Field guide
A practical guide to a traceable format conversion
A good handoff starts with an agreed file specification. Use this guide to separate the text layout from the meaning of the coordinates.
What changes when you convert a point file?
This survey point file converter reorganizes structured text. It reads your CSV or TXT, interprets the columns you confirm, and writes a new arrangement for another application. Reordering columns does not move a point. Changing a delimiter does not change a measurement. The important question is whether both people agree that each output position represents the same field. Start with a source export specification and a target import specification, especially when a file has no headings.
The tool works with decimal northing and easting coordinates. It also carries point identifiers, elevations and descriptions when you map them. Additional source columns can be included in a custom order or retained in the full JSON record. The standard output stays a point file: it does not receive extra audit columns that could confuse an instrument. Conversion details travel in separate downloads.
Understand PNEZD, PENZD and NEZ
PNEZD means point identifier, northing, easting, elevation and description. PENZD places easting before northing. NEZ contains northing, easting and elevation, so it cannot also hold identifiers or descriptions in its three positions. Autodesk documents these named formats; the receiving software still needs the matching separator and field configuration. A familiar abbreviation is useful only when the application interprets it the same way.
For a small synthetic example, take the PNEZD record 0012,5000.000,2000.000,100.250,CONTROL. Converting it to PENZD produces 0012,2000.000,5000.000,100.250,CONTROL. The northing remains 5000.000 and the easting remains 2000.000. With original precision preserved, converting back restores all five field strings. Keep a known point nearby to verify the interpretation, rather than deciding the axis order from which number happens to be larger.
Read the source before choosing a preset
Choose a local file, drop it into the input area, or paste a short extract. The preview suggests a delimiter and recognizes headings such as Northing, Easting and Elevation. Review those suggestions. A line containing a point named N can resemble a header; explicitly choose Point data if the first row belongs to the survey. Likewise, a header called X or Y does not establish northing or easting. Map it from the project documentation.
The input-order shortcuts are conveniences for known files. They do not detect which convention your instrument used. Once the mapping and source units are correct, confirm them and read the file. The findings list identifies source lines that need attention. Errors block conversion as a whole; the converter does not silently remove the troublesome rows to make a smaller file look successful. Warnings remain part of the full record even when export is possible.
Choose separators, headings and encoding deliberately
Comma, semicolon and tab separators are supported independently on input and output. CSV and TXT are filename extensions, not complete format definitions. A TXT file can contain comma-separated records, and renaming a file does not rearrange its columns. Set the extension to suit the destination, then match the actual delimiter and header setting in that destination. Output uses CRLF line endings and either UTF-8 or UTF-8 with a byte-order mark.
This version rejects UTF-16 and malformed UTF-8 rather than guessing an encoding and corrupting descriptions. If an older field controller exports another encoding, make a separate UTF-8 export first and check accented or Chinese descriptions before proceeding. XLSX workbooks can now be read after explicitly selecting a worksheet; formulas, dates and error cells must become verified plain values first. Space-separated files, native instrument projects and binary CAD files remain outside this importer. Export a supported file from the original application; do not disguise a binary file by changing its suffix.
Keep identifiers and descriptions meaningful
Point identifiers are text. The strings 0012 and 12 remain distinct, and the converter does not renumber points or merge duplicate identifiers. Descriptions are also business data: a short code, a plus sign, punctuation or letter case may matter to the next workflow. They are not translated when you change the interface language. A quoted description containing a comma remains one field, while an embedded double quote is written using the standard doubled-quote escape.
Optional spreadsheet protection adds an apostrophe before formula-like text in identifiers, codes and extra fields. Enable it for a review copy that will be opened in a spreadsheet. It deliberately changes those strings and records the changes. Leave it disabled when the receiving instrument needs the original code exactly. Numeric negative coordinates remain numbers; a minus sign on a valid coordinate is not treated as an instruction. Keep the raw export separate from any protected review copy.
Account for every column and every record
A custom output order uses source column numbers, starting at one. For example, 1,5,3,2,4 writes the first column, then the fifth, third, second and fourth. Use it only after reviewing the input preview. Each column may appear once. When you select a shorter format such as NEZ, the page lists omitted source columns and asks you to acknowledge the omission before downloading or passing the output to another tool.
Omitted columns are different from excluded records. This converter does not discard records: valid conversion keeps the input and output record counts equal. An unmapped optional field in a standard format is written empty, rather than filled with a fabricated ID or zero elevation. The full conversion record retains the original text, every parsed field, the input interpretation, output settings, findings and a mapping from source lines to output lines, including quoted multiline descriptions.
Separate precision, units and reference systems
Preserve original text is the default precision setting. Selecting a fixed number of decimal places changes the mapped numeric fields and records their before-and-after strings. Rounding cannot improve observation accuracy. If you round a coordinate before comparing it with a tight project tolerance, you may remove information that the comparison needs. Keep the original source, and make precision choices for the receiving format rather than for a tidier-looking screen.
Source unit selectors label the input; they do not perform arithmetic. To change values, explicitly enable unit conversion and select the target horizontal and elevation units. Those two unit choices are independent. The implementation uses 0.3048 metres per international foot and 1200/3937 metres per legacy US survey foot, following NIST definitions. Conversion uses browser floating-point arithmetic; review required precision. It does not transform a datum, projection, origin, geoid height or ground-to-grid scale.
Review, download and verify the next handoff
Compare the first five input and output records, then read the record counts and field-change count. Save the point file for import, the format specification for the recipient, and the full JSON for traceability. The short preview does not limit the download. It is sensible to re-read the exported file with the checker and inspect its distribution with the viewer before handing it to a field crew. The local transfer buttons carry the text and interpretation to a new tool tab.
A saved format preset stores output settings in this browser only after you press Save. It contains no coordinates or file contents. Loading it is a starting point, because column numbers and units can differ in the next job. Always review them again. Clear data releases the current workspace data; delete the preset separately when you no longer need that format. The current input limit is 10 MiB and 100,000 records. Split larger jobs into traceable batches, and keep their original filenames.