September 2021 Release of LISTECH Neo

We are pleased to announce the September 2021 release of LISTECH Neo, the next generation surveying, engineering and geospatial software. This release includes a number of major new features, improvements to existing functionality, and engineering fixes to make Neo even better. Some of these enhancements include:

Support for Block Objects

Neo now includes support for the definition and insertion of Block objects, as well as their exchange with AutoCAD and MicroStation. This new object type can be constructed from a selection of other objects and is an easy way for you to define complex reusable objects. Once defined, Blocks can be inserted in your project via a number of computational methods and are often used to represent complex real-world objects like structures, or cartographic objects like symbols.

Import PDF

The new Import PDF command enables data contained in PDF drawing files to be imported. It imports vector based PDF data as lines, polygons and text objects, while raster based data becomes images. There is also an option to select which page you would like to import for multi-page PDF documents. This highly requested functionality is great for importing construction plans provided to you in PDF format, and then use Neo's rotate, scale, and shift tools to bring it onto datum.

ADAC Import and Export

The ability to import and export ADAC version 4.2.0 and 5.0.1 XML data is now available. Neo includes an inbuilt template specifically designed for ADAC projects with all required layers and attribute definitions already created. In a number of jurisdictions ADAC (Asset Design As Constructed) is the mandated format for as-built assets. The new Xchange ADAC module provides you with all the functionality required to provide ADAC as-constructed asset data to local authorities.

Shift Coordinate Methods

The Modify Shift command has been greatly enhanced to include four different methods for determining the shift values to be applied to the selected objects. The methods now include Bearing and Distance, Coordinate Difference, To Coordinate, and Vertex to Vertex. An option to copy the objects to the shifted location rather than moving them has also been added. This new functionality is ideal for cadastral re-establishments and for georeferencing construction datasets.

Examine Height on Terrain Model

A new examine command that provides the ability to interpolate heights from a terrain model has been added. The command can display in real-time the height at the current mouse pointer location, or you can select an exiting vertex and have its height, the terrain model interpolated height, and the height difference displayed. This command is ideal for examining differences between measured as-constructed points and a design terrain model.

GeoPackage Import and Export

GeoPackage is the GIS exchange format recommended by the the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). It is a convenient single file format based on SQLite that provides rich exchange of GIS data. The new Xchange GeoPackage module in Neo allows the import and export of GeoPackage files. GeoPackage is becoming the preferred format for A-SPEC submissions so an option to use this format has been added to the A-SPEC export.

Create Line Improvements

The Create Line by Parallel command has been enhanced to show a preview of the resulting line and allow the side of the offset to be easily changed. Often the direction of a line is unclear, so this enhancement enables you to see the result and change the side if necessary before storing the line in the project database. In addition, the existing Create Line by Line Offset command has been enhanced to include an option to perform the computation in 3D or 2D.

Text Rules Include Combined Text

The existing text rules functionality has been enhanced to support the recently introduced combined text objects. This enhancement enables you to include combined text styles in your text creation rules making it possible for you to automate the annotating of your model data with combined text objects. The use of combined text is great for grouping properties and attributes of an object and have them treated as a single piece of text, making cartographic editing easier.

Improved GPU Utilisation

A change has been made to improve the utilisation of available graphics processing unit (GPU) memory when rendering point clouds. In the past Neo would only utilised a small portion of the available GPU memory in order leave enough free for other applications. However, when working with large point clouds, it is normal for Neo to be the only application running, so we have significantly increased the amount of GPU memory used when rendering point clouds.

Surface Area Display

An enhancement has been made to the existing Attributes tool to add the surface area to the geometry information displayed for polygon and shape objects. For polygons, the surface area computation is based on an automatic triangulation of the polygon vertices and is therefore approximate. Surface areas, as compared to planimetric areas, are useful in a number of engineering applications including quantities for shotcrete and seeding areas.

Examine Offset to a Plane

When examining an offset to a plane, if the offset is small, it is sometimes difficult to understand which side of the plane the offset on when is using the right-hand rule convention adopted in Neo. To help make the distinction easier, the Examine Offset from Reference Plane command has been enhanced to include an Above/Below convention option for side of the offset. This more friendly convention uses the direction of the Z-axis to determine if the offset is above or below the plane.

Miscellaneous Improvements

A number of miscellaneous improvements have also been made including, support for shapes in the KML/KMZ export, adding a line style to represent storm water pipes, adding an option to include default heights in the Modify by Scale command, changing code processing so it strips string numbers from codes without a matching layer before creating the new layer and adding an option to include east and north coordinates to Compare Points to Terrain Model report.

Getting the Neo September 2021 Release

Neo licences that are on LISTECH Cover or have a Leica Geosystems Customer Care Package (CCP) with an expiry date of September 1, 2021 or later, can download, install, and run this release via the downloads section of the LISTECH Neo product page.

To find out more about LISTECH Cover visit the LISTECH Cover page or request a quotation via the LISTECH Cover Quote form. For further information please contact us via one of the methods detailed on our Contact Us page.

Note: The LISTECH Update Service installed with Neo should automatically keep your software up-to-date. You can check your currently installed version in the File / About dialog in Neo.