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This tutorial demonstrates the use of the editing tools in ProjectExplorer to apply some design changes to pipes and corridors.
We'll use the new Multiple Part Swap feature to edit a Pipe Network, then use the Assembly editing tools to widen the carriageway on a Corridor. Optionally, we'll then update the reports previously generated from this tutorial in the simplest way possible - with a single mouse button click.
In Autodesk Civil 3D, Open the standard Civil 3D sample drawing: Intro-1.dwg. You will have saved this drawing at the end of the first part of this tutorial.
This drawing is part of the standard Civil 3D installation, and can generally be found in the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2021\C3D\Help\Civil Tutorials\
If you wish to learn about the report updating capabilities of the Object Sets, we recommend working through the Working with Object Sets tutorial before commencing this tutorial. In this case, you should use the end result from that tutorial as your starting point for the following tasks.
First of all, let's open the ProjectExplorer window if it is not already open.
From the Civil 3D ribbon, select the Add-Ins tab and open the ProjectExplorer window. Now select the Pipe Networks tab in the ProjectExplorer window. You will see a single pipe network listed, called Storm Sewer Network. We will work with this pipe network throughout this tutorial.
Some later steps in this tutorial depend on having a Reference Surface set for all structures and pipes in this pipe network. ProjectExplorer allows the Reference Surface to be set for multiple parts of a pipe network in a single operation.
Note that a shaded area now appears in the pipe network profile view. This shaded area indicates the minimum and maximum pipe cover depth range. This range is derived from the currently assigned Pipe Rule Set, and will be used later in this tutorial to help determine whether the required cover depth is violated by changes we make to the slope of the pipes.
The profile view displays a pipe run representing the shortest path through the pipe network between the selected start and end structure.
ProjectExplorer allows multiple pipe network parts to be swapped in a single operation. Let's use this tool now to make some changes to the pipe diameters on our pipe run.
The pipe run should now resemble the one shown in the following image.
ProjectExplorer allows the slope of an entire pipe run to be adjusted in a single operation. Let's try this now:
Note that three pipes in the list are now considered to be in a violated state. Hover your mouse over each violation to discover which design rules have been violated.
At this point, you might wish to address these violations by carrying out further editing to the pipe network. The violations will be updated after each design change, regardless of whether these edits are carried out in ProjectExplorer or using the Civil 3D user interface.
As further editing is outside the scope of this tutorial, we have now completed the pipe network related portion of this tutorial. Next, we'll apply a design change to a corridor by modifying the width of the main carriageway.
First, we need to ensure that any changes we apply to this assembly are immediately reflected in the associated corridor.
We have now completed the necessary design changes to our Civil 3D model. Let's now update our previously generated reports to include the updated design - with just a few simple steps.
After any design change in Civil 3D, previously generated reports or other exported files produced by the Object Sets feature in ProjectExplorer can be updated in just a few simple steps.
The remainder of this tutorial is only applicable if you previously worked through the Working with Object Sets tutorial and used the end result from that tutorial as your starting point for the preceeding tasks.
ProjectExplorer keeps a persistent record of every report it has generated from a given AutoCAD drawing. These records can be reviewed from the Output History window. This dialog can be accessed in two ways:
From this dialog it's possible to see the path and name of the output file of every generated report, along with the file creation date and the name of the user who generated the report.
Double-click any listed entry to directly open the associated report file. Alternatively, right-click any listed entry to open the output path of the file in Windows Explorer or to remove the entry from the Output History list.
Note that a unique Report Version and Revision number is assigned to every report generated from ProjectExplorer. By default these values are incremented in the following scenarios:
This behaviour may be modified from the ProjectExplorer Preferences dialog which can be opened by pressing the Preferences button in the main ProjectExplorer window.
You have now completed this tutorial.