Remove Columns from XYZ Files

The Remove Columns XYZ function creates a new XYZ file containing only the required columns.

It is intended for XYZ files that contain groups of numbered columns, for example:

• RHO_1, RHO_2, RHO_3, …
• DEP_TOP_1, DEP_TOP_2, …
• DEP_BOT_1, DEP_BOT_2, …

You specify which groups of numbered columns should be kept by adding their prefixes to the beginning of the file header.

At the beginning of the XYZ file, add one line for each numbered column prefix that you want to keep.

End the list with:

/COLS END

For example:

/RHO_
/DEP_TOP_
/COLS END

With this configuration, the exported file will keep columns such as:

RHO_1
RHO_2
RHO_3
DEP_TOP_1
DEP_TOP_2
DEP_TOP_3

Any other numbered column groups will be removed.

Columns that do not have a numbered suffix are kept automatically.

For example:

X
Y
Z
LINE

These columns do not need to be listed in the /COLS section.

Assume the original XYZ file contains the following columns:

X
Y
RHO_1
RHO_2
DEP_TOP_1
DEP_TOP_2
COND_1
COND_2

and the beginning of the file contains:

/RHO_
/DEP_TOP_
/COLS END

The exported file will contain:

X
Y
RHO_1
RHO_2
DEP_TOP_1
DEP_TOP_2

The following columns will be removed:

COND_1
COND_2

The original file is not modified.

A new file is created in the same location as the source file. A timestamp is added to the filename.

Example:

SurveyData_20260810_113500.xyz

The filename format is:

OriginalFile_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.xyz

The output columns are automatically formatted to accommodate the longest value found in each retained column.

The /COLS END marker is required.

If the marker is not found, the operation is cancelled and a message explains how to configure the file header.

A valid configuration could be:

/RHO_
/DEP_TOP_
/COLS END

To remove unwanted numbered columns from an XYZ file:

1. Add the prefixes of the numbered column groups you want to keep at the beginning of the file.
2. Add /COLS END after the final prefix.
3. Run Remove Columns XYZ.
4. A new timestamped XYZ file containing only the selected columns is created.

Non-numbered columns are retained automatically.