#Note Directive

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Long strings of text can be attached to specific stations so they can optionally be displayed on maps in place of station labels.  For example, the directive

 

#Note   A312   Filled Sink

 

allows you to create a map in which the text, "Filled Sink", appears in the same location with respect to station A312 as would the name "A312" if only station labeling were in effect.  The printer and screen fonts used for station notes can be different from that of labels and is selectable via the Map Format Options dialogs.

 

Assigning Notes to Fixed Stations

Since it's almost never the case that a #FIXed station would not need a note, you're allowed to include a slash-prefixed note on a #FIX directive. For example, entering a single directive, like

 

#Fix   A0  0  0  0  /Main Entrance

 

is more convenient than having to enter separate #Fix and #Note directives.  (A slash-prefixed note, if present, must precede the optional #Segment override.)

 

Multiline Notes

You can define a multi-line note by including line break specifiers within the text.  To insert a line break, enter a backslash (\) followed by a lower case N, as is shown in this example:

 

#Note   B95   B95: Cairn\nDigging Lead  

 

The total length of a note, including one character for each line break, is currently limited to 252 characters.  Multiple lines of text will be left justified in a rectangular region whose upper left corner has the same offsets from the station as would a name label.  These label offsets are adjustable map format options.

 

Controlling Note Visibility

Similar to names, markers, and flags, the notes you assign to stations can be selectively enabled or disabled via check boxes on the Map page of the Review dialog.  Notes (and flags) are like vectors in that they belong to whichever segment that happens to be current when they appear in a data file.  In fact, you can have segments containing only notes (and/or flags) and no vectors.  For example, if you need to have selective control over a specific set of notes, you can create a special segment for them like this:

 

#Seg  /Entrance Notes

#Note  E0  Pit Entrance

#Note  SPR:0  Spring Entrance

#Flag  E0 SPR:0  /Entrances

#Seg /

 

Another approach is to group #Note and #Flag directives together in their own SRV files.

 

The linkage of notes to segments allows you flexibility when producing different kinds of maps.  For example, on a map of an entire project region, you could want only the cave entrances noted.  Alternatively, on a map of a specific cave system, you could want many in-cave features highlighted along with multiple entrances.  You may want to avoid notes altogether while data screening.

 

Therefore, while #Note is a simple data format feature, how the notes are actually used by the program is a bit more complicated.  Here is a list of conditions that must be satisfied for a note to appear on a generated map (the first three conditions being similar to those for flags):

 

•The associated station must exist in the network component you are examining.
•The "Notes" box on the Map page must be checked to globally enable note display.
•The segment tree node that the note belongs to must not be in a detached branch.  (By default, all branches are initially attached and have enabled attributes.)  It doesn't matter if all vectors adjacent to the note's station are in a detached branch.
•If the "Spacing" parameter for station labeling is nonzero (see Map Format Options), then the note will not be drawn if it would overlap previously drawn notes. You have no control over the drawing order, except that with respect to overlap avoidance, the notes have priority over station name labels.  This is because the station names also observe the spacing parameter and are drawn only after the notes are drawn.  (The station names on unadjusted versions of floated traverses are an exception.  If enabled for display, they are drawn first and thus have priority over the notes.)
•If the same station is assigned different notes in more than one place in your data files, and more than one such note is enabled, then only the highest priority note has a chance of being drawn.  Note priority, in this case, is determined by alphabetic ranking.

 

In most cases, you'll also want to flag stations you've assigned notes to with a prominent marker style.  Unlike notes, flags ignore the spacing parameter and are always drawn without overlap consideration; they are guaranteed to appear on maps unless you've purposefully excluded them (or they are completely obscured by other objects).  See #Flag and #Symbol Directives and Flag and Marker Symbols for more information on station flags.