AutoCAD Civil 3D :: Can't Locate Surface Data Reference (XML) File
Jul 10, 2013
my colleague that is on holidays right now sent some civil 3d drawings that contain data references to another office and they are having broken reference issues with the surfaces. I opened the drawing in our office and the surfaces are there and showing the data ref symbols in prospector but when i look through the data shortcuts folder below in prospector the surfaces are not there.
how do i locate the .xml files or if they have been deleted how do these surfaces appear in my drawing.
I have a Surface that is data referenced into many different drawings. On one of the drawings, the reference will not show contours until I sync. It will show the boundary. Just one of them...but I can't use sheet set manager to publish drawings since I have to open it up and sync. Is there a setting we changed? The styles are all the same. The surface is on C-Surface, the boundary is on C-Surface, the Contours are on C-Surface-MJR, C-Surface-MNR.
What is causing my EG Data Reference Surface to disappear on screen and Profile goes to crap? I've noticed this twice on same project in separate drawings. If I go to Toolspace and synchronize then it appears back on screen.
First dwg: I created a Pump Station Site Plan and data referenced in my surface and pipe network. I save and close then reopen and EG is gone until I synchronize.
Second dwg: I created a Railroad Crossing Exhibit showing plan and profile. I data referenced in my surface and pipe network. Same thing...save, close, reopen and I have to synchronize it to have plan and profile to appear ok.
This isn't good when I have .dsd files that I typically plot my drawing package from. I sent multiple sets of drawings to the plotter and all my Pump Station Site Plans were missing the surface contours. For this sheet, I had to synchronize and send separate plots just to have contours appear.
I have structures and alignments data referenced. If I assign the structures ref alignments in the dwg with the data refs for labeling, the next time I open the dwg the ref alignments are set back to none, causing the labels to be ?
I am getting this error in my production drawings.
My setup is as follows:
- EG.dwg has my existing surface in it. I create a data reference to use it in other drawings.
- Level One.dwg has the EG surface data referenced in, and I use this to create alignments, profiles, and finish surface. All of these are turned in to data references.
- Storm Sanitary.dwg has my pipe designs. I data reference in the two surfaces, profiles, and alignments, and create pipe networks. I create references for these networks.
- Plan Profile.dwg is the production sheet I'm getting this error from. Every one of my civil objects is data referenced in to this drawing. Everything is inserted correctly, the pipes show correct FG surface elevations for their rims, etc.
BUT when I open this drawing, I get this error. I assume it's because my FG surface is not directly in the storm sanitary.dwg.
How do I get rid of this error, without combining drawings, or promoting the surface to one or more drawings? Isn't this exactly what data references is made for?
How can I locate the Data Shortcuts Working folder? A surface exist as a data shortcut in a dwg, but the location of the data shortcut folder is unknown and therefore cannot be set in the Prospector.
Does the source file size impact the functionality of a surface data reference?
Case 1 I have a source dwg that has a single surface, Surface A, in it and is an overall small file size. Case 2 I have a source dwg that has Surface A as well as another 10 surface and the file size is HUGE.
When I data reference out Surface A from Case 1 versus Case 2 does the new drawing look back at the entire drawing or just the surface data to make sure the surface is up-to-date when syncing?
I have got the ole Program Errors Dialogue back again. It seemed to stem from a rogue data shortcut that got broken.
I could not delete the broken surface reference, so had to create another data shortcut, create a reference and then I had the opportunity to delete the rogue surface and then the data shortcut.
Anyway, I got this error on Audit. (see image attached)
I may have made an error by importing a data shortcut I didn't need in past weeks on this job. When a data shortcut is broken, it is quite hard to remove the reference.
Anyway, perhaps I just need to upgrade but I don't want to do it for this curent project as I am almost finished. (famous last words).
So what is causing this error that cannot be fixed? I didn't ask foran Xdata string to exceed 255 characters...
I have a drawing with multiple profiles. We originally had an existing and finished ground surface in the drawing, but decided to use a data shortcut to the surfaces as the design kept changing. We deleted the old surfaces from the drawing, and created the data references, using the same surface names for the new referenced surfaces.
The ground lines show up in the profile, but I can't get it to show the linetype I need for the EG surface (dashed). It doesn't act like a typical profile line - it now shows a lot of PVI points, and plinegen settings have no effect.
I was so excited to hear about the new pressure pipe networks that I had to get into the software. What I have found is both promising, and a little bewildering. The promising aspects are that the pressure pipes appear to act and function effectively, and in a manner consistent with real world design that is easy to understand and use. Kudos to Autodesk!
That being said, I do have a couple of complaints. First, the pre-loaded fitting and appurtenance libraries are very limited when it comes to sizes and materials that are more commonly found in the land development arena I work in (8" PVC is our bread and butter). Hopefully, additional resources are forthcoming - they usually are.
Second, and more importantly, I can't figure out a way to data reference a pressure pipe network. If we can't data reference the pressure pipe network, then we really can't use them at all, which would be very disappointing.
So I first created a drawing which included a surface called "CONTOURS" and an existing sewer pipe network. I then created a data shortcut of the existing sewer network and started a new drawing with a proposed sewer pipe network.
When I received better contour data, I created a new "10FT EXIST CONTOURS" surface in the existing sewer drawing and switched the reference surface for the existing sewer structures and pipes to the new "10FT EXIST CONTOURS" surface. And of course I deleted the old "CONTOURS" surface because I no longer needed it.
Now, the part that makes me want to pull all my hair out! When I open the proposed sewer drawing I get all the error messages that "Reference surface 'CONTOURS' not found in reference drawing" for all 22 of the existing sewer structures.
I've tried deleted the existing sewer network in the proposed sewer drawing and recreating the data shortcut but nothing makes the errors go away. Is there any other way the existing sewer structures could be referencing the deleted surface that I have not thought about? How to get the error messages to clear?
I've just used Data Shortcuts for the first time but I've found that I can only reference in Surfaces and Alignments. Is this correct? The file I am creating my model in, has Corridors/Feature Lines/Gradings as well but I can't create Data Shortcuts for these? or am I missing something?
I have a major error currently affecting my work that I need to resolve ASAP. I'm using C3D 2012 64 bit with Windows 7. I have multiple model drawings that I have created pipe networks and view frame groups in, and using those model drawings I have created plan and profile sheets from the view frames. I created data shortcuts of all my pipe networks and referenced the pipe networks into my sheet drawings. In the sheet drawings I drew the network parts into the profiles, and everything displayed exactly as it was supposed to. No issues at all.
Now fast forward about a month. Out of the blue one day I open one of my sheet drawings to perform some edits and notice that the pipes that were previously displayed in the profile views showing inside and outside walls with the centerline turned off now show up as a simple line. I haven't changed any settings at all. I looked at the properties of the pipes, and they seem to have all ignored their asigned diameters- the pipe data in the referenced network now assumes all inverts & crowns are the same elevation as the centerline.
Long story short, I have gone so far as to completely reinstall the program and restart the drawings, but the more I edit the oringal network the worse the problem gets. Now all of my structures are attaching themselves to the surface profile instead of the pipes, and the entire network gets put onto my current layer rather than the layers I assign in the Create Pipe Network Reference dialog box.
It happens to any drawing I try to open on this network- even ones created by third parties that I haven't edited. And the problem resides in the drawing because anyone I send the drawings to has the same problem. It will even crash the entire program sometimes when they try to open my drawings.
Civil 3D 2012 SP3 - Windows 7 64 bit - Intel Core i3-2120 - 8 GB Memory
I have tried to use intersectwith to locate text (MText or DBText) near a block reference. Some times it works and some times it does not. The hard part for me is understanding why it occasionally works when most examples are just duplicates with modified text and attributes.
My block reference has 4 attributes to the left (Right Justified) of a circle and 2 attributes inside the circle. The text objects are used by some CAD operators instead of the upper 2 lines of attributtes. (Guess they dont know how to modify attributes) I want to locate these texts and insert text into the corresponding attribute.
Block Reference:
Att 1 |'''''''| <-- CAD User will insert a txt over Att 1 and Att 2, Att 2 | | <-- both attributes are usally left blank or contain a space Att 3 | | Att 4 |.....|
I want to change the reference surface for a pipe network with existing pipes and structures. however the changes will only affect new objects, I have to manually change the others one by one. Even with the vista open I can select multiple structures, but when I click in the reference surface column of one of the selected structures, all the others are deselected.
I have designed a pipe network in Civil 3D 2013, first I created a rule set for both structures and pipes, then I created a parts list, next I built my network.
Where more than two pipes connected to one structure, I found 'applyrules' couldn't align everything appropriately, so I had to manually amend the levels in 3D to ensure the pipes connected correctly (soffit to soffit / top invert to top invert).
My problem is that after doing all this, the surface model has been amended! I have changed the reference surface in the network properties and in the vista. The rim height of my structures seems to have been adjusted in the most part but my pipes have not.
In areas where the surface has gone down, my minimum cover is violated. Is there a way to move the pipes back down to minimum cover, without using 'applyrules', as using that command would change the gradients to the minimum, some gradients have changed during my manual adjustments.
Furthermore, where the surface model has reduced in level significantly, my pipes are now above the surface and the manhole has stayed there too.
i have this drawing which i created data reference to the wrong project in the wrong coordinate system and worked off that. then now i am trying to correct it. so i copied the dtm and did coordinate transformation and got that right. now the model drawing is still linked to the original dtm from the other project folder.
if i remember right back in 2007 version there was a completely built in shortcut editor which allows you to change the path in current drawing. now it's all greyed out. there is no access. so is there a way to bypass this? probably pretty common thing to do. say you want to try different version of the same object to try your design just swap it back and forth.
They should make a right click button on the data shorts in current drawing and says "browse data reference" not show up when only broken reference occurs.
one way i can think off now is copy the files to local. disable network drive, then let it broken reference show up then browse to desktop one then delete desktop one and hopefully it get the broken reference again and not look for the very original one. i think it's probably gonna do that, there is some "hidden" thing stored in the object to point to the original path which not available to users.
Civil 3D 2012 Work: Xeon W3503, 12GB, Quadro 2000, Dell P2211H x 2 Home: 3930k, 12GB, GTX 590, U3011, QX2710
How do I remove excel data links from my Reference Manager (see attached image). What I have been doing is AutoCad erasing the graphics from my drawing but the link still remains in the xref manager window.
Civil 3D 2012. One structure in my pipe network is not following along when the network is data-referenced in to other plan drawings. The structure is present in the source drawing, and included in the network, along with the pipes that are connected to it. All other structures and pipes are operating fine.
I have a sheet that has several alignments data referenced and labels applied. Recently some of the alignments changed (slightly extended), I checked the sheet and all of the labels have auto updated. Everything looks good. A Print Preview looks good.
When create the print (to pdf), the alignments that changed and all the labels do not show up. Nothing changed with layers, styles, etc. I tried Synchronize and Refresh from Prospector. I can create another Data Ref but don't want to go thru all the labeling again.
Preview and pdf attached.
C3D 2012 C3D 2012 sp1 W7Pro 64bit HP Z400 Workstation 16 GB RAM Intel Xeon CPU W3565@3.20GHz NVIDIA Quadro 4000
I have some storm sewer alignments that I've put into profiles in C3D 2011. The pipe network that I used to create the alignments from is a reference created from a data shortcut. I've created profiles of these storm sewer alignments, and the station labels for the storm structures are displayed at question marks until I go into the structure properties for each structure and link it to the correct alignment.
The problem is that whenever I synchronize my data shortcuts because someone has updated something, all of the links in each structure to the alignments disappears and I am back to? for my stations in the profiles and I have to go go fix it again. how to keep this from breaking?
I do see this recent message [URL] that appears to be a similar problem, but it was said in that thread that this problem was introduced with C3D 2012, but I am using C3D 2011.....
I do a lot of hydraulic modeling and create river bed surface datafrom surveyed points. I need to be able to transfer the surface data from Civil3D to GIS effectively. The issue is that GIS does not maintain the fidelity of my surface based on the breaklines I've drawn. It triangulates based on vertices and often triangulates through the feature lines. In LDD, I was able to do address this by adding vertices to my 3D polylines in a batch-type function. That is, I could select all of my 3D polylines and add vertices to them at the same time. In Civil3D, I have to add vertices to each feature line individually.
Any way to add vertices to feature lines, or to a surface, in a more efficient manner that maintains fidelity of surface data in the transfer from Civil3D to GIS?
I am learning to use surfaces in drawing, My main aim is for volumisation tasks. I had been following a tutorial that relied on creting surfaces. i.e
1) from the home tab> Surfaces> Create Surface
2)Add data. From Modify Tab>Surface> Add Data> Point Files.
This worked for me to start with but after changing some settings (looking to display a missing toolbar, I clicked or unticked one or two boxes, Not sure where, I know silly!). The only options I have in the drop down from "add data" are: Boundaries and DEM files. All other options in the list are not clickable.
What setting I need to change or perhaps restore all settings to default. Any comments on volumisation (spoil heps, Data is x,y,Z from survey equipment.
I have created a data shortcut to a surface using Civil3D 2011. When I create a reference to it in another drawing, it shows up in the Prospector but nothing shows up on the screen. I have played with the surface style and made sure all the layers were on and tried closing and reopening the drawing.
I have also tried to reference it into a brand new blank drawing and I even tried to reference a surface in a different file that I have referenced several times before (in 2010). Every time I get the same results. It seems like the surface is there, but I just can't see it.
I have a surface made up of gradings and feature line that I had to come back to and edit. I picked the surface and selected go to source file and when I got there one of my infill's has gone missing and the surface has a big hole in it. The weirdness is the sheet file that refs it does not have the hole. What is that all about.
P.S. Editing a surface built up like a Rube Goldberg contraption is no fun at all. Glad my best practices are coming along since
Civil 3D 2012 & 2013 HP Z210 Workstation Intel Xeon CPU E31240 @ 3.30 Hz 12 GB Ram 64 Bit Win7 OS
I am working in Civils 3D 2014 and I have a survey with points already on the correct elevation layer, I have tried creating a surface from this but it does not show up.
My process:
- I create a new drawing and insert a block (my topo survey) and click explode when I do this
- I create the surface by TIN and make sure I have the correct layer for the points that I am selecting
- Click ok
- Then go into that surface and turn on all layers and refresh - still nothing
- I also made sure that my surface style was 1m contours so I would definately see this.
