For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic The Civil 3D User

Interface.

Exercise 1: Finding Tools

In this exercise, you will learn how to locate the tools that are available for a
given task.
The drawing you use contains AutoCAD Civil 3D objects to explore. The
objects in this drawing are the site elements that you will create in the
following tutorials.
For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic The Civil 3D User
Interface.

Explore the basic user interface elements

1 Open drawing Intro-1.dwg, which is available in the tutorial drawings folder

(page 819).
This drawing contains an existing ground surface, two corridors that
intersect, a storm sewer pipe network, and property parcels.

2 Examine the elements at the top of the AutoCAD Civil 3D window. Click
the buttons as described in the following paragraphs to examine the tools
that are contained in each element.

■ Application Menu—Provides access to file-related commands,

such as open, print, export, and publish.

■ Quick Access Toolbar—Contains

frequently used commands. Click and then More Commands to

add an unlimited number of tools to the Quick Access toolbar.

NOTE You also can right-click a tool on the ribbon to send it to the Quick
Access toolbar.

■
InfoCenter—Enables you to search for information through key words,
display the Communication Center panel for product updates and

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 announcements, display the Favorites panel to access saved topics,
and access Help.

■ Ribbon—Provides a single, compact location for commands that are

relevant to the current task. The ribbon eliminates the need to display
multiple toolbars, which reduces clutter in the application and

maximizes the drawing space. In the top row, click to successively

minimize the ribbon display.

Explore the ribbon

1 On the Home tab, on the Create Design panel, click the bar at the bottom
of the panel.

The panel expands to display additional tools. If is displayed in the

bottom bar of a ribbon panel, then additional tools are available.

2 Click the Modify and Analyze tabs.

Each of these tabs contains tools that are relevant to a category of tasks.

3 Click the Home tab.

The Home tab contains commands that are commonly used to create
AutoCAD and AutoCAD Civil 3D objects.

4 In the drawing, click one of the contour lines to select the surface.

Exercise 1: Finding Tools | 7

 The TIN Surface tab is displayed on the ribbon. This is known as a
contextual tab, and it contains all the tools related to surfaces. Depending
on the type of object that is selected, different tools are displayed on the
contextual tab. The tools on all AutoCAD Civil 3D contextual tabs are
arranged in a similar series of panels:
■ Labels and Tables

■ General Tools

■ Modify

■ Analyze

■ Object Tools

■ Launch Pad

5 Press Esc.

6 Select the corridor.

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 The Corridors tab is displayed on the ribbon. When an object is selected,
the appropriate object contextual tab is available on the ribbon.

7 Press Esc.
The corridor is deselected, and the Home tab is active, and the contextual
tab is removed.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Understanding the Toolspace (page

9).

Exercise 2: Understanding the Toolspace

In this exercise, you will learn how to use the AutoCAD Civil 3D Toolspace,
which provides an object-oriented view of your engineering data.
For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic The Toolspace
Window.
This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Finding Tools (page 6).

Exercise 2: Understanding the Toolspace | 9

 Explore the Prospector tab

NOTE This tutorial uses Intro-1.dwg from the previous tutorial.

1 In Toolspace, click the Prospector tab.

Toolspace can be docked, but it can also float. The Prospector tab provides
you with a categorized view of all objects in the drawing.

NOTE If the Toolspace is not visible, enter ShowTS on the command line.
The command line is not case sensitive, but in this document, commands
are written in mixed case.

2 Click next to the Sites collection.

The drawing contains only one site, Site 1.

3 Expand the Site 1 collection.

Notice that the Site 1 collection includes sub-collections for the following
objects:

■ Alignments

■ Feature Lines

■ Grading Groups

■ Parcels

A site provides a logical grouping of objects that form part of the same
design project, or are otherwise related. An object can belong to only one
site.

4 Expand the Parcels collection to see the names of individual parcels

in Site 1.
Notice that the drawing includes different types of parcels, such as
Single-Family and Easement.

5 Click a parcel name.

The parcel is displayed in a preview region of the Prospector tab.

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