Data References and styles...?

Ok, so I set up a project and associated a surface and two alignments to that project via data referencing (i think i did it right) lol

So I go into a new drawing

Associate a project to the drawing

Than I right click alignments>create reference..

and now my problem, it doesnt seem to find the alignment/label styles associated with that alignment?? It just gives me the option to set "standard" though in the main design folder i have other styles to show the alignment how i want it to be show.

So how do i get it to show that way inside this drawing also? am i missing a step?

I attached a pic of the dialog box that shows the options when referencing in the data, hope that helps.

EDIT: I dont think I set up the project and data references correctly to begin with. Can someone help me out with this? How can I delete what I have done and start over?

thanks

Unfortunately, this is yet another issue that the Civil 3D development team has not taken care of.

What's happening is that the Civil 3D Object (in this case, and Alignment) is being referenced in just fine, but the way the system is setup currently, the Data Referenced Object is relegated to the Styles that are contained within the Referencing Document (the current drawing).

This post may be useful.

The way that Autocad set up the Data References is nicely done.

I like the idea of being able to manipulate the styles of the objects and not be tied into the source drawing. This way I can set them to whatever I want and not have to worry about what I do in the original.

I would say it is better to have the option of manipulating the styles than not having that option at all.

The way that Autocad set up the Data References is nicely done.

 

I like the idea of being able to manipulate the styles of the objects and not be tied into the source drawing. This way I can set them to whatever I want and not have to worry about what I do in the original.

 

I would say it is better to have the option of manipulating the styles than not having that option at all.

I respectfully disagree... At least in part.

I am _not_ arguing the point that the user shouldn't have an opportunity to change the Object Style(s) at the time of creating a Data Reference, in fact I quite agree with you on this.

I am however, making the point that the system as-is, precludes the source Object's Style as an option altogether... Something that _does_ display correctly when attaching the same source model as an External Reference.

Surely you can see the distinction.

Thansk for the info guys, before i move onto trying to get them into another drawing I am trying to set the data and project up again as I think I did it wrong initially.. Could you possibly help with this? Ive watched some you tube videos, but just dont seem to understand how it all works.

So I have my drawing open, (project#-main design.dwg) this has my surface and 2 alignments in it currently, and will be adding profiles in shortly.

When I right click data shortcuts, what is the initial step that i must due?

sorry for the step by step help that is needed, but takes me a bit to understand how it all works..

the help menu states this:

Set the working folder

Right-click the Data Shortcuts collection. Click Set Working Folder.

The working folder is the parent folder where you save project folders. For this exercise, you will specify a folder on your hard drive as your working folder.

In the Browse For Folder dialog box, navigate to the Civil 3D Projects folder. Click OK.

my projects are set up as follows:

project#-name>CAD>bashesheets, consdocs, design (were each of these is a sub folder.

so would my working folder be Project#_name>CAD>Design??? or the initial project folder (project#_name)

When I right click data shortcuts, what is the initial step that i must due?

If you've not done so, you should 'Set Working Folder'.

Render,

I was editing my post as you typed that, please see question about working folder

my projects are set up as follows:

project#-name>CAD>bashesheets, consdocs, design (were each of these is a sub folder.

 

so would my working folder be Project#_name>CAD>Design??? or the initial project folder (project#_name)

Still need some information, but I'll try to help...

Under your folder structure, presuming that your ..\_shortcuts\ folder (the directory where ShortcutsHistory.xml resides) is located within your ..\design\ folder, then you would manually select two directories up (in this case ..\consdocs\), where the 'project name' would be 'design'

Ok so I right clicked Data Shortcuts and browsed to my CONSDOCS subfolder..so that is set as the working folder now.

What would be the next step? Associate a Project to the drawing? or "new data shortcuts project folder"??

What would be the next step? Associate a Project to the drawing? or "new data shortcuts project folder"??

Forums are great resources, but _are not_ places to come for free training... Especially on a vertical such as Civil 3D.

Take some time and read through the Civil 3D 2012 User's Guide > Project Management > Using Data Shortcuts > Project Setup... it's the only way you're going to learn this for yourself.

Ok how about a reference or good book to pick up to help learn Civil 3D??

Sorry, wasnt looking for free training, just some help that the autocad help file wasnt giving me (or i wasnt understanding)

Thanks for the help

No worries; some newer members have the unfortunate circumstance of wearing out their welcome by treating others as such, and not that you have here, but I wanted to make the effort of saving you this fate... These sorts of members tend to be ignored once they earn that distinction.

Based on the sort of questions you've asked thus far, I think you're doing yourself a disservice by ignoring the Civil 3D documentation... However, that is your choice to make... If you insist on spending money to purchase a book as a reference, you might consider Mastering Civil 3D 2012.

Thanks Render, I use to be quite active on here than happened to stop using CAD for a couple years and now am just getting back to using it and trying to re learn some stuff as well as learn new stuff. I will take a look at the documentation autodesk provides again and see if i can make better sense of it.

Appreciate all your help.

I can only imagine the challenge you're facing delving back into CAD having been away for a bit, let alone attempting to do so with Civil 3D from the outset... A task not easily accomplished by seasoned Land Desktop users. I know from others at my place of work who struggled.

Unlike the developer documentation, the user's guide is fairly decent, but to try and get into any sort of advanced style manipulation, etc. before having the user's guide under your belt may be a bit more than ambitious. Styles essentially rule Civil 3D, and are not (in my limited experience) something that all users are capable, nor responsible for maintaining. There's usually a small handful of select few that have the unrewarded pleasure of never getting credit for the service they proode by doing that.

I wish you luck, and am always happy to help... Go through some material, try things out for yourself, and when you get stuck (and you will!), come back and post a clear, descriptive post and I am sure you'll get pointed in the right direction.

Good luck!

I respectfully disagree... At least in part.

 

I am _not_ arguing the point that the user shouldn't have an opportunity to change the Object Style(s) at the time of creating a Data Reference, in fact I quite agree with you on this.

 

I am however, making the point that the system as-is, precludes the source Object's Style as an option altogether... Something that _does_ display correctly when attaching the same source model as an External Reference.

 

Surely you can see the distinction.

If you set up your parts list correctly, this will never be a problem. The way we have it set up is we have all the parts in one list; Design, Existing and Future. Each part with their own Style; Design, Existing and Future.

This way, when we create the source drawing we dont have to worry about changing styles throughout the shortcuts we create.

The only problem is when we want to continue a project and have to change the parts to Existing. We have to swap parts in order to get the styles correct. This has been the best way that I find to conquer this problem. Again with every Civil 3D issue, A lot of setup time, but an easier workflow.

That is interesting... And the approach we used to take as well. Unnecessarily bloated models, sheets with styles, and parts lists they didn't need... An utter mess.

Instead, now, we simply start off with a drawing that is relatively Civil 3D-empty, lacking any and all styles for any particular model type (we split out our AECC* Objects in logical groups, in separate models to better support a team environment, rather than dump them all in one model). This, combined with simple, commonsense routines to allow for any given user to quickly and programmatically turn this Civil 3D-empty starting point into the desired model, supporting Existing, Proposed, Future, and Demo styles as needed, we find that our drawings are significantly smaller (which I could generally care less about), but the inherent advantage is the speed with which our models Open, and Publish.

Also, special care is taken to minimize the duplication of Data References... This also gums up the works. Unfortunately, Data References do not have an 'Overlay' option. *shrug*

Pretty much the way you have to go with Civil 3D. We have every aspect of Civil 3D seperated, mainly for the limiting capabilites of the hardware we have. Less crashing is always good. lol.

We have a system set up so that we dont have xrefs of data refrences. That for sure will get your drawing running in circles.

Agreed.

I am curious to know though....

We have a system set up so that we dont have xrefs of data refrences. That for sure will get your drawing running in circles.

... How do you XREF your Profile View(s) into sheets without the Alignment, and Surface Data Reference(s)?

We put our data references right into the sheet set. We found that certain labels are a nightmare to add to xrefs. Mainly lable sets. This gives us better control over what we can display and label. And beats going into an xref and refreshing everytime to make a change.

If I am understanding you correctly....

You're Data Referencing an Alignment and a Surface into your sheet, and you have a Profile View Externally Referenced... If this is correct, then you have your Alignment and Surface referenced twice.

One cannot create a Profile View without both an Alignment, and a Surface existing within the Drawing in which the Profile View resides... These can actually exist within the same Drawing, or simply be Data Referenced into the Profile View Drawing, but they're there.

When you Attach/Overlay your Profile View Drawing into a Sheet as an External Reference, the (Data Referenced?) Alignment and Surface come with it.