Controlling Points in XREFs

This is a post about conversations I have frequently with Surveyors and their office staff. First and foremost, DO NOT EXPLODE any Civil 3D objects! OK, now that I’ve said that… Civil 3D uses point groups and description keys to control how points are displayed, not layers.

Every surveyor just now threw up their hands and said, well… things I cannot repeat here. Let’s take a breath and find out how we can calm the masses while maintaining the Civil 3D model.

Corridor Cul-de-sac troubleshooting

Corridors are quite fun to build, configure and eventually model various surfaces. Everyone has seen the smooth and clean examples.

 

Sometimes, the corridor object can get out of whack; subassemblies targeting the wrong alignments, daylighting specified to the wrong surface, etc. Maybe you’ve seen this simple error…

Of course intersection can pose their own problems, but what about all of those other corridor examples like bus stops or knuckles or even cul-de-sacs. Recently, I had a chance to help someone with just such an issue. And it looked like this. For some reason, the lane was not respecting the closest target making a hole in the surface.

Let’s see what we can find out….

Civil 3D Style Evolution

I teach a fair amount of classes around the functionality of Civil 3D. One common dilemma I hear students discuss is how to handle styles. Yes, you can put them in a template and have the standard set of styles available. But what happens when I need to present an object differently than the company standard? Agent Smith once said “You hear that Mr. Anderson?… That is the sound of inevitability…”

Yes, style change is inevitable. After the break, I’ll give you my solution which does not end in death…

Disappearing Shortcut Node

This is a quick service announcement for those that don’t use data shortcuts. You or your firm probably do this for one of two reasons. Either you’re standardized on Vault or you put everything in a single file. Either way, you often find that having the data shortcut node visible in Prospector is the most annoying aspect of using Civil 3D.

Well, you are in luck.

Sorting in Sheet Set Manager Model Tab

Alright then… Back from an extended writing hiatus. I’ve not been terribly busy but seemed to need a break from writing.  Today, I am doing some help desk coverage while other members of the team are headed to training at an Autodesk event. This happens every year coinciding with the new releases of the software/applications. So, to get myself warmed up a bit, I took a stroll down to the Autodesk forums and found something called Autodesk Answer Day. The idea is that it is a live Q&A session hosted on a certain forum page. The first answer day was an AutoCAD Answer Day hosted on this board this past Friday on May 7th, 2015. The people responding ranged from community managers and customer service to product designers and analysts.

One of the first topics I noticed was about the sheet set manager. If you have no idea what that is, PLEASE take a minute to educate yourself about the most underused power tool in the AutoCAD platform. Now that you’re familiar, let’s find out what problem is being asked. “Jarsky” wanted to know why the drawings and folders on the model tab did not sort alphabetically. See below for what was happening to him.

Vault Christmas Present

At least it is for me… 

Suppose you have been running Vault Basic or Pro using MS SQL Server Express 2005 or 2008, depending on when you started using document management. One of the primary limitations of Express was the database having a size limitation of 4GB. With Express 2008 R2 and newer, that limitation is expanded to 10GB of data. Seriously? 10GB of metadata, data about the data? That is lots of data.

Now, if you’re using replication, you are forced into a full version of MS SQL Server. For those not using replication, here the two main reasons:

• Manage a central file database across multiple offices, Site ‘A’ and ‘B’ listed below
• Disaster recovery, where Site ‘B’ is simply an off-site server hosting your backup data.

Merry Christmas!

A Christmas Hellelujah

Everyone has heard a version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah at some point in time. Thanks to Shrek, even my daughters have heard it. And from what I’ve read, Mr. Cohen wrote approximately 80 verses over the course of a day. I can only imagine what some of them may have said. What we do know is the popular version goes like this:

I’ve heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing HallelujahHallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, HallelujahYour faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I’ve walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time when you let me know
What’s really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It’s not a cry you can hear at night
It’s not somebody who has seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain
I don’t even know the name
But if I did, well, really, what’s it to you?
There’s a blaze of light in every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

But did you know of all the cover versions out there, there is a recent cover that re-wrote all of the verses?