Connecting to a Database using Map 3D 2009

Using Map 3D we can easily attach our drawing objects to a database using the tools provided to us in the Map Explorer. What we first need to establish is what dwg objects we want to connect data to. In our case we have 5028 fire hydrants that have nothing associated with them except the fact that they are fire hydrants. We want to change that by connecting them to the Microsoft Access Database that contains all the info that describes them. This is much easier than it sounds.

First we start off by simply opening or querying in all the dwg data necessary.

Once we have the dwg objects we wish to use we now will want to browse and find our data by right clicking the data sources option on our task pane. This data could be in multiple formats including .xls and .mdb files.

Once we choose the attach option that is given to use we can now grab our data. Once we attach this data the dialog will disappear.

Once we make a decision the data file will show under the data sources tree in the task pane. The only job we have left is to connect the two sources of info into one.

We do this by defining a link template that can also be found at the bottom of the task pane, and is accessed by the same method as the data sources, by right clicking.

Once we go through the dialog and choose the common field which is held in both the dwg and database we can make a connection and all the objects will be connected straight to the database. In this case we will be using the hydrant number which is provided with every block and also resides in the data.

When dealing with large numbers of objects in a drawing connecting to a form of data may make navigating these items specifically a much more enjoyable task. Now you can see that by adding data to these objects we can now actually view the data table straight from the Task Pane and navigate through specific objects by choosing their properties in the data table and using the Auto Highlight and Zoom tools given to us in the table, as seen below. We can even choose for the item to be highlighted upon selection in the data table.

We can also sort data by choosing the items on screen and only having the form show the records for the selected objects.

These options are also held in in the highlight pull down of the data table.

Map 3D 2009 makes it really easy on us (in many different other ways also) to get the data we need into our Maps, Drawings and Models. This type of function is very helpful in many different situations and can be used by almost anyone keeping track of specific objects in a plan or model. The use of this function is also fully available in Civil 3D 2009 (all of Map 3D 2009 is in Civil 3D 2009).