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    AutoCAD Civil 3D

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    Active Member
    Posts: 9
    Registered: ‎01-15-2008

    Displaying Breaklines

    227 Views, 20 Replies
    01-05-2013 12:51 PM

    Is there an easy way to view ALL the breaklines on the screen (not simply the breakline DATA, but the visual lines in the drawing), so as to perhaps change the color and get an overall visual of what they are doing to the tin? I realize that I can display figures in different ways, but I keep looking for a DISPLAY BREAKLINES lightbulb in the SURFACE PROPERTIES or something. 

     

    Anything like that? Thanks in advance.  

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    *Expert Elite*
    Neilw
    Posts: 1,541
    Registered: ‎09-04-2006

    Re: Displaying Breaklines

    01-05-2013 01:26 PM in reply to: gleep

    There is no way to graphically display breaklines aside from importing them into the drawing.

    Neil Wilson (a.k.a. neilw)
    Infrastructure Suite/C3D 2013, LDT 2004, Power Civil v8i SS1
    WIN 7 64 PRO
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    *Expert Elite*
    sboon
    Posts: 1,384
    Registered: ‎11-08-2005

    Re: Displaying Breaklines

    01-05-2013 02:26 PM in reply to: gleep

    What were the surface breaklines created from?  Assuming that they're featurelines or other lines in your drawing then you should be able to isolate them somehow.

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    *Expert Elite*
    BrianHailey
    Posts: 2,384
    Registered: ‎04-27-2005

    Re: Displaying Breaklines

    01-05-2013 09:23 PM in reply to: gleep

    Surfaces don't have breaklines.

     

    With that being said, you can add breaklines to your surface as data but a surface doesn't have breaklines, it has triangles. If you want to see your breaklines, turn on the layer of the objects you added to your surface.

     

    Same goes for boundaries. You can't display the boundaries of a surface because that is data that is added to the surface. You can display the border of the surface which often times will coincide with a boundary but they are two seperate things.

     

    If you have deleted the breaklines for your drawing but not your surface, right click on the breaklines under the surface definition and choose  "Insert to drawing".

     

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    sboon
    Posts: 1,384
    Registered: ‎11-08-2005

    Re: Displaying Breaklines

    01-05-2013 10:08 PM in reply to: BrianHailey

    If the breaklines are part of the surface definition then how can you say that they`re not part of the surface?

     

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    neilyj
    Posts: 2,665
    Registered: ‎08-01-2008

    Re: Displaying Breaklines

    01-06-2013 02:28 AM in reply to: gleep
    i can see what Brian means - the surface itself only consists of the tin lines, the other objects are merely used to define the orientation of the tin lines.
    neilyj
    (No connection with Autodesk other than using the products in the real world)


    IDSP Premium 2014, Civil 3D 2013 (UKIE) Hotfix 3; Win 7 Pro x64
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    Active Member
    Posts: 9
    Registered: ‎01-15-2008

    Re: Displaying Breaklines

    01-06-2013 04:05 AM in reply to: sboon

    Steve,

     

    Yes, my breaklines were created from survey figures--top of bank, bottom of bank, top back curb, bottom face, ep, etc--many different figure lines on many different layers. And yes, they are still in the drawing. And yes, I could go through and isolate the various layers housing my various objects used to create the breaklines, but I've got linestyles in play along my EP that I don't want to manipulate. I guess I'm just lazy and was looking for the SURFACE FAULT layer that Land Desktop creates. One Layer to Rule Them All. A layer to which I can assign specific attributes so as to better visualize the breaklines defining my TIN. Keep up with them. (I've mentioned that I'm in deep transition to C3D.)  

     

     

    Brian,

     

    Although I suspect your argument may be mostly semantics, I'm not sure I'd agree with the verbage that a surface does not have breaklines. (Semantically, you might here argue that breaklines are used to BUILD the surface, they are not OF the surface, but for all intents and purposes... ) 

     

    In my mind the breaklines are integral to the surface. At least as integral as the points, which I CAN display with a lightbulb in the SURFACE PROPERTIES. I can visually keep up with every element defining the surface, in fact, except the breaklines, which seem to be more troublesome to SEE, short of individually selecting every object/figure or maybe creating a layer state, copying lines, constructing them with MANUAL LABOR.

     

    I suppose I've grown accustomed to the SRF-FLT layer used by Land and I like my faultlines to stand up and announce themselves on the screen.

     

    Thanks.

     

     

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    *Expert Elite*
    Posts: 1,249
    Registered: ‎09-05-2006

    Re: Displaying Breaklines

    01-06-2013 08:00 AM in reply to: gleep

    Well "gleep" you can certainly use those same layer names and place your breaklines on them.  I would suggest that you possibly use a prefix or a suffix to denote the particular surface (e.g., "EX" or "FG").

     

    Bill

     

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    BrianHailey
    Posts: 2,384
    Registered: ‎04-27-2005

    Re: Displaying Breaklines

    01-06-2013 08:17 AM in reply to: sboon

    sboon wrote:

    If the breaklines are part of the surface definition then how can you say that they`re not part of the surface?

     


    The breaklines are used by the surface to create triangles similar to the way an artist uses a chisle to create a sculpture. You can't look at a sculpture and see the chisle, just the affect the chisle had on the stone. Just because a surface uses something when building, doesn't necessarily make it a part of it.

     

    Perhaps another analogy would make more sense. When you sample a surface for a profile, that surface is not a part of the profile, it's data that the profile is using to determine the elevations.

     

    Contours are calculated from the surface and can be displayed.

    Triangles are calculated from the surface and can be displayed.

    etc.

     

    Data is added to the surface. If you want to see the data, go look at it in the drawing or the file (as in a point file) or...

     

    I do agree that it would be nice to be able to highlight or select in the drawing the data that was added but currently that's not available.

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    *Expert Elite*
    BrianHailey
    Posts: 2,384
    Registered: ‎04-27-2005

    Re: Displaying Breaklines

    01-06-2013 08:22 AM in reply to: gleep

    gleep wrote:

    Steve,

     

    Yes, my breaklines were created from survey figures--top of bank, bottom of bank, top back curb, bottom face, ep, etc--many different figure lines on many different layers. And yes, they are still in the drawing. And yes, I could go through and isolate the various layers housing my various objects used to create the breaklines, but I've got linestyles in play along my EP that I don't want to manipulate. I guess I'm just lazy and was looking for the SURFACE FAULT layer that Land Desktop creates. One Layer to Rule Them All. A layer to which I can assign specific attributes so as to better visualize the breaklines defining my TIN. Keep up with them. (I've mentioned that I'm in deep transition to C3D.)  

     

     

    Brian,

     

    Although I suspect your argument may be mostly semantics, I'm not sure I'd agree with the verbage that a surface does not have breaklines. (Semantically, you might here argue that breaklines are used to BUILD the surface, they are not OF the surface, but for all intents and purposes... ) 

     

    In my mind the breaklines are integral to the surface. At least as integral as the points, which I CAN display with a lightbulb in the SURFACE PROPERTIES. I can visually keep up with every element defining the surface, in fact, except the breaklines, which seem to be more troublesome to SEE, short of individually selecting every object/figure or maybe creating a layer state, copying lines, constructing them with MANUAL LABOR.

     

    I suppose I've grown accustomed to the SRF-FLT layer used by Land and I like my faultlines to stand up and announce themselves on the screen.

     

    Thanks.

     

     


    You can use the same polyline, featureline, survey figure, parcel segment, etc. in multiple surfaces if you want to. In fact, I have ofen used the same featureline as a breakline and as a boundary in the same surface so, in that case, which layer should it be on?

     

    I hate to say it but you are currently stuck in the "This is how it worked in LDT, why doesn't it work that way here" situation that almost all of have been in. I was really bad when I first started. Don't believe me? Search the forums for some of my earlier posts. Don't worry, it'll pass. Just keep asking questions here and you'll soon be a C3D MASTER! :smileyhappy:

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