Surface Areas

See also

In the Extended Matrix language manual:

• Special Find (SF) nodes — the stratigraphic node type usually targeted by Surface Areas annotations.

• Paradata nodes — Property / Extractor / Document chain wired behind a surface annotation.

The Surface Areas panel lives in the EM Annotator sidebar tab and provides a four-step checklist for linking a drawn area on a Representation Model (RM) to the extended matrix.

Unlike Proxy Box Creator, which builds a proxy from measurement points, Surface Areas attaches a sketched contour to an existing RM and wires the full paradata chain (US → Property → Extractor → Document → RM) in the graph.

The panel is production-ready as of EM 1.6 — it is no longer gated behind Enable Experimental Features. Advanced EM mode is still required so the tab itself shows up.

Workflow

The panel renders a compact checklist; the Draw button at the bottom unlocks only when every step is met.

1. Mesh — single-line row that walks the chain mesh → RM → Document:

• Pick the target mesh in the object slot.

• An RM_on / RM_off badge tells you whether the mesh is registered as an RM via Representation Models Manager.

• A document badge shows the linked document code (e.g. D.06) when the chain resolves, or no D. otherwise.

• The help icon at the end of the row opens this manual page.

If the mesh isn’t an RM yet, a hint row appears with a Promote button that registers the mesh in the currently-active RM container — no need to switch panels. If the RM has no Document linked, the row expands into a document picker (search existing or create a new master via the shared Add Master Document dialog).

2. Extractor — single row with the extractor method picker.

3. Property — single row with the property name field.

4. SU — single row with a Stratigraphic Unit picker. The + button opens the shared Add-US dialog when a fresh unit is needed.

Chain Summary — a collapsible section under the four steps shows the graph statements that will be committed when Draw runs, so you can sanity-check node names and arrow directions without leaving the panel.

Draw — modal grease-pencil operator. Sketch the contour on the RM surface; [B] toggles a whisker handle, [Enter] confirms, [Esc] cancels. On confirm the area is registered as a SurfaceAreale proxy, parented to the RM, and the paradata chain is materialised in the graph.

Relationship to other panels

• Input: requires a valid Representation Model and an active GraphML — see Representation Models Manager and EM Data Tree.

• Output: the generated proxy is a standard scene object, visible and editable in Stratigraphy Manager and visual_manager.

• Alternatives: Proxy Box Creator for measurement-driven proxies.

Implementation notes

file:

surface_areale/ui.py, surface_areale/operators.py, surface_areale/postprocess.py, surface_areale/strategies.py

Settings live on the SurfaceArealeSettings PropertyGroup, exposed via scene.em_tools.surface_areale. The mesh→RM→Document detection is shared with Proxy Box Creator via find_rm_document in surface_areale.postprocess.