AutoCAD Civil 3D Wishes (Read Only)
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Toggle surface display on/off

28 REPLIES 28
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Message 1 of 29
Anonymous
1758 Views, 28 Replies

Toggle surface display on/off

I get really tired of jumping in and out of toolspace to toggle surface
displays on and off. I know we can use quick properties but I don't like to
have it on as it gets to be a nuisance otherwise. I wish we could have a
display on/off state for surfaces rather than depending on a style to do it,
and the toggle could be activated via command line or pop-up menu.
28 REPLIES 28
Message 2 of 29
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

Adding to the wish, I think it would be a great enhancement to have a
toolbar with a surface selector pull down to select a current surface. The
tool bar would have a style selector and a Display on/off toggle.This way we
could turn on or change it's display without having to physically select it,
and the tool bar would make it accessible without having to go to toolspace.
Message 3 of 29
michaela.g
in reply to: Anonymous

I'll add to this that it would also be nice to change display styles through viewports, just like you can with layers.

Message 4 of 29
Neilw_05
in reply to: michaela.g

That is an excellent suggestion, if it can be done.

Neil Wilson (a.k.a. neilw)
AEC Collection/C3D 2024, LDT 2004, Power Civil v8i SS1
WIN 10 64 PRO

http://www.sec-landmgt.com
Message 5 of 29
gordglenn2883
in reply to: michaela.g

That would be fantastic to be able to have different surface styles displayed in different viewports.  Great idea!

Message 6 of 29

Count me in on this one too please!

 

Peter

cheers,
Peter T
Dunedin, New Zealand.

C3D 2011, Win 7, Dell M6500, 8Gb RAM
Message 7 of 29
trevj
in reply to: michaela.g


@michaela.g wrote:

I'll add to this that it would also be nice to change display styles through viewports, just like you can with layers.


I was thinking exactly the same thing. Is there an easier way to see the results of edge swapping than having to keep switching Surface styles via the dialogue box (5 clicks in each direction)?

Message 8 of 29
trevj
in reply to: trevj

Paste Surface will do for the moment. That means I can display the contours and the triangulation surface together. The contours aren't dynamically updated until the Swap Edges command is terminated, which is a minor inconvenience compared to the process of manually toggling Surface Styles! But it really does need to be dynamically updated during the command as the surface is edited.

Message 9 of 29
troma
in reply to: trevj

When I swap edges the contours are updated dynamically.  What am I doing differently?  I have the triangles and contours both displayed, and I swap the edges.

I actually edited my acad.pgp so that I can type FF at the commandline (meaning Flip Face in my head) and run the command EDITSURFACESWAPEDGE that way.


Mark Green

Working on Civil 3D in Canada

Message 10 of 29
troma
in reply to: michaela.g

Neil, I'm not an autodesk apologist by any means, but I think what you're wishing for can be accomplished pretty easily.  Simply set your surface styles to display different items on different layers.  Then use vpfreeze or layerstates in modelspace to control what you see.


Mark Green

Working on Civil 3D in Canada

Message 11 of 29
Neilw_05
in reply to: troma

Hi troma,

 

That could be a workflow for displaying different components without creating a lot of styles, but when working on featurelines, corridors, etc. we frequenjtly need to turn the surface display off and on entirely. This is where a toggle or command would be handy. I suppose we could create a macro to change all surfaces to a no_display style, but that would require certain programming skills that most users don't have.

Neil Wilson (a.k.a. neilw)
AEC Collection/C3D 2024, LDT 2004, Power Civil v8i SS1
WIN 10 64 PRO

http://www.sec-landmgt.com
Message 12 of 29
troma
in reply to: Neilw_05

I agree it would be handy.  I'm certainly not opposed to the idea.

 

But how about this for another workflow: make a unique layer for each surface style.  Put all components within the style on this layer.  AND put all surfaces using the style on the same layer too, as their object layer.  Now you can just use the LAYOFF commmand to turn off all similar surfaces, and LAYERP to bring them back.  Pretty good toggle?

 

I remember one of my first C3D jobs, dealing with displaying contours.  I had one plot where I wanted contours, and another where I didn't.  I was going into the surface style every time and switching the contours on and off for every time I plotted.  Took me a while to figure I could vpfreeze the layer and just leave the style alone. Smiley Embarassed Live & learn.


Mark Green

Working on Civil 3D in Canada

Message 13 of 29
Neilw_05
in reply to: troma

Using layers to control display works but that requires keeping the bulky layer manager dialogue open and you'll have to manipulate layer filters to find the parts you want to work with, so you'd still end up having to perform several steps to toggle the surfaces.

 

Working in Bentley's Power Civil product is what inspired my request. In Power Civil you have a surface model tool bar with a surface selector and a toggle to turn off the display of ALL surface models in one pick. After working with both products I find the Bentley approach much more efficient.

Neil Wilson (a.k.a. neilw)
AEC Collection/C3D 2024, LDT 2004, Power Civil v8i SS1
WIN 10 64 PRO

http://www.sec-landmgt.com
Message 14 of 29
troma
in reply to: Neilw_05

I don't see why you'd need to keep it open.  Just once: to create the layer. Then set the style, set the surface & you're done.  Then you can use commands layoff layon, layerp etc to control, without going back into the dialogue.

 

(I hate the layer vista.  I use the classiclayer box.)

 

But hey, I'm not knocking your idea.  I like it & I'd use it.


Mark Green

Working on Civil 3D in Canada

Message 15 of 29
Neilw_05
in reply to: troma

The layeroff, layeron, layerp commands aren't so handy if you've made changes to the layer state between the last surface display toggles. Sorry but I just don't see these workarounds as being more efficient than the Toolspace/styles workflow that we have now.

Neil Wilson (a.k.a. neilw)
AEC Collection/C3D 2024, LDT 2004, Power Civil v8i SS1
WIN 10 64 PRO

http://www.sec-landmgt.com
Message 16 of 29
peterthomson9209
in reply to: Neilw_05

While I can see that with some practice the layeron, layerp concept might be OK, I can also see the merit in having a "toggle".  We already have a list of surfaces and their corresponding styles in the Toolspace.  You would think it an easy programming task to include a wee column of tick boxes for visibility in that existing list...

 

 

cheers,
Peter T
Dunedin, New Zealand.

C3D 2011, Win 7, Dell M6500, 8Gb RAM
Message 17 of 29
Neilw_05
in reply to: peterthomson9209

Now that you folks have me thinking about this thread again, what I can do is put all surface objects on a common layer and then create a button to flip that layer off and on. I don't know LISP, VBA or .NET so I'll probably have to use 2 buttons.

 

I'll try posting to the customization forum for some help.

Neil Wilson (a.k.a. neilw)
AEC Collection/C3D 2024, LDT 2004, Power Civil v8i SS1
WIN 10 64 PRO

http://www.sec-landmgt.com
Message 18 of 29
troma
in reply to: Neilw_05

Can't you use a macro? Oh yeah, I guess you mean one button for on and a diferent button for off, right?  I would set it up with a keyboard shortcut, but then I'm a 'Less buttons the better" kinda guy.   Different strokes....


Mark Green

Working on Civil 3D in Canada

Message 19 of 29
Neilw_05
in reply to: troma

Yes a shortcut would be good. Hopefully that will be a by product of the tool. If I can find someone to create a Macro that would be much better than 2 buttons.

Neil Wilson (a.k.a. neilw)
AEC Collection/C3D 2024, LDT 2004, Power Civil v8i SS1
WIN 10 64 PRO

http://www.sec-landmgt.com
Message 20 of 29
troma
in reply to: Neilw_05

Well, I'm sure I could create a Macro, but it would be two Macros, one for on and one for off, so you're no further ahead.  I would either create them with a short name, or (preferably) give them a descriptive name and then edit the acad.pgp to make keyboard shortcuts. So find some key or key combination that's not in use, and voilla:

 

Command: 1

-Layer

ON

"Layer A"

 

Command: 2

-Layer

OFF

"Layer A"

 

Command: 3

-Layer

ON

"Layer B"

 

Command: 4

-Layer

OFF

"Layer B"

 

 

etc


Mark Green

Working on Civil 3D in Canada

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