Datasheet

CHAPTER 1 The Basics of auTocaD civil 3D

In addition, right-clicking the individual object in the list view offers many commands

unique to Civil 3D: Zoom To Object and Pan To Object are typically included. By using these

commands, you can ﬁnd any parcel, point, cross section, or other Civil 3D object in your draw-

ing almost instantly.

Many longtime users of AutoCAD have resisted right-clicking menus for their daily tasks

since AutoCAD 14. In other AutoCAD products this may be possible, but in Civil 3D you’ll miss

half the commands! This book focuses on the speciﬁc options and commands for each object

type during discussions of the particular objects.

Projects

The Projects branch of Prospector will only be visible if you are using Vault. This branch allows

you to sign in and out of Vault, review what projects are available, manage the projects you sort

through for information, check out drawings for editing, and review the status of drawings as

well as that of individual project–based objects.

Data Shortcuts

A data shortcut identiﬁes the path to a speciﬁc object, in a speciﬁc drawing. Many users have

found data shortcuts to be ideal in terms of project collaboration for two reasons: ﬂexibility and

simplicit y.

Drawing Templates

The Drawing Templates branch is added more as a convenience than anything else. You can still

create new drawings via the standard File  New option, but by using the Drawing Templates

branch, you can do the same thing without leaving Prospector. The Drawing Templates branch

searches the ﬁle path speciﬁed in your AutoCAD Options dialog and displays a list of all the

DWT ﬁles it ﬁnds. You can customize this path to point to a server or other folder, but by default

it’s a local user-settings path. Right-clicking the name of a template presents you with the

options shown in Figure 1.3.

Figure 1.3

Creating a new

drawing from

within the Draw-

ing Templates

branch of Prospec-

tor. The templates

shown here are

located in the

folder set in your

AutoCAD Options

dialog.

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