Disappearing Feature Lines

[Christie.G]

I have read a number of forum post regarding disappearing feature lines, but have not had any luck finding a solution. Is there any progress on preventing this from happening as I have read on the posts that this has been a problem since 2007 and every version since.

This is a very costly problem due to time spent reconstructing the feature lines so if there is a fix or a way to prevent this happening could we please get an update.

[ODO18]

That sounds on par.

Use the feature line as corridor feature as intended and it causes an error. Not sure why it took 4 years and me providing 3 videos and example drawings for you to finally figure it out...but good job. I will believe it is fixed when I see it.

[C3D_TomR]

@TimYarris 

I can’t consistently reproduce this error and it might not be related but I’m sharing here since it’s also FL related. 

Editing a drawing with different versions of Civil 3D (2018 and 2020, for example) results in FLs added to surface not updating surface after changes are made to the FL even using rebuild or rebuild automatic. You have to remove the FL from the surface definition and add it back for the surface to update. 

[C3D_TomR]

@TimYarris 

I checked with a user from another firm for confirmation on this one. Neither of us has had this issue for years now when we do one specific thing: delete Site1 and create a new site from scratch for FLs.

[TimYarris]

Hi @fcernst,

Mine is just one example of a workflow to reproduce the issue. We still have the examples you provided and will refer back to them as we continue research. Thanks again for providing them -- we need as many scenarios and data we can get.

[TimYarris]

Hi @C3D_TomR. We've been researching a similar issue, where feature lines in the same site weren't updating a surface or corridor they were included in. Thanks for bringing it up.

[samir_rezk]

Hello,

on a positive note; I wanted to add, that I have not experienced the disappearing Feature lines issue with Siteless Feature Lines! Hopefully others can concur and I am not just getting lucky 😉

[keith]

I too have found that making my feature lines "Siteless" seems to improve their longevity. To be honest I also created fresh templates for my firm since the old ones had been around forever and were likely riddled with errors and corrupt. Since our finished surfaces tend to get a little complicated and our sites rather large I have been devoting a separate drawing to the surface and then using data links to bring it into our production drawing. This all has seemed to work pretty well in alleviating the disappearance problem. Hope this helps.

[C3D_TomR]

@TimYarris 

We've experienced some issue with FLs not updating the surface unless we remove them from the surface and add them back. One suggestion made was to make sure the drawing isn't being edited in different versions of the software (2018 and 2020). I thought I would mention it here for reference. I can't confirm that is the cause of the issue, but something worth considering.

[ODO18]

Ok I believe I can safely say this has been resolved in 2021 as long as you put feature lines used as a corridor on SITE NONE and put the Corridors on SITE NONE.  I have done a trial in 2021 C3D using their default Template where I have removed/added/moved PIs and EPs, broken FLs several places, and joined them back together.  Doing all of that editing I audited and closed several times and the feature lines did not disappear and the most errors I got when auditing was 1 but mostly 0.  The corridors would update as the lines were edited.

Now I did do one thing that seemed to kill it.  I rejoined the feature line into one complete closed feature line afyer it was broken into pieces.  This has caused an error where the Corridor gets pulled down to Elev. 0 in several spots.  Rebuilding/deleting/replacing the corridor and surface did not fix it.  The last resort that usually fixes FLs that are having major issues is to move it to another site and then move it back, but trying to move the FL causes the file to lock up and crash every time.  

So in summary, if I can grade with corridors now and edit the feature line all I want with the only two stipulations is that the Corridor FLs need to be on Site NONE and that I cannot join the FL into one complete FL once it has been broken, then I consider that a solution.

This is a very powerful grading method and I look forward to implementing it at my Company.

I have attached the file with the grading working fine (Grading Test 2) and then one with the corridor going to Elev 0 after rejoining the FL (Grading Test 1).

[gherrmanRQ549]

@vaughan.giles7AGEV 

Yes. This exactly. If my daylight line touches my footprint line (i.e. where the "grade to existing surface" changes from cut to fill), then it will without fail disappear after closing and reopening the drawing or moving the feature lines to another site.

[vaughan.giles7AGEV]

9 Months on, has there been any official development solving this issue?

Has there been any progress to recreate the issue on Autodesk's front?

With the work-around of using no sites, at least we have something - thanks @ODO18. I haven't tested this method however, as I don't want to risk the possibility of losing work again!

[vaughan.giles7AGEV]

I received an update via a new Beta if anyone wants to try and is part of the beta testing service.

Civil 3D 2020.6 Update Beta 3 (Build 3862):

Sounds like progress to me!

[chriscowgill7373]

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@ODO18 wrote:

Ok I believe I can safely say this has been resolved in 2021 as long as you put feature lines used as a corridor on SITE NONE and put the Corridors on SITE NONE.  I have done a trial in 2021 C3D using their default Template where I have removed/added/moved PIs and EPs, broken FLs several places, and joined them back together.  Doing all of that editing I audited and closed several times and the feature lines did not disappear and the most errors I got when auditing was 1 but mostly 0.  The corridors would update as the lines were edited.

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Supposedly the 2021.2.1 update for Civil 3D that was released on June 7 resolves the issue of the feature lines disappearing when they are on a site.  Supposedly also the 2020.5 update also resolved the same issue in that version.

[vaughan.giles7AGEV]

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