Datasheet

Chapter 1 • Navigating the Civil 3D User Interface
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4. Open the application menu once more and investigate the commands
that are listed there. You’ll notice that most of them have to do with
creating, opening, saving, and printing drawing files.
5. Keep this drawing open for the next exercise.
Using the Ribbon
The ribbon is located at the top of your screen and is the launching pad for most
of your Civil 3D commands. The commands that it contains are organized into
groups through the use of tabs and panels. The ribbon itself is divided into a series
of tabs that include Home, Insert, Annotate, and so on, as illustrated in Figure 1.3.
FIGURE 1.3 Tabs arrange large numbers of similar Civil 3D commands
into groups.
Each tab is divided into panels. For instance, the Home tab shown in
Figure 1.4 includes the Palettes, Create Ground Data, Create Design, and Profile
& Section Views panels.
FIGURE 1.4 Panels provide another level of grouping within a
ribbon tab.
Because Civil 3D groups the commands in this way, you never have to choose
from more than a handful of commands once you’ve taken your best guess at the
correct tab and panel. Also, you’ll find that the more you use Civil 3D, the bet-
ter you will be at knowing where the commands are. It’s not so much memorizing
their locations as it is learning how Civil 3D “thinks”—that is, the way in which it
relates commands to one another and categorizes them into tabs and panels.
One other thing you should know is that most panels expand downward to show
you the less frequently used commands in that particular category. You’ll know
they expand when you see a downward-pointing black triangle next to their name.
For example, Figure 1.5 shows the Home tab’s Create Design panel expanded with
more commands. Don’t forget to look on these hidden panels when searching for
a command.