CORPSCON Version 4.1 TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION AND OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS 1. BACKGROUND The National Geodetic Survey has developed two conversion programs called NADCON (North American Datum Conversion) and VERTCON (Vertical Conversion) to provide consistent results when converting to and from NAD 83(NADCON) and NAVD 88(VERTCON). Both programs work exclusively in geographical coordinates (latitude/longitude). The U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center (TEC) created a more comprehensive program CORPSCON (Corps Convert), which is based on NADCON and VERTCON. In addition to transformations between NAD 83 and NAD 27 geographical coordinates, CORPSCON also converts between State Plane Coordinates Systems (SPCS) and geographical coordinates; thus eliminating several steps in the total process of converting between SPCS 27 and SPCS 83. Inputs can be in either geographic or SPCS coordinates (SPCS 27 X and Y or SPCS83 northing and easting). This program can also be used to convert between state plane and geographic coordinates on the same datum. CORPSCON will convert heights in Geographic, State Plane and UTM coordinate systems. 2. IMPROVEMENTS Corpscon Version 4.1 provides the user with all the original capabilities of Corpscon 3.0x, but now includes vertical conversions. Other added capabilities include: 1) a slightly different user interface for coordinate input and UTM/SP zone selection, 2) maximum number of input points has also been increased from 32,000 to 2,000,000,000, 3) Latitude and longitude in batch input files may now be in decimal degrees, degrees- decimal minutes, or degrees-minutes-decimal seconds, 4) the six pairs of .las/.los file problem from v3.01 has been corrected, and 5) this help file now includes excerpts from the user documentation on operating instructions. Also, Corpscon v4.1 no longer supports GeoLab or Fillnet files. 3. OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS. Change to the drive/directory containing the program files. Type CORPSCON and hit the enter key to start the program. A single screen menu will be displayed with three windows, "CORPSCON Main Menu", "Send Data", and "Console Window". A command bar should also be present at the bottom of the page. NOTE: An identification message at the top of the menu should read "CORPSCON v4.1." If the message has a number lower than 4.1 or the menu has "Beta CORPSCON v4.1 or v4.0," then this is an older version of CORPSCON and it should be disregarded. 3.1 Corpscon Main Menu The "CORPSCON Main Menu" has three basic functions that can be selected by typing the highlighted numeric (1, 2, or 3) which is located by that respective function. The "Input Data Format" specifies the coordinate system to which the original coordinates are referenced. The "Output Data Format" specifies the coordinate system to which the original coordinates are to be converted. The "Input Data Source" specifies from where the input data will come. Each of these will be explained below. 3.1a Input/Output Data Format To select an input or output coordinate system, the user should perform the following steps: 1. Select '1' (input) or '2' (output) coordinate system. 2. Select Horizontal Coordinate System After completeing step 1, menu similiar to the one below should appear. Use the arrow keys to highlight a coordinate system and press 'Enter' to select the coordinate system. +- Horizontal Format --------------+ | State Plane, NAD 27 | | State Plane, NAD 83 | | UTM Coord., NAD 27 | | UTM Coord., NAD 83 | | Geographic Coordinates, NAD 27 | | Geographic Coordinates, NAD 83 | +----------------------------------+ 3. Select Grid Zone (State Plane and UTM systems only) If the user selects a grid coordinate system in Step 2 (i.e. State Plane or UTM), an input zone must be specified. If a geogpahic coordinate system is specified in step 2, the user will proceed to step 5. - UTM Zone Selection - If a UTM coordinate system is selected in Step 2, a message box will appear prompting the user to enter the desired UTM zone. The user should type in the number of the zone and press 'Enter' to select. UTM zones may be found in Appendix A. - State Plane Zone Selection - If a State Plane coordinate system is selected in Step 2, a menu will appear promtping the user to select the area of the country in which the state is located. The user should highlight the desired area using the arrow keys and press 'Enter' to select. After selecting an area of the country, a second menu will appear prompting the user to select a state for that area. The user should highlight the desired state and press 'Enter' to select. If there is more than one state plane zone for the selected state, a third menu will appear prompting the user to select a state plane zone in which they would like to perform conversions. The user should highlight the desired zone and press 'Enter' to select. 4. Select Units of Measure (State Plane and UTM systems only) After specifying a zone in Step 3, a menu will appear promptinig the user to input the units of measure. Valid units are U.S. Survey Feet, International Feet, or Meters. The users should highlight the desired units using the arrow keys and press 'Enter' to select. 5. Select Vertical Datum After entering horizontal datum information, a menu will appear similiar to the one below which prompts the user to select a horizontal datum. Highlight a datum using the arrow keys and press 'Enter' to select. If no vertical conversions are desired, select 'None' from the vertical datum menu. +- Vertical Format -+ | NGVD 29 | | NAVD 88 | | None | +-------------------+ 6. Select Vertical Units of Measure If a vertical datum is selected, a menu will appear prompting the user to enter the units of measure. Valid units are U.S. Survey Feet, International Feet, or Meters. The users should select the desired units and press 'Enter' to select. 3.1b Input Data Source The "Input Data Source" specifies the type or format of input data. To select an input source press '3' and a menu similiar to the one below should appear. Highlight the desired format and press 'Enter' to select. Each format will be discussed below. +- Input File Format --------------+ | From Keyboard (Manual Entry) | | From Batch File (ASCII Format) | | From NGS Blue Book (*80*/*81*) | +----------------------------------+ - From Keyboard - The "From Keyboard" option displays a coordinate entry window similiar to the one shown below upon start of conversion. +- Manual Input - Lat,Lon,Elev ------+ | Latitude: | | Longitude: | | Height: | | Point Name: | +------------------------------------+ The user may edit the input by using the character, number, backspace, insert, delete, home, end, left arrow, and right arrow keys. The user may move to different fields by using the up arrow, down arrow, page up, page down, and enter keys. The user may cancel input window at any time by pressing the ESC key. The user must press enter at the last line to accept the point. Below are a few important notes on coordinate input. 1. West Longitude is assumed positive. Points in the Alaska Aleutians that lie in east longitude, i.e., Shimya, must be entered as a west longitude exceeding 180 degrees. For example, a longitude of 174 05' 12" East would be entered as 185 54' 48". 2. Geographic coordinates may be enter in decimal degrees, degrees-decimal minutes, or degrees-minutes- decimal seconds, but will be converted to degree- minutes-decimal seconds upon input. 3. A maximum of 20 characters may be used for the point name. - From Batch File - The "From Batch file (ASCII format)" will prompt the user to enter an input file name. There are four formats that exist for an ASCII batch file, examples of each are listed below: For geographic Coordinates with elevation: ;This is a sample file ;Agency: USATEC ;Project: Sample File, ;NAD 83 Geographic Coordinates Test Site,38 44 0.0,77 8 0.0111,20.682 For geographic Coordinates without elevation: ;This is a sample file ;Agency: USATEC ;Project: Sample File, ;NAD 83 Geographic Coordinates Test Site,38 44 0.0,77 8 0.0111 For grid coordinates with elevation: ;This is a sample file ;Agency: USATEC ;Project: Sample File, ;NAD 83 State Plane Zone 4501,U.S FOOT Test Site,11872752.0,6953015.832,19.8 For grid coordinates without elevation: ;This is a sample file ;Agency: USATEC ;Project: Sample File, ;NAD 83 State Plane Zone 4501,U.S FOOT Test Site,11872752.0,6953015.832 Batch files may be built using a text editor, spreadsheet, or any other source the will output ASCII files. The above format must be followed thought. Batch file may also be built in Corpscon by using the F3-Build Batch File command. Comment lines have a ';' or '#' in the first colunm of that line. There is no limit on the number of comment lines a file can have. CORPSCON disregards any line starting with a ';' or '#'. The actual data in the ASCII file are broken down into three or four fields separated by commas. The first field contains a twenty character name. The format of the next two fields depends on whether the data is plane or geographic coordinates. For geographic coordinates, the second field contains the latitude and the third contains the longitude of the station. The latitude and longitude fields may be in decimal degrees, degrees-decimal minutes, or degrees-minutes-decimal seconds. For plane coordinates, the second field contains the easting (x), and the third field contains the northing (y). The fourth field in each file is the height field. This field need not be included if no vertical conversions are needed. - From NGS Blue Book (*80*/*81*) - Another file format that CORPSCON can use are Bluebook files with *80* and *81* records. Corpscon will read northings, eastings, elevations from from these file, but meters are NOT assumed on input. Units of measure must be specified in the input data format. 3.2 Send Data The "Send Data" menu allows the user to specify what output formats will be created. There are four options; "To Console", "To Printer", "To Printer file", and "To Output File". These options can be toggle on or off by pressing the corresponding highlighted letter(C,P,F, or O) in its field. When toggling the "To Printer File" or "To Output File" to on, a message box will appear prompting the user to enter the file name. Each option is discussed below. - To Console - The "To Console" option displays the original and converted coordinates in the console window (the third area located on the screen). Using the and keys a user can cycle through the points. Below is an example of that option. NAME: Test Site Record 1 of 1. INPUT OUTPUT LAT: 38 44 00.00000 N: 6953015.83296 LON: 077 08 00.00000 E: 11872752.62967 NGVD 29 HT: 20.682 NAVD 88 HT: 19.8 Convergence DD(A) & Scale Factor (K) A: 00 51 10.65989 K: 0.999950422 NOTE: After viewing the coordinates in the console window, hit the key to continue. No printing will occur until the user has finished viewing the coordinates in the console window. - To Printer - The "To Printer" option sends the data directly to the printer in a publishable format. A sample output is given in Appendix C. - To Print File - The "To Printer File" option sends the same publishable format as above to a user specified file. A sample output is given in appendix C. When using either the "To Printer" or "To Printer File" option, CORPSCON creates a specific format that consists of a file header followed by a listing of the input and output data. The header states the form of the inputs (e.g., NAD 27 state plane) and the outputs (e.g., NAD 83 geographic). The input coordinates are listed under the "Input" column and the output coordinates are similarly listed under the "Output" colunm. If state plane or UTM values are used for input or output, then the convergence and scale factor are listed under the coordinates. If a datum conversion is made from NAD 27 to NAD 83, or visa-versa, then the datum shift, in meters, is shown under the coordinates. If the inputs and outputs for a datum conversion are in state plane coordinates, then the state plane coordinate shift, in feet, is shown after the datum shift. - To Output File - The "To Output File" option sends an abbreviated output format to another file. An example of this file is given below. ;Software: CORPSCON v4.1 ;Agency: USATEC ;Project: Sample File ;Created: 3/2/94 1:44 PM ;Coordinates on NAD 83 State Plane - VA North, U.S. FT ;Vertical on NAVD 88, U.S. FT Test Site,11872752.62967, 6953015.83296, 19.8 3.3 Console Window The "Console Window" is used to display user messages. The most common use of the console window is displaying output. 3.4 Command Bar The "Command Bar" is located at the bottom of the screen. It displays active keys and their corresponding commands. The command bar display at the start of Corpscon has the following keys and commands: ESC - exits CORPSCON F1 - displays the help screen F2 - allows the user to change the project title and agency F3 - allows the user to create a batch file F4 - starts conversions It is important to watch the command bar. The Command Bar will assist the user when navigating through different Corpscon menus and windows. 4. SOURCE OF PROGRAM AND ASSISTANCE Copies of CORPSCON can be obtained from the National Geodetic Survey Information Branch at the following address: NOAA, NGS, N/CG 174 (301) 713-3282 Technical questions regarding the operation of CORPSCON should be directed to: U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center ATTN: CETEC-TD-GS, (Reference CORPSCON 4.1) Alexandria, VA 22310-3864 (703) 428-6766 X2579