Create Cross-sections from PDF Data
PDF sheets with cross-section data can be imported directly into a Sheet View as sheets in a sheet set. The Import command for PDFs includes an option to automatically join dashed lines into solid lines in the imported vectors. On import, sheets are sized and all vectors and text are extracted.
Work in Multiple Sheets at Once
Once the PDF sheets are imported, when you open the Sheet View from Project Explorer, press SHIFT, and select the sheet set (not a single sheet), the Sheet View will open and display all of the sheets in the set in one view (overlaying on top of each other). This allows you to select objects from all sheets at one time. When selecting, e.g., title boxes and borders for deletion, this means you can delete them for all sheets from one view. When selecting data like grids, grid labels, or station labels to relayer the objects onto your preferred layers, this again allows you to select quickly from all sheets at the same time. For example, selecting cross-section data for Existing Ground, Finished Grade, or Subgrade levels can all be done from one view.
Combining a multi-sheet view with the Isolate Layer mode or other View Filter options allows you to rapidly select and organize your data as you need it. You can also create a Multi-sheet View from the sheet selection list in the Sheet View: if you press SHIFT while selecting the Sheet Set from the list, you will generate the Multi-sheet View. You can easily return to a Single-sheet View to review one sheet at a time when needed (e.g., when data is cluttered). In the Sheet View’s sheet selection list, you can now also click the list and use the Up and Down arrows to scroll through the available sheets. To pull up the list, use the arrow at the right edge of the sheet selector.
Clean Up Data in the Sheet View
Use the Project Cleanup command in Sheet View for joining lines or for removing vertices, etc.
Use Cross-section Related Macros (TMLs)
Track Line Edge is a TML Macro command that must be downloaded from the TBC Macros and Extensions Community. Use the Track Line Edge command to rapidly track longitudinal feature lines and boundary lines from 3D cross-section linework to establish both length and area quantities, as well as to form better surface models. The resulting boundaries can be applied to surfaces created from the cross-section and longitudinal feature lines to constrain areas of a surface; this enables you to add a single surface to the corridor models used to compute earthwork volumes.
Explode Lines is a TML Macro command that must also be downloaded from the Macro Community. Use the Explode Lines command to separate top and bottom surface elements (where provided) into closed rectangles or polygons (e.g., in CAD cross-sections from Bentley). This command also separates the data onto Top, Bottom and Side layers, making it easy to isolate and select them while working in 3D Views.
These features make it possible to process and use imported PDF data quickly if the provided text comes in the form of unusable polylines. Fortunately, many PDF cross-section sets have text, so this is not an issue in those cases; all CAD cross-section files have text, so the enhancements do not apply in those cases.
