Under the Tutorial Vault Project collection, expand the Surfaces object collection

In this exercise, you will add a drawing to a project. In the process, you will create a shared project surface.

You will create a drawing named Project-XGND.dwg that contains the surface to be shared.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Adding a Drawing to a Project. Save the drawing with the project

1. Open drawing Surface-3.dwg, which is available in the tutorials drawings folder .

This drawing contains COGO points and an existing ground surface. Because you will share this data with other users, you must save the drawing with the project.

2. Click Save As.

3. In the Save Drawing As dialog box, browse to the following location:

Civil Projects folder \Tutorial Vault Project\Source Drawings\Surfaces

4. For File Name, enter Project-XGND.dwg.

5. Click Save.

Note

You must be logged in to Autodesk Vault to perform the following steps. see Exercise 1: Logging In to Autodesk Vault for instructions.

Create a reference object

1. On the Prospector tab, ensure that Master View is selected, and expand the Open Drawings collection. Right-click Project-XGND.dwg and clickCheck In.

2. In the first Add To Project dialog box, select Tutorial Vault Project.

3. Click Next.

4. On the Select A Drawing Location page, select the Source Drawings Surfaces folder.

5. Click Next.

6. On the Drawing File Dependencies page, select Project-XGND.dwg.

7. Click Next.

8. On the Share Data page, select XGND.

9. Click Finish.

10. On the Prospector tab, under the Projects collection, expand the Tutorial Vault Project collection. Expand the Drawings collection, and theSource Drawings Surfaces folder.

The icon displayed next to Project-XGND.dwg indicates that the drawing is available to be checked out.

11. Under the Tutorial Vault Project collection, expand the Surfaces object collection.

The icon next to XGND indicates that the project drawing that contains the surface is available to be checked out.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Creating a Reference to a Project Object.

6.3.2 Exercise 2: Creating a Reference to a Project Object

In this exercise, you will create a drawing and create a read-only copy of a project surface in the drawing.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Creating References to Project Objects. This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Adding a Drawing to the Project.

Create a reference to a project object

1. Click New.

2. In the Select Template dialog box, click _AutoCAD Civil 3D (Imperial) NCS.dwt. Click Open.

3. Click Save As.

4. In the Save Drawing As dialog box, browse to the following location:

Civil Projects folder \Tutorial Vault Project\Production Drawings

5. Save the file as Project-1.dwg.

6. On the Prospector tab, expand the Projects collection Tutorial Vault Project Surfaces. Right-click XGND.

Click Create Reference.

7. In the Create Surface Reference dialog box, change the surface style from Contours 2‘ And 10‘ (Background) to Contours And Triangles.

This style specifies how the surface XGND will be displayed in the drawing Project-1. This style setting is independent of the surface style used for the master copy of the surface in Project-XGND.dwg.

8. Click OK.

Note

If the Event Viewer is displayed, indicating that the surface is created, close it.

The drawing Project-1 now contains a read-only copy of the project surface XGND. The master copy of the object remains untouched in the project database. The drawing Project-1 is not in the project database, but it is considered to be attached to the Tutorial Vault Project because it contains a reference to an object in that project. While this link remains, the drawing Project-1 can include references to other objects in the Tutorial project, but cannot contain references to objects in other projects.

9. Save and close the drawing.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 3: Checking Out and Modifying a Project Object.

6.3.3 Exercise 3: Checking Out and Modifying a Project Object

You check out a project object by checking out the drawing that contains the object.

In this exercise, you will check out and modify the drawing that contains the surface object XGND.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Checking Out Project Object Source Drawings. This exercise continues from Exercise 2: Creating a Reference to a Project Object.

Check out a reference object

1. On the Prospector tab, expand the Projects Tutorial Vault Project Drawings collection.

2. Select the Source Drawings Surfaces folder to display the list view for the collection.

In the list view, note that the Version for Project-XGND.dwg is 1.

The icon next to Project-XGND.dwg indicates that the drawing is checked in.

3. Right-click Project-XGND.dwg and click Check Out.

4. In the Check Out Drawing dialog box, verify that Project-XGND.dwg is selected.

5. Click OK.

The drawing is checked out and opened. The icon next to Project-XGND.dwg in the Open Drawings collection indicates that the drawing is checked out to you. In the next few steps, you will modify the surface by adding a breakline.

Modify the source object

1. With the surface clearly visible, click (the Polyline tool) and draw a polyline anywhere on the surface.

2. Expand Open Drawings Project-XGND Surfaces XGND Definition.

3. In the surface Definition, right-click the Breaklines collection. Click Add.

4. In the Add Breaklines dialog box, optionally give the breakline a name. Click OK. In the drawing window, click the polyline to convert it to a breakline.

5. Click Save to save the changes to the surface.

Further exploration: If you want to see how the drawing icon appears to another database user, complete the following steps:

 On the Prospector tab, Master View, right-click the Projects collection and click Log Out.

 Right-click the Projects collection, click Log In, then log in as user kgreen.

 In the Tutorial Vault Project, note the ‗checked out‘ icon next to Project-XGND.dwg.

 Hover the cursor over the ‗checked out‘ icon to see a tooltip that indicates which user has checked out the drawing.

 Log out as kgreen, then log in as pred.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 4: Checking In a Project Object.

6.3.4 Exercise 4: Checking In a Project Object

You check in a project object by checking in the checked-out drawing that contains it.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Checking a Drawing in to a Project.

In this exercise, you will check in the source drawing that contains the surface XGND, which you modified in the previous exercise.

This exercise continues from Exercise 3: Checking Out and Modifying a Project Object.

Before starting this exercise, ensure that you are logged in to the database as

pred

, or the same user who checked out the drawing

Project-XGND.dwg

.

Check in a project object

1. On the Prospector tab, expand the Open Drawings collection.

2. Right-click

Project-XGND

, and click Check In.

3. In the first Check In Drawing dialog box, verify that

Project-XGND.dwg

is selected.

4. Click Finish.

The drawing is checked in and closed.

5. Expand the Projects Tutorial Vault Project Drawings Source Drawings collection. Select the

Surfaces

folder to display the list view.

In the list view, note that the Version for file

Project-XGND.dwg

has changed from 1 to 2. Version 2 is the drawing containing the project surface with the most recent modifications.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 5: Updating a Project Object.

6.3.5 Exercise 5: Updating a Project Object

When the drawing that contains a project object is checked in to the database, the changes are immediately available to other drawings that reference the object.

In this exercise you will open the drawing Project-1.dwg that references the surface XGND, which was modified in the previous exercise.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Getting the Latest Version of Project Objects. This exercise continues from Exercise 4: Checking In a Project Object.

To update a project object

1. Click Open. Navigate to Civil Projects folder \Tutorial Vault Project\Production Drawings, and click the drawing Project-1.dwg.

2. In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the Surfaces collection. Right-click the surface XGND, and click Surface Properties.

3. In the Surface Properties dialog box, change the Surface Style to one that will make the breaklines visible, such as any of the Contours styles.

Notice that the breaklines are displayed on the surface, but you cannot move them. Also, because this surface is a reference object, the surface collection in Prospector does not show the breaklines or other elements of the surface definition that you cannot modify.

Further exploration: Keep the drawing Project-1.dwg open and check out Project-XGND.dwg. Add another breakline to the master copy of the surface, then right-click Project-1 and click Switch To to make this drawing active. See how the change to the surface is reflected in a reference object within a drawing that is already open.

To continue to the next tutorial, go to Creating and Modifying Project Point Data.

6.4 Tutorial: Creating and Modifying Project Point Data

This tutorial demonstrates how to create, access, and modify project point data.

You will add points to a project database, check out and modify a project point, and check the point back in.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Working with Vault Project Points.

Topics in this section

 Exercise 1: Adding Points to a Project

In this exercise, you will add point data to the project.

 Exercise 2: Checking Out and Modifying Project Points

In this exercise, you will check out one project point and correct its elevation.

 Exercise 3: Checking In Project Points

In this exercise, you will check in a modified project point to update the master version of the point in the project point database.

6.4.1 Exercise 1: Adding Points to a Project

In this exercise, you will add point data to the project.

To create project points, you first create a drawing that contains the points. When you are ready to share the points with others, you use the Add To Project command to add the points to the project point database. The project points can then be accessed by others.

After you create project points with the Add To Project command, a local copy of the points remains in the drawing. The icons displayed in the points list view indicate the state of a point with respect to the project.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Adding Points to a Project.

In this exercise, you will add points to the project from the drawing

Project-XGND.dwg

, which has already been added to the project.

This exercise continues from the Creating, Referencing, and Modifying Project Object Data tutorial.

Add points to the project

1. In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand Projects collection Tutorial Vault Project Drawings Source Drawings Surfaces folder. Right-click drawing

Project-XGND.dwg

, and click Open (Read-Only).

2. On the Prospector tab, in the Open Drawings collection, under Project-XGND, click Points to display the points list view.

3. In the points list view, select all the points by clicking the first row and then pressing Ctrl+A.

4. Right-click, and then click Add to Project.

This operation may take a few moments.

Note

You can also add all points in a drawing to a project by expanding the Point Groups collections, right-clicking the _All Points point group, and clicking Add Points To Project.

5. In the Add To Project dialog box, click OK.

Note

If you are prompted to check out the drawing, click No.

6. In the points lists view, the open lock icon is now displayed next to each point. The icon indicates that it is a project point that is available to be checked out.

To continue this tutorial, go to Exercise 2: Checking Out and Modifying Project Points.

6.4.2 Exercise 2: Checking Out and Modifying Project Points

In this exercise, you will check out one project point and correct its elevation.

For more information, see the AutoCAD Civil 3D Help topic Checking Out Points. This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Adding Points to a Project.

To check points out

1. Click New.

2. In the Select Template dialog box, click _AutoCAD Civil 3D (Imperial) NCS.dwt. Click Open.

3. Click Save As.

4. In the Save Drawing As dialog box, browse to the following location:

Civil Projects folder \Tutorial Vault Project\Production Drawings

5. Save the file as Project-Point.dwg.

6. On the Prospector tab, expand the Projects Tutorial Vault Project collection.

7. Click the Points collection to display the points list view.

In document Civil 3D (Page 126-131)