GeoTerrain by GEOPAK General FAQ

Index:

1. What is GeoTerrain by GEOPAK?
2. What are the system requirements to run GeoTerrain by GEOPAK?
3. Is documentation available with the product?
4. Are tutorial ScreenCams available for GeoTerrain by GEOPAK?
5. Does GeoTerrain by GEOPAK support USGS digital elevation models (DEMs)?
6. Can I surface drape a raster image on a GeoTerrain by GEOPAK generated digital terrain model?
7. I'm having trouble installing GeoTerrain by GEOPAK on MicroStation SE. The installer displays a "MicroStation 95 is not properly registered" warning message during installation.
8. Is there a way to stop GeoTerrain by GEOPAK from automatically loading at startup? Can I load the product with an MDL Load statement instead?
9. Are sample files included with the GeoTerrain by GEOPAK product?
10. I'm trying to load GeoTerrain by GEOPAK and I'm getting the message "GEOPAK is not authorized for use. MicroStation must be started with GEOPAK lock attached."
11. When I choose the "Extract GeoGraphics Features" tool from the Extract Tools toolbox a "This tool is not available" message appears.

Question 1: What is GeoTerrain by GEOPAK?

Answer:GeoTerrain by GEOPAK is a MicroStation add-on digital terrain modeling (DTM) package which can create triangulated networks (TINs) or Lattice surfaces from many different data sources (including ASCII, point data, contours, and break lines). GeoTerrain by GEOPAK includes many different analysis tools which let the user color theme the DTM, display drainage data, drape vectors, and more.

Question 2: What are the system requirements to run GeoTerrain by GEOPAK?

Answer: GeoTerrain by GEOPAK runs on MicroStation 95 or MicroStation SE under Windows 95 or Windows NT. It may also be installed on top of the MicroStation GeoGraphics environment. Hardware and software requirements are the same as MicroStation's requirements (Product Requirements Page).

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Question 3: Is documentation available with the product?

Answer:Yes. A User's Guide and Tutorial Guide are available in hardcopy book format, as well as electronic Adobe Acrobat PDF format in the \doc directory on the installation CD.

Question 4: Are tutorial ScreenCams available for GeoTerrain by GEOPAK?

Answer: Yes. ScreenCam tutorial movies for all of the GEOPAK products are available on the installation CD in the \geoter\showtime directory. Screencams that specifically cover GeoTerrain start with the letters "Gt" (Gt*.*).

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Question 5: Does GeoTerrain by GEOPAK support USGS digital elevation models (DEMs)?

Answer: Yes. GeoTerrain includes a DEM reader utility which lets you convert the DEM to a GeoTerrain data file which can then be used to create a TIN or Lattice model. Output coordinates in UTM and State Plane are supported.

Question 6: Can I surface drape a raster image on a GeoTerrain generated digital terrain model?

Answer: This can be done through the standard MicroStation rendering tools. Choose Settings > Rendering > Define Materials to open the Define Materials rendering dialog box. This contains an "Elevation Drape" utility which lets you drape a raster image on a surface. Please see the MicroStation User's Guide and/or supplied online help for detailed information on how to use this tool.

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Question 7: I'm having trouble installing GeoTerrain on MicroStation SE. The installer displays a "MicroStation 95 is not properly registered" warning message during installation.

Answer: When GeoTerrain is installing, it looks in the Windows registry for a MicroStation "5.05" entry, which indicates MicroStation 95. If it doesn't find this entry (for example, in the case of MicroStation SE, which is listed as "5.07"), it will give you the following alert during installation "MicroStation 95 is not properly registered. Installing GEOPAK.CFG in the destination directory". This alert message means the GEOPAK.CFG configuration file that would normally install into the \ustation\config\appl\ directory will instead be installed to the \geopak\bin\ directory. You can move the GEOPAK.CFG file from the \geopak\bin directory to the \ustation\config\appl\ directory before starting MicroStation so GeoTerrain will run.

GeoTerrain by GEOPAK is certified with MicroStation SE.

Question 8: Is there a way to stop GeoTerrain by GEOPAK from automatically loading at startup? Can I load the product with an MDL Load statement instead?

Answer: Yes. There are two ways to run GeoTerrain in MicroStation:

• Startup MicroStation with the GEOPAK.CFG file in the \ustation\config\appl directory for automatic startup (this file will automatically get copied into this directory if the installation executes properly). You may remove the GEOPAK.CFG file from the \ustation\config\appl directory if you do not want GeoTerrain to open at startup.

• If you are not using the GEOPAK.CFG file, you may type MDL LOAD GPKSTART in the MicroStation key-in field. This will load the GeoTerrain application. If GeoTerrain is not set in your path, you will have to type the full path name before loading GPKSTART.MA (i.e. MDL LOAD C:\WIN32APP\GEOPAK\BIN\GPKSTART).

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Question 9: Are sample files included with the GeoTerrain by GEOPAK product?

Answer: Yes. All sample files used in conjunction with the GeoTerrain Tutorial Workbook are installed by default to \win32app\geopak\samples\gterrain. The directories \files and \docs are under this directory. \Files contains self-extracting zip files (labeled SESSION#.EXE) that contain GeoTerrain data to be used with the GeoTerrain Tutorial Workbook. "Docs" contains the electronic copies in Adobe Acrobat PDF format of the GeoTerrain Tutorial Workbook documentation. Electronic product documentation is also supplied on the CD--see Question 3 above.

Question 10: I'm trying to load GeoTerrain by GEOPAK and I'm getting the message "GEOPAK is not authorized for use. MicroStation must be started with GEOPAK lock attached."

Answer: GeoTerrain does not require a hardware lock. This message means the nodelock license has either expired or is incorrect. Contact your MVAR or Bentley for an updated/correct license.

Answer: The Extract GeoGraphics Features tool will soon be available via Web Downloads. This tool will let you extract XYZ ASCII data from GeoGraphics features, which will then let you create a TIN or Lattice network.