TDR
Acheck Online — User Guide
Check a survey parcel's closure right in your browser. Enter courses as bearings or azimuths, add curves, and read live misclosure, precision ratio, and area — no AutoCAD needed.
Getting access
- Sign in with your free Drawing Store account (enter your email, type the code we send you — no password).
- Every new account gets a 7-day free trial. A banner at the top shows the days left.
- When the trial ends, click Subscribe ($15/month) to keep unlimited access. Your access turns on automatically the moment payment clears.
The screen at a glance
- Top bar — Mode (Bearings / Azimuths), Units (Metres / Feet), Job name, and the action buttons.
- Tabs — Courses (build and check a parcel) and Parcel Summaries (total areas across parcels).
- Parcel bar — switch parcels and add / rename / copy / delete them; a job can hold several.
- Courses table (left) — one row per line or curve around the parcel.
- Results (right, top) — Perimeter, Misclosure, Misclosure direction, Precision ratio, Area.
- Plan View (right, bottom) — a live sketch of the parcel with a POB marker, north arrow, and a red dashed line showing any misclosure gap.
Entering a parcel
- Pick your Mode — Bearings (quadrant + angle, e.g. N 45°30'20" E) or Azimuths (whole-circle, 0–360°). Switching mode converts what you've already typed.
- Pick your Units — Metres or Feet. Switching units converts every distance, radius, and arc for you.
- For each course, fill the row (see the field guide below). Click + Add course for more rows.
- Read your results and plan view — they update as you type.
Field guide (one row = one course)
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| # | Course number. Drag this cell to reorder courses; the ⠶ grip is the handle. |
| Type | Line, Curve, or Bulge (see "Curves" below). |
| Bearing / Azimuth | In Bearings mode: pick the quadrant (1 NE, 2 SE, 3 SW, 4 NW) and type the angle as D.MMSS — e.g. 45.3020 = 45°30'20". In Azimuths mode: type the whole-circle azimuth, e.g. 245.3020. For a curve, this is the chord bearing. |
| Distance | Line length. For a curve, this is the chord distance. |
| Radius | Curve radius (blank for lines). |
| Arc | Curve arc length. Leave blank and it auto-fills from radius + chord; type your own to override, clear it to go back to auto. |
| +/− | Curve direction — + the arc bulges OUT (adds area), − the arc cuts IN (removes area). See below. |
Curves
A curved boundary is a chord bearing + chord distance + radius. The arc length fills in automatically. There are two curve types:
- Curve — the minor (small) arc between the two points.
- Bulge — the major (large) arc, i.e. the long way around. Use this when the boundary sweeps more than a half-circle.
Which way does it bow? Parcels are read clockwise. + bows the arc outward (more area); − cuts it inward (less area). If the area or plan view looks wrong, flip the +/− sign first.
Reading the results
| Result | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Perimeter | Total boundary length (arcs measured along the curve). |
| Misclosure | How far the last point misses the start. Smaller is better; 0 is a perfect close. |
| Misclosure Dir | The direction of that gap — tells you which course to check. |
| Precision | Ratio like 1 : 8,000 — perimeter ÷ misclosure. Higher is better. It's colour-coded (green good, amber fair, red poor). |
| Area | Enclosed area in square metres/feet, plus hectares or acres. |
Working with more than one parcel
A job can hold several parcels. Two tabs sit above the courses table:
- Courses — build and check the parcel you're editing (everything above).
- Parcel Summaries — add up the areas across parcels.
The parcel bar
The Parcel bar above the table switches and manages parcels:
- Parcel dropdown — pick which parcel you're editing.
- New — name and add a fresh parcel.
- Rename — rename the current parcel.
- Copy — duplicate the current parcel (handy for near-identical lots).
- Delete — remove the current parcel (a job always keeps at least one).
Parcel Summaries — totalling areas
- Switch to the Parcel Summaries tab and tick the parcels to include. Each area is listed with a bold Total Area at the bottom.
- Splitting a boundary into parts (PART 1, PART 2…)? Choose the enclosing parcel as the Boundary. It is held out of the total, so the total is the sum of the parts only.
- With a boundary set, the grid shows Total of parts and a Difference (boundary minus parts).
Difference = 0 means the parts account for the whole boundary — a quick check that your subdivision adds up. A positive figure means the parts fall short; a negative figure means they overrun.
Buttons
- Sample — loads a demo parcel so you can see how it all works.
- Save / Open — store or reload a parcel as an
.acheckfile on your computer. - Clear — empties the table to start fresh.
- Print Report — opens a clean, printable closure report (course table + results) you can save as PDF.
Tips & troubleshooting
- A field turns red? The entry couldn't be read — check the format (angles are D.MMSS, not decimal degrees).
- Huge misclosure? Usually one wrong quadrant or a transposed digit. The Misclosure Direction points you at the bad course.
- Curve area looks off? Try the other curve type (Curve ↔ Bulge) or flip the +/− sign.
- Start over quickly — click Sample, study one course, then Clear and enter your own.
Acheck Online · The Drawing Store · Questions? drawingroom@rogers.com