Using Data Shortcuts in Autodesk Civil 3D 2007
Many of our clients have chosen not to employ the
powerful data management features of Autodesk
Vault with their Civil 3D 2007 applications. The reason they
cite is usually a variation of one of the following:
Our firm is too small to need this tool. If we need to
share data, we just shout over our cubicle walls.
We are not using Civil 3D exclusively quite yet. Adding
Vault to the mix would be an unnecessary step at this
point.
Our server and server software cant quite manage Vault
yet. Lets concentrate on shaping up our workstations before
we tackle the server.
Whatever the reason for choosing not to install Vault on
your firms system, Autodesk still has some very valuable
and easy tools to share important project data among users
working on the same project. Data such as surfaces,
alignments, profiles, and pipe networks can be created in
one drawing then made available to others through the use of
Data Shortcuts and References. These features have been
strengthened by Service Pack 3 for Civil 3D 2007 and could
be all your company needs to effectively share tasks in your
design environment.
The Data Shortcut Manager in the Source Drawing
Data shortcuts are managed by a panorama window accessed
from the General pulldown menu > Data Shortcuts flyout >
Edit Data Shortcuts. Once this command has been executed,
the following panorama window will appear:
For the purposes of this article, we will use the term
Source Drawing to refer to the drawing in which the
original data was created and the term Target Drawing to
refer to the drawing to which the data will be shared.
Once open in the source drawing, the user can click the
fourth button from the left to launch into the drawing and
select the entity he or she wishes to share. In the
following image, a user selects the existing ground surface:
The user may now create an external (but still linked to the
original data) copy of the data by using the second button
from the left to Export the data to a file. The file created
by this step is an XML file which contains the data selected
by the user. This step is not the same as an XML export
executed from the File pulldown menu. The data shortcut XML
file retains its link back to the original data with the
effect that if the original data is modified in any way, the
data shortcut XML file is also updated and any reference to
it is updated as well.
Ideally, this XML file is stored on the file server
accessible to any user who may need to show it in the target
drawing or use it to cut a profile in the target drawing.
Using the Data Shortcut Manager in the Target Drawing
Once the data shortcut has been exported from the source
drawing, the data may now be brought into the target
drawing. Using the same panorama window, the target drawing
user will now use the first button to import the data from
the XML file. The appropriate XML file is selected from the
file server and imported to the target drawing.
There is one more step necessary before this data becomes
useful to the target drawing user. He or she must now create
a reference of the data by right-clicking the entity from
the Data Shortcut Manager, then choosing the Create
Reference option. The user will then have the opportunity to
give the entity a name and a style in the target drawing and
it will appear on the Prospector tab and the drawing space
of the target drawing, ready for use.
This entity will have a small arrow icon next to its name on
the Prospector tab indicating that it is a data reference
and not an entity indigenous to the target drawing. In
addition, the target drawing user will not have the ability
to alter the entity, that right is available exclusively to
the user who has the source drawing open. If the original
data is altered and the source drawing is saved, any user
who has created a reference of the original data will
automatically get a bubble notification in the lower right
hand corner of the screen with an option to synchronize the
data with the source files version.
This step ensures that all users of referenced data are
working with the most recent version. The XML data file,
once created, remains up-to-date and does not need to be
manipulated by either user.
Conclusion
The data shortcuts created by Civil 3D 2007 are an
easy-to-use alternative to the full data sharing and file
management capabilities of Autodesk Vault. The decision on
whether or not to deploy Vault is an important step in
creating a design environment just right for your company.
For consultation or a full Civil 3D implementation, contact
your Hagerman & Company, Inc. sales representative.
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