There is an easy way to label a pipe invert in plan view at any point along a pipe run. It first requires two things that you should have anyway: 1) a defined alignment that the pipes reference, and 2) a profile view with the pipes adjusted to their correct elevation and slope. Then create a Profile by Layout (called, say, "FL Run A") using tangents drawn along the invert of the pipe run in the profile view. (BTW, this last step is necessry to correctly label inverts in your band elevations, so you might already have this part completed.)
Now you need a plan view label to show the pipe invert at any particular location. Ours has two Reference Text entities: the first is an alignment reference and the second is a profile reference. For the alignment reference text, in the label text under the Layout Tab, select the <Station> value. For the profile reference text, select the <Profile elevation> value. (You can, of course, precede these two values with text like "STA." and "FL=", for example). Advisible, too, would be to include the <Alignment Name> value in the label somewhere.
The label works in plan view by asking you first to select an alignment, which can be done by physically clicking on the alignment that references the pipe run, or right-clicking and selecting it from a list. It next asks you so select a point on the alignment, which can be done using any normal Autocad technique, like Osnaps. The label will then sprout forth with the station of the pipe run from the referenced alignment and the spot elevation of the pipe invert taken from the Profile by Layout you created earlier. (i.e. "FL Run A"). The label is dynamic in that if you move it to a different location, the station and pipe invert update instantly. Also, if you change the elevation of the pipe,
as long as you adjust the Profile by Layout at the same time, the invert elevation will adjust dynamically, too. (Remember that the label value does not know what elevation the pipe is at; rather, it gets its flowline information from the "FL Run A" profile that you created earlier. You must adjust this to reflect vertical changes in pipe elevation. For this reason we use a No Plot layer for the Profile by Layout but leave it visible in the profile view. This reminds us visually to adjust the profile during vertical revisions to the pipe.)
Any horizontal changes to the alignment or the pipe run will NOT move the label dynamically. You will have to drag it manually to its relevant location. However, as noted above, the stations and invert elevations will dynamically update with any change in the label's location in plan view.
Edited by: castled071049 on Aug 9, 2009 11:35 AM
Edited by: castled071049 on Aug 9, 2009 11:44 AM
Edited by: castled071049 on Aug 9, 2009 11:46 AM
