Features

Here is a breakdown of the major features Survex offers. In order to keep this brief, many points are not touched upon - see the documentation for a fuller picture.

Distinguishing features

• It's free! Survex is distributed with full source code under the GNU Public License. Other coders are encouraged to help add features.
• Multi-platform - using Survex doesn't force everyone working on your survey project to use the same operating system. Currently Linux/Unix, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows are supported.
• Internationalisation support - translations supplied for English, French, German, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian, Slovak, Romanian, Indonesian, Russian, and US English.
• Hierarchical survey station naming.
• Fast processing of survey data in a wide range of formats, aided by sophisticated network simplification techniques (which also reduce memory requirements allowing Survex to be used on low end machines).

Data processing

• Cave complexity limited only by available memory. No arbitrary limits on number of legs, number of surveys, length of station names, number of fixed points, etc.
• Include files allow `projects' for survey data management. A survey, or collection of surveys, can be included in many different projects.
• No restrictions on the order survey data can be read in - there's no need to artificially reorder your data to make sure each survey leg connect to a previously read one.
• Support for a wide range of data styles, including "interleaved data", backsights, underwater surveys performed with a depth gauge, and unsurveyed visual connections.
• Network reduction with loop closure errors distributed by least squares. Standard errors and closure errors are reported. There's also an experimental gross error (blunder) detector.
• Data can be partially processed, loops closed, and then more data processed which will not move the existing stations - useful for adding a loop to an existing map without redrawing the whole thing.
• All instruments (e.g. tape, compass, clino, topofil, depth gauge) have optional scale and zero corrections.
• Special handling for plumbed legs (where the clino correction doesn't apply).
• Magnetic declination can be set automatically from the survey date (useful for survey projects lasting many years).
• Support for most input units: metres, feet, degrees, grads, minutes, and also user specifiable units. Percent gradient is also supported.
• Each measurement can have its Standard Deviation specified separately (for specifying the 'grade' of a section, giving special treatment to an odd or suspicious measurement, or feeding in measurements derived from techniques such as radiolocation).

Graphics

• Fast redraw and bank-switching techniques give smooth, responsive animation.
• 3D surface visualisation.
• Printing via the printing framework of the platform you're running on.
• Large printouts can be produced on multiple pages with cut-marks to indicate where to cut and join the pages together.

webmaster: Olly Betts