CART2PLS
converts cartesian coordinate points (e.g.
lat/long or UTM) into Public Land Survey (PLS) descriptions. For
example, the input lat/long might be: -122.47041 43.12281 and the output
description: "T0280S R0030E S021","SENW".
____________________________________________________________________________
cart2pls {DMS |
DEC} {level} {in_gen_file} {out_pls_file} {pls_gen_file} {pls_att_file}
ARGUMENTS
{DMS | DEC} - the format of the
input coordinates in the {in_gen_file}.
DMS - the coordinates are in degrees,
minutes, and seconds in the format DDD.MMSSSS. In other words, if
the coordinate is latitude -122 degrees, 28 minutes, 13.4916, then enter it in
the format: -122.28134916. DMS is the default
DEC - the coordinates are decimal values,
e.g. decimal degrees for lat/long coordinates and meters for UTM
coordinates. For example, if the coordinate is latitude -122
degrees, 28 minutes, 13.4916 seconds, then enter -122.47041433 (i.e. -1 * (122
+ 28/60 + 13.4916/3600)).
{level} - the resolution to
report the legal descriptions.
The valid range is 0-9. 0
specifies section level (e.g. "T0280S R0030E S021",""), 1
specifies quarter-section level (e.g. "T0280S R0030E
S021","NW"), 2 specifies quarter-quarter-section level
(e.g. "T0280S R0030E S021","SENW"),
etc. The default is 2.
{in_gen_file} - the file
containing the cartesian coordinates to be converted to legal descriptions.
If no file is specified, the user is
prompted to enter the coordinates.
The file should be in ARC GENERATE point
format. In other words, each record should contain 3 space delimited
values: ID number, X coordinate, Y coordinate. For example:
8 -122.28134916213 43.07221242960
And the last record should contain an
'END'.
NOTE: Remember that longitude is the X
coordinate and that it is negative in the Western hemisphere.
NOTE: The coordinate systems of the input
points and the PLS section polygons (see {pls_gen_file}) must be the
same. For example, if the section polygons are in longitude and
latitude, than so must the input points. If UTM meters, than UTM
meters, and so on.
{out_pls_file} - the name for the
output file to contain the legal descriptions of the input points.
If no file is specified, the results are
displayed to the screen.
The output file may not be the name of an
existing file or directory.
Each record of output has 3 values:
section attribute, subsection code, and ID number. For example:
"T0280S R0030E
S021","SENW", 8
This format is the same as the input
format to the PLSARC AML.
For each input point which does not fall
within a section polygon this is recorded to a reject file named the same as
the {out_pls_file} with a '.rej' extension. If no {out_pls_file} is
specified, the rejects are also displayed to the screen.
NOTE: In the above example the section
code is "SENW". This means the southeast quarter of the
northwest quarter of the section. In other words, the input point
was somewhere within the quarter-quarter section marker with an 'x' below:
-------------
|__|__| |
| |x | |
|-----|-----|
| | |
| | |
-------------
{pls_gen_file} - the file
containing the PLS section polygons.
The file should be in ARC GENERATE polygon
format. Create it using the ARC UNGENERATE command to export an ARC
polygon coverage of the PLS sections.
CART2PLS will convert this file into a
binary format in the following 6 files: section.hdr, section.fea, section.isl,
section.crd, section.qtq, and section.qtf. These files will be
created in the directory from which CART2PLS is executed.
If {pls_gen_file} is not specified, then
the 6 section.??? files must already exist.
Therefore, only specify {pls_gen_file} the
first time CART2PLS is run.
NOTE: In the case of lat/long data, the
coordinates should be formatted in decimal degrees.
{pls_att_file} - the file
containing the PLS section attributes.
Each record of the file should contain the
Township, Range, and Section description of each of the section polygons in the
{pls_gen_file}. It can be created using the UNLOAD command in ARC
TABLES, and will look like:
''
'T0180N R0080E S006'
'T0180n R0080E S005'
'T0180n R0080E S008'
etc.
NOTE: The order of the attributes should
match the ID number of the section polygons. Therefore, do not
delete the first record which belongs to the universe polygon or else the
attributes will become out of sync.
CART2PLS incorporates the attributes into
the section.fea file.
As with {pls_gen_file}, {pls_att_file}
need only be specified the first time CART2PLS is run.
NOTES
- ARGUMENTS
listed within angle brackets (<>) are required, and those within squiggly
brackets ({}) are optional. To accept the default value for any
optional argument, enter a carrot (^), or enter nothing if no more arguments
are to be supplied.
DISCUSSION
DESCRIPTIONS NOT ALWAYS LEGALLY CORRECT -
The subsection code given to each input point (e.g. "SENW") is the
subsection of the section polygon within which the point
falls. Which subsection this is is determined by means of
proportional subdivision. However, proportional subdivision is not
always the 'legally' correct way of subdividing sections. For
instance, sections along the north and west sides of townships are usually not
exactly 640 acres in size and 'legally' should not be proportionally
subdivided. The quarter-quarter sections along the north and west
sides of the township are usually 'lots' and are usually not the same size as
the other quarter-quarter sections, otherwise known as aliquot parts.
However, CART2PLS is designed not to
follow 'legal' rules, but instead to mimic how most people have used the PLS
system as a general locational tool, as apposed to a legal tool.
EXAMPLES
To see the usage:
% cart2pls
Usage: cart2pls {DMS | DEC} {level}
{in_gen_file}
{out_pls_file} {pls_gen_file}
{pls_att_file}
The initial run to create the
section files:
% cart2pls dms 4 ^ ^ rr_sec.gen rr_sec.att
Enter: <id> <x> <y> (type
END to exit)
8 -122.28134916213 43.07221242960
"T0280S R0030E
S021","NENESENW", 8
Enter: <id> <x>
<y> (type END to exit)
end
A subsequent run to convert a file
of input points:
% cart2pls ^ ^ firell firepls