How to Label a Radial Bearing

[paulgalli5397]

Anyone know how to get C3D 2014 to label a radial bearing?  I guess I could dream up an expression using the start Northing and Easting and the Center Northing and Easting, then converting from decimal to DMS, but surely this must already be there, since this is something that surveyors do everyday. 

[jmayo-EE]

Not sure exactly what ur looking for but perhaps u can draw a line that will not print and label the line. Only let the label print.

[paulgalli5397]

I'm hoping for a bearing that I can add to my curve label, such as the following:

Delta=xxxxxx

Radius=xxxxx

Length=xxxxx

Radial=xxxxxx  (where radial is the radial bearing at the beginning of the curve).

[AllenJessup]

Two methods I can think of would be to either label it by points or to draw a line on a layer that is no-plot or set to a non-plotting color and label that line.

Allen Jessup

Echo to John's post. Got distracted by work and didn't finish the post till now.

[_Hathaway]

Being a surveyor...I never use radial bearings, ever. Most instances where I have seen radial bearings shown have them backwards...from the start of the curve to the center bearing. A radial bearing is the bearing from the center of the arc to the beginning of the arc start.

That said, you would probably have to create the line, put it on a noplot layer, and then annotate it.

[paulgalli5397]

Thanks Mike.  I understand your pain.  It isn't an option for us.  WA State law requires that we use radial (backwards radial by your definition) bearings on all non-tangent curves.  Guess Autodesk doesn't like the northwest.  🙂

I'm trying to dream up a method where I can put the radial bearing into the label, such that I don't have to draw extra lines and put the label in the center of the arc, which is never a good place on smaller drawings (especially subdivisions).  Being able to put it all into one table would be nice too.

Thanks again,

Paul

[_Hathaway]

Hmm, if it's law it's definitely not followed in my experience. I do a fair amount of work in Washington. Not to derail the subject but could you point me to the RCW or WAC where this is stated.

Radial, by definition, is from the center......

[paulgalli5397]

Hi Mike:

I believe the board interprets it as one of the "controlling elements" that is listed under WAC 332-130-040 and 332-130-050 (or at least they used to).  I suppose you could use the "from a tangent that bears" method or the Chord Bearing and Length method, though the board action that I remember mentioned not showing radial bearings for a non-tangent curve, so I've always used that.  I can't at the moment remember which case that was or when, but it was in one of the board journals a few years back. 

Paul 

[_Hathaway]

That was the first area I checked (thinking to myself 'how did I miss this all these years', but it is not listed. As previously stated this requirement is not followed by the majority of descriptions I read in Washington. I simply use chord bearing and distance for all my non-tangent curves.

[paulgalli5397]

And you are probably ok.  Again, I believe the board interprets it as one of the controlling elements (they probably got it out of Wattles).  If you have something else that does the same thing, I doubt they can do anything about it.  Alot of surveyors I know don't like Chords because they aren't as precise as inverse radials or tangent bearings (though personally I think it is a moot point due to the level of accuracy involved). 

In any event, I really just want C3D to come up with a bearing from the PC to the Center of the curve, so I can show it in my curve label or curve table. 

[rl_jackson]

This really got me thinking and I've come up with a workaround of sorts.

I created an Expression in the Curve Lables called RB1 & RB2 and tested these expression, I'm no expression wizard but these will report the desired results, but may require 2 different label styles (or child styles) calling for each expression to get the correct bearing based on your quadrant.

{General Segment Start Direction}-pi/2

{General Segment Start Direction}+pi/2

Now there may be a way to incorporate booth of theses expressions together as one, using the AND OR IF or other logically expression test. Again me not really being an expression wizard someone else may be able to take this a little further.

Hope it helps.

[rl_jackson]

I did a little more testing,and came up with this thus far- it does not work on all instances but it's getting a little closer

IF({General Segment Start Direction}<=pi,{General Segment Start Direction}+pi/2,{General Segment Start Direction}-pi/2)

This generally reports the correct bearing for Quadrant 1 & 2 and the reverse for 3 & 4, so I'm thinking there needs to be an additional evaluation in there somewhere.

Also, I forgot to mention that you'll need to set the Format result as "Direction" within the expression.

[sboon]

Several years ago I built an expression for alignment curve labels that may be useful.  In my case the expression returns either 90 or 270 degrees depending on whether the curve is left or right handed.  I used the output from this expression to set the orientation of a construction line which ensured that the text of the label would always face up chainage.

In your case the output would be something like {General Segment Start Direction} + or - 90.  I've attached a sample drawing to show how the expression is used in the label style.

Steve
Please use the Accept as Solution or Kudo buttons when appropriate

[cvc-it-mb]

This is the best I could come up with and makes the labels automatic (no need for extra lines to show bearings). Some care is necessary when labeling because there are different labels for Start and End of curve.

Create two expressions: 'Radial Bearing Start'

{General Segment Start Direction}+DEG2RAD(90)

 and 'Radial Bearing End'

{General Segment End Direction}-DEG2RAD(90)

 Format both as Direction.

Create 2 Curve styles: 'Radial Bearing Start', 'Radial Bearing End'. I'll show you the Start label configuration:

1. Behavior - Orientation Reference = Object
2. Plan Readability - Flip Anchors with Text = False
3. Add a Text Component (Bearing)
   Anchor Component = <Feature>
   Anchor Point = Start
   Contents = {Radial Bearing Start} (R)
   Rotation Angle = 90d
   Attachment = Bottom Left
   Y Offset = 0.1"
4. Add a Line Component (Line)
   Start point anchor component = <Feature>
   Start point anchor point = Start
   Use end point anchor = True
   End Point Anchor Component = <Feaure>
   End Point Anchor Point = Center
   Length Type = Fixed Length
   Fixed Length = 1.25"
5. Dragged State - Display = Stacked Text

Duplicate the same for the 'Radial Bearing End' label. You may desire to create mirrored labels as well so you can control where the label appears (above or below the radial line).

This style will allow you to "flip" the text and show it on the outside of the circle. I got bad results when I attached the end of the radial line to the corner of the bearing text and then flipped the label. The line did not behave as expected and just stayed in the original location. The configuration above works.

When you drag the label, the leader will attach to wherever the label location grip is on the curve. You must slide it over to the end or start of the curve, and then also draw a radial line. The radial line that is part of the label disappears when you are in dragged label mode. I wish they would fix this in future versions and add another property for dragged mode display.

Let me know if you have any improvements over this design.

Jim

[kbarnettza]

Is this still the solution with C3D 2017 and C3D 2018? Jim - is there any chance you could include a sample DWG? I realised this morning that our Civil 3D drafters need this. I was going to write a custom C# macro for the task, then I thought - just maybe expressions and "adapted" label settings may solve it.

[cvc-it-mb]

I apologize for the late response. I would be glad to share the style in a DWG.

Note, there are 4 styles with varying appearances (due to the lame way Civil 3D determines how a label should appear). if you have questions as to the formatting or how to modify, let me know.

Another note, if you want to drag the label off the curve, you should slide it over to the correct end of the curve so it points to the right location. This is only necessary if you want to use the Dragged State.

HTH,

Jim

[Pointdump]

Jim,

Nice! Good job!

Dave