Datasheet

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CHAPTER 1 GETTING DIRTY: THE BASICS OF CIVIL 3D
Open Drawings
This branch of Prospector contains the drawings currently open in Civil 3D. Each drawing is then
subdivided into groups by major object type, such as points, point groups, surfaces, and so on.
These object groups then allow you to view all the objects in the collection. Some of these groups
are empty until objects are created. You can learn details about an individual object by expanding
the tree and selecting an object. See Figure 1.2 for a typical parcel object’s display in Prospector.
Within each drawing, the breakdown is similar. If a collection isn’t empty, there will be a plus
sign next to it, as there is next to the second Alignments collection in Figure 1.2. Selecting any of
these top-level collection names displays a list of members in the preview area. Right-clicking on
the collection name allows you to select various commands that apply to all the members of that
collection. For example, right-clicking on the Point Groups collection brings up the menu shown in
Figure 1.3.
Figure 1.2
A parcel shown in
the preview area
of Prospector
Figure 1.3
Context-sensitive
menus in Prospector
Have You Looked in the Help File? Lately?
In the past, the included Help files were notoriously bad. Since Civil 3D’s creation, the team in Manchester,
New Hampshire, has worked hard to make the Help files in Civil 3D top notch and user friendly. The
Help files should be your first line of support!
67403.book Page 4 Friday, August 31, 2007 2:12 PM