Define Symbol Groups

Use the SEM-Plot > Define Symbol Groups option (SEMGROUPS GX) to create, edit and apply symbols to your data. Symbols plotted in SEMPLOT are defined by the group key. The key can be anomalies (lines), in which case each anomaly gets a single symbol, or it can be a channel in the database, in which case each distinct text value gets a different symbol.

Symbol Groups dialog options

Buttons and lists

[Reset]

Once a symbol grouping is defined, the symbol definition information is stored inside the database itself (hidden from the user). If the particular grouping is used again, the information is retrieved, and the current data is matched to the available symbols by examining the group key value stored for each symbol. If data is found for which no matching symbol is available, it is plotted as the "unassigned" symbol. In this case, the groups should be refreshed by using the "Reset" button.

If you use "Refresh", and only a subset of the symbols you expect to see appear, it is likely due to the current data selection. Symbol groupings are only calculated based on the currently selected anomalies, or data using the mask channel. To group symbols for all the data, then, for "Anomaly", select all the lines, and for text-channel group keys, reselect all the data by selecting "Select all..." from the "Semplot Data" menu.

Symbol

Select one or more symbols in the symbol table, and then press this button to select a different symbol/colour using the "Symbols" dialog. If more than one group is selected, the symbol/colour of the first selected item is used as the default, and, on return, all of the selected items will be set to the same symbol and colour.

[Colour]

Select one or more symbols in the symbol table, and then press this button to select a different colour using the "Colour" dialog. The colours here are not restricted to the 14 default colours. Use the "Define Custom Colours" button in the "Colour" dialog to access colour in the 24-bit colour palette. If more than one group is selected, the colour of the first selected item is used as the default, and, on return, all of the selected items will be set to the same colour.

Mask Channel

If a text-type channel is selected as the group key, then the selected mask channel is used to sort and group the available text items before apportioning the symbols. If an item is not selected in the mask channel, it is not used when creating the symbol groupings.

If grouping by "Anomaly", then the Mask channel is not used for selection purposes; instead the line selection tool is used, and only data on selected lines is used.

Group by

 

Symbol Size (mm)

This value also appears in the "Preferences..." GX. The symbol size is not stored with a given group key’s symbol information, but is applied immediately for all group keys.

[Sub Groups]

The Sub Groups option is used when a text-channel is the group key. The "Grain_No" channel is used as a secondary key to assign sub-groups to the individual group key. Sub-Groups cannot be defined when the group key is "Anomaly".

Application Notes

Plot symbols in Semplot are defined by the group key. The key can be anomalies (lines), in which case each anomaly gets a single symbol, or it can be a channel in the database, in which case each distinct text value gets a different symbol. There are currently 14 different predefined colours and 19 different symbols, which means that 266 distinct symbols are available. One symbol is "held out" to use as the "Unassigned symbol", so there can be a maximum of 265 distinct groups identified in any one plot.