Two Line data format

[Olly Betts]

On Thu, Dec 17, 2020 at 03:06:11PM -0500, Richard Knapp wrote:
> I know I am doing something simple incorrectly but I can’t find a
> reference on using two line data entry in this format.

The term used for such a format in the Survex manual is "interleaved".

> I would like to be able to mimic my survey book format so it is easier
> to double check my data entry. The book is a two-line format and looks
> like:
> 
> 
> Sta     Dist     Azi     Inc     L     R     U     D
> A1                                     1     2    1.5   0.5
>           3.3      3.5     -1.0
>                    182.5    0.5
> A2                                     2      0     1     1
> ...
>
> Would my data directive be;
> 
> *data normal station ignoreall newline tape compass clino backcompass backclino ignoreall
> 
> ? It does not seem to account for the extra new line between the front
> sights and back sights. I tried putting another ’newline’ between
> clino and backcompass but it didn’t like that.

Currently only one "newline" is supported in interleaved data, so you'd
have to reformat the above by putting the back readings on the same
line as the others.

That's not ideal as it makes checking for transcription errors harder.
We could probably support another "newline" for formats like this.  It
seems a natural interpretation, and it's currently an error so it
doesn't change the meaning of existing valid data.

> Also, if a branch ends and a new line starts, do I need to copy the
> *data directive again? ie I finish the trend above then do a new
> passage from A1 to A15.

You ought to be able to just say "*data" alone to keep the current style
but reset any state (since 1.2.31) but I just tried this and it actually
ignores the data that follows due to a stupid bug (and this happens for
any style, including "passage" data which was what motivated adding it).
I'll fix that for the next release.

Cheers,
    Olly