Quick Section Templates


Quick Sections can be used to generate a cross section (profile) across multiple Locations within a project.

Within OpenGround, there are currently two types of Quick Section templates available when creating a template:

Many organizations will still be using Legacy Quick Section templates, so there are no immediate plans to deprecate them. However, we recommend using the new Quick Section templates for any newly created templates.

Table of Contents

Strips

Quick Sections utilize Strip templates to represent each Location.

Special properties are available for Strips when used on a Quick Section.

The Section Centre Column property can be used to keep the Strip centered around a desired column.

And there are also options to automatically Hide Columns within Quick Section Strips.

Strip Profiles

Strip Profiles can be used to define the Strips that you’d like to use on your Quick Section. For example, it’s possible to have a Strip Profile that uses different Strips for different Location Types, such as Boreholes vs. CPT’s vs. Test Pits vs. Wells.

You can select the default Strip Profile you want to use within the Strip Area properties. The Strip Profile can also be changed when the Quick Section is generated.

Strips and Strip Profiles are configured separate from the Quick Section template itself.

Strip Profiles are a relatively new feature. Existing Strips can be used with Strip Profiles, but modifications might be needed in certain circumstances.

Template Setup and Grid

When a new Quick Section template is created, the Template Setup dialog is displayed. This dialog can also be accessed from the Design>Template Setup button. However, please note that many of the properties can not be changed after template creation.

Quick Section templates use a single grid. In other words, there are not separate grids for the header, footer, or depth area as there are with Borehole Log or Legacy Quick Section templates.

Design Objects

Various design objects can be used to configure Quick Section templates.

These objects are added to the Quick Section template in the same manner as other template types by merging an area in the grid and double-clicking the object from the left-hand tree to place it within the merged area.

General Objects

Most of the General objects can be used within a Quick Section. These objects function the same as they would in Borehole Log or other template types.

Sections Objects

Section-specific objects are available for use on Quick Section templates, as described below.

Strip Area

The Strip Area object is used to place the actual body of the section on the template. Various properties are available to configure the Strip Area’s Horizontal/Vertical Axes and Grid Lines. Please see this article for more information.

Horizontal Axis Text

The Horizontal Axis Text object can be used to place labels and vertical lines at the position of each Location. The text labels can be placed outside or within the Strip Area. Please see this article for more information.

Horizontal Scale

The Horizontal Scale object can be used to print the Quick Section’s horizontal scale. The scale is expressed as a ratio. For example, a 1:100 scale would mean that 1 m on the Section would represent 100 m in real life (or similarly, 1 ft on the Section would represent 100 ft in real life).

Please see this article for more information on working with Imperial Scales on Quick Sections.

Legends

Legends can be added to a Quick Section template using the Legend Block object. Please see this article for more information on Configuring Legend Blocks.

Section Expressions & Functions

As with other template types, it is possible to use expressions to perform calculations and manipulate data on Quick Section and Strip templates.

Section Functions

Special Section Functions can be used to return parameters from the Quick Section report, such as the Chainage (Station) of each Location or the Offset from the Section Line.

(The other Template Functions can also be used on Quick Sections too.)

Referencing Section Groups & Headers

Section Groups are special Groups (tables) in the OpenGround database for managing and generating Quick Section reports.

It is possible to reference Section Groups and Headers in Quick Section templates.

This is done in a similar manner as when writing other Expressions in Template Studio using the the typical [Group.Header] syntax, such as:

[SectionLine.Header]
[SectionDetails.Header]
[SectionLocations.Header]

References to SectionLine and SectionDetails Headers would typically apply to expressions used on the actual Quick Section templates since the information stored in those Groups apply to the entire Section.

References to SectionLocations headers would typically apply to expressions used on the Strip templates since that information applies to the individual Locations.

Both standard and custom Headers can be used in expressions.

For example, here the standard [SectionDetails.Name] Header is referenced in the title block of this Quick Section Template using this expression:

'SECTION '+text([SectionDetails.DetailsName])

It's also possible to reference a Header directly instead of using an expression. For example, here the custom Header [SectionDetails.Notes] is referenced directly in the Quick Section template:

Note - there is currently a known-issue where if you have an expression that references a Section Group and a Quick Section is generated from the Map rather than from one of the Section Groups, then that expression may not return anything. If this is a problem, the workaround is to save to the Section Line and Section Details Groups, and the expression should return a result. We plan to address this issue in the future.

Imperial Units/Scales

Please see this article with additional guidance on using Quick Sections with Imperial units, including printing scales in Imperial format (such as 1"=100') as well as other considerations.

Axis Offsets

When a Quick Section is generated, there will automatically be an "offset" zone along the left, right, and top of the Strip Area. This is done to minimize collision of the Strips with the Strip Area border. The horizontal offset from the left vertical axis is equal to the left-half width of the left-most Strip, and a similar offset is applied for the right vertical axis based on the right-most Strip. Similar offsets are applied to the top horizontal axis based on the Strip header height. This behavior is currently not configurable within the Quick Section template, and we are evaluating if alternative functionality is needed. If you have any thoughts on how you'd like this to work differently, please let us know in the Ideas Portal.