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Drawing Checklist:

If you are learning to draw you should first work through Therion for Cavers and Therion by Examples. The Therion Book that downloaded with your version of Therion is the definitive command reference.

If you already have the background knowledge, and just need a quick prompt to remember how to draw consistent maps, this page might be helpful. I flick to this page every time I start a drawing.

To make a new drawing:

  1. Open Xtherion and activate the map editor window (F2)
  2. Create a new file (leftmost lefthand toolbar button)
  3. Save the file (It should bring up a 'save as' dialog so that you can choose where to save the new file - see the bold text under the scrap heading below for a file naming convention)
  4. Insert background images or xvi file (bottom side menu item). If you have some PocketTopo paperless survey data, then the paperless data transfer page might be helpful to get you through this step.
  5. Create scrap(s) (leftmost righthand toolbar button). Again, see below for naming and options.
  6. Insert point survey stations
  7. About now you could add your scrap to a map object definition, make sure that map definition is referred to in one of the maps selected for export. Now you can compile regularly to check that it works and that it looks how you expect.
  8. Create cave walls
  9. Create passage details and labels
  10. Move on to the next scrap…

Tips

Here is how to create a list of all possible default symbols in all available symbol sets

Scrap Drawing

Constrain Possible Errors

Common 'options text box entries' for use when drawing with Xtherion

Copy the following to a plain text editor, make any changes to suit your preferences, and use it as a guide when using Xtherion to create your own Therion drawing files.

entity name followed by options # optional options ## comments

scrap

Workflow to create a new scrap with XTherion; Ctrl+R, THEN type or select the scrap id (name), projection and options. Then create points lines and areas that are to be part of this scrap.
(closer to workflow for lines and areas than it is to workflow for points)

The initial part of each scrap id (name) should match the file name. For example the following scraps will be in the
<prefix>-<survey><Proj>.th2 file, where;
<prefix> = one or two letter survey identifier,
<survey> = very brief name of the part of the cave, and
<Proj> = Plan, Elev000 or ElevExt typically.
NOTE: Don't use the <> delimiters

scrap id: projection:
<prefix>-<Survey>Plan-s1 plan
<prefix>-<Survey>Elev000-s1 elevation 000 deg
<prefix>-<Survey>ElevExt-s1 extended
<prefix>-<Survey><from file name as in above 3 examples>-xs1 none
 -author date "M Name" -copyright year "Organisation"
# -title "optionalScrapTitle" 
# -station-names <prefix> @<survey> ## avoids including in individual stations names

See the tips on 'station-names' and 'revise' at the bottom of paperless data transfer.
Be warned that if you copy text with quotes from this web page, chances are the character pasted into Xtherion or your text editor will look like a ”, but will cause Therion to crash with an apparently unrelated error. You will need to manually overtype the ” each time you paste it.

station

(These are just a type of point. See below)
point station

 -name <prefix><No>@survey 

point station-name

 -scale xs # -text "prefixNo"  ## if no -text, adds the name of the nearest survey station

wall

Walls (and lines with -outline in/out) define the outline of the scrap. Walls are just a special type of line that;

See below for general line tips.

line wall
Always check that the little yellow tick mark (on the left hand side of the first line point) points towards the inside or free space side of whatever object you're drawing (in this case, the void space inside the cave, but for rock-borders it would be the inside of the rock, lower side of pitch edge, higher side of chimney or ceiling-step or for areas the inside of the area). While in theory Therion is becoming more resilient to this type of drawing misdemeanour, in practice I find that with 3D models and kml plans it still seems to be important (v 2.3.6). A simple trick is to draw lines counter-clockwise, except for pillars or interior walls of oxbows which should have '-outline in' and be drawn clockwise.

# -outline in ## for passage walls that form a closed interior loop (or pillar) within the
   current scrap 
# -outline none ## for passage wall lines that don't define the inside or outside of a scrap 
# -outline out ## (the default) can be used with 'subtype invisible' for scrap boundaries that are
   not 'straight across' between the open ends of the walls ### entrance of cave, transparent
   pits, overhangs at the end of gallery venting into room, etc.

## apply the following to wall 'line point' options as required 

  altitude .   ## include the dot, adds the altitude of the nearest survey station to the wall
  subtype bedrock 
  subtype clay # < 0.06mm ie silt & clay to a geologist   
  subtype sand # < 2mm   
  subtype pebbles  # < 200mm ie cobbles & gravels to a geologist 
  subtype debris   # < ~2m? 
  subtype blocks  # more than ~2m?
  subtype flowstone
  subtype moonmilk
  subtype ice
  subtype # pit height 10m  ##usually refers to pit from surface, not underground pit or shaft
    
  subtype invisible 
  subtype unsurveyed 
  subtype presumed 
  
  subtype underlying 
  subtype overlying
  
  ## or use any defined line-type as the outline of a scrap simply by drawing that line and
  setting '-outline out' or '-outline in' as appropriate.

points

Workflow to create a new point with XTherion; Ctrl+P, then insert a point, THEN type or select the point type.
(differs from workflow for lines and areas)

Labels
point label
point remark
point height -value [-10? m] # + or unsigned for up, - for down, ? if uncertain ## arbitrary indicator of feature height or depth
point passage-height -value <various forms> ## labels drawing and controls 3d height of passage in Loch. See also point dimensions below
point station-name ## labels with the name of the nearest station
point date -value 2012.05.12 -scale xs ## arbitrary date label, say for date of observation or past limits of exploration

The following parameters apply to most labels. You DO need to type the < and > delimiters shown below within the label text strings.

 -text "LabelText" 

# "<br><left><right><centre>" ## formats multi-line text justification 
# "Undefined language<lang:en>English language<lang:mi>Te reo Maori"

# -scale xl ## main passage names 
# -scale l ## Significant features in main passages 
# -scale m ## Significant features in minor passages
# -scale s ## Minor features in side passages 
# -scale xs ## station names, air draught dates, less important information 

# -align r  # l c tl tr bl br ## right, left, centre of insertion point, etc
relative to the scrap as viewed in Xtherion, NOT to the finished output
(So it pays to scan your sketches or rotate your 'paperless' images to match the 
intended finished output orientation).

Passage Size, Fills and Speleothems
point dimensions -value [10 1.5 m] ## where there's no up down data, controls 3d height of passage above and below centreline in Loch
point passage-height -value <various forms> ## labels drawing and controls 3d height of passage in Loch
point bedrock
point clay
point clay-tree
point sand
point pebbles
point debris
point blocks
point ice
point ice-stalactite
point ice-stalagmite
point ice-pillar
point snow
point water
point raft
point water-flow # water-flow:intermittent water-flow:conjectural water-flow:paleo ## paleo = scallop flow direction
point spring # use in conjunction with point or line water-flow, best if orientation matches water-flow orientation
point sink # use in conjunction with point or line water-flow, best if orientation matches water-flow orientation
point air-draught #air-draught:winter air-draught:summer

 -scale m # xs s l xl  ## adjusts strength of draught or size of water flow arrow

point gradient

 -scale m # xs s l xl  ## adjusts size of gradient arrow 

Passage Ends
point narrow-end
point low-end
point flowstone-choke
point breakdown-choke
point clay-choke
point entrance
point continuation

 -text "Description" -attr who "M Name" -attr what climb -attr priority low -attr ref plan # -explored 8.0m 

'who' is the person(s) who identified the the item, or the person assigned to resolve the issue.
'what' can be rift|climb|pitch|squeeze|tight|sump|rock-pile or whatever you like. (I'm thinking of using it as a 'to do' list so I could add, for example survey|re-rig)
'priority' can be any number, text phrase or be omitted,
'ref' is intended to indicate where the data entry to this point is made, ie plan|elev<xxx>|centreline, where <xxx> = ext for extended elevation, or, say 090 for the direction of a projected elevation, or centreline if it is in the .th file (Therion does not yet report this information, so manually entering it helps down the track with edits and updates).

String values of these attribute fields only need to be in quotes if they contain a space.

This next syntax is not really drawing, as it applies to centrelines, but it achieves the same effect in the outputs…

station mk103 "mk103 drains swamp, passage descends" \
        continuation attr who "My Name" attr what pit attr priority high \
        attr ref centreline \
        # entrance air-draught doline sink not explored 

Notice that in centrelines with the 'station' statement we use 'attr' and not '-attr'.

In both cases the attributes are exported to continuation-lists (and cave-lists if the entrance of the cave is a 'continuation point') and if entered into a drawing scrap, to the relevant plan or elevation pdf file. See the end of the Therion Book or http://therion.speleo.sk/wiki/doku.php?do=search&id=LayoutShowContinuationQmarkOnly+ for examples of how to get a 'debug like' highlighted textual output on your drawings.

It's a bit cumbersome to use 'continuation points' as a 'to do' list, but it does allow multiple or single points of data entry, and output in textural, pictorial or database format.

lines

Workflow to create a new line with XTherion; Ctrl+L, THEN type or select the line type, then draw the line, adding any subtypes point by point as you go.
(differs from workflow for points)


Labels
line arrow # -head both -head none -head begin
line label -text “Label Text” # -align l -scale s
line pit (or line wall:pit) -height [+10 m] ## -ve and ? values not allowed for some reason. Height only displayed with some symbol sets

line section # -direction begin -direction end -direction both -direction <point>## If both bezier control points are active, they individually control length of displayed section line

Passages
line wall
line floor-step
line pit # -height 10m ## pit or shaft within the cave, not from surface
line floor-meander
line slope # optionally specify l-size and orientation at one or more line points, -border on ## to get a line at the top edge
line contour # -gradient <none|center> ## to specify no tick marks, at centre only, or alternatively'gradient point' in the options box for ticks at particular line points only

line chimney
line ceiling-step
line ceiling-meander
line overhang

Passage Fills

line border # border:invisible border:visible border:temporary border:presumed
line rock-border ## See the yellow tick advice above
line rock-edge ## internal edge of large boulder
line water-flow # water-flow:conjectural water-flow:intermittent
line flowstone

areas

Workflow to create a new area with XTherion; Ctrl+A, THEN type or select the area type, then select the previously drawn lines that define the area extent.
(differs from workflow for points, but similar to workflow for lines)

See the yellow tick advice above
See areas border tip (last bullet point of Scrap Drawing) above

area water
area sump

area bedrock
area clay # < 0.06mm ie silt & clay to a geologist, mud to a NZ caver
area sand # < 2mm
area pebbles # < 200mm ie cobbles & gravels to a geologist
area debris # < ~2m?
area blocks # more than ~2m?
area flowstone
area moonmilk
area ice
area snow

Options Common to many points, lines and areas

-clip off 

-scale m # xs s l xl  ## adjusts size 

-align r  # l c tl tr bl br ## right, left, centre of insertion point, etc

-place bottom # default top ## adjusts which symbols plot on bottom, middle or top
  ## intuitively therion places floor symbols and areas on the bottom and ceiling 
  symbols on the top.  Beyond this you have some control in that symbols that appear 
  first in the scrap tend to plot on top.  See Therion Book "How the map is put together" 
  for details.
  If all else fails you may need to put offending symbols or areas on another scrap
  and place it under or over the scrap you are working on. (Don't use break if your 
  new scrap has no walls defined v5.3.3)
  
-context <point|line|area> <symbol-type> 
## makes this entity behave as though it is symbol-type when symbol-show or 
symbol-hide is applied.  Eg you might like the point label -text "date" associated with a 
point air-draught to behave like a point air-draught.

And for 'line point' options...
adjust horizontal # vertical ## For elevation (and cross sections?) drawings; 
  moves the current 'line point' so that the preceding segment is always horizontal or 
  vertical regardless of any morphing that is applied to the scrap.  
  Good for drawing water surfaces, rope hangs and waterfalls.

See drawing_orderhow_to_draw_symbols_over_or_under_an_area