Do description key set layers actually control anything?

[Survey1ebmud]

I am new to C3D and getting used to the style system.  I've been using Phillip Zimmerman's book "Harnessing AutoCAD Civil 3D: 2009" to get up to speed on the software.  He states on page 140:

"A Key Set assigns a point style layer (marker layer).  A Point Style has both marker and label layers.  The point style’s marker layer should be set to 0 (zero) and the label’s layer is the remaining Display panel layer assignment.  This strategy places the marker on the Description Key Set layer and the label on the point style’s layer."

As far as I can tell, putting a point style's marker on layer 0 does not reference the description key's layer as he states.  The only way I've been able to control what layer a point and label appears on is by creating a point style for each code.  I've tried using default and named point styles, I've turned the point styles on and off in the description key set, and I've played with the settings in the point creation dialog box.

Any help?  Using ACAD C3D 2009.  Thanks.

Craig

[Sinc]

You should need to create a Point Style for each symbol.

But if you use the strategy of setting the Marker Display Layer in the Point Style to 0, then the marker will "appear" to be on the Point Layer (e.g., the layer assigned in the Desc Keys).

If you aren't seeing this, then maybe it's because you didn't set the other values in the Point Style to "ByLayer" or "ByBlock".  In other words, on the Point Style -> Display tab, in addition to setting the Marker layer to 0, make sure you set the Color, Linetype, Lineweight, and Plot Style to "ByLayer" or "ByBlock".

The only caveat is that you may encounter the Named Plot Styles bug that we've been dealing with ever since the introduction of Civil 3D.  In this particular case, the way it shows up is that if you drag a Cogo Point to the dragged state while using this setup, the leader will use the Plot Style assigned to the Marker, and not the Plot Style assigned to the Label.  If you have the Marker layer set to Layer 0, there's no way around this problem, as far as I'm aware.  You can avoid this problem by also assigning a layer to the Marker in the Plot Style, but then the Marker will not appear to be on the layer specified in the Desc Keys.

[Survey1ebmud · Accepted solution]

Problem Solved.  This was an import problem from when I migrated my field codes over from Eagle Point.  I followed the procedure documented on this page:

http://civil3dnovice.blogspot.com/2010/05/civil-3d-craft-project-migrating-eagle.html

As it turns out, the procedure puts a space in front of each layer name.  It is difficult to notice when viewing the codes in Panorama.  After deleting the space, the layer is properly referenced by the point style when the point style layer is set to zero.  All layers in the description key set must exist in the drawing.

If anybody else is migrating form Eagle Point, feel free to send me an email so we can troubleshoot problems together!

Craig