.. _if_general:

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 An overview about input data formats
======================================

Generally speaking, data formats can be classified into two large
groups:

1. “raw” field data with polar coordinates
2. processed data, with XY(Z) cartesian coordinates

The latter are far more easy to process, because they don't require
any computing of measurements.

XYZ formats
===========

These formats were the first kind of survey data format supported by
Total Open Station.

Cartesian coordinates just need to be extracted from ASCII data
