SQL Server points into Civil 3D

[Gary_Braun]

I've used Autocad Map quite a bit but am new to Civil 3D, so am not even sure whether or not what I'm trying is possible

I have survey points in GIS (SQL Server) and I want to bring them into a drawing as Civil 3D points that I can apply styles too and assign to various point groups. I can find how to create points from SHP files, but I can't figure out how to bring the points out of SQL and into a point group with out the intermediate step of creating SHP files. I can create a surface from the GIS connection so it seems reasonable that I should be able to bring in the point somehow.

Is there any way of doing this?

thanks.

[Pointdump]

Gary,

Civil can't do much with Map Features, so first they have to be converted to AutoCAD Objects. Thusly:

Select Map Feature (Your GIS Survey Points), right-click and select Check Out Feature.

Right-click again and select Extract Geometry from Feature.

Then in Civil 3D you can create COGO points.

Dave

[Civil3DReminders_com]

I'd just create a query for the points that you want on the SQL Server and then save the resulting values to a text file. The text file may be comma seperated or space seperated. For the columns look at the available Point Import File Formats. The import the points from the text file. Skip the SHP file route.

[Gary_Braun]

Thanks Dave, but extracting the geometry from an FDO data source does not bring across any of the attributes. So if these are survey points that I want to assign styles and include elevations, description etc, then a plain Autocad point is pretty well useless.

I know Civil 3D can access the data to build a surface, so it just seems there should be some way to create Civil points from it as well.

[Gary_Braun]

The thing is that I'm trying to get rid of all the intermediate steps. What you're suggesting will of course work, but then I may as well ask the surveyors to just keep sending me CSV files.

Thank-you though.

[Civil3DReminders_com]

Ok then, this is what you are going to need to do. 

1. Go to the idea station and write up this feature request. 
2. Forward the link to everyone you know (including people outside of work) and ask them to vote for the idea. 
3. Send the idea to your reseller, go to all of your collegues and ask them to send it the reseller as well. 
4. Follow up with the reseller. Ask for specifics on who they talked to at Autodesk and any updates. Do this for months on end. If they tell you they haven't done any follow up with Autodesk maybe its time to find another reseller who cares about you as a customer. 
5. Join the Beta.Autodesk.com site. Everytime you have to import a text file post how Civil 3D should talk to Map 3D (and vice versa). 
6. Don't give up.

I've found that the best way to get a software developer to do work (this includes Autodesk and every other software company) is to make your pain their pain. Right now your pain isn't Autodesk's pain, so getting them to do the obvious work of getting Map 3D and Civil 3D to work together is required.

[Gary_Braun]

At the risk of misinterpreting you, it sounds as though what I want to do is not currently possible in C3D. At the very least, I won't spend anymore effort trying to discover how it's done.
Thanks again.

[Civil3DReminders_com]

Map 3D and Civil 3D do not have a bridge to share data between them out of the box. There are APIs available for both Map 3D and Civil 3D that one could utilize to create a bridge betweem them, but I don't know of one that has been created.

You might want to check out the app store to see if there is one. 

[Gary_Braun]

I'm not sure what you mean by a bridge between Map and Civil. Map is fully included and an integral part of Civil 3D, so what sort of bridge is missing?

Also, Civil 3D can interact with a GIS system well enough to build a surface as a Civil 3D object, so there must be some kind of ability already in place to consume GIS data.

[Civil3DReminders_com]

Civil 3D does not interact with Map 3D to create the surface though. Autodesk wrote a command that allows you to use a source of GIS data and then import the file in. It does not use Map 3D to do so though. Who ever wrote the command probably did borrow some code from Map 3D, but it's not like you can take a previously imported in shape file and make it a Civil 3D surface. You'd have to export the data out to a shp file and then use the GIS surface command again. 

How you want it to work makes total sense. The problem is Autodesk has decided having interoporability between Map 3D and Civil 3D shouldn't have been included in either Civil 3D or Map 3D. Most people say Map 3D and Civil 3D should talk together, make a post about it, maybe do a feature request, and then move on with there lives with the work around. Currently no has made it their quixotic mission to lobby Autodesk to produce these features. Hence my previous post about not giving up in getting the features. 

[neilyj666]

I've always found it somewhat ironic that Civil is built on top of Map which is built on top of AutoCAD and to exchange data between them is a major exercise of importing and exporting data in order that they can all use this data.

@Gary_Braun unless you can find a way to say you need to interact with 360/Infraworks/Cloud in the request for this then good luck with getting it implemented ...;) There is an ability to make surfaces from GIS data (at least in 2016 and maybe earlier releases) but I have never used it.