Civil 3D – Lone Parcel Segment Site

Parcels are composed of Parcel Segments.  These are created when the Parcel was defined.  They however can be estranged for various reasons, including half of the parcel was erased. 

We always (at least I hope always) work from the larger parcel inward to a smaller division.  I have gone so far as to create a huge overall parcel in the background to help me when I knew the developer would add some land to the design later.  I have a few of those that would guarantee that nothing will change later.  It always changes.

Say for example you have a small Parcel isolated within a big Parcel.  Erase one of the sides to the smaller Parcel, and the contents bleed out to the larger one.  No problem. However the remaining sides (Parcel Segments) of the isolated parcel are still there.

The important thing to remember is that these belong to a Site.  If you check the Segments, they are tagged accordingly.

I was cleaning up my design, and needed 2 things:

1. to get rid of empty sites
2. to remove land from the design and send it to the plat to the East.

This Site was empty, so I erased it.  Subsequently I erased the Parcel Segment I planned to work with. Undo!!

The solution was to move the segment to the appropriate site.

Use the context sensitive Ribbon Panel.  I do love the Ribbon.

Once moved the Parcel automatically joins in with the others, and we change the style to match the adjacent plat. 

This could not have gone better.  One of the keys to making Civil 3D fun is effective organization of your Sites and styles. Amazingly cool.

Civil 3D – Parcel segment bug again

This is an oldie but a goodie.

I get this about once per year, when I have to do some survey drafting. The last time it occurred on 2007 and I had some seriously wigged out geometry. No one could say why (not the big dogs either).

It happened again, and with brutally simple geometry; no overlapping segments.

The Arc length is good, but notice the Chord length in the label.  

In the Parcel Geometry Vista the chord information is correct, but using a report, the Chord is erroneous, like the label.

The solution is to kill the bloody curve and recreate it.  This is rarely a solution when you have complex parceling.

I am hoping someone will have a better answer or solution that we have already heard. If you come up with something, please post it.

Civil 3D – Parcel label and ‘Pretty’ exhibit tip

Parcel labels are a real blessing when it comes to site plans.  Everyone is figuring out that I will use a description field for ANYTHING I can.  If I can transfer it to a style display, I’m all over it.

I’m working this project (the one that is delaying the current series I’d publishing for you all), and I had to prepare some exhibits for the lease. I was worried because I have a deadline in 2 days, and I still have other plans to complete.  It actually took little time to prepare. This is what I did:

Re-XML out all my sites. (Just to make sure the collection was accurate)

Formatted a letter sized border that would be attractive on a lease document.

Took the team’s overall master (the one with all the basic background and the improvement XREFs ), and saved-as to a new location. 

Opened new master drawing, imported sheet border, and set the views

Imported only the XML’s that I needed.  In the Prospector, I picked the Parcels Collection, selected ALL the parcels, and changed the Parcels Style, and Area Label Styles globally. 

The trick is that I always shave secondary labels in the description field, for occasions like this.  I either duplicate the name, or it might be something more generalized.  Once in a while I notice that things are getting cramped, and I can enter the Parcel name in the Description field, but stack it a bit narrower. There are ton’s of uses, and I kind of wish that there was maybe 1 other field, giving even more flexibility.  I have styles, that appear and organize the same, but one reads the Name field, and the other reads the Description field.

I don’t have time to re-label everything in a pinch.  When I bring in the XML parcels, they flop down, and I globally change the Parcels Style to something bold, and the area label styles to the Description display style. 

Often there is a desired subject parcel in the exhibit, so I throw the Parcel Style with a shade at that one, and regen.

Instant lease exhibits! It took me longer to type this, than it did to prepare the exhibit.

I love Civil 3D!

Civil 3D 2009 Menu

Civil 3D – (Bug) Parcel Descriptions in XML

I have noticed during XML imports of my Parcels, that the first space in the Description field gets nuked.  The remaining spaces seem to be ok, but the first one is gone.

As always be observant and careful.

Civil 3D 2009 Menu

Parcel Layers

This post is specifically for Parcels Entities, however many of the same principals apply to other objects as well.  I will cut this post down in favor of another that deals with Object / Display layers for all civil entities as a whole.

These layers may be way off standard for you, so customize it the way you want. 

Parcel Entities have both an Object layer and a Display Layer. 

One suggestion is as follows:

Object layers structured for what the Object conveys.  Display layers for whom the Object is conveyed TO.