IMAGINiT Civil Solutions Blog

Civil 3D 2017 Transportation Utilities Not Working

Earlier this morning, a coworker noticed that a number of toolbox reports were not working and resulted in an unknown command when executed.

 

Upon further examination, all of these reports link back to a common dll that is part of the Transportation Extension.

Come to find out, this is a known issue with a solution posted on the Autodesk Knowledge Network.  Its a fairly simple fix that involves downloading a zip file, extracting it, and then copying 2 files to various locations.  The problem was, after performing the steps in the fix, it still didn't work!  I was met with the following error in event viewer:

 

Thankfully the fix for this is simple.  Sometimes, when DLL files are zipped and transmitted, Windows "blocks" them as a security precaution.  To resolve the issue, right click on the AECCTRANSPORTATIONX.DLL file that was copied from the hotfix and go to properties.  On the general tab, simply select UNBLOCK:

Restart Civil 3D 2017 and all of the reports should function.

Happy reporting!

 

 

Vault Pro 2017 System Pre-Checks

 For those of us who have installed Vault in the past, the below graphic is all too familiar...

 

We are fortunate in that the IIS connection time out is only a warning and we can continue; however, how many times have you encountered an "Action Required" item?  These are show stoppers and require us to remedy the issue before we can move on.  The most common of these is the ASP Status Check where the link takes you to a page with multiple potential fixes:

 

Thankfully, Autodesk is helping us automatically fix these two conditions.  Although it is fairly well documented, it isn't completely obvious.  If you encounter either one of these issues during the pre-checks, simply click the Re-Test button.  The system will attempt to remedy the problem and run through the checks again for verification.

 

This should go a long ways in helping to reduce installation issues and administrator interactions.

 

AUTOCAD 2017 PDF IMPORT

Nick Edwin | Solutions Consultant

The ability to reference PDF files in AutoCAD was used regularly by engineering firms who need details, notes, and background information embedded in their construction documents. The alternative was to scan OCR or trace these items into CAD. The latter was very time consuming, which is why referencing the PDF files seems to be the better alternative. This simple process saved users much needed time and effort, especially with the ability to snap to vertices within the AutoCAD file after the underlay has been completed.

Now with AutoCAD 2017 an additional option has been added to import the vector based pdf’s directly into AutoCAD as vector line entities. You can now import geometry, TrueType™ text, and raster images—either from a specified page in a PDF file, or from all or part of an attached PDF underlay. This newly added functionality will now give users the ability to tweak the vector items after import, as if they were regular AutoCAD vector entities.

First type “PDF import” in the AutoCAD command line. Next, select a pdf that is already underlayed or choose a file by browsing to the location of the pdf.

Next, if the PDF file contains multiple sheets select the sheet you would like to insert. There are some additional options that can be modified before the vector extraction is completed, like:

1. Adjusting insert point
2. Adjusting scale
3. Import Vector/Solids/True type text/Raster Images
4. Use specific layers
5. Import as blocks or separate line segments
6. Apply Linewidth

There is even an option as to where the raster file location defaults to after the extraction is complete.

This new 2017 feature will save countless time and allow for additional vector edits after the PDF is imported.

Coordinate Transformation – Part 3

Bob Mason | Applications Expert

There have been comments which bring up some very good questions concerning coordinate transformation. A 2D transformation works pretty smoothly when utilizing Autodesk Map as the coordinates are being moved to the desired coordinate system with little effort. There are however a few extra steps that come into play when working with the 3D element. Largely this depends on what type of file you currently have and from what program it was created (i.e. Microstation or ESRI). Typically, if you just have an ACAD drawing that contains polylines with elevations, both the 2D and 3D elements of the geometry need to be transformed.

Once we know the type of file we’re working with, there are different scenarios that may be used to perform the transformation.

In this example, let’s assume a situation in which you have an ACAD DWG that includes polylines with elevations. First, export the data to an ESRI SHP file which can then be imported into a new drawing. The ESRI SHP file can include other information such as Meta Data which can also be very useful. Since the ribbon changes a bit from version to version, I will suggest using the MAPEXPORT command...

• A dialog box appears prompting for the location; ensure you select ESRI Shapefile for the file of type.

• The Export dialog box includes 3 tabs (Selection, Data, Options)

 

• Selection Tab
  • Define the Object type
  • Select the objects
    • Filtering the selection gives the ability to specify layers or classes
• Options Tab
  • Coordinate conversion
    • This should be populated with the current coordinate system of the file.
    • Check “Convert coordinates to:”
      • Select the coordinate system you would like to apply to the file.

• Select OK

You now have a SHP file which includes the geometry you exported. Now you can Import the SHP file back into a new drawing using the MAPIMPORT command.

• In the Import Location dialog box select the file you just created.

• In the Import dialog box you will define the import properties to be imported.

• The Drawing Layer column can be selected to define which layer you want to put the geometry on. Leaving the default layer creates a layer with the drawing name.
• Ensure the Input Coordinates column displays the desired coordinate system.
• Select the option to Import polygons as closed polylines.
• Select OK

You will need to Zoom Extents to see you drawing. Depending on the layer you selected could give you varying results on the colors and linetype, but, the geometry should be in the new coordinate system as well as at the proper location.

Again, there are other scenarios which can be used to import the 3D data after knowing specifically what type of file you are starting with.

Hope this helps moving you in the right direction.