Improving StationTrackerAll and Section Editor.

[joantopo]

In my opinion, the "Viewports" of AutoCAD are obsolete for Civil 3D.

They should be more powerful and directly viewers for each object (alignment, profile or section).

For example, I have 3 viewports (by default in the Section Editor):

The viewport on the right top is for the profile view, but.... this must have a zoom object to the profile view. We must show the profile view entirely if we want  to show ALWAYS the tracker.

I don´t like this behaviour, because I do zoom IN to the profile view.

In Istram Ispol software, it doesn´t matter the zoom in the viewport, because the profile view is moving dinamically (to the left or to the right side) according to the station of the cursor in the plan view.

**In Istram Ispol, the current station will be always located in the center of the viewport of the profile view.

To solve this, maybe we were able to choose a profile view object for the selected alignment (because an alignment can have more than one profile view in C3D), and then it is applied a zoom pan automatically in the viewport of the profile view while we are moving the cursor in the plan view.

In addition, other softwares have the "current/active  profile" so the software is displaying the current station and elevation data of the current profile in the edge of the viewport in a tooltip.

Moreover, to show the corridor sections in another viewport, I must have open the context "Section Editor" ribbon..... and if I want to work in the plan view without closing the corridor section editor (viewport), how can we use other tabs in the ribbon?

In Istram Ispol, we can show always the corridor section in a viewport for any station, it is indepedent of the stations frecuency of the corridor.  I love that behaviour.

In Civil 3D we have to choose a station in the "Section Editor ribbon" to show that station in the viewport. 

I think it should have another category "free Corridor section viewer" (to show in a viewport) to show the corridor section according to the cursor in plan or profile view with the command "StationTrackerAll", independent of the frecuency of the corridor.

This way, we increase the productivity a lot with ultra-wide screens or 2 dual monitors with several viewports.

Thanks.

[joantopo]

Note:

I made a command in my app to solve part of the "current" corridor section  in a viewport.

My idea was using the Point Monitor event (for the mouse) of the AutoCAD API. I created a SLG with one sample line and its section view.

I showed that section view in another viewport.

This command moved the sample line according to the location of the cursor, so I could show the "current sectionv view" in the viewport but I couldn´t show the corridor section, only the surfaces sections.

[joantopo]

Istram Ispol can also allow this:

If we are moving the cursor on the profile view (of the viewport), then in the viewport of the plan view is centered to the current station.

There is zoom pan in the plan view for the current alignment.

Moreover, if we move the cursor on the viewport of the Editor section, we can show a mark (about the offset) in the plan view.

Currently, Civil 3D doesnt´have this:

we cannot show the offset value in the Corridor Section on the plan view with a circle mark.

We can show the elevation of the mouse in the profile view with a circle mark in the Corridor Section viewport.

[troma]

In C3D there is no corridor between section lines. There are corridor featurelines, and there may be a corridor surface if you created one. But there is no corridor section. It does not exist, therefore it cannot be displayed.

However, I do like your idea  of modelspace viewports that automatically pan along to match each other at the same station between plan, profile and section view. That is a great idea!

[joantopo]

Hi troma.

Exactly, there is no corridor between section lines, but Civil 3d would be able to calculate temporary section lines between the real section lines.

These temporary section lines would be just enable for a particular viewport to show the section in that current station.

I don't use the section editor in a viewport because I cannot do this...