Release Notes for Height from Attribute Plug-in

1. Introduction

This plug-in service has been written in Python to allow a 2D Point Set or Line Set to be given a "height" from an attribute.

Python’s ease of use prompted Fractal Technologies to introduce, in FracSIS 4.0, a Python interface. This interface allows the development of scripts and routines which can access the data contained in a FracSIS database. These scripts are loaded into FracSIS as ‘plug-ins’. The principal behind this ‘plug-in’ functionality is that no configurational or programming changes to FracSIS are required in order to use a new plug-in. The plug-in must simply be loaded into the correct sub-folder within the FracSIS installation directory and it will be located by FracSIS when it is started.

All loaded plug-ins are available from either the Services or Import menus, depending on wether they were designed to function as services or importers.

2. Caveat – ‘Third-Party Product’

This particular plug-in, Height from Attribute, has been developed and contributed as a ‘Third-Party’ contribution. While several Python plug-in utilities are developed in-house by Fractal Technologies, users of FracSIS are also able and encouraged to develop their own plug-in services.

These plug-in services may be contributed to a shared pool of services, maintained by Fractal Technologies. These services are then made available to the wider community of FracSIS users. While these contributed services are only made available after they have first been checked and used, services which are labelled as ‘Third-Party’ contributions have not yet been through Fractal Technologies Quality Assurance procedures. As such, they are not considered as supported FracSIS products. Once they have been passed by Fractal Technologies’ Quality Assurance procedures, they may be packaged and supported as part of an official FracSIS release.

Please be aware that this plug-in service, Height from Attribute, is currently categorised as a ‘Third-Party’ contribution and is not a supported FracSIS component.

3. Functionality

Once this plug-in has been correctly installed and FracSIS has been re-started, it will be available from the Services menu, under Services>Set Object Height from Attribute.

The interface for this utility implements the same drag-and-drop functionality as utilised in FracSIS when draping an image onto an object. It provides drop-target icons onto which the source and target objects can be dragged and dropped from the FracSIS Database Explorer window.

The service displays an interface which allows the following parameters to be specified:

• The 2D Point Set or Line Set object to which a “height” will be given
• The attribute name from which the Z values will be obtained

Notes:

• The first parameter requires that the drag-and-drop functionality be used to specify the point set object or line set object – It is not possible to type a value into this field.
• The attribute of the 2D point set or line set is the attribute from which the new “z values” will be obtained to give the object an extra dimension.

4. Instructions

1. Shut down any running FracSIS applications.
2. Run the self-extracting installer, height_from_attribute.exe. The installer will assume that FracSIS 5.0 has been installed in its default FracSIS 5.0 installation directory of C:Program FilesFractal TechnologiesFracSIS5.0 and will install the plug-in in the appropriate sub-directory within that FracSIS 5.0 installation - If FracSIS 5.0 has been installed in a different directory, please change the destination directory displayed by the installer.
3. Start FracSIS 5.0 and connect to the required database.
4. Select the Services>Third Party>Geometry>Create>Height from Attribute option from the FracSIS 5.0 menu bar.