Review the data in a project using a variety of tools for filtering, viewing, selecting and measuring objects. Also, if needed, create basic surfaces to use in calculating and reviewing earthwork volumes. Then, run reports and print or plot the data.

Following are the basic steps for this workflow. For more detailed instructions, see View, Filter, and Navigate Data and Select Data.

Steps:

Commands:

1.

If you plan to import data into a new project, setup your program and project.

New Project- Choose a template.

Import

2.

Set report options and generate an Import Report on the data you brought into your project.

After you specify settings, click the Report button on the pane's toolbar to run the report. Review the report.

Report Options - Select Import Report.

3.

Now, visually inspect the project's data in the Plan View.

• To pan the view click and drag the mouse wheel (or middle mouse button) in the Plan View.
• To zoom in or out, roll the mouse wheel in the view.
• To zoom into a certain area, press [Control] + [Alt], and click-and-drag around an area.
• To zoom to the extents of your data, double-click the mouse wheel.

4.

Select all of the data and review the different types of objects your project contains in the Selection Explorer.

Create and edit selection sets.

Scroll down the list in the Selection Explorer. To see the objects that were imported in a specific file, click the file name near the top of the explorer.

Put focus in the Plan View and press [Control] + [A].

Then open the Selection Explorer.

5.

Review common properties for the different types of objects in the Properties pane.

Select an object type in the list to see the properties that apply to all instances of that type.

Properties

6.

Select data by layer to make sure that there are no objects on the wrong layer.

Select by Layer

7.

Select objects that have properties matching the properties of a chosen object. Properties that can be used in the selection search include layer, line style/scale/weight, color, text style, dimension style, label style, label table style, and feature code.

Select Similar

8.

To find objects with specific properties, use Advanced Select.

Find data using regular expressions. For details, see the Select Using Advanced Criteria help topic.

Advanced Select

9.

To review just your point data, filter the data per graphic view using the View Filter Manager.

Either uncheck all boxes except for Point under Raw Data and Points under Layer, or use the Zoom Extents and Isolate Layer modes concurrently.

View Filter Manager

• Find points and duplicate points using a variety of criteria.

Select Points

Select Duplicate Points

• Calculate values, such as distance and slope between points.

Inverse

• You can also review and easily edit points using the Points Spreadsheet.

New Points Spreadsheet

• To output the information on the spreadsheet, specify settings for the Point List report and run the report.

Open Report Options, and select Point List.

• If needed, do the same for the Inverse Results report.

10.

Change your view filter and review your line data using a variety of tools.

• Show/hide gridlines and line marking.
  There is no user interface for the Toggle Line Marking command, but you can see its state change on the toolbar. For details, see the Toggle Line Marking help topic.

Toggle Line Marking

• If needed, explode blocks so you can select individual lines that make up the block.

Explode

• Review line properties, such as the length.

Properties

• Review values at different points along lines.
  When you pick a line in this command, certain values are displayed dynamically at the cursor as you move it along the line. Additional values are displayed statically in the command pane when you click in the view to specify a location.

Explore Object

• Measure angles and distances between lines.

Measure Angle

Measure Distance

11.

If there are one or more alignments in your data, specify settings for the Alignment Geometry Report and run the report.

Alignment Geometry Report

12.

If you imported data from which to create one or more earthwork surfaces, review the objects you will use as surface members.

• First, open a 3D View so you can more easily see elevation differences.

New 3D View

• Select data by elevation range to make sure that there are no objects at outlying elevations.

Select by elevation range

13.

Create the surfaces for earthworks.

Press [F1] while in the command to see how 'members' influence a surface without actually being part of the surface. Also see the Understanding Generalized Surfaces help topic.

Create Surface - This requires points, lines or other objects from which to form the surface.

14.

Review either the existing surfaces or ones you created to make sure they accurately reflect the job site or design's topography.

The quickest way to check the surface is to visually inspect it using the various graphic views.

• Use the Coordinates scroll to check surface elevations at specific locations.

Coordinate Scroll

• Orbit and view the surface in the 3D View.

• Slice across the surface to see a cross-section in any direction.

Surface Slicer View

• Review a surface cross-section across any alignment in your project.

New Cross-section View
(Select an alignment first.)

• Review a surface profile along the alignment.

New Profile View (Select an alignment first.)

• Check flagged data to see where there are errors in the surface.

Flags Pane

• Review and edit surface properties, such as the maximum triangle length and edge angle.

Properties

15.

Create additional surface-based objects to use in checking the surface:

• Add topographic contour lines at intervals.

Create Quick Contours

• Create a grid of elevations on a surface relative to an absolute elevation.

Create Surface Elevation Grid

• Add a legend that tells what surface colors mean.

Add Legend

• See a simple listing of the geometry of linear objects (lines and alignments) in your project. For alignments, you can choose to report on key horizontal alignment (HAL) and/or vertical alignment (VAL) points, as well as HAL/VAL control points, such as VPIs.

Geometry Report

16.

Run a report on the surface to see surface measurements and limits, as well as the number of triangles, vertices, and other items that affect the surface.

Surface Information Report

17.

Compute earthwork volumes by comparing a surface to an absolute elevation or to another surface.

Earthwork Report

18.

Create boxes around the portions of your data in the Plan View that you want to print or plot to scale.

Create Plotbox

19.

Review the page setup, and print preview before you print or plot.

To print or plot the contents of a specific plotbox, right-click it in the Project Explorer.

Page Setup

Print Preview

Print