Go Commando!

Utilizing Data Shortcuts and

External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D
Data
Joe Hedrick, LS, EIT – Avatech Solutions

CV114-1P Does data management have your shorts in a knot? If so, this class is for you! During this
session, we will dig into the tools and explore tips and techniques that will allow you successfully manage your
Civil 3D project data without utilizing the Vault solution. Special attention will be placed on the new data
shortcuts functionality and project structure to efficiently collaborate and work as a project team. This class will
benefit civil engineering and surveying professionals as well as CAD managers. Attendees should have a
good knowledge of Civil 3D.

About the Speaker:

Joe is the professional services manager for Avatech's Infrastructure Solutions Group, where he provides
Autodesk civil engineering / survey implementation consulting services. Joe has over 15 years of experience
in land surveying and civil engineering, encompassing field-data collection, site design and layout, residential
subdivision design, and land planning. He is an EIT and a licensed land surveyor in Virginia, and earned his
Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering Technology from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

joe.hedrick@avatech.com
Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

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 Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

Introduction

As the adoption of building information modeling grows throughout the AEC industry, it’s time for
civil engineers and surveyors to take note and join in. The concept of BIM is fairly simple: it’s
the creation and use of coordinated, internally consistent, computable information about a
building project in design and construction. Civil engineers and surveyors are being pulled by
architects and owners to be part of the integrated delivery process. This means the entire
project team including architects, civil engineers, structural engineers, MEP engineers, and
surveyors contribute components to a project model that is shared. The benefit is that the
model can be explored, evaluated and analyzed before it is built.

Asking civil engineers and surveyors to share the same data is kind of like asking dogs and cats
to live together in harmony. The mindset of having individual silos of information and then
emailing or making copies of files for others to use is changing. Many organizations are seeing
the benefits of sharing the same project data as it helps to reduce errors and omissions as well
as reduce the overall timeline on the project. Civil engineers and surveyors, as well as the
extended project team, can realize benefits by sharing the same information.

Sharing the Model

Civil 3D 2009 sports an updated process for sharing design information between different team
members and different drawing files. Similar to the process in the 2006 version, data shortcuts
are now just as easy and logical to use as a traditional workflow using Autodesk Vault.

From a 50,000 foot level, Civil 3D stores data similarly to Land Desktop. The foundation of
Land Desktop was that all project information was stored in a rather strict project directory
structure. While the program did a good job of managing it, the project information was stored
across hundreds of external files. Some of these files were databases; some were text files,
while others were in proprietary formats. While it might not be quite so obvious, project data in
Civil 3D should be broken up in a similar matter. The difference is that Civil 3D allows for a very
flexible project directory and drawing files (.dwg) become the containers for the design objects.

Everything necessary to begin creating projects and sharing the project model can be found on
the PROSPECTOR tab of TOOLSPACE. Make sure you have the top drop down box set to
“Master View” so that the Data Shortcuts tree will be visible.

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 Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

Figure 1 - Prospector tab in "Master View"

Although it isn’t necessary, best practices for using Civil 3D starts with a project. Unlike Land
Desktop, Civil 3D project directory structure is very flexible. Projects can reside on the local
machine or, more commonly, on a network server. Due to its flexibility there is no one correct
way to arrange the project folders; however, a popular approach is similar to the layout below.

Figure 2 - Sample project directory structure

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 Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

To create a project, begin by right clicking on the data shortcuts node in prospector.

Figure 3 - Default options when right clicking on Data Shortcuts node

Unlike most other Autodesk products, navigation of this menu isn’t necessarily from top to
bottom. The first thing that needs to be done is to select SET WORKING FOLDER.

This is very similar to setting a project path Land Desktop. This is the folder in which the
individual projects will reside. By default, Civil 3D points to C:\Civil 3D Projects

The next step is to create the project folder(s). Again by right clicking on the data shortcuts
node, select NEW DATA SHORTCUTS FOLDER

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 Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

This will launch a dialog box that allows you to name the new folder (i.e. the project name).

Figure 4 - Create data shortcut folder dialog box

By itself, this will only create a single folder under the working folder path, however, most
organizations like to have several subfolders under the project folder to help organize
information. If you desire this behavior, simply toggle on the USE PROJECT TEMPLATE option
and select the appropriate template folder and project template. To create a project template,
simply create the empty directory structure under the project template path. When Civil 3D
creates the project, it will duplicate the subfolder structure. This works in a similar fashion to
how prototype projects work in Land Desktop.

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 Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

This will create the project and set it as the active project. The project path and name should
appear in brackets next to the Data Shortcuts node.

Figure 5 - Data shortcuts node once a folder has been set current

If there are existing Civil 3D projects, you can set one current by selecting SET DATA
SHORTCUTS FOLDER

Figure 6 - "Set Data Shortcuts Folder" is used to set and existing folder current

There are numerous reasons why breaking up a project into several drawings is a good idea:
multi-user access to the model as well as workstation speed and performance are two bigger
ones. Not to mention you won’t have all your eggs in one basket so to speak. When working
with Civil 3D, the idea is to break up the model across several drawings and then use data
shortcuts and external references to combine data as necessary to create design documents.

Sharing Surfaces, Alignments, Profiles, Pipe Runs, & View Frame Groups

Sharing these object types is achieved using the same basic process. Start with the drawing
open (or active) where the object resides. This will be the “master” drawing where the object
will reside. To make an object available to the rest of the project, right click on the DATA
SHORTCUTS node and select CREATE DATA SHORTCUTS

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 Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

Figure 7 - "Create Data Shortcuts" is used to share drawing data with the rest of the project

This will open up a dialog box that looks at all of the object information and allows the user to
select whether or not it should be shared and made available to the rest of the project. The user
can simply check the objects which should be shared. For complicated projects where the user
might not know or be confused about the name of an object, there is a button in the bottom left
hand corner of the dialog box that allows for the objects to be selected by picking in the drawing.

Figure 8 – Share Data dialog box

Once the dialog box is dismissed, the objects selected to be shared should show up under the
data shortcuts node.

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 Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

Figure 9 - Project data that has been shared

Any object showing up in this collection is ready to be shared and used in other project
drawings. Notice that profiles show up nested under the appropriate alignment.

To utilize any of these objects in a different drawing, start with the “target” drawing as the open
(or active) drawing. Navigate to the desired object to be referenced under the data shortcuts
node in prospector. Right click and select CREATE REFERENCE.

Figure 10 - Right click on shared data to create a reference

Make sure that the “target” drawing has been saved or the create reference option will be
grayed out. The referenced object should show up in PROSPECTOR as well as in the drawing.
Inside of PROSPECTOR, the object name should show up with a round arrow icon next to it.
This indicates that the object is a reference.

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 Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

Figure 11 - Objects being referenced into the drawing have a small, round arrow next to them in prospector
to denote it is a data reference

Referenced objects act very similarly to objects that reside in the drawing. These objects can
be used for design purposes, stylized any way desired, and labeled however they can’t be
modified. Should the object be modified in the “master” drawing, the drawings containing the
references to the object will be updated. If the drawing containing the reference is open at the
time the master is modified, the user will receive a bubble notification similar to external
references indicating the object has been modified. Selecting SYNCHRONIZE will force the
object to update.

Figure 12 - Data shortcut change notification bubble

Data referencing alignments, surfaces, pipe runs, and view frame groups follow the above
process and is very straight forward. Data referencing profiles requires one extra step. After
selecting the profile, right clicking, and creating the data reference, a profile view has to be
created in the drawing if one does not already exist. Also, by creating a data reference to a
profile, the alignment will automatically be referenced if isn’t already.

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 Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

Sharing Parcels

One of the biggest reasons people want to share parcels is for annotative purposes. An entry
for parcels doesn’t show up under the data shortcut node and therefore can’t be shared using
the data reference mechanism. Instead, we use simple AutoCAD external references to
accomplish this task. One of the feature enhancements of Civil 3D 2009 is the ability to
annotate objects that reside in an externally referenced drawing.

To start, create (or open) a drawing and externally reference one in that contains parcel objects.
Annotate the parcel components as you typically would if they were in the current drawing.

Figure 13 - Parcels can be labeled directly through an external reference

To add or modify a parcel area label, one must exist in the source drawing so that it can be
selected through the external reference. If the source drawing parcels don’t contain area labels,
one trick is to create and apply a style that is nothing more than a period “.” This way, there will
be something to select when labeling through an external reference. If label masking is turned
on, then the new area label should mask over the period.

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 Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

Figure 14 - To annotate parcel areas through an XREF, there must be an existing area label to pick

One thing to watch out for is to make sure the external references are inserted with a scale
equal to 1 and a rotation of 0. If the external referenced is accidentally moved after being
inserted and labels exist in the drawing then they will change to <XREF moved>.

Figure 15 - Annotation changes if the XREF is accidentally moved

Putting the external reference back in its original location will “heal” the labels. If the external
reference is unloaded, the labels will disappear along with the external reference. If it is
reloaded, they will come back. If the external reference is detached, then the labels will
disappear and will have to be re-annotated if they are needed again.

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 Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

Strategies for Sharing Points

Points are another object type that can’t be shared directly through the data shortcuts
mechanism. Outlined below are two different strategies that have successfully accomplished
this task.

Strategy 1 – Survey Database

Using this approach, points are maintained in a survey database regardless of how they were
created. Points captured in the field and imported through the FBK routines will already be in
the survey database. Additional points can be included by adding them as control points. This
strategy works well in that it allows for the points to be shared across project drawings by simple
drag and drops. A few cons to this approach are the points aren’t always dynamic when the
survey database is updated and it requires the user to pay extra attention to what they are
doing.

Figure 16 - Survey database with manually added control points

Strategy 2 – Master ASCII Point File

Using this approach, there is a master ascii point file that is stored in the project folders. Any
time points are created, modified, or deleted, this file would be updated to reflect the changes.
As points are needed across drawings, they can be imported using the point import tools within
Civil 3D. This strategy accomplishes the goal of sharing points between drawings however it
can be tedious to make sure the master point file stays up to date.

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 Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

Managing Data Shortcuts

When objects are shared utilizing data shortcuts, small XML files are automatically created and
placed in a _SHORTCUTS folder nested inside of the project folder. These files contain path
information to the source file of the object. The entire path including the drive letter is stored in
this file.

Figure 17 - Data reference XML file

There are times when it may become necessary to modify the path information after the project
has been started. Giving the project to a subconsultant, receiving project data from a
subconsultant, or moving the project from one server to another are all examples of when these
files would need to be modified. Included with the installation of Civil 3D is an application
named the Data Shortcuts Editor.

Figure 18 - Data Shortcuts Editor is a separate program and can be found under Start – Programs – Civil 3D
2009

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 Go Commando! Utilizing Data Shortcuts and External References to Manage AutoCAD Civil 3D Data

This application will point to an existing Civil 3D project and list all of the objects that have been
shared. Then their paths can quickly be updated all from within this utility instead of having to
open each drawing file and recreate the references.

Figure 19 - Data Shortcuts Editor is used to globally repath file paths and names

Conclusion

Civil 3D 2009 includes a rich set of tools that allow for project data to be shared between civil
engineers and surveyors instead of each discipline having “their” copy of the data. As building
information modeling and integrated project delivery expands and matures, the civil engineer
proposed site design will become another “layer” in the overall project model. As our industry
evolves, BIM is no longer just for architectural building projects, its information modeling for the
entire built environment.

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