AutoCAD Civil 3D

[#1]

I've just used Data Shortcuts for the first time but I've found that I can only reference in Surfaces and Alignments.  Is this correct? The file I am creating my model in, has Corridors/Feature Lines/Gradings as well but I can't create Data Shortcuts for these? or am I missing something?

[#2]

No, you're not missing anything.  I believe the intent is that you use those features to create surfaces, which you can dref. You can also xref the corridor into a drawing, dref the alignment and create sample lines for cross sections.  Be sure not to put all your civil 3D objects in one drawing.  Keeping the data separate will help in the case of corruption. 

[#3]

In the Prospector tab in Toolspace, under Data Shortcuts at the bottom, you will see that only Surfaces, Alignments, Pipe Networks, and View Frame Groups can be Data Shortcuts.

[#4]

Thanks for the advice. I had been hoping that I could just dref into a drawing the components of the model without needing to xref the whole model drawing.  By xreffing in the whole model drawing then I don't see the benefit of using the drefs in the first place?

[#5 · Accepted solution]

Xreffing allows you to see, for example, the contours of a surface built in another base drawing, as well as label the contours. However, xreffing does not allow you to use the surface in profile views, or to do volume calculations, to name a few things that require data referencing the object.

Same with other objects: an xref'd alignment lets you see the alignment, but does not allow you to label it or reference it in the drawing in any way. For this you need data references.

[#6]

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castled071049 wrote:

Xreffing allows you to see, for example, the contours of a surface built in another base drawing, as well as label the contours. However, xreffing does not allow you to use the surface in profile views, or to do volume calculations, to name a few things that require data referencing the object.

Same with other objects: an xref'd alignment lets you see the alignment, but does not allow you to label it or reference it in the drawing in any way. For this you need data references.

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I believe that Xref'd civil objects can be labelled e.g. surfaces & alignments

[#7]

Yes, as I said, labeling is possible with xrefs. But you cannot use xref'd C3D objects for other purposes: e.g. surfaces for volume calculations, or referencing an alignment in a station/offset label, to name a couple of things.

[#8]

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castled071049 wrote:

Xreffing allows you to see, for example, the contours of a surface built in another base drawing, as well as label the contours. However, xreffing does not allow you to use the surface in profile views, or to do volume calculations, to name a few things that require data referencing the object.

Same with other objects: an xref'd alignment lets you see the alignment, but does not allow you to label it or reference it in the drawing in any way. For this you need data references.

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???????

[#9]

Yes, there are certain (but not all) labels that can be added to xref'd C3D objects. My point was to show the OP why data shortcuts are sometimes more useful than an xref. There are many things you can't do with an xref'd C3D object that you can with a dref'd object. He was wondering what the purpose of data shortcuts was.

I do stand corrected, however, on adding station/offset labels to xref'd alignments. I did not know this would work, but it does. I learned something new today.

[#10]

No worries - I use this technique to produce my plotted sheets i.e. Xref the engineering drawings and label the Xref.

The technique also works well for surfaces e.g. contour labels, slope labels etc etc