Starting up for the first time

Strabo is implemented as an extension to Orbit GIS.

• To start the Orbit GIS application double click on the Orbit GIS icon on your desktop or use the programs menu.
• The Strabo modules “Project Manager”, “Stereo Explorer”, “Bundle Block Adjustment” are extensions of “Orbit Explorer Plus”. “Strabo Softcopy” is an extension of “Orbit GIS”. You cannot run Strabo modules without a valid OrbitGIS installation. It depends on your Strabo license which of the Strabo modules will be started.
• If there is no icon on the desktop, go to the bin directory under the directory where OrbitGIS is installed, and double click on the OrbitGIS.exe file.
  
  
  
  

• Go to the Extensions menu and select the 'Strabo Photogrammetry Extension…' button to start the Strabo Application.
  
  
  
  
• The Strabo application dialog will appear on the screen:
  
  

Once the Strabo application is running, there are several ways to run a project:

1. Using the File menu:
   1. Select the 'New Project…' button:
      
      
      
      
      • The Project Wizard will be started to guide you through the project definition.
      • This method is only available in the Project Manager Module and in the full version.
        
        
   2. Select the 'Open Project…' button:
      
      
      
      
      • The File Selection Box will show up.
      • Choose an existing project by selecting a file with .spr extension.
      • Or you can also drag/drop the .spr file directly in the Strabo window to open the project.
        
        
   3. Select the 'Recent Projects' button:
      
      
      
      
      • A list of Previously used Strabo Projects will appear.
      • Choose a Strabo project from the list of previously used Strabo Projects.
        
        
2. Using the icons on the Strabo dialog pane:
   1. Select the 'Create a New Project' icon :
      • The Project Wizard will be started to guide you through the project definition.
        This method is only available in the Project Manager Module and in the full version.
   2. Select the 'Opens a Project' icon :
      • The File Selection Box will show up.
      • Choose an existing project by selecting a file with .spr extension.
        
        

As you are working in the GIS environment Orbit GIS, next to other parameters, the references to active datasets used in a GIS project are part of the Orbit GIS workspace. This workspace can be saved using the Orbit GIS menu function “Save Workspace” (see Orbit GIS Helpfiles for detailed explanation). Vice versa when opening an Orbit GIS Workspace, the complete working environment of a GIS project is restored, and you are ready to continue working when opening this workspace. As Strabo is an extension to Orbit GIS, a reference to an opened Strabo Project is consequently saved inside the Orbit GIS Workspace. Therefore opening a workspace containing Strabo project reference information makes the necessary information available to automatically open a Strabo project after starting the Strabo extension. In this way you don't need to open a Strabo project using the above-mentioned methods but work via the workspace environment.

To open an Orbit Workspace you should have the following steps:

1. Start Orbit GIS
   • Start the Orbit GIS application as explained above in Start OrbitGIS.
     'Orbit Explorer Plus' and 'Orbit GIS' both have the possibility to read and save an Orbit Workspace.
     See the Orbit help files for more explanation on workspaces.
2. Open a Workspace / use one of these methods:
   • Select the 'Open Workspace…' button in the File menu of the OrbitGIS and select a workspace file using the File Selection Dialog
   • Drag/drop the .spr file of the Strabo project in the Strabo window
   • Select the 'Recent workspaces' button to see a selection of the last used Orbit GIS workspaces and select one of them
   • Select the 'Select a Worspace from File' icon on the Orbit GIS dialog and select a workspace file using the File Selection Dialog
     All defined datasets in the selected workspace will be opened at the same time.
   • See Orbit GIS Help Files for more detailed information concerning Workspaces.
3. Start the Strabo extension:
   • Start the 'Strabo Photogrammetry Extension…' in the Extensions menu of the Orbit GIS application.
     If the earlier selected workspace contains Strabo Project information, then Strabo will start and opens at the same time a Strabo Project.

Using a workspace is the fastest way to restart a working environment containing e.g. 2D and 3D vector datasets and a complete photogrammetric project with stereo viewing and editing capabilities.

When opening a Strabo project first the camera parameters will be checked if consistent. At the same time, the camera used in your Strabo project will be compared to the camera, with the same name, in the Camera Database of your Strabo installation. In the case that the Project Camera is a new one concerning your Camera Database, this camera will be added to the database. This is an interesting feature especially when you receive a Strabo project from another Strabo user. When a Project Camera is included in the Camera Database but differences are found for the paramater values, the dialog below will appear e.g.:

The Camera Database is located on your Strabo software installation directory.

1. When you select the 'Use the Camera from Database' and press afterwards the OK button:
   the Camera from the Camera Database will be used in the application instead of the Project's Camera.
   This means that the Project's Camera will be removed and replaced by the Camera from the Camera Database.
   The toggle 'Use the Camera from Database' is selected by default.
2. When you select the 'Use the Project Camera' toggle and press afterwards the OK button:
   then the Camera read from the project will be used in the application and the camera in the Camera Database will be overwritten with this Project Camera.
   This gives the opportunity to update the camera database with correct camera parameters introduced or changed in the project.

In case of differences between camera parameters, it is a save practice to select 'Use the Camera Database' and use this camera from the database in the project, without saving the project. This gives you the time to inspect the camera parameter more thoroughly using the Camera Editor, without making paramater changes effective in the project file or in the camera database.

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