Strater: Importing Image Files into the Log Pane

Introduction

Many Strater customers, in addition to displaying their drill hole data in log form, would like to import a series of images next to their logs. These images could be core photographs, borehole imagery, acoustic images, or thin or polished section photographs. You can do this in Strater by creating a graphic log.

The graphic log allows you to specify image file paths and names and the intervals in which to display the images. To create a graphic log you need a data table with the Hole ID name, the depth interval to display the image, and the file path to the image file. There are two approaches you can use to create a log in Strater - either enter the data directly into the database view in Strater or load the data from an external data file (e.g., Excel XLS, Access DBF, etc.). Both approaches are discussed below.

Creating a graphic log from data entered directly into the Database View

1. Open a Strater project file (either a blank project or a previously designed borehole).
2. Click on the Database View tab at the top.
    
   
   

   Click on the Database View tab at the top
   to activate the Database View window

3. Go to Database | Create New Table.
4. In the Create New Table dialog box, give the new data table a name, choose Interval Table as the Base Table Type, click Create, and then click Close.
    
   
   

   Create a new interval table for the graphic log.

5. The data table is created. Click on the data table tab at the bottom of the Database View to activate that data table.
    
   
   

   Activate the newly created data table by clicking on its tab
   at the bottom of the Database View window.

6. The data table is empty. Go to Table | Append New Rows. For the number of rows, enter the number of images you'd like to import and click OK. If you don't know the exact number of rows you need, just make a guess. You can always add more rows or delete extraneous rows later.
    
   
   

   Enter in how many empty rows you
   would like Strater to create and click OK.

7. Now you will have some blank rows in which to enter your information. Enter the borehole name in the Hole ID field of each row. If you just have a couple of rows, you might just type it in. If you have many rows you can use the Table | Assign Empty Hole ID's command to fill them all in at once.
8. Parameter 1 is where we want to enter the file path and file name for the image file you'd like to import. Simply activate a cell in the Parameter 1 field, right click over it, and select Get Bitmap File Name.
    
   
   

   An easy way to enter the file path and file name of an image file
   is to right click over the cell and go to Get Bitmap File Name.

9. In the Import File dialog box, select the image file you'd like to display and click Open. The file path and name is inserted into the cell.
10. Repeat this for all the images you'd like to display. Once all their file paths and names are entered into the Parameter 1 field, type in the interval for displaying each image in the From and To fields.
     
    
    

    Enter the file name and path for all images you would like to display
    and the corresponding From and To values.

11. Now activate the Borehole View by clicking on the Borehole View tab at the top.
     
    
    

    Click on the Borehole View tab to activate the
    Borehole View window

12. Click on the Graphic Log icon on the toolbar or go to Tools | Log Items | Graphic.
13. Move the cursor over the log pane and click where you want the log to be placed.
14. In the Open dialog box, select the graphic log table name that you created in Step 4 above in the Use Current Table list and click Open.
     
    
    

    Select the graphic log table name from the
    Use Current Table list and click Open.

15. The graphic log appears on the screen with the default properties.
     
    
    

    The graphic log appears in the Borehole View window.

16. You can change any of the log properties in the Property Inspector.
     
    
    

    Edit the graphic log properties in the Property Inspector.

    
     
    
    

    The graphic log is displayed in the Borehole View window
    with the new properties.

Creating a graphic log from an external data file

1. Open a Strater project file (either a blank project or a previously designed borehole).
2. Click on the Graphic Log icon on the toolbar or go to Tools | Log Items | Graphic.
3. Move the cursor over the log pane and click where you want the log to be placed.
4. In the Open dialog box, select the data file and click Open.
    
   
   

   Select the data file containing your data and click Open.

5. If you have a column header row, or the data starts on a different row than row 1, select the appropriate options and click Next.
    
   
   

   Select the appropriate import options and click Next.

6. Set the column definitions to point to the correct fields and click Load.
    
   
   

   Specify the column definitions and click Load.

7. The graphic log appears on the screen with the default properties. From here, you can follow steps 15 and 16 above.

If you have Strater or the Strater demo version installed on your computer, you can see another example of a graphic log and the data table it was created from by opening the sample file named Example Logs.sdg located in the Samples folder within the Strater installation directory.

For more information about creating logs in Strater, please see the Strater Demonstration Videos available for download from our web site at http://www.goldensoftware.com/supportvideo.shtml .