Configuring AutoCAD Civil 3D for Land Surveying Part 2 of 2
Setting Up Point Styles
So now that you’ve got a couple thousand points on the screen, you need to weed through them. How did you accomplish this in Land Desktop (or likely any AutoCAD based program)? You either used description keys to assign proper layers, symbols, etc. to your points, or one at a time, you assigned points to layers as needed. Once it was time to work with the points, you isolated the points a layer at a time, and weeded through them as necessary. What was the easiest way to accomplish this? _LAYISO. Use the following as a guideline for setting up point object and label styles, but beware. This methodology is common for firms that import survey data to a drawing of points collected in then field without the aid of figure commands or description keys. Working with description keys is much stronger and a short paragraph on setting up those styles follows at then end of this page.
Make a layer for points, I’ve called mine DC-PNTS. Change your command settings to use this as the default layer for point creation as shown below:
Set up default styles as well. Notice object styles and label styles carry the same name for simplicity.
Your object style components should reside on layer 0 as shown below:
Your label layer needs to be the same as your object layer:
Points created with these settings in place can be isolated by layer, the colors of the object layers can be changed, the labels can be turned off via the object style component, and most importantly, the label can be gripped, and its location – relative to the marker – can be modified. In a nut-shell, you’ll be able to work like you have in the past, isolating, modifying, making notes, unisolating, and moving on.
Let’s say you have a layer for control points called DC-PNTS-CONTROL, and you want to use description keys. Make a “Control Points” style, but set the marker and label components to layer 0. Make a label style (Control Points), but set the label layer to DC-PNTS-CONTROL. Turn on the layer control as part of the desrciption key, and select the same layer (as shown below):
If you work in this fashion, any points set manually will reside on the layer you choose, and you can easily make appropriate layer filters for points (using PNTS* as your filter definition, for example). You can freeze and thaw all your points via the layer dialog. You can turn off the label and leave the marker on; you can turn off the marker and leave the label on; you’ll be able to harness the power of the old _LAYISO command.
Symbols Without Labels (Using Description Keys)
If you want to see symbols but not the number, elevation, and description – in the Description Key, make the layer PNTS-SOMETHING, and in the point style, place the object component on layer SYM-SOMETHING, and the label component layer “0.” In the label style, make the label layer (on the general tab) PNTS-SOMETHING. You can then use the _LAYOFF command to turn off labels one layer at a time – the symbols will remain on (notice on/off vs. freeze thaw).
Point Groups
Once you have points configured as above, you can also make a point group “No Display” and include all points. The Point Group Properties window has an “Overrides” tab. On this tab, select (or create) a point object style and point label style with everything turned off. Once you exit the dialog, right click on the words Point Group at the top of the collection and select Properties. You’ll find you can move this “No Display” style to the top of the display order and effectively turn off all points.
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Civil 3D Library
Looking for Survey tutorials? Check out The COGO Branch in the Library. These downloads aren’t software demonstrations. They were created for clients using AutoCAD® Civil 3D® in the real world. Registration is required.
