Thin the survey marks and vectors down to the ones the job needs: by order, by vertical datum, and by length.

Mark and Vector Filters.

Figure 1. Mark and Vector Filters.

In this guide

  1. When to filter
  2. The filter panel — three filters, each applied on its own
  3. Marks by horizontal order
  4. Marks by vertical order and datum
  5. Vectors by length
  6. One survey plan’s marks and vectors
  7. Filters, prints and exports
  8. Quick answers

1  When to filter

Survey marks and vectors are dense in any town. Filters are for the moment you are looking for something particular — a control mark of a given order, a mark with a height in NZVD2016 — or when the vectors round a busy mark hide everything else. Filters change what is drawn; they do not change the data.

Note  Filters work on the Marks and Vectors layers. Turn those on in Layer Control first.

2  The filter panel

Mark and Vector Filters is on the right-hand toolbar, under the aa key.

The three filters: horizontal order (1), vertical order and datum (2), and vector length (3). Each has its own Apply and Clear.

Figure 2. The three filters: horizontal order (1), vertical order and datum (2), and vector length (3). Each has its own Apply and Clear.
  • Choose the values, then click Apply. A lit Apply means that filter is on.
  • Clear turns that filter off and shows everything again.
  • The three filters are independent: any combination can be on.

3  Marks by horizontal order

Orders run from 0 (the most accurate geodetic control) to 12. Click the orders you want to see, so they are lit, then Apply.

Every mark, before filtering.

Figure 3. Every mark, before filtering.

The same place with only the higher orders showing.

Figure 4. The same place with only the higher orders showing.

4  Marks by vertical order and datum

Vertical orders run 1V to 6V. Choose the orders, choose a Datum — New Zealand Vertical Datum 2016, or one of the local datums — and Apply. Only marks with a height of that order in that datum stay on the map.

Tip  Planning a levelling run? Filter to 1V–3V in New Zealand Vertical Datum 2016 to see only the marks worth starting from.

5  Vectors by length

Type a minimum and a maximum distance in metres, and Apply. The filter opens at 0 to 50 metres, which keeps only the short vectors; to clear the clutter round a frequently observed mark instead, raise the minimum to a few tens of metres and the maximum to match the longest vector you care about.

Vectors filtered by length.

Figure 5. Vectors filtered by length.

6  One survey plan’s marks and vectors

A different kind of filter lives in the Survey Plan Information panel: Filter survey shows only the marks and vectors of that plan, with measured distances in red, measured bearings in blue, and adopted or calculated values in black. Clear Filter in the same panel ends it. See Map - Information Tool.

7  Filters, prints and exports

  • A print is a photograph of the map, so filtered-out marks are off the sheet too. While a mark filter is hiding some orders, Print’s On the sheet section says so.
  • DXF and CSV exports ignore these filters. CSV has its own order filter in the Tools panel; DXF takes what the layers have on.

8  Quick answers

I applied a filter and nothing changed.

The Marks or Vectors layer is off, or no mark here matches. Check Layer Control, then widen the orders.

Marks are missing and I did not filter anything.

A filter is still applied from earlier. Open the panel: a lit Apply is a filter that is on. Click Clear.

Which order do I need?

Lower numbers are more accurate. Orders 0–5 are geodetic control; boundary marks are typically 6 and above.

Switching the Marks and Vectors layers on is in Map Data & Layers.

filtering maps