Point Groups and Layers

[EJMartinez]

I'm a Newbie with AutoCAD. Right now im creating a drawing and I was told to get all the points with the same description onto a new Point Group. Well i have done that and my next question is how to get that point group onto a seperate layer/new layer, so that when I'm working with all the other points, I can just turn off that point group so it wont be too crwded. Steps on how to do it will be appreciated. thanx

[EJMartinez]

It would also be great to link me a similar discussion about this.

[troma]

Welcome to the Forums!

You can override the display of points in the point group. Set the styles on the Information tab, and check the boxes on the Overrides tab.

I find Google a much better way of searching for old posts than the internal search. For example:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=turn+off+that+point+group+site%3Aforums.autodesk.com&rlz=1C1GGGE_enCA...

[neilyj666]

As a general note, Civil 3D is based on Styles and it is these that control when Layers are turned on and off rather than via the standard Layer Properties.

Always make sure you start from the correct Civil template as well

[ericcollins6932 · Accepted solution]

No need to have on separate layer. Set the point and label properties for that group to None to turn them off.

[EJMartinez]

Thanx Eric I will try that.

[EJMartinez]

Thanx neilyj. We have a template that we use for our drawings that meet standards.

[jporter · Accepted solution]

You can have several point groups and a point can reside in any/all of them. Each group can have it's own style assignments. I usually create one point group (name No Display) that contains all the points in it and set the point and label styles to "none". I then arrange the hierarchy of the point groups so that the ones that I want appear live above the No Display point group.

To change the hierarchy. . .right click on Point Groups and select Properties. Use the arrow keys to arrange.

[EJMartinez]

Here's my next problem.

I created 3 point groups so far and labeled all three (CONC, FCOR, XS) and they all have their own same raw descriptions. When I get to the fourth point group, labeled GND (ground shots) I've done the same steps. For this point group I included all points matching the raw description GND. I then click on the point list and all the points i want on that point group are there. When i click to add point group or turn them on, for some reason the CONC point group comes on and my GND point are no where to be seen. What is causing this to happen.

[jporter · Accepted solution]

What's the order of the hierarchy of the point groups?  For instance, in this case CONC outranks GND which outranks XS, etc. etc.  So if you have a point that is in both the CONC group and the GND group then it will take on the properties of the CONC group because it's at the top of th list.  To edit this hierarchy, right-click on point groups and select properties:

Use the arrow keys to edit the order:

[ericcollins6932]

Are your gnd pts also conc pts? Check to make sure they are not accidentally included in conc too.

[IanMcClain]

How did you define your groups? By point number or by description? Have you verified that the missing point group has a visible style applied? (ie. GND may be set to a no-display style by mistake). Also, check the order of your point groups as PorterCad pointed out. If your "_all points" group is set to a no display style and is above the GND points in the list, then you won't see those points.

[EJMartinez]

I defined my point groups by raw description. Right now I'm out of town in Colorado, taking a two day class in civil 3d. This CAD user went over my problems. First of all I had all my point styles and label styles set up wrong. My next major problem was creating point groups using the "all points" group. That's what was giving me many problems.

[jporter]

Yeah, if you don't have your styles set up or don't understand how styles work prior to jumping into Civil 3D you've just compounded your problem of comprehending the software because now you've go to learn how the software works and why things don't appear correctly.  The point groups are designed to allow you  to "categorize" your points so that you can control how they look with styles.  By including all your points into one point group you've eliminated that categorization. 

If you're in Colorado are you taking a class at CAD-1?  If so, those guys know their stuff and are some of the best.  They'll get you squared away.  If you're taking a class with Warren or Brian I know those guys know their stuff.  Tell them Jason from Texas says hi.