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Pointor : from DXF to point list and back again.

The original version of Pointor was a plugin for AutoCAD, it read point list from files or from the clipboard and added entities to the current drawing. It was tiresome though havng to keep up with all the versions of AutoCAD plus the plugin was no use to other applications. So I decided to make it into a standalone Windows program which created DXF files.

Point list to DXF

Slowly the program grew and becan to support more formats...

Point list formats

...though until version 7 they were all text formats, i.e. formats you could edit with a text editor like Notepad. Now in version 7 the CR5 format is supported. CR5 is a binary format which cannot be edited with a normal text editor. It does not appear in the above list because you just open the file directly in Pointor. You can also drag and drop the file directly into Pointor.

In version 6 the BRK format was added (at popular request). So BRK files can be read, displayed and saved as DXF files:

Reading a BRK file and outptting a DXF.

 

Reading of the UPT format has been supported from version 3 onwards:

From UPT to DXF

Also from version 3 onwards you can merge point lists into a single DXF file. If you already have a Pointor window with data in it, you can paste new data into it to get an enlarged point list and enlarged DXF file.

You can search for points by code or description, and Pointor will indicate the found point with a big red target:

Searching for points in a point list

The search will even allow you to limit the points searched to a given height (or z coordinate) range.

You can measure distances between points in the DXF file by "right clicking" on the first point and then on the second point:

Measure distance between points

With Pointor 6 came even more capabilities:

  • See the graphical preview as you change the read file format and delimiter options.
  • Decide if layernames are taken from descriptions.
  • The context menu (right click) has a command for setting grid and axes automatically.
  • The mousehweel can be used for zooming.

Now with Pointor 7 you can even read DXF files and create point lists from them...

DXF tom point list example

...hence the name of this web page.

Not only that, but if you read a CXYZ file you can save it as, for example, a PENZD file, or a pure XYZ file. So Pointor can be used as a Point List Convertor.

Also new in version 7 is the zoom pan with the mousewheel. So now when you zoom in the zoom is centered on the place where the cursor is. And pan is done by pushing the mousewheel and dragging. Here is the new toolbar:

Import and export point lists and DXF files

It used to be that Pointor only accepted numbers for , er, point numbers and codes. Now these can be a mix of numbers and alphabetic characters in any order.

And as mentioned above binary CR5 files can be read an written.

I'm sure there is much more to do, so all suggestions are welcome!

 

GIS Data Mapping Applications

Another example, XLS to DXF tutorial.

 

Real world example 1

Real world example 2

Real world example 3




 
 


After appalling technical support from my credit card handler Verifone I've decided to stop selling Pointor. It may become available as charityware.

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