundary tools available in T3RRA Design Plus create boundaries that are used to limit where field designs will affect. In order to apply any design to elevation data in T3RRA Design Plus they must first have a Boundary.

There are 5 Boundary tools available in T3RRA Design Plus, Point to Point Creation, Boundary Edit, Slice Boundaries, Multiple Cut lines and Open boundaries in Google Earth.

Point to Point Creation

‘Point to Point Creation’ changes the mouse icon to a cross. While in this mode, clicking anywhere in the working area will add a point. These points anchor the line that appears on the screen with the last point and the first point connecting automatically to create a closed boundary line at all times. In order to complete and add the boundary to the layer selection, double click on the last desired point.

When creating boundaries, try to hug the surface fairly closely. Boundaries allocate memory for each pixel (blank ones too), so having extra space can slow down processing or cause out-of-memory errors.

Boundary edit

‘Boundary Edit’ displays a series of nodes along existing boundary lines. By left-clicking and dragging these nodes, the boundary lines are able to be moved anywhere.

It is also possible to start editing a boundary by right-clicking on the map near it and choosing Edit nearest > Boundary.

To insert a new node in a boundary, hover over a line and left-click the blue node that appears. This inserts a new gray node to the boundary that can be further adjusted. Nodes can be removed by right-clicking on them.

Slice Boundaries

‘Slice Boundaries’ is used to split pre-existing boundaries into smaller areas. Once this tool has been selected your mouse cursor will change to a pencil while it is in the working area. To add a line to a boundary click on the outside of the line to create a starting point, from this point wherever you move your mouse a red dotted line will be connected showing where the new boundary line will be created. Clicking on the working area again will place the new boundary line along the red dotted line that intersects with 2 other boundary lines.

Multiple Cut lines

The ‘Multiple Cut Lines’ tool provides a way of creating equally spaced boundary lines across already existing boundaries.

When the tool is selected a pop-up window and a selection tool will appear in the working area. 

In order to place the cut lines use the selection tool. The yellow square in the center of the selection tool controls the position of the lines, the yellow triangles on either side of the selection tool control the width of separation between the lines and the yellow circle controls the length of the selection tool as well as the rotation of the selection tool.

Open Boundaries in Google Earth

‘Open Boundaries in Google Earth’ allows you to export your boundary lines to Google earth.

When the tool has been selected to export your boundary lines a pop-up window will appear. In this pop-up window the layer that is being exported can be named. Once the layer has been named press ‘OK’ and the layer will be exported to Google Earth.

Boundaries Tools - Layer Menu

• Open 
• Create
• Edit
• Create boundary from selected layer 
• Create region from selected layer - this will draw a region around the most outer points of the selected surface and will populate a new region in the Region tab
• Merge selected - (ensuring you have 2 or more boundaries selected) this will create a combined boundary, removing the initial boundaries
• Clean Selected
• Copy selected - this will duplicate the selected boundary
• Activate all - this will activate all the boundaries so they are visible on the Working Area. This is shown by the checkbox being selected. 
• Activate selected - this will activate the boundary which is selected (shown by the tile having a blue highlight around it) so it is now visible on the Working Area. This is shown by the checkbox being selected.
• Deactivate all - this will deactivate all boundaries
• Deactivate selected - this will deactivate the boundary which you currently have selected (shown by the tile having a blue highlight around it)
• Delete selected - deletes the boundary that is selected (shown by the tile having a blue highlight around it)
• Delete inactive - deletes all inactive surfaces (i.e. those without a tick in the checkbox)
• Import >
  • Import Shapefile
  • Import KML
  • Import Multiplane Boundary
  • Import DXF points/linework
• Export >
  • Export selected to Shapefile
  • Export selected to KML
  • Export selected to Text Columns (CSV, TSV, etc)
• View in Google Earth - this will open the selected surface in Google Earth
  NOTE: You must have Google Earth Pro installed on your PC for this to work.