First set your survey working folder to your desired survey storage location. The Civil 3D survey database is a set of external database files that reside in your survey working folder. By default, this folder is located in C:\Civil 3d Projects\. This is another item you will want to send to a network location in your own projects.
On the Toolspace ➢ Survey tab, right-click Survey Databases and select Set Working Folder, as shown in Figure 1.
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| Figure 1: Set the survey working folder. |
To create a survey database, either you can right-click and select New Local Survey Database from Toolspace ➢ Survey tab as mentioned earlier, or you can select Import Survey Data from the Home tab’s Create Ground Data panel.The contents of a survey database are organized into the following categories:
- Import Events
- Import events provide a framework for viewing and editing specific survey data, and they are created each time you import data into a survey database. The default name for the import event is the same as the imported filename. The Import Event collection contains the networks, figures, and survey points that are referenced from a specific import event and provides an easy way to remove, reimport, and reprocess survey data in the current drawing.
- Survey Queries
- Survey queries allow users to search for specific information within a survey database. You can use a query to locate and group related survey points and figures.For example, you may want all figures representing power lines in a query with survey points representing power poles. If you create a query containing your utilities, you can isolate specific figures and points to insert into another drawing.A survey query can be used in conjunction with a surface. When a query containing points and figures is added to a surface model, the figures are automatically added as breaklines. Figure 2 shows an example query that might be used for generating surface data.
If the survey query you create is worthy of using in other databases, you can export it for use in other databases. Right-click Survey Queries and choose to export or import the query.
Figure 2: Survey database query. - Networks
- A survey network is a collection of related data that is collected in the field. The network consists of setups, control points, non-control points, directions, and traverses. A survey database can have multiple networks. For example, you can use different networks fordifferent phases of a project.
- Network Groups
- Network groups are collections of various survey networks within a survey database. These groups can be created to facilitate inserting multiple networks into a drawing at once, simply by dragging and dropping.
- Figures
- Figures are the linework created by codes and commands entered into the raw data file during data collection. The figure names typically come from the descriptor or description of a point.
- Figure Groups
- Similar to network groups, figure groups are sets of individual figures. These groups can be created to facilitate quick insertion of multiple figures into a drawing.
- Survey Points
- One of the most basic components of a survey database, points form the basis for each and every survey. Survey points look just like regular Civil 3D point objects, and their visibility can be controlled just as easily. However, one major difference is that a survey point cannot be edited within a drawing. Survey points are locked by the survey database, and the only way of editing them is to edit the observation that collected the data for the points. This provides the surveyor with the confidence that points will not be accidentally erased or edited. Like figures, survey points can be inserted into a drawing either by dragging and dropping from the Toolspace ➢ Survey tab or by right-clicking Surveying Points and selecting the Points ➢ Insert Into Drawing option.
- Survey Point Groups
- Just like network groups and figure groups, survey point groups are sets of points that can be easily inserted into a drawing. When these survey point groups are inserted into the drawing, a Civil 3D point group is created with the same name as the survey point group. This point group can be used to control the visibility or display properties of each point in the group.
- Open the drawing 0202_ImportSurveyData.dwg or (0202_ImportSurveyData_METRIC.dwg).
If you did not complete the previous exercise, copy the file Mastering Civil 3D.fdb_xdef from the dataset to C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\C3D 2016\enu\Survey. Note that this directory is hidden in Windows by default, so you will need to change the folder view options or type this path into the address bar of Windows Explorer. - From the Home tab ➢ Create Ground Data panel, click Import Survey Data to open the Import Survey Data Wizard.
- Click Create New Survey Database.
- Enter Ditch Survey as the name of the folder in which your new database will be stored. Click OK.Ditch Survey is now added to the list of survey databases.
- With Ditch Survey highlighted, click Edit Survey Database Settings and verify that the Distance units are set to US Foot (or meter). Click OK to dismiss the dialog.
- Click Next.
- Set the Data Source Type pull-down to Point File.
- Click the white plus sign on the right side of the Selected Files list to browse to the 0203_ImportPoints.txt or (0203_ImportPoints_METRIC.txt) file, which you can download from blog.
If necessary, change the File Of Type drop-down selection to Text/Template/Extract File (*.txt). - Select the file and then click Open, and the name will be listed in the dialog, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Select the correct source type, file, and format in the Import Survey Data Wizard. - Under Specify Point File Format, scroll through the list until you find PENZD (Comma Delimited).
- Highlight the PENZD (Comma Delimited) format.
The preview will show that the correct data type is selected, as shown at the bottom of Figure 3. - Click Next to continue.
- Click Create New Network.Note that if you forget to create a network to place your points, you will not be able to manipulate this group apart from other points.
- Enter Ditch Survey 4-22-2015 as the name of the network and click OK.
- Highlight the new network and click Next to continue.
- Enter the following settings:
- Set Current Figure Prefix Database to Mastering Civil 3D.
- Set the Process Linework During Import option to Yes.
- When your import options match what is shown in Figure 4, click Finish.
Figure 4: The Import Options page in the Import Survey Data Wizard. - Save the file as 0203_DitchSurvey.dwg to the same location as the rest of your downloaded example files. You will need it in the next exercise.
- Continue working in the drawing from the previous exercise.
In the Toolspace ➢ Survey tab, expand Survey Databases and then select Ditch Survey ➢ Networks ➢ Ditch Survey 4-22-2015 ➢ Non-Control Points. - Right-click Non-Control Points and select Edit to bring up the Non-Control Points Editor in Panorama.
- Scroll to point Number 1104, right-click, and click Zoom To.The red line represents the flowline of the ditch. Notice in the drawing how the linework crosses over the brown top of bank line to the flowline of another ditch. The points along the ditches were collected simultaneously using the code DL for the left side and DL2 for the right side. Point 1104 representing the right side was obviously miscoded, and correcting the description in the editor will allow you to reimport the corrected linework.
- In Panorama, double-click the Description field.
- Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move your cursor to the end of the description DL.
- Add 2 ↲ to the end of the description, as shown in Figure 5.
This will be corrected after reprocessing the linework. The surveyor was simultaneously picking up points for two ditch lines coded DL and DL2. Miskeying codes is a common mistake when so much data is being collected.
Figure 5: Editing the import event to fix the linework representing the ditch flowline. - Click the Save icon in the upper-right corner of Panorama and then click the green check mark in the upper right of the palette to apply changes and save your edits.At this point you should see a yellow exclamation mark symbol next to the network name. This indicates that a change has been made to the survey database that has not yet been processed in the drawing. In the next steps, you will update the network to reflect the change graphically.
- Click Yes if you are asked to apply your changes.
- Right-click the network name (Ditch Survey 4-22-2015) and select Update Network.
- Click Close to dismiss the Survey Network Updated dialog.Updating the survey network has triggered a change in the figures as indicated by the exclamation mark symbol next to the Figures branch.
- Right-click the Figures collection and select Update Figures.
- Click the green check mark in the upper right of Panorama to dismiss the Event Viewer.
- While still working in Survey Databases ➢ Ditch Survey, expand Import Events and select 0203_ImportPoints.txt or (0203_ImportPoints_METRIC.txt).
- Right-click the import event and select Process Linework to bring up the Process Linework dialog.
- Click OK to reprocess the linework with your updated point description.The ditch (DL2) figure line and your drawing should look something like Figure 6.
Repeat steps 2–3 to zoom to the point again.
Figure 6: After editing and reprocessing the linework. - Repeat steps 2–15 for the points in Table 1.For three of the points, you will be adding a Begin command (B) after the description separated by a space.Table 1. Corrections to non-control points.
Number New Description 1134 DL2 1864 DL1 1925 DL 2217 BB1 B 3966 BB1 B 4058 BB2 B 4060 BB1 B
When you make modifications to survey data, only the Civil 3D database is changed. The original import file remains untouched. The survey database doesn’t use the file unless you reimport the data.
If you edit raw data in the Survey tab, Civil 3D will recalculate all affected information. For example, if you modify an instrument height, all elevations that need to be updated will automatically adjust.
Keep in mind that if you edit the source file and reimport, the data in the Civil 3D database (and any edits you made) will be overwritten.