Knowledge Base

If you are loading a DXF Drawing, with a large amount of complex linework, into a data collector running SurvCE; you are likely to receive a low memory error from the program.

An example of a "complex DXF" would be one which spans an entire jobsite with all Existing Contours, Design Contours, Utilities, Building Pads, Parking Lot Lines, Setback Lines, etc turned on.  Though the DXF may only be 1776KB (1.776MB), it could contain as many as 10,000 vertices.  

SurvCE must process each of these vertices when it loads the DXF.

The best way to reduce the number of vertices in the drawing is through our desktop software.

1	Open the DXF (or the original DWG) in the desktop program.

2	Click on the EDIT drop-down.

3	Select Polyline Utilities.

4	Select Reduce Polyline Vertices.  This command removes points from a polyline, without significantly changing the polyline. 

5	Specify your Offset Cutoff.  The offset cutoff is the maximum amount that the polyline can move horizontally and vertically when removing a point. For example, in a polyline with three points in a straight line, the middle point can be removed without changing the polyline.

6	Type All to select all of your linework. Then, click Enter twice. You will be shown the original number of vertices and the reduced number.

7	Save your DXF. By clicking on the File drop-down and select Save As.

8	Click the "Save as Type" and change it to AutoCad 2007 ASCII (.dxf).