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Observation Overrides

Observation overrides let you record legal plan dimensions (bearings, distances, and observation metadata) that differ from the drawn geometry. When R3Survey exports a NSW LandXML file, overrides take priority over computed values.

Common reasons for overrides:

  • Compiled dimensions on a compiled plan
  • Legal bearings/distances that differ slightly from the coordinate geometry and you wish to show a particular dimension
  • Custom rounding for a specific line — for example, the global rounding may show distances to 5mm but for a particular line you want to show it to the nearest 10mm. Same with bearings — global rounding may be to the nearest 5″ but you may wish to show a bearing to the nearest minute for a short leg
  • Recording field notes or annotations for a segment

Setting overrides in R3PROPERTIES

Select a line or polyline on a survey plan layer. The Dimension Overrides expander in R3PROPERTIES is used to enter legal bearing, distance, arc length, and radius values that differ from the drawn geometry.

For polylines, use the Current Leg selector to navigate to the segment you want to override. Each segment stores its overrides independently.

Survey Leg Properties (not an override)

The Survey Leg Properties expander is separate from dimension overrides — it controls the observation type, not the dimensions. See Survey Leg Properties fields below for details.

Dimension Override fields

Field Description XData key
Bearing (D.MMSS) Legal bearing — overrides the computed bearing from geometry. Enter in D.MMSS format (e.g. 256.1556 = 256°15′56″). Azimuth
Hz Distance (m) Legal horizontal distance in metres — overrides the computed distance from geometry. HorizDistance
Arc Length Legal arc length (arc segments only). ArcLength
Radius Legal radius (arc segments only). Radius
Dim. Suffix Free text appended after the distance on the plan (e.g. PO, OCC-OCC). Stored as a FieldNote in the LandXML export. FieldNote

Area Override

The Area Override field is in the Areas expander (not the Dimension Overrides expander). It lets you specify a legal area that differs from the polyline's geometric area.

Field Description XData key
Override (m²) Legal area in square metres — overrides the computed area from the polyline geometry. This value is used in the LandXML export and on dimension labels. AreaOverride

You can set the area override in two ways:

  1. Directly — select the polyline, open the Areas expander in R3PROPERTIES, and type the value
  2. Via R3LOTEDIT — run R3LOTEDIT, select a closed parcel polyline, review the legal dimensions and calculated legal area, then click OK to save the calculated legal area as the area override

Tip

R3LOTEDIT shows both the geometric area (from polyline coordinates) and the legal area (calculated from legal dimensions including any overrides). If these differ significantly, review your dimension overrides to ensure the legal dimensions are correct.

Survey Leg Properties fields

The Survey Leg Properties expander (collapsed by default) controls the observation type for each line or polyline segment. It has two fields:

Field Description Default
Method The observation method — Measured, Compiled, or a GNSS method (AUSPOS, Static GNSS, RTK GNSS, CORS NRTK GNSS, CORS RTK GNSS, CORS Static GNSS, Cadastral Traverse). Measured
Boundary The boundary type — Linear Boundary or Natural Boundary. Linear Boundary

Most surveyed lines on a plan are Measured lines with Linear Boundary — these are the defaults and you generally don't need to change them.

When to change these values:

  • Set Method to Compiled for lines with compiled dimensions (not measured by you)
  • Set Method to a GNSS method for control lines or boundary lines measured by GNSS (see SG Direction 9)
  • Set Boundary to Natural Boundary for segments that represent a natural boundary — the short traverse lines along a river bank, creek, or other water course

Reference Mark lines

For reference mark lines, the Survey Leg Properties expander is hidden entirely — reference marks are always measured linear observations, and the observation type is derived automatically from the State field in the Reference Mark expander.

The Dimension Overrides expander is still available on RM lines for entering legal bearing and distance overrides.

Reference Mark expander

When you select a line on the Reference Marks layer, the Reference Mark expander appears in R3PROPERTIES with the following fields:

Field Description
Type The mark type — common types include DH&W, GIP, Peg, SSM, PM, Nail & Wing, Star Picket, Reference Mark Token, Not Marked. Additional imported types are shown in grey.
State The mark condition — Found, Placed, Found By Me, Gone, Not Found, Not Marked, Not Marked Obstructed. Controls how the reference mark is exported (see table below).
Origin The plan number the mark was originally placed on (e.g. DP123456). Shown when State is Found or Found By Me — hidden when State is Placed.
Desc Optional physical description of the mark (e.g. ON KB, IN CONCRETE, IN GUTTER).

The State field controls the exported observation type:

State Exported distanceType Exported distanceAccClass
Found Adopted Found
Placed Measured Placed
Found By Me Measured Found By Me
Gone / Not Found No observation exported Monument record only

See Drawing reference marks for the full RM workflow.

Note

If the survey plan's Survey Type is set to compiled, all parcel boundary observations default to Compiled type in the export. If set to surveyed, the default is Measured. Per-segment overrides take priority over these defaults.

Per-segment storage

Each segment of a polyline stores its overrides independently. When you select a polyline, use the Current Leg selector to navigate between segments and set overrides on individual legs. For standalone lines (reference marks, connections), overrides apply to the whole line.

R3SHOWOVERRIDES — Highlight overridden segments

Command: R3SHOWOVERRIDES

Displays a transient overlay highlighting every segment in a plan that has any observation override set, along with the override values. Use this for a quick visual check of which segments have been overridden.

Usage

  1. Type R3SHOWOVERRIDES
  2. If the drawing has multiple plans, select the plan to check
  3. R3Survey draws magenta highlights over overridden segments with override values shown as text (text auto-scales on zoom)
  4. Press Enter to dismiss the overlay

The overlay uses transient graphics — it does not create any entities in the drawing and will not appear on printed output.

R3CHECKOVERRIDES — Override report dialog

Command: R3CHECKOVERRIDES

Opens a modeless report dialog listing all observation overrides in the plan, with warnings for potential issues.

Usage

  1. Type R3CHECKOVERRIDES
  2. If the drawing has multiple plans, select the plan to check
  3. The Observation Overrides dialog opens

Report contents

The report lists two types of entries:

Type Description
Override A segment with one or more override values set. Shows the override value alongside the computed geometry for comparison (e.g. Dist: 25.450 (geom: 25.453))
WARNING A shared boundary segment where one lot has overrides but the adjacent lot does not. This can cause unexpected values in the exported file

Each row shows the entry type, parcel name, segment number, and override details.

  • Double-click a row to zoom the AutoCAD viewport to that segment
  • Right-click a row for options:
    • Zoom To Segment — centres the view on the segment
    • Refresh — rescans the drawing for changes

The dialog auto-refreshes after most AutoCAD commands (except zoom, pan, and regen).

Shared boundary warnings

When two adjacent lots share a boundary segment, R3Survey exports only one observation for that physical boundary. If one lot has overrides on the shared segment but the other does not, the report flags this as a warning — the override from one lot will be used, but it may not be what was intended.

To resolve: set matching overrides on both sides, or clear the override from the unintended side.

How overrides affect the export

When you export with R3EXPORTLANDXMLNSW:

  • Dimension overrides (bearing, distance, arc length, radius) replace the computed geometry values in the exported file
  • Area overrides replace the computed polyline area
  • Survey Leg Properties (method, boundary type) are included in the exported observations when they differ from the plan default
  • Dim. Suffix text is included as a field note on the observation

If no override is set, R3Survey computes the values from the drawn geometry automatically.

Shared boundary segments

When two lots share a boundary segment, both polylines contain that segment. The exporter automatically deduplicates shared segments. If one side has overrides and the other doesn't, the version with overrides is used.

This means you only need to set overrides on one side of a shared boundary — but using R3CHECKOVERRIDES to verify consistency is recommended.

See also