What is the best way to store coordinates

[Tim Wessman]

Well, this is bringing back memories. :-)

If you really would like to keep them grouped and since you are dealing with real numbers, I'd recommend doing a { #PN, [ N,E,EL], " " } type of structure. Note that there are not really 2d/3d vectors, but I believe you'll find grouping them like such will prove convenient. The first number I'd keep as an integer just for clarity's sake, but sticking it into the vector would reduce the size slightly. Compared with the 48 series, lists are going to be VERY fast because sizing information is encoded in the list and you don't have to scan everything to know the list size or get to the next object.

Alternatively, you could have 1 list of point numbers, 1 list of your vectored N,E,EL, and then 1 list for your codes. This would definitely be the fastest as you can do quicker searches for the PN or matching codes, but you have to be certain nothing can get out of sync else everything is messed up.