If you work with point files, you know that the TXT format is the simplest and best format for working with software such as Civil 3D and LAN. However, sometimes the file points that recharge may be raw and not directly usable in this software such as formats IDX, GSI, etc. Since most of their point formats are IDX, we will teach you how to convert the raw IDX format to your favorite TXT format.
To get started, the best software to open the IDX format is Excel. Right-click on the file and select properties, then click the check button here and select the Excel option. If you don’t see Excel, click more apps to open other software on your computer. If you see Excel, select it, but if you still don’t find Excel in this list, go to the end of the list and select the Microsoft Office folder and then to the root folder. Enter the Office 16 folder and select Excel.exe and click open.
Now that we have Excel, we can open the raw point file in IDX format. The file contains a header and then points and specifications of each point. Some rows may be unusable points that have been created when changing the location of the total station and set it. You can select and delete these rows.
Be sure to look at all the rows and columns to make sure that there are no letters or words that represent information about that point instead of the number. You can write the numbers 1 and 2 in the first and second row and then follow the previous step. Be careful not to lose useful information by sorting and changing these columns.
To make sure the row numbers of all the points are correct, select the required columns to remove commas from numbers on the home tab. From the editing section, click find, then select, and choose replace. In the window that appears, put the comma in the first row and do not write anything in the second row and click the replace alt button to remove all the commas in the selected cells.
To have decimal numbers up to only three digits, select the columns for easting nursing and elevation, then from the home tab in the number section, change the general to number and click increase decimal once. Now, select and copy the points and bring them in Notepad.
To change the mode to comma or space, just select and copy one tab then go to the replace from the edit menu in the window that appears. The first row shows the same tab that we copied. If not, we can paste in the second line type comma or space and click on replace all.
Save the new file in your preferred format. It doesn’t matter what column separator is selected because in LAN and Civil 3D software, we can choose what character the software separates the columns with.
In conclusion, opening an IDX file may seem daunting at first, but by following these simple steps, you can easily convert it to a TXT file and start working with it in your preferred software.