URL address for blogspot RSS Feeds

http://"your blogspot name here".blogspot.com/rss.xml

insert your blog name into the url above and you are good to go.

Stream Restoration link

http://www.fws.gov/chesapeakebay/stream.htm

Automatically Geotag your Photos from GPS tracks

http://code.google.com/p/gpicsync/

 

 

Stream Channelization

What it is, and its effects:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_engineering#Channelization

 

 

Visibility Parameters

Found a new way to annotate blocks and facilitate output to databases.  Use the visibility parameters on dynamic blocks.  This lets you set what is visible vs invisible on the block for whatever parameter you have currently chosen.  Use this to display hydrologic group or land use rating (fair,good,poor) for instance.  This data can then be extracted, then copied and paste it to the spreadsheet exported map3d attributes (put an attribute in the object data that will be blank upon export, then copy with the land uses).

Pull Down Choices for Excel Cells

You can add pull down menu choices to excel. Go to the data validation pull down shown highlighted above. Choose list from the allow drop down box. Choose the cells you want as your choices for the source (D1:D3 in the example give 1,2,3).

Analyze Overall Curve Number with Map 3D

You can use topology overlays to create new topologies (intersections of, unions) based on properties shared between the two. Using this new topologies, you can do GIS analysis CN analysis for hydrologic groups and land use. Data from the topology overlay analysis can be used for an overall CN calc, etc.

There are a number of concepts to understand when using this procedure:

Topologies
Map Cleanup Tools
SHP file import/export
Map Annotative Templates
Object Data
Centroids

Topologies are prepared for each category -- watersheds, hydrologic groups, and land use.

The watersheds are delineated in Civil 3D.

The hydrologic groups topology is made by importing NRCS SHP files for soils. The hydrlogic groups is assigned by a variety of methods. The most simple way is to just enter the group in the object data via the properties toolbar for each polygon.

The land use topology is fashioned the same way as the other three. This topology will also have the uses assigned via the properties toolbar. A visibility dynamic block can help with importing features with a pull down menu. This data is exported with the "dataextraction" command and can be copied and pasted to the shape file of a dbf database.

The topologies are then overlayed. An object data table is created for each subsequent topology for assigned data from the relevant topogies. It helps to have seperate layer assignments for your topology linework, centroids, and annotations.

Two seperate overlays will need to be performed. More later...

Turn GIS task pane on

Use mapwspace to turn on task pane for GIS layer controls.

 

 

Change the resolution display of curves with viewres command.

Problems deleting annotative objects

Recently, I’ve had trouble deleting annotative text.  I’d select it and delete it, to no avail whatsoever.  Talked to a co-worker and discovered a workaround – you have to do the audit command, then select no.  For some reason or another, this is necessary make the text deletable.

 

 

Autocad Macro Commands affecting Pickfirst Properties

I had an issue a little while ago my object selection was being canceled by autocad when I initiated a command.  I thought maybe my pickfirst had been reset to 0 (causes autocad to ask you to select your objects after your command when 0) because of a crash.  I discovered it was set to 1 so that was not the problem.

 

Then after a little sleuthing, I discovered that the command lines for some of the macro command lines in the Customizable User Interface were prefaced by ^C^C_.  This is done in order to cancel out any previously initiated commands that might interfere.  However, this also clears your current object selection as well. 

 

To stop this, you need to go into your CUI (type:CUI) and scroll down to the command causing you issues.  See the attached image for an example of said prefix in the macro for the properties command.  All you need to do is delete it, apply the CUI settings, and hit OK.

 

You are now good to go.

 

 

Dealing with Multiple Surface Boundaries

I’m currently working on a site that has wetlands and numerous boundaries across the surface.  I do not want the surface to triangulate between each of these surfaces, so I’m isolating them with boundaries.  This has proved tricky in how to define things.

 

I define an outer boundary with no breakline first.  Subqequent boundaries are defined as show with no breaklines either.

 

 

Add labels to linework

 

Use the command in the menu pull down as shown.

 

Adjust styles accordingly.

Show plan view location in relation to profile

 Use command showdrawingtips to see your plan view location depicted as you scroll through profile view.

Create polyline from spline

Set Splinetype to 5 instead of 6.

 

Use PE command, then S command to fit spline to polyline.

 

Explode newly created spline.

 

Use polyline edit  PE” command again before anything else, select M for multiple, then P for previous (will select objects from previous command), then do the Join subcommand within PEdit.

 

You now have a polyline created from a spline.

Reconciled Layers

To turn off, set LAYERNOTIFY to 0

 

 

Multi-Leader Styles

Alter using mleaderstyle command

Convert Extracted Surface Points to Civil 3D COGO Points

Use the surface extraction command to bring up the autocad formatted points.

 

Use the convert autocad points command at the bottom of the points menu to bring up the points to convert.

 

Change the create points command under the points menu as shown above to avoid having to enter descriptions for each point manually.

 

 

You Have to Freeze Style Layers

To make a style entity turn off in an xref, you can’t just freeze the layer. An example is for alignment labels. You have to freeze C-ALGN in order to get the alignment line and layer to disappear, you can’t just turn it off.

Pad the beginning of a profile by adjusting the stationing in the profile properties.

 

Get rid of that stationing by adjusting the setting above in the profile style.

Making Text Label Lines Not Plot

Put the surface text labels on a text layer correlated with the surface (not C-TOPO-MAJR, etc.).  Change the object layer to a very light plot style so it doesn’t so up.

 

 

Match Properties of Viewports

You can match properties of viewports by using the paintbrush.

 

 

Snapang Command

Change the angle that the ortho mode crosshairs draw and write at by using the snapang command.  The crosshair angles are changed but the ucs is not.

 

 

Hide alignment but show labels

Create alignment entities on C-ALGN.

 

Don’t freeze or turn off the object layer – FREEZE (not turn off) C-ALGN, and no lines or curves from alignment will show.

 

You have to have the alignment on in order for the labels to show.

 

By freezing the entity layer, the alignment is still considered “on”.

 

 

Adjust Tool Tip Display

Via right click on the entity (grading, alignment, surface) category under the tool prospector.  Adjust under tool tip display setting (yes/no).

 

 

How to hide alignment but keep labels

Turn off the layer that the alignment entities are on (….C-ALGN),

But NOT the layer that the alignment is on (C-ALGN-****).

 

Have the labels on a layer separate from the alignment entities (arrows, etc) and put on C-ALGN-TEXT.

CREATING TESSELATED 3DPOLYLINES

Create an arc based feature line using desired elevations. Explode the feature line for a tessellated 3d polyline. Weed the polyline to get rid of undesired excess vertices.

DELETE EXCESS PROFILE VIEWS THROUGH THE PROSPECTOR

 

YOU HAVE TO DELETE THEM UNDER ALIGNMENTS > PROFILES IN THE PROSPECTOR – CANNOT DO IT UNDER THE CREATE PROFILE DIALOG BOX

 

converting splines

Use express tools flatten command to convert to 2d polyline.

Hide Contours

Hide contours by using surface boundaries (hide/create breakline).

 

 

Tooltips

Tooltips

Turn off the tooltips listed next to your cursor by adjusting the settings under alignment, surface, etc. as shown.