Traverse Should Parse D-M-S Deflection in Bearing Column

[jcarlson]

When entering a traverse, I frequently have legal descriptions that utilize deflected angles. These are among my least favorite descriptions to traverse, and part of the reason is that entering them in Pro is not very convenient. We use D-M-S bearings and angles, so to enter a deflection, I have a couple options:

1. Use a calculator to figure out the DD equivalent of the angle and enter it in the Traverse tool as +/-DD in the direction field.
2. Right-click the previous segment in the traverse and use the Segment Deflection tool.
   1. This tool always defaults to DD, so I have to manually change it to D-M-S before entering a value.
   2. It seems like this always deflects the wrong direction, and I have to attempt the deflection multiple times to get it to work.
   3. Bearings entered this way are not "linked" to the previous bearing the same way that an entered deflection would be, and adjustments to prior segments of the traverse or the grid/ground correction will not update these lines unless I manually set the bearings after they've been calculated.

In either situation, I'm needing to either keep a separate tool open, or else I have to click around and enter values in other places. I would love it if the Traverse tool was even more capable than it already is, and could handle D-M-S deflections without leaving the numpad.

It seems to me that the presence of a single "+" or "-" as the first character of a direction is the flag that what follows is to be treated as a deflection. So why can't that following string be read in as D-M-S the same way as when entering normal bearings?

[Paul_Christensen]

Let me know if I am not understanding this correctly.

I was able to enter the following two directions into Traverse.

35-1

+30-30-30

This resulted in two lines, N35-00-00E and N65-30-30E.

My Segment Deflection tool brings up DMS by default. This seems to be affected by the Angular Units default under Options>Units>Angular Units.

If I use Segment Deflection by right clicking the most recent line (N35E) and enter +30-30-30, I will get the same line, N65-30-30E. This seems identical to just entering the deflection into Traverse. For now, that may save you a step.

A flaw that I am seeing is that modifying the previous line does not modify the deflection. If I change the first line to N30E, the deflected line remains N65-30-30E instead of correcting to N60-30-30E. This is definitely something that would be nice to see implemented.

Also, one thing to keep in mind, a + deflection will be clockwise while a - deflection will be counter-clockwise. 

[jcarlson]

Hm. Mine seems to ignore the Angular Units setting...

Can you please provide a screenshot / recording of doing this? And what version of Pro are you on?

I cannot for the life of me replicate what you've suggested. And for whatever reason, Segment Deflection seems to do the exact opposite of what I intend, regardless of the sign I put. I'll go through the same exact steps three times, (Enter +30-30-30 in the dialog) and it deflects in the wrong direction the first two times, then works the third.

[Paul_Christensen]

Well that is certainly frustrating behavior!

I'll see about doing a screen record in the AM. I am on 2.9.1.

[TimHodson]

Hi jcarlson, what you describe sounds identical to a bug that was fixed for 2.5. (Esri internal reference: 1486)  Are you working on Pro 2.5 or higher?

If so, I'm not sure what might cause this bug to reappear. Here's a video showing use of the "+" and "-" in 2.9:

 

And just to confirm you're looking in the right place for the Angular Unit settings in the project backstage:

Good idea, Paul, about remembering the deflection angle when modifying the previous line.

[jcarlson]

I'm on 2.9.1, but it's always been in-place updates. I will try a full uninstall/reinstall to see if the issue persists. Glad it's actually a feature that's already implemented, though!

[jcarlson]

@TimHodsonI just did a full uninstall / reinstall, no change in behavior. I notice most of my application settings are still in place. Could something be hanging out in my registry that might cause this?

In any event, I may be better off contacting Support, and this Idea can be closed.

[TimHodson]

@jcarlsonthat's very strange. The only other thing I was wondering about is whether you tried it in a completely fresh project?

[jcarlson]

@TimHodsonYes, and on multiple layers.

My co-workers see the same thing happening across multiple machines, too.

[TimHodson]

@jcarlson- thanks for your post. Based on our screen-share this morning, the issues you’ve helped us to uncover are as follows:

1. The default angular unit is in Degrees for new projects. A project template would help with this. You could create a project template that has this setting pre-defined to be Degrees Minutes Seconds. There are few other benefits to using a project template. See the help topic here: https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/projects/create-your-own-project-template.htm

2. When the traverse pane is open, and you go to the backstage to change a distance, direction or angular unit setting, the new unit settings don’t take effect immediately in the already-open traverse pane. You have to close the traverse pane and start a new one to see the unit changes. We'll explore some approaches to improve on this experience for future releases.

-Tim

[AmirBar-Maor]

@jcarlson - can we close this idea?