After completing your survey work with Virtual Surveyor, use the Export Survey feature to export the survey data as a lightweight CAD or GIS file. 



Export Survey is available in the EXPORT tab when at least one survey data is visible in the Viewport.


Overview


How to Export a Survey

  1. Enable the survey data in the Layers panel that you want to export.
  2. Go to the EXPORT tab.
  3. In the Survey group, select the export format (.dxf, .xml, .shp, .csv or .kml).
  4. Click on Export Survey.
  5. Specify a file name and storage location and click Save.
  6. Once completed, you can open the file with a third party software.


Hint! Export Survey works on the principle of What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG). All data that is visible in the Viewport is exported. Use the checkboxes in the Layers panel to manage the data you want to export.


Share the Exported Survey

  • Use the Export Survey tool to generate lightweight files to share with your colleagues and customers. 
    • Choose the format based on their use case, and the third-party application they use. 
    • A CAD software usually requires .dxf or .xml files as an input. 
    • While GIS users prefer to use the .shp format, point files in the .csv format are used for both jobs.



  • Export your survey as a .kml file to open it or let your customers use it in Google Earth.



Use the Exported Survey On-Site

  • Go on site with a .kml file using your smartphone. 
    • Open the .kml file with Google Earth (Android or iOS) and allow the localization service on your smartphone. 
    • The survey data and your current position appear simultaneously in the app.
    • In the example below, the red polyline was drawn on a former survey. 
    • This line can be used in the field to locate where the pit edge was at that time.



Tips and Tricks

  • You cannot export a LandXML without a projected coordinate system.
  • The Virtual Surveyor app only exports single point data—descriptors, numbers, and coordinates—when you choose to export your survey as a .csv file. 
    • Vertices that come from polylines, boundaries, and surfaces are not exported in this file type. 
    • You can use the Extract Points tool to force the export of these vertices from the survey data.



  • Points that are part of a point grid are also not exported in a .csv file. You need to use the Extract Points feature before you can export those points to a .csv file.