Displaying Points Using Point Groups

"How to display points, turn them all off, or all back on again"

(without using layers)

 

 

Laugh do you?  I cannot tell you how many times i see people trying to manipulate points and point labels by using layers.

 

This should be one of those "WNTDNC3D"  (what NOT to do in Civil 3D) items... do NOT use layers.  In fact, there are very very few times i even use or even need to use layers any more in Civil 3D.

 

 

So here we go... typical drawing with points brought in through a CSV file (comma seperated value), this particular point list was brought in using description keys.  That is why you see some trees showing immediatly upon import, but thats a different subject for a different blog.

 

 

 

 

We also have several point groups as shown below...

 

 

 

The "Invisible" point group contains all the points in the project, just as the "All Points" group does.

Below you will see that the Invisible point group has no point style, and no point label style.  This is what makes it invisible.

 

 

 

Turning all the points "off" or making them invisible is simply a matter of moving the invisible point group "above" all the other point groups in the list.  (as shown here)  You get to this particular window by right clicking on the words "Point Groups" in the prospector and choosing properties.

 

Original point group list.

 

Select the "invisible" group, and click on the top right "up arrow" to move this group to the top of the list as shown.

Modified point group list.

 

This is similar to the "bring to front" options for objects in AutoCAD or Civil 3D... point groups are displayed in the order they appear in the list.   Because "invisible" is first, that is the style used for all the points in that group.  All other groups will now be displayed below invisible, and therefor not show up on the screen.  (Except for the "Gotcha" i mentioned earlier) Notice the problem below.  All points are invisible except a few...

 



 

 

Here is the problem, and the solution   If you select any one of the points still on the screen, and look at properties, you will notice (red arrows below) that the style and point label style are set.  This means that the individual point properties are overriding the point group properties.

 

 

 

Ok, so how to fix this...  Right click on the "Invisible" point group and select Properties.  Now navigate to the "Overrides" tab as shown, and place a check mark in the "Style" and "Point Label Style" override boxes.  (see below).

 

 













 

This will make the point group "Override" the individual point styles and point label styles we saw in the properties box.

 

Click on the OK button and you should see the points dissappear.

 

 

 

To display one point group simply "move" that point group above the "Invisible" point group and you will see the results.  In the example below, Topo points are now shown above Invisible points, therefor the Topo points will display, and all others below invisible will not.  Simple enough?

 

 

Point Group Order is Key here.

 

 

 

As you can see below, the Topo points are displayed, while Aerial points are not.

 



 

 

Hope this helps, if not you can always visit www.youngsvos.com for further information.

 

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Civil 3D - What NOT to do !!! (Part 1 of MANY)

Well here goes,  many people are amazed at Civil 3D.  Unfortunately they are also amazed at some of the things they manage to do with unexpected results.

Now before you panic, this is usually not a big deal, because of the undo button, or the "oops" button.

But preventative maintenance is always better than trying to fix things, so here goes.


If you want to delete a profile VIEW please do NOT put a window around it, or a crossing window around it, and hit the delete button.

This will in fact delete the profile view, however...  IT WILL DELETE THE PROFILES AS WELL,  like the existing or proposed profiles.

And most of the time, i really doubt you would want this because it means re-creating possibly the existing profile, the proposed profile, and any other profile you may have placed in the view.

DONT BELIEVE ME?  Go try it on a test drawing and make sure of what you're doing.

Good luck, back again soon with more "What NOT to do" helpful hints.


For more, please visit www.youngsvos.com or email me at lyoung@youngsvos.com for questions or help.

Happy Cadding!!

Break ROW Lines at Each Lot Corner - EASILY!

Parcel Creation and Lot Line Bearing and Distance Labels

(Little Known Feature in Map 3D)

Now before you ignore this, remember that Map 3D is already included in Civil 3D.  In fact, so is AutoCAD.

But I digress…  back to the issue.  Parcels need to be dimensioned, usually with a bearing and distance on each line.   So what happens when the R.O.W. line needs a distance, but also needs to be broken up into individual lot lines for distance labels also?

In fact, how do we get the “perfectly” closed polygonal areas needed for parcel conversion? 

We all know the problem, lines that don’t “exactly” meet at the corner, lines that go too far, or fall short of the line to be intersected, duplicate lines…  and the list goes on.

Thanks to Map 3D, these errors can be fixed quite easily and extremely quickly (all at once in fact) and R.O.W. lines can be broken at each lot corner allowing for easy labeling without manually drawing duplicate lines and without using the tedious "break" command.

But wait.. theres more!   When the R.O.W. lines get broken, the individual lot lines created can also be placed on a new layer leaving the original R.O.W. line intact.  Distance labeling solved.

So what is this “Little known feature”?   It’s called Drawing Cleanup, and yes, you already have it if you are using Civil 3D.

Need to know how to use this amazing tool?

Well, simply visit www.youngsvos.com and become a member. 

(We do not spam!)

But we will give you a short lesson on how to use Drawing Cleanup.  You will also get additional free information on Civil 3D, on-line training classes, videos and more.

Contact me at lyoung@youngsvos.com for “Rapid Response Training”.  If you need to know how to accomplish something in Civil 3D, and you need to know NOW, we can help… immediately.

Surface Outer Boundary - When Corridor Extents Not Available

I used to wonder why "sometimes" i could create a boundary from the "extents of the corridor" and other times that option was not there.

Well, i have a shortcut to creating the surface boundary from the extents of the corridor even if that option doesnt appear to be available initially.

In this image, you notice that you have a limited amount of options available for use as the boundary (and in this case none of them are a viable choice).  Creating the boundary by hand is not easily done, and can lead to a great deal of needless work.

THE TRICK:

By creating a second baseline in the parameters of the corridor, Civil 3D will now add in the option of using the corridor extents.

HOW:

Add an additional baseline to the corridor as shown below.  (Please remember to take this out after the boundary has been created.)

Before...

After...

You will need to put a profile in, but it doesnt really matter for this temporary baseline, so dont be overly concerned about which profile.

Now you will notice on the surface boundaries tab (as shown below) that the option "Corridor extents as outer boundary" is now available for use.



And there you have it!  Quick easy workaround for getting the boundary in without having to digitize or sketch in a polyline all the way around the outline of the corridor.

One final thing...  DELETE THE SECOND BASELINE!   It is no longer needed, and could become confusing later or to others.

Remember, visit http://www.youngsvos.com/ and call us for custom "on-line" training that saves you all the travel expenses, gets the issue solved immediately, and requires no time away from your office for 3 day training classes.

Civil 3D - Its Not Your Fathers LDT (or... Make Invisible Syles)

Sorry, but you heard me right!

Ever freeze a layer to turn off a surface or an alignment?  Of course you have, but this is definitely NOT a good idea in Civil 3D.  Why?  Because its not your fathers LDT, and its definitely not your grandfathers AutoCAD!  When you freeze (or turn off) a layer, you may not (ok probably not)  know what else is on that layer.  THATS WHEN THINGS DISAPPEAR!

So you get into a drawing, or you come back to a drawing and discover that there are things missing.  Yes, this has happened to all of us at some point.  And whats the first thing we do?  Of course...  we run around the office accusing everyone of destroying our drawing.  Because after all, isnt that the job of any other employee? To make YOU look bad?

You see, Autodesk came up with these brilliant items called "Styles".  Now there may be hundreds of them in any particular drawing, and yes, they may even be a little difficult to learn, but they are there for a reason, and they most certainly make a LOT of things easier.

For example, have you ever thought of making a style called "Invisible"?  Surely not,  if it had to be invisible why would you waste time putting it in the drawing in the first place.  Well then why did Autodesk make those cute little buttons in the layer manager that lets you freeze or turn off layers?  Because there comes a point in time when you may just want something in your drawing, yet be able to "hide" it for a while. Like when you want to plot the drawing without the surface, or without the alignment.

Now...  lets talk about this "invisible" style for a bit shall we?  My opinion is that almost every Civil 3D object, IE: Surface, alignment, corridor, etc etc. should have an invisible style.  This makes it quite easy to change to the invisible style which then will turn off a surface, corridor, etc. And this is done without freezing or turning off layers and accidentally turning off anything else that you would spend hours of time looking for later.  (Not to mention all the enemies you'll make when the accusations start about someone touching YOUR drawing.)

Yes, i am a consultant, and a Civil 3D instructor, i have been for many years.  But i still get the call almost weekly where some object, or group of obects has suddenly disappeared.  So next time that happens, look for layers that are off or frozen, then do yourself a favor, create an invisible style for the object you were trying to hide.  And if you dont know how to do this, give me a call....

Did I mentioned i'm a Civil 3D instructor?

Till next time... 

"Step away from your fathers LDT"!!!

And visit http://www.youngsvos.com/ for all your Civil 3D and Map 3D training needs.

Dragged Point Label - Gap between arrowhead and point marker.

Ever notice that when you drag a point label, there is a gap between the end of the arrowhead and the actual point marker?  (Like this)

The fix for this is easy assuming you can find WHERE to go to fix it.  (Kinda starting to seem like this is the problem way too often for my taste!)

So here goes...

1.  Select the point (or label)
2.  Right click, and select "Point Group Properties"

Now here is where the fun starts because one would assume (or at least i did) that the fix would be in the label style.  WRONG, its actually in the Point Style.

3.  Click the down arrow to the right of the point style (the second down arrow), and choose "Edit Current Selection" from the dropdown list.
4.  Click on the "Summary" tab at the top.
5.  Click the "+" sign to expand the Marker group.
6.  Change the "Leader Stops at Marker" value to "No"

7. Click OK, and OK once again.

Your arrow should now go all the way to the actual point location.  (As shown here)

Hope this helps solve a rather annoying problem.

Till next time, remember for all your Civil 3D training needs visit http://www.youngsvos.com/ where we can help you save time with our expert training.

"If we can save you just 5 minutes per hour....  

then we just gave you an extra month per year."