direct point inverse - rant

[jtroutt]

For as much as everyone pays for civil 3d, it would be really nice if the surveying profession could just inverse between 2 points (and before anyone has any snide remarks, our company is ENGINEERING & SURVEYING).  I guess I just find it surprising that with all the great features of Civil, this one, seemingly easy task, is such a hassle.  I have been employed with this company for a while now and after my constant bragging about how great Civil 3D is, we finally made the switch from Carlson.  First thing the boss asked was how he can inverse between points.  After using the INV command (from LDD) and having it return an undesired effect, I tried looking in other places.  Under the inquiry tool, there is a place for inverse between points, but it is really cumbersome, considering you have to enter the point number in box 1, scroll down to box 2, enter the number, then scroll to the very bottom of the dialogue box to see the bearing and distance.  Or if you use the “DI” command, you have to input ‘_.pn for it to recognize the point numbers, but as soon as you do it once and the display is completed, you have to re-enter the same ‘_.pn.  And the third way I have found is to create a survey network, go to the job, right click, select “survey command window”, select “point information” Inverse Points, then input…..  Please tell me there is an easier way!!   I have looked on the discussion group pages and have even posted, but I haven’t received any different responses from what I have already tried.  I have already taken a look at the civil3drocks blog and tried yesterday to get a button to work, but being as I am somewhat unfamiliar with creating custom buttons, I only succeeded in messing up one of my other inquiry commands.  I was trying to copy, paste, then modify one of the other buttons to inverse between points and I ended up having 2 buttons that don’t function at all ..…  I will try again later.  I guess I had better get it to work because I really don’t want to go with my tail tucked and tell the boss that Civil 3D is the wrong choice for surveying programs.  And don't tell me I need to purchase "Syncpac" to run as an add-on... this stuff is expensive enough as it is. 

[AllenJessup]

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@dnicholson wrote:

It is completely ridiculous that you would have to acquire a freeware routine for such a simple cogo task that Civil 3D should do anyways.

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You don't have to use a freeware routine. You can either use the Inquiry tool or the GCList command. Both are built in to Civil 3D. You can use a 3rd party tool if you wish.
 

Allen Jessup

[dnicholson]

Thanks, I use a simple distance commant utilizing osnapz option. I do more structural related work so bearings/ azimuths are only needed now and then.Unfortunate that you can no longer select the text of a point to anchor the snap to the node. It was very convenient to inquiry the points (dist command) by selecting points text.

[AllenJessup]

Yes. I see what you mean. But it's been so long since I've used LDD to any extent. I had to try it out to see what you meant. If you're having trouble selecting the nodes you might want to try:

OSNAPOVERRIDE

Set OSNAPOVERRIDE to 1. You then cannot pick a point that does not conform to your running osnaps. Make sure you set it to 0 when done or you will not be able to select anything that isn't a node.

Allen Jessup

[JeffPaulsen]

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@dnicholson wrote:

Unfortunate that you can no longer select the text of a point to anchor the snap to the node. It was very convenient to inquiry the points (dist command) by selecting points text.

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Does the 'PO transperent command in C3D do what you want? It is very simlar to the .G command in LDT.

[AllenJessup]

I thought of that. But with the Dist command it wont work. It would work with CGList.

Allen Jessup

[dnicholson]

Thanks Guys,

I do remember the osnapoverride commad from way back but it didn't help. The 'PO transparent works on drawing lines but it only recognizes the node.

[JeffPaulsen]

The C3D transparent commands, unlike their LDT counterparts, work with almost all AutoCAD commands. 'PO works with DIST and MEASUREGEOM in C3D 2012.

[AllenJessup]

You're right Jeff. I had forgotten that out alias D had been mapped to a 3rd party program. When I use DIST it works.

Thanks.

Allen Jessup

[akoehler3]

The link seems to not work anymore...did you take it down? It doesn't show up on your companies website either...can I still get this? Thanks.

[TerryDotson]

Autodesk now deletes any post containing link references to our web site, so we deleted all Autodesk specific freeware.

[rkmcswain]

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@TerryDotson wrote:

Autodesk now deletes any post containing link references to our web site, so we deleted all Autodesk specific freeware.

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What?

When did this start, and why?

[Discussion_Admin]

Should not be Terry. Most likly caught in new spam filter.

What dates were the posts. I'll approve them and put them back.

Thanks
Discussion_Admin

[TerryDotson]

I would have assumed spam filters would have been applied to new registers, not people who have been registered for years, etc.  The problem began early this month, my post containing a link to our website disappeared shortly after posting. However, I found that posting a link through tinyurl.com was acceptable so you can see why I made the assumption I did.  For whatever reason it appears to work now, I tried a couple of test posts yesterday and then I deleted them.

Anyway, if you say it was unintentional, we will give it another try and restore the freeware.

[AllenJessup]

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@TerryDotson wrote:

Autodesk now deletes any post containing link references to our web site, so we deleted all Autodesk specific freeware.

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  if you say it was unintentional

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I should hope it was. You've never been anything but a great help in these forums and never been pushy about you're software. I hope everything is fixed at this point.

Allen

[rkmcswain]

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@AllenJessup wrote:

I should hope it was. You've never been anything but a great help in these forums and never been pushy about you're software. I hope everything is fixed at this point.

Allen

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 Agree with Allen 100% ^^^^^^

Thanks everyone involved with getting this fixed.

[Discussion_Admin]

No problems guys this was most definitely not on purpose.

Thanks
Discussion_Admin

[strsi681]

Hi Guys, seems like useful software. Is this still available? I'm getting a deadlink when I try click the link you provided Terry.

[rkmcswain]

  strsi681 wrote:
Hi Guys, seems like useful software. Is this still available? I'm getting a deadlink when I try click the link you provided Terry.

No. If it's not on this page, it's no longer available AFAIK.

http://dotsoft.com/freestuff.htm

[rkmcswain]

Sinc wrote:
...... The big question is "What's going on at Autodesk?"  Why do they keep doing things that make life so difficult for C3D users?

To help keep you Sincpak guys in business ?

On a serious note though, are there any real *users* of the software designing and programming this stuff?

Extremely intelligent and talented? Yes.

Computer science wizards? Yes.

Knows what C3D users do day in and day out, and looking for ways to minimize clicks and hunts for us? Not so much.

If Terry can take time out to put together a free routine (and make edits to it) in the middle of a forum thread, why couldn't Autodesk throw a programmer at small problems like this and just get it done? We're talking a couple of hours, not a month long initiative.

Unfortunately, Terry's routine is N/A any longer, so it's take the long slow road with the OOTB tools or get Sincpak I suppose. Or roll your own routine together if you possess the skills....

[htls69]

try looking at this lsp on this post

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-Civil-3D-Customization/modify-a-lisp-file-to-work-in-civil-3d-...