Entity‐Coded Neutral‐File Format for Integrating Data Collectors

Electronic total stations and data collectors have come to be recognized as vital productivity tools in the age of digital mapping. Information encoded in data collectors represents the first and, perhaps, most important link in the information chain from field data collection to data presentation and data management. Unfortunately, data collectors today have largely been designed to function well within a user‐ or manufacturer‐defined hardware and software environment. Outside the designed environment, the efficacy of most data collectors deteriorates because of their inability to cooperate fully with other hardware and software systems. This paper proposes the standardization of a neutral‐file fomat, initial data collector exhange format (IDCXF), for integrating diverse data‐collector systems. The concept of entity coding for point‐line features in the context of CAD/GIS mapping is also proposed for examination.