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GoSurvey User Manual

GoSurvey is a 2D/3D CAD and COGO platform for land surveyors. It draws linework, holds a survey-point database, reduces raw field observations, builds TIN surfaces, and plots sheets — and it exchanges drawings with AutoCAD and Civil 3D through DXF, DWG, and CSV.

This wiki is the end-user manual. It documents what the program actually does today, including the places where a feature is present but not finished.

Current version: 0.5.3 · Windows x64 · Releases

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Start here

Page	What it covers
Getting Started	Install, first launch, new/open/save, your first drawing and first survey
User Interface	Every panel, bar, tab, and button on screen
Command Reference	The master index of every typed command and its aliases
Keyboard Shortcuts	Every key the program listens for

Drawing and editing

• Drawing Tools — LINE, POLYLINE, ARC, CIRCLE, ELLIPSE, RECT, HATCH
• Modify Tools — MOVE, COPY, ROTATE, SCALE, OFFSET, TRIM, JOIN, DELETE, OVERKILL, ALIGN
• Object Selection — picking, windows, cycling, grips, QUICKSELECT, isolation
• Object Snaps — the eight snap types, the OSNAP toggle, and the one-shot override
• Coordinate Input — what you may type at a point prompt, and what you may not
• Drafting Aids — Ortho, grid, dynamic input, elevation and the work plane
• Annotation — TEXT, MTEXT, the rich-text editor, dimensions, text styles
• Layers — the Layer Manager, per-viewport freeze, and layer properties
• Properties — the Properties panel, per-object-type fields

Surveying

• Survey Points — creating, editing, importing, and exporting the point database
• Point Groups and Surfaces — rule-based groups and TIN surfaces
• Traverse Editor — raw observations, Face 1/Face 2, least-squares closure, FBK import
• Coordinate Alignment — ALIGN, the 2D Helmert fit, control-point tagging
• Inquiry Commands — ID, INVERSE, SURFELEV

Views, sheets, and output

• Views and Navigation — zoom, pan, orbit, the ViewCube, visual styles
• Paper Space and Layouts — layouts, viewports, floating model space
• Plotting — Page Setup Manager, Plot, Batch Plot
• PDF Underlays — attaching a PDF and snapping to it
• Import and Export — DXF, DWG, CSV, FBK, glTF/GLB, STL, JSON
• Files and Drawings — the .gs file, drawing tabs, templates, updates

Reference

• Settings and Options — every tab of the Options dialog
• Command Line — the command bar, autocomplete, history, dynamic input
• Workflows — start-to-finish tutorials
• Troubleshooting — problem → cause → solution
• FAQ
• Known Limitations — what is present but unfinished

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Conventions used in this manual

• LINE — a command you type in the command line. Case does not matter.
• L — a command alias.
• Bold — something you click, or a label printed on screen.
• Specify first point: — a prompt that appears in the command log.
• North is 0°, angles increase clockwise. This is the survey convention and it never changes, no matter how angles are displayed. See Coordinate Input.
• World X = Easting, World Y = Northing, World Z = Elevation.