Spectra Precision FAST Survey Reference Manual - Manual (Page 243)

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The FAST Survey Profile File Format:
It should be noted that of all the FAST Survey file types that are ASCII and
therefore viewable in standard text editors, the profile (.pro) file has the simplest format. The format is station,
elevation, length of vertical curve, and description for road profiles. For example, the Demo.pro file that is typically
provided with the software has the following four lines (which can be viewed in Notepad):
0.0000, 997.0000 , 0.0000,
200.0000, 1005.0000 , 200.0000, (200 foot vertical curve length)
308.0000, 1003.9200 , 0.0000,
0.0, 0.0, 0.0 (this is an “end-profile” line)
Profile files can be created from within FAST Survey, but are simple enough to be hand-entered using a text editor as
well. Unequal vertical curve lengths can be entered in the form 150-50, indicating 150 units to the point of vertical
intersection and 50 units to the point of vertical tangency. Other ASCII file types, such as centerlines, can be
deciphered, but are generally of a more complicated design and are best created using the editors provided within FAST
Survey.
Profile Transformation
Like Centerline Transformation, this routine is primarily used to scale a profile up or down to go from Survey Feet to
Metric or from Metric to Survey Feet.
Unlike Centerline Transformation, Profile Transformation can directly translate the profile up or down. You can
also scale the profile stationing and elevations. If you want to apply a translation to selected stations, tap the Translate
button. The Translate option leads to its own dialog of entries, which allows you to translate both the stationing and the
elevations, as shown below. In this way, you can make the starting station 1000, or raise the entire profile 15 feet or
meters.