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Properties Panel (R3PROPERTIES)

Command: R3PROPERTIES

Opens the R3Properties panel. Click on any line, arc, polyline, or Survey Plan component to instantly display its survey properties — bearings, distances, arc details, and areas — in the configured display units. Also displays survey plan metadata.

R3Properties panel demo

Opening the panel

Type R3PROPERTIES at the command line or click Properties in the R3Survey ribbon. The panel opens as a dockable palette and stays open while you work.

R3Properties panel showing bearing, distance, and area

Supported entities

Lines, arcs, and polylines (LWPOLYLINE). The panel updates live as you click different entities.

What is displayed

Lines and polyline segments

Property Description
Bearing WCS bearing from start to end, in current angle format
Distance Horizontal distance in current length units (not the 3D length)

Swing display

If swings are enabled, three bearing rows are shown: the WCS bearing (raw drawing angle), the swing value, and the corrected plan bearing (WCS minus swing).

Arcs

Property Description
Chord bearing Bearing of the chord from start to end
Chord length Straight-line distance from start to end
Arc length Distance along the curve
Radius Radius of the arc

R3Properties showing arc details

Polyline navigation

When a polyline is selected, a Current Leg selector lets you step through individual segments without clicking each one in the drawing:

  • Select a segment using the leg selector and the properties update immediately
  • The active segment is highlighted in the drawing
  • Click near a specific segment when first selecting a polyline to open it with that leg active

Closed polylines and parcels

Property Description
Area Area in up to three display units simultaneously
Perimeter Total perimeter length

Area calculation assumes polylines are closed (or have a small misclose within tolerance) and do not self-intersect. If a self-intersecting polyline is detected, a warning is shown.

Survey plan data

When entities on survey plan layers are selected, additional expanders appear below the geometry properties. Which expanders are shown depends on the entity type and layer.

Dimension Overrides expander

Visible when a line or polyline on a survey plan layer is selected. Editable fields for legal dimension overrides used in NSW LandXML export.

For polylines, use the Current Leg selector to navigate between segments — each segment stores its overrides independently.

Field Description
Legal Brg Legal bearing (overrides computed bearing)
Legal Dist Legal horizontal distance (overrides computed distance)
Legal Arc Len Legal arc length (arc segments only)
Legal Radius Legal radius (arc segments only)

Survey Method expander

Visible when a line or polyline on a survey plan layer is selected. Controls how the observation was derived. Collapsed by default — most lines are "Measured" and don't need this.

Field Description
Method How the measurement was obtained — Measured, Adopted, Calculated, Deducted, Compiled, GNSS types, etc. Sets both distanceType and azimuthType in the export.
Adopted Plan number the dimension was adopted from (e.g. DP123456)
Note Field note text

See Observation Overrides for the full workflow.

Reference Mark expander

Visible when a line on a Reference Marks layer is selected, or when the entity has RM XData. All fields are editable.

Field Description
Type Monument type (DH&W, GIP, Peg, PM, Nail, etc.)
State Monument state (Found, Gone, Not Found, Placed, Not Marked, Found By Me)
Origin Origin survey plan number
Desc Monument description
Line State State of the reference line — Found, Placed, or Found By Me. Maps to distanceAccClass in LandXML.

SCIMS Control Point expander

Visible when a DBPoint with Type = ControlPoint is selected (imported by R3IMPORTSCIMS). All fields are read-only except Datum.

Field Description
Mark / Number / Desc Mark identification
Status Mark status from SCIMS
Zone / Easting / Northing MGA coordinates
GDA Class / PU / LU Horizontal accuracy
CSF Combined scale factor
AHD / AHD Class / AHD PU / AHD LU Vertical data
Datum Datum terminal designation — set to X (Terminal A) or Y (Terminal B) for NSW LandXML export

Parcel expander

Visible when a polyline on a survey plan layer is selected. Editable fields for parcel attributes used in LandXML export.

Field Description
Lot Lot number. Prefix with PT for part lots (e.g. PT101) — multipart grouping is handled automatically at export.
Sec Section number. Only visible when populated (typically from imported LandXML files).
Plan Plan number (for adjoining lots, e.g. DP123456)
Description Context-specific label depending on class — Road Name, Easement Desc, Water Body, etc. Only visible for classes that need it.
Class Parcel class — Lot, Road, Easement, Hydrography, etc. Auto-populated from layer component type.
State proposed, existing, or adjoining
Format Standard or Stratum

See Preparing a Survey Plan for detailed guidance on setting parcel attributes.

Display units

You can display up to three length units and up to three area units simultaneously. Click the gear (⚙) icon at the top of the panel to configure which units are shown.

R3Properties settings — display unit configuration

In the settings dialog:

  • Length Units tab — select from available length units and add to the display list
  • Area Units tab — select from available area units

Use the up/down arrows to reorder units. Custom units must first be defined in R3UNITS before they appear here.

Bearings are displayed in the angle format (North Azimuths, Surveyor's Bearings, or Gradians) and display style (Compact, Spaced, or Decimal) configured in R3UNITS.

See also

  • Units — explanation of length, area, and angle units
  • R3UNITS — configuring display units, precision, and formats
  • Swings — how swings affect bearing display
  • Observation Overrides — setting legal dimension overrides for NSW export
  • NSW Digital Plans — end-to-end ePlan workflow

Notes

  • The panel is modeless — it remains open and updates as you click different entities
  • Distances shown are horizontal distances, not 3D lengths
  • Display precision and formatting come from R3UNITS settings
  • Swing display, parcel and easement properties require a valid R3Survey licence