Dips FAQs: Sets

Below are answers to Sets FAQs for Dips. Click on the question to read the answer.

1. How can I save Set Windows so that they do not have to be recreated each time I open a Dips file?

   Since Dips version 5.1, all set and plane information, and all drawing entities (e.g. cones, lines, text) are automatically saved when you save a Dips file. If they are not being saved, then make sure you are running the latest version of Dips.

2. Is it possible to list all the poles contained within a Set and sort all the tabled data in to Set groupings?

   To create a list of all data in a given Set, use the Query Data option in the Select menu, to create a Query of the form Set = = ## (e.g. Set = = 1). This will create a new Dips file, containing only the data in the specified Set. See the Query Data topic for more information.

   You can query for more than one Set at a time (e.g. Set = = 1 || Set = = 2 will create a new file with data from BOTH Sets 1 and 2), however, the data in the new file created by the query, will not (necessarily) be sorted by Set, it will retain the same ordering as the data in the original file. Unfortunately, there is currently no "sorting" feature in Dips. Look for this in the next major upgrade (i.e. the ability to sort the Dips data based on any column in the file, for example the Set column).

   For the time being, if you wish to obtain a Dips file with all data sorted according to Set, you would have to go through the following procedure:

   1. Perform a separate query for each desired Set, as described above, to create a new file for each Set.

   2. Then use the Copy and Paste options (as you would in Excel, for example), to Copy/Paste the data into a single file (e.g. if you had three Sets numbered 1,2 and 3, perform three queries, and then paste the data from the Set 2 file at the end of the Set 1 data, and the data from the Set 3 file at the end of the Set 2 data).

   3. Although this sounds like a lot of work, you should be able to do it in a couple of minutes, once you get the hang of it.

   4. Make sure you save the "sorted" file when you're finished (with a new name), so that you don't have to repeat the process.

3. After I create Sets, I cannot edit the information in the Edit Sets dialog, it is grayed out.

   In the Edit Sets dialog, you can edit the Colour or Label of any plane, by clicking in the desired box and editing. You CANNOT edit the ID, TYPE or ORIENTATION, these are all determined when you create the Set.

   To edit the Visibility / Confidence / Variability checkboxes in the Edit Sets dialog, you first have to click on the Row ID button (at the left of each row), in order to select plane(s) and make the checkboxes editable. You can edit these settings for multiple planes at the same time, by selecting multiple rows (the same selection rules apply as in spreadsheets, i.e. hold down the Shift and/or Ctrl keys and select multiple rows with the mouse).