Abstract: With the rapid development of technologies in sensor, computer and robotics, the trends of multi-sensor integration and intelligent applications are shown in surveying field. Engineering surveying has developed in the direction of automation, dynamism and intelligence, and is widely used for high-precision measurement of large bridges, water conservancy hubs, high-speed rail subways, highways and other projects, as well as precision industrial measurement in aerospace, aviation, intelligent manufacturing and other fields. The expansion of application fields also puts forward new requirements for surveying tasks.The surveying data processing is no longer limited to the traditional pure geometric parameter estimation, but gradually expands to the generalized measurement data processing with both geometric parameters and feature information. We review the development process from classical measurement data processing to generalized measurement data processing, summarize the processing and analysis logic of multiple types of measurement data, and present the challenges of measurement data processing in the era of big data. The basic ideas and strategies of generalized measurement data processing are elaborated and illustrated with several typical cases.