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Error: “Format error importing ****.str at line 3. This may be an error in the file, or the import may not be set up to import certain features of this file.”

Joe McPherson
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Occurrence:

When plotting a section map I get the following error if I attempt to display a Surpac Vision DTM file (*.str) as topography in the Topography Tab of the Section Parameters dialog. 

Format error importing ****.str at line 3. This may be an error in the file, or the import may not be set up to import certain features of this file.

Resolution:

Geosoft applications can only import ASCII format Surpac Vision DTM files. 

  1. Open the  Surpac Vision DTM file (*.str) in Surpac
  2. When saving the file change the default configuration to an ASCII format. 
  3. Import the ASCII format Surpac Vision DTM file.

Root Cause

The Surpac Vision DTM (*.str) file is an unsupported version. Many of the  *.str files which cause failures are in binary format. Geosoft software can only import Surpac Vision DTM files which are in ASCII format. 

Notes:

By default Surpac saves files in ASCII format when the file is small. However, if a file is larger Surpac automatically changes that configuration to save the file as a binary format to save space.