Datasheet

The BoTTom line
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Workspaces are part of a larger feature set called the custom user interface (referred to as CUI
in the help documentation and online). As you grow familiar with Civil 3D and the various
tool palettes, menus, and toolbars, be sure to explore the CUI options that are available from the
Workspace toolbar.
You may have noticed that when you start typing in Civil 3D, it shows a list of the commands
and set variables that begin with that letter, and as you type further, it refines that list. This
is AutoCAD’s new autocomplete feature. If you do not want to use this feature, you can type
AUTOCOMPLETE and set the command to OFF.
Managing Civil 3D Information
The Manage tab contains many of the management tools available in Civil 3D. Many of these
tools are continuations of the basic AutoCAD tools, but they are worth some discussion.
The Data Shortcuts panel contains all the tools related to using data shortcuts. You will
•u
learn more about data shortcuts in chapter 17. “Interoperability”.
The Customization panel has the tools for manipulating the user interface and tool palettes
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via the Customize dialog box. You can also import and export your customized user interface
(CUI). And for the real hackers, you can set aliases; for example, if you wanted to change C
(which is the default keyboard shortcut for circle) to COPY, you can take care of that here.
The Applications panel allows you to run specialized third-party applications, as well as
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manage Lisp files. And you thought that Lisp was dead!
The CAD Standards panel allows someone such as a CAD Manager to set compliances for
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layering, allow importing of third-party drawing file layers, and, via a macro, change their
layers to your company’s standards automatically.
The Action Recorder panel contains all the tools for recording and playback of keystrokes.
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It has been around for some time but is probably not used much in the Civil 3D world. You
can record keystrokes and play them back to remedy the repetitive keystrokes one might
use over and over.
The Styles panel is new to Civil 3D 2012 and is a welcome addition. You can now import
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styles via a dialog box instead of the old ways of accomplishing this. And the Purge tool
will look at all the styles in your drawing and allow you to remove ones that are not in use.
You will learn more about these tools in Chapter 19, “Styles.”
The Bottom Line
Find any Civil 3D object with just a few clicks. By using Prospector to view object data
collections, you can minimize the panning and zooming that are part of working in a CAD
program. When common subdivisions can have hundreds of parcels or a complex corridor
can have dozens of alignments, jumping to the desired one nearly instantly shaves time off
everyday tasks.
Master It O p e n BasicSite.dwg from www.sybex.com/go/masteringcivil3d2012, and
find parcel number 18 without using any AutoCAD commands or scrolling around on the
drawing screen.
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