General Settings Overview

The General Settings tab controls how values are displayed and interpreted in HCL. It includes settings for units, language, angle display, GPS behavior, prism and target handling, and the keyboard.

General

These settings affect how measurements, coordinates, and angles are displayed throughout the application.

• Heights
  • This setting enables the use of height values for measuring, stationing, and CAD view.
    • For most 2D layout work, this is recommended to be turned off
    • When working with 3D drawings or height‑based workflows, this must be turned on
  • When heights are enabled, the total station also requires a station height setup, so it knows how high it is positioned on the jobsite.
• Distance Units
  • Choose the distance units used throughout the application, such as meters, feet, or millimeters. This affects how distances are displayed and entered.
• Coord. Disp. / Input
  • Choose how coordinates are displayed and entered in the system.
    • NEH (North, East, Height) is the default
    • Other coordinate orders may be selected depending on project or regional standards
  • This setting affects coordinate input fields, point information, and CAD displays.
• Decimal Format
  • Select whether decimal values are displayed using:
    • A dot (.)
    • A comma (,)
  • This should match regional numeric formatting standards.
• Angle Units
  • Choose how angles are displayed:
    • Gradians (Gon)
    • Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
  • This affects all angular values shown during stationing, layout, and measurement.
• Angle Resolution
  • Select the smallest increment used to display angles. Higher resolution provides more detailed angular readouts.
• Language
  • Choose the language used throughout the application. This affects menus, settings, shortcuts, and on‑screen text.
• VA Zero
  • Choose where the vertical angle (VA) zero reference is set.
    • Horizon - The vertical angle is zero when the telescope is level. Looking up results in positive angles and looking down results in negative angles.
    • Zenith - The vertical angle is zero when the telescope points straight up. Angles increase as the telescope moves downward.
  • This setting changes how vertical angles are interpreted and displayed.

GPS

These settings control how GPS information from the tablet is used to assist orientation and prism searching.

• GPS
  • Enable or disable GPS usage. When enabled and used outdoors, GPS can help the system orient the tool toward your approximate location.
• GPS Angle Sector HA
  • Defines the horizontal angle range the tool will rotate through when GPS is used to help turn the tool toward your position before starting a prism search. Limiting this range can reduce unnecessary rotation and improve responsiveness.
• GPS Angle Sector VA
  • Defines the vertical angle range used when GPS assists in orienting the tool toward your position. This helps prevent the system from searching at unrealistic vertical angles when GPS data is used

Prism / Target

• Angle Sector HA
  • Defines the horizontal angle range in which the total station will search for a prism or target. Smaller angle sectors can speed up target acquisition, while larger sectors increase search coverage.
• Angle Sector VA
  • Defines the vertical angle range used when searching for a prism or target. This is useful when working within known height ranges to improve search efficiency.
• Predictive Search
  • Select how long the system continues to predictively search for a prism or target after it is temporarily lost. This allows the tool to follow the expected movement of the prism when it is briefly obstructed.
• Auto Lock on Foils
  • Available only on PLT 400.
  • When enabled, the system automatically detects a compatible prism foil within the camera view and moves to the center of the target. This is recommended for most layout and measurement workflows.

Keyboard

These settings control keyboard behavior and input assistance.

• Keyboard Language
  • Choose the language used for the on‑screen keyboard. This can be different from the application language if required.
• Description
  • This option controls whether descriptive helper text is shown in certain input fields. These descriptions help explain what type of value is expected when entering data.