AutoCAD Civil 3D

[#1]

"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."

I understood that to be the issue here. There is no way to graphically highlight which lines in a drawing have been used in a surface definition.  The only way to know is to import them from the surface into the drawing.

I have wished for a way to graphically highlight breaklines in a surface definition. Not only would it serve to identify which breaklines in a drawing have or have not been applied, it also helps when there is a need to remove specific lines from the definition.

[#2]

I have a Site which includes all of the feature lines that are included in my surface.  I can use the filtering controls in the Quick Select dialog to select only those feature lines.  I can then select the surface, and use the Isolate Objects command.  Now I see only the surface and the feature lines that it was created from.

[#3]

How do you know all of the lines in your drawing are in the surface definition? What if someone else created the surface?

[#4]

Hi Neil

If not in the drawing would that not imply a DS? Open source?

[#5]

They might be in the drawing but not in the surface definition. How would you know?

[#6]

As I said earlier the site is created as a container for the surface featurelines.  When I am adding breaklines to the surface I use the filtering commands in the Quick select dialog to make sure that they're all included.

If I wanted to find featurelines that were not part of the surface then I might use the selection process that I described earlier, and then use draworder to move the TIN lines to the front.  Any featurelines that I can still see are not part of the surface.

[#7]

Steve,

I do understand that if you are the one managing the data you can establish schemes to keep track of what lines have been added. That may not be the case if others have worked on the project. In that scenario you may not know what lines have been added or removed and would have to use some other way to make the determination. That is where the graphical feedback would be a great help.

If I am not understading your solution, could you please clarify how it would work if you know nothing about the history of the surface?

[#8]

BRIAN WRITES: "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."

NEIL WRITES: "I have wished for a way to graphically highlight breaklines in a surface definition. Not only would it serve to identify which breaklines in a drawing have or have not been applied, it also helps when there is a need to remove specific lines from the definition."

GLEEP WRITES: "Yes! That is the issue here. A simple way of SEEING all the applied breaklines. According to SBOON it looks as though I may be able to set up schemes and sites while constructing my surfaces to keep up with the breakline data. I'm unfamiliar with this language but I will certainly look into schemes and sites pronto.

I mean, even when I attempt to SELECT the breakline from the data window, nothing seems to be SELECTED on the screen."

Some days I come to work and imagine Civil 3D is just laughing at me. Like it's got a mind of it's own and knows better than I what needs to be shown. Maybe I need to return to the Etch-A-Sketch. 

[#9]

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gleep wrote: 

I mean, even when I attempt to SELECT the breakline from the data window, nothing seems to be SELECTED on the screen."

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Unfortunately, when you right click on a breakline in a surface definition and choose "Select" (or something like that), what ends up being selected is the surface itself.

[#10]

After thinking a bit more about Steve's suggestion, using Draw Order does allow you to make an effective visual assesment. If a breakline is not included in the surface it will not be masked by the TIN. So Kudos to Steve for that idea.

We still need some sort of graphic feedback when selecting breaklines in the surface definition though.