Searching in the coordinate list

Anytime when the program needs coordinates of some point, it tries to find them on the coordinate list. This search always follows the same algorithm, regardless of the reason (by which function) the point is searched. The search method depends on the setting of some environment parameters.

If in the dialog Settings->Environment the option "Search in all the open files" is turned on, the program will search every opened coordinate list. Otherwise it will search only in the active coordinate list.

If in the dialog Settings->Environment the option "Search according to the prefix" is turned on, the program will search for such points where both the number and the prefix agree. Otherwise it ignores the prefix and finds all the points of the pertinent number, regardless their prefix.

Note

If the search according to the prefix is set, the search method is significantly faster than if searching according to numbers (in case of large coordinate lists, the difference can be significantly big). This is caused by the fact that the coordinate list can't contain more points with the same prefix and point number. In addition, the list is primarily sorted according to the prefix and secondarily according to the number; thus, you can use quite a fast algorithm for searching and after finding the point you don't have to continue searching through the list. On the other hand, the list can contain more points with the same number and different prefix (which can be on the list at any place), therefore while searching for the point according to the number the program must always search through the entire list.

In case the program finds more points with different coordinates meeting the criteria, it will display a dialog window with the list of the points (including the file names where the points were found) and lets you select the appropriate point. If you choose from this list the item [None], the program will behave as if it hasn't found any point.