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Did you know that you could add mathematical formulas to your Land Desktop labels? This will allow you to calculate unit conversions or any other value that you may need with the data you use to label your lines, curves, spirals, and points.
The key to this is just properly setting up the Label Style. To see the process we will look at a common application for using formulas in label styles, converting feet to meters. In our example we have a drawing that is in feet. But we need to label some lines in both feet and meters.
- Select Labels >> Edit Label Styles
- On the Line Tab of the Edit Label Styles dialog box set “direction above distance below” as the current style
- Now type in “Feet and Meters” as the new Name for our new style
- Remember the name is up to you. It can be anything.
- Next place your cursor in the Text Below box at the end of the text, after the foot symbol, and use the Enter key to create a new line of text.
- In the Data box select Length and then pick the Text Below button
- This is where we add the formula. Place your cursor in the Text Below box, on the second line, inside the brackets { } after the h.
- Now type the formula function symbol that you want to use. For our exercise it will be the multiplication symbol * . You can reference the table below for all of the available functions.
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Formula function symbols
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Symbol
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Function
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+
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addition
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-
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subtraction
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*
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multiplication
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/
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division
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^
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exponent
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(
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open parenthesis
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)
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closed parenthesis
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ABS
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absolute value of a number
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ACOS
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arccosine of a number
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ASIN
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arcsine of a number
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ATAN
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arctangent of a number
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COS
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cosine of a number
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COSH
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hyperbolic cosine of a number
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EXP
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e raised to the power of a number
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LOG
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logarithm of a number to a specified base
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LOG10
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base-10 logarithm of a number
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POW10
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number raised to a power of 10
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ROUND
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rounds to the closest integer
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SIN
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sine of a number
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SINH
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hyperbolic sine of a number
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SQRT
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square root of a number
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SQR
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square of a number
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TAN
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tangent of a number
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TANH
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hyperbolic tangent of a number
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TRUNC
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number truncated to an integer
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- After the * type the conversion factor. .3048
- Outside of the brackets type the desired suffix. M
- You may also want to check the units of your label style because the units of formulas are handled differently than standard linear lengths. So pick the Linear button in the Units section of the dialog box.
- Set the formula units to 2.
- Finally pick the Save button to save your new label style.
- Close the Edit Label Styles dialog box
- Select Labels Þ Settings and set your new label style current.
- Then select Labels >> Add Dynamic Labels to Label a Line.
Using this process you can create labels that perform almost any conversion or mathematical function that you can imagine. So take a little time to think about how you might be able to use this functionality to your advantage, and happy labeling!
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