How each plan element is drawn: PLINE, blocks and no arcs

It is Rule 2.8.6 of Chapter 2.8 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, within the Plan Drawing Standard. It complements the layer rule: where that one says what the containers are called, this one says what shape each thing inside has and with which commands it is created, so the plan can be read automatically and cross-referenced with geographic information systems.

It applies to the plans certified by authorized professionals submitted to the permit process. The fundamental elements apply according to the nature and geographic area the project covers: not all will have extraction areas or Maritime Terrestrial Zone boundaries. Establishing these elements does not prevent representing additional ones; it sets the required minimum.

• Drawing all elements in their respective layers with the symbology type and colour assigned to the layer by the seed file.Verified against the official source
• That geometry types be homogeneous per layer: each layer may hold only one geometry type, point, line or polygon.Verified against the official source
• Using the standard library’s symbols for objects that have them, and another symbol only where the object to be represented has none in that library.Verified against the official source
• Using snapping functions when creating polygons or interconnected line networks, and not fragmenting lines or polygons to insert annotations, texts or symbols.Verified against the official source
• Not using three-dimensional elements such as planes and vertical lines, polygon meshes or three-dimensional solids.Verified against the official source
• Using TrueType fonts supported by Windows, and not fonts characteristic of a particular program.Verified against the official source
• Representing point elements by inserting the predetermined symbol with the INSERT (Block) command, without simulating them with crossed lines or small polygons, and designing any own symbol as a block.Verified against the official source
• Not using CAD groups as a method of joining elements: blocks must be used.Verified against the official source
• Creating linear elements exclusively with the PLINE command, not with LINE, connecting them through their intersections or end points with snapping, and drawing them in the direction they represent where direction is a determining factor.Verified against the official source
• Forming polygons with closed polylines, using PLINE or the CIRCLE, RECTANG, POLYGON and ELLIPSE options, closing them by connecting all their endpoints; using arcs to create polygons is not permitted.Verified against the official source
• That the graphic elements’ line type, weight and colour be assigned by layer and not by entity, as the seed file establishes.Verified against the official source
• Incorporating the elements’ attributes directly into the .dwg file through the seed file’s preset attribute blocks.Verified against the official source

• Seed file with the preset symbols, attribute blocks and layer properties.
• The standard’s symbol library, from which the symbols of objects that have one defined come.

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   Step 1: Element, entity and geometry

   Graphic elements are all those forming part of the plan — parcels, structures, control points, among others — and are made of entities: control stations count as an element, but each individual station is an entity. Each element is associated with a geometry type, corresponding to its graphic representation on the plan, and the types are points, lines and polygons.

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   Step 2: What shape each thing has

   The standard’s table assigns the geometries: parcels, polygon; structures, polygon; topography or elevation, lines; control points, point; rights of way, polygon; conservation parcel, polygon; street centerlines, line; Maritime Terrestrial Zone limit, line; coast surveillance easement, polygon; rescue zone, polygon; earth-crust extraction areas, polygon; open location code for parcels, point; and open location code of the structure, point. A note on the source: the text says eight fundamental elements were identified, the table lists thirteen and another rule of the same chapter speaks of seventeen; we publish the table as it stands and reconcile no count.

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   Step 3: The general drawing rules

   All elements must be drawn in their respective layers with the symbology type and colour the seed file assigns to it. Geometry types must be homogeneous per layer, so each may hold only one: point, line or polygon. For objects with symbols established in the standard’s library those must be used, and another may be used only where the object to be represented has none. Snapping functions must be used when creating polygons or interconnected line networks, and lines or polygons must not be fragmented to insert annotations, texts or symbols.

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   Step 4: Nothing in three dimensions, and TrueType

   Three-dimensional elements must not be used — planes and vertical lines, polygon meshes or three-dimensional solids. And the fonts to be used must be true type or TrueType and supported by Windows; fonts characteristic of a particular program must not be used, because of the risk of not being recognized by other programs.

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   Step 5: Points go inserted as blocks

   Points are the basic graphic elements and represent a single coordinate. To use this element, linear or area objects must not be used: two crossed lines in an X shape to represent a point would be wrong, because it would have more than one coordinate pair, unless the symbol established in the library for that object is X-shaped, in which case it represents a single pair. Nor is creating polygons to simulate a point allowed: a small circle, however tiny, is still a polygon. For the fundamental elements the only way to represent points is by inserting the predetermined symbol with the INSERT command.

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   Step 6: Control points and their three layers

   The only fundamental graphic element with point geometry is the control points, and in their case there are three layers, one per control type: horizontal, vertical and horizontal/vertical. The blocks’ style and colour are predetermined by each layer’s characteristics. If other, non-fundamental points must be represented, the library’s symbols are used; if the object is absent, CAD’s point symbols may be used, and if the professional wants to use their own, it must be designed as a block, so that on insertion it holds a single coordinate pair. Using CAD groups as a method of joining elements is not allowed: blocks are used.

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   Step 7: PLINE, not LINE

   Line symbology is predetermined and assigned to the layers, so every element must take its line type, weight and colour by layer and not by entity. The specific command for creating these elements in CAD must be PLINE, and the LINE command must not be used for linear elements such as topography and street centerlines. With PLINE the program represents these elements as polylines, a sequence of connected segments creating a single element; for the drawing nothing changes, but it eases data entry and analysis and compatibility with GIS programs.

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   Step 8: Connected lines, with direction

   When drawing linear elements the lines must be connected through their intersections or end points using snapping. And where direction is a determining factor, the element must be drawn in the direction it represents: a one-way street must be drawn in the direction traffic runs. Lines must not be fragmented to insert annotations, texts or symbols, nor fragmented at their nodes in interconnected linear networks.

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   Step 9: Closed polygons, without arcs

   Polygons are formed by a set of interconnected lines representing a closed space, and those lines must be closed polylines. The command to be used is PLINE or the CIRCLE, RECTANG, POLYGON and ELLIPSE options, and with PLINE the polygon must be closed by connecting all its endpoints. Using arcs to create polygons is not permitted. To close them correctly snapping is used, and they must not be fragmented to insert annotations or symbols either.

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    Step 10: Attributes go inside the DWG

    Attributes are the characteristics identifying and describing the plan’s elements. On a control point, its attributes would be the point or station identifier, its elevation and the description: bronze disc, PK nail and rod, among others. The attributes of elements created in CAD are incorporated directly into the .dwg file through attribute blocks which, like the symbols, are preset and live in the seed file.

All of this is worked inside the seed file the Planning Board makes downloadable on its portal, and the finished file is submitted through the SUI together with the plan in PDF and the Control Station Certification. The symbol library and the attribute blocks come in that same file.

• Mixing geometries in one layer, when each layer may hold only points, lines or polygons.
• Creating linear elements with the LINE command instead of PLINE.
• Leaving lines unconnected at their intersections or end points, without using snapping.
• Drawing a one-way road against the direction traffic runs.
• Fragmenting lines or polygons to insert annotations, texts or symbols.
• Fragmenting lines at their nodes in interconnected linear networks.
• Creating polygons with arcs, which the standard does not permit.
• Leaving a polygon open by not connecting all its endpoints.
• Simulating a point with two crossed lines or a small circle, which are a line and a polygon.
• Using CAD groups to join elements instead of blocks.
• Assigning line type, weight or colour by entity instead of by layer.
• Using three-dimensional elements or a program’s own fonts instead of TrueType.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• Planning Board

  jp

  jp.pr.gov

• OGPe Single Business Portal

  ogpe

  www.permisos.pr.gov