Being Civil

Line and Curve… Curve Delta (∆) symbol Label issue…

Hi everybody… This one has been around for a little while. When you use a Line and Curve Label over a curve the delta symbol will not display. It will show as "D" but when you drag the label it will show the delta symbol. You can get in the label style composer and no matter what you do the delta symbol will not show. So now, how do I make this work?

Here is a little trick to make the impossible possible...

First you need to:

1. Go to the Setting tab -> Parcel -> Label Styles -> Curve, select the Delta over Length and Radios labels.

2. Right-click on it and choose Edit to get into Label Style Composer

3. In the Label Style Composer's Layout tab, select the Delta component. and click on Contents

4. Go to the Text Component Editor - Contents, highlight the component of the label and Copy it (CTRL + C)

5. Then cancel all out.

6. Now edit the Distance - Radius and Delta label for Line and Curve:

7. On the Layout tab, select the Delta component.

8. Go to the Text Component Editor again.

9. Paste the content that you just copied from the Parcel label; this will add an extra component on the properties of the label that wasn't available before.

10. Make your changes and adjustment for Precision and Format.

11. Save the label.

This will fix the delta issue. In case that you get lost trying to follow the steps, here is a video so you can see how to make it work.

Coordinate System Resources

Coordinate systems can be pretty confusing, and there are a lot of options.  Luckily, when everything is configured right, your transforms just happen in the background like magic.  For those occasions when things aren't showing up where you expect them, here are a few good resources to look to:

• The help on Autodesk.com
• The Map 3D and Civil 3D forums (search before you post!)
• Spatial Reference (external site)
• This excellent explanatory article (external site)
• Wikipedia for a basic overview and good links (external site)
• A site with a fairly easy to read transform listing (external site)
• The EPSG guides have much of the source material.  Number 7 part 2 may be the most useful.(external site)

Have fun!

Coordinate Systems: Updated Mostly Canadian Version

Thanks to some work from the developers working on the Coordinate System functionality, we have some cleaned up directions to replace those in the last Canadian CS post.  These steps are both more widely applicable, and easier than the previous directions.

Take a look:

 

For AutoCAD Map 2012  or later you need to modify the definition of the Geodetic Transformation named "NAD27_to_NAD83". Essentially you will need to edit that definition to include a reference to the newly installed Ntv2_0.gsb file.

- In AutoCAD Map, run the command MAPCSLIBRARY, or press the "Library" button in the ribbon located inside the "Coordinate System" panel.
- locate the Geodetic Tranformation "NAD27_to_NAD83", and select it
- press the "Edit" button
- select the "Grid Data File Interpolation" item in the left pane
- choose the "Grid File Format" "Canadian NTv2" in the combobox
- press the "+" button
- select the Canadian grid file and add it to the list

This dialog box is also where you can specify a different fallback transformation mentioned at the beginning of this readme file.

The NAD27 to NAD83 transformation data files overlap.  In the region of overlap, the various files will not produce exactly the same results.
You may indicate which data file is to take precedence by sequencing the file references in the order of precedence.  Overlap in this specific case occurs between the NTV2_0.gsb file and the CONUS.L?S files (especially in and around the Detroit area) and between the NTV2_0.gsb file and the ALASKA.L?S files along the common border between Canada and Alaska.
To change the order of the grid files use the up and down arrow buttons on the right side of list of grid files.

- Once your list of grid files is correct, press the save button and close the coordinate system library dialog box

The procedure to use datum shift files provided by a provincial government is similar to the above.  You must first obtain the file, copy it into a logical location in the dictionary folder hierarchy, and then make AutoCAD Map aware of the existence and location of the file by editing the appropriate Geodetic Transformation as described above.

From Vault to Data Shortcuts v2.0 (2012 Version)

If you are one of the regular readers of Being Civil you may remember the question how to move from Vault projects into Civil 3D Data Shortcuts. Another situation where similar workflow may be useful would be if one user or contractor doesn’t have Vault but would like to get data out of it. Roughly a couple of years ago I wrote a post From Vault to Data Shortcuts. With the introduction of other flavors of vault you have learned that some things will not work the same way as before for several reasons that are behind the scope of my intent to share this with you. Main one is that the project.xml file that used to store information about Vault project is not used anymore.

Obviously, this made the first post about moving to Data Shortcuts obsolete for 2012 version. With great help of Rob Todd, a long time Autodesk veteran, I am about to share a revised workflow or “From Vault to Data Shortcuts v2.0” with you. As always, Thanks, Rob!

Here is what we need to do. Let’s imagine that we don’t have Vault and have no plans to have it, but our Client is using vault for storage of their projects and we are craving for their data.

Within Vault there is a functionality which allows exporting of Vault project to ZIP file. Simply right-click on project name will give the option. So now, that ZIP file went through the Data Superhighway and reached us. To summarize:

From the Civil 3D 2012 and Vault AEC Collaboration/Professional/Workgroup 2012 environment:

1. From Civil 3D 2012, export the Vault 2012 project to a ZIP file
2. Send the project ZIP file to the non-Vault environment

This is where the real workflow begins…after the jump.

How to Import Description Key Sets?...

I have been asked this question before and I thought that it will make a good post…

How can I use Description Keys from other drawings???... Can I import Description Keys on my drawing???... When I try to drag and drop them, it doesn’t work…

Sure it is way, just open one of your drawings that has your DescKey Set on it in Civil 3D 2010 or any older version, make sure that you delete all the information on it (for this call the ERASE (E) command from the command line and type ALL, please check that all your layers are ON, THAWED and UNLOCKED before doing this) and PURGE the drawing, do a save as just in case, so you don’t damage or overwrite something…

Now open your Civil 3D 2012 and insert the drawing that you just created and clean in 2010 or any oldest version using the INSERT (I) command.

This will bring any styles and also the Description Key set to your drawing in 2012 that you can save as a template or work on it.

Here is a short video that illustrates what I am saying, just in case that you are like me…

“If I can see it, I can recreate it”

How to Import Description Key Sets?...

Hope this will give you some ideas...

acmaploader.arx error - Up and Ready Strikes Again!

Another great post from David and company over at the Up and Ready blog:

AutoCAD Map 3D 2012: FDO.dll & acmaploader.arx error

 

Take a look!

Drawing Cannot Locate the Project

One of the most entertaining features for me in Civil 3D are certainly Data Shortcuts. I like the fact that they are very useful but because they can be easily broken if not played with properly, they are fun to troubleshoot. This may sound strange, but I find it cool and challenging to look for what may be broken. Data shortcuts are, as the name suggests just shortcuts to the object residing inside of other drawings. This is where similarity with XREFs stops, so don’t expect them to behave like XREFs. They may be other similar things but I would stop here.

Data shortcuts, unlike full blown XREF, which links the drawing with another drawing, could pick one or more objects from other drawings and allow you to insert them into your main drawing utilizing different styles. One thing that’s often a misconception is (and believe me I have seen my share of questions about it) that once they are in the main drawing they can be manipulated as they were part of the drawing. NO - These are references from other objects residing inside of other drawings. If you were to open a data shortcut XML file, you would see that there are only a few lines in it basically stating little more about object and the drawings from which they are created from.

RESULTS FROM MULTIPLE STORM ANALYSIS

I had a user questioning – “My SSA model runs fine, however it would not provide me any reports; all the reporting tools are grayed out, the time series plot does not contain any elements and the profile plot does not show HGL & EGL and no reports in the table below. The Excel Report contains only the input data.”

Figure 1. All reporting tools are grayed out after the analysis.

There are two options to obtain the results from Multiple Storm Analysis in SSA. The first option is to select the required design storm for the program to generate the reports immediately after performing the analysis (likewise performing a single storm analysis). One has to select the require design storm in the “Load output file:” at the bottom for the Storm Selection tab as shown in the image below.

Figure 2. Selecting the design storm to be loaded after the analysis.

The second option is to manually load the solution file for the required design storm you wish to analyze. Below is the pictorial instruction on loading the solution file within the Time Series Plot.

Figure 3. Manually selecting the solution file to be loaded for analysis.

I hope these little tips save your precious time wondering what is going on with the program. Keep tunning in for more.