File Management/Cleanup | Managing Civil 3D

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File management and cleanup in Autodesk Civil 3D

Our Consulting and Services Manager, Shawn Herring, wrote an article for this month's issue of AUGI World. Below is a portion of the article:

As we all know, there is a ton of data to manage when it comes to Civil 3D. Not just data, but files, best practices, styles, folder structure, etc., etc., etc.! At times it can be a bit overwhelming, especially if there has been no management over these items in the past. But for those looking to get a better handle on things, I’ve outlined several of the topics I’d make sure to spend a bit more time getting up to speed on. There are obviously many more things that help in project management, but these are some of the things I see being underutilized.

 FILE MANAGEMENT / CLEANUP
Keeping files clean, clear of corruption, and working smoothly throughout the project lifecycle is next to impossible with Civil 3D. And please...please let me know of any solutions you may have! Here are a few things I do to help manage file size and stability. Just type in some of these commands on those troubled files.


  • -PURGE (Regapps) 
    • XREF CONTAMINATION - Purge them, save, close, and then reopen the DWG. Those REGAPPS will be back if they are in the xref ’d file. 
  • PURGE 
  • OVERKILL 
  • WBLOCK 
    • This is the number one way to really purge unused layers, blocks, REGAPPS, and any other funky junk that someone has done to that drawing. It will even remove bad settings that a user has changed!  The Entire File option will take drawing layouts with it, which is great if you have a corrupt Sheet file. 
  • AUDIT 
  • RECOVER 
  • MAPCLEAN 
  • Drawing Purge Add in
  • LAYOUT TABS 
    • Autodesk recommends no more than seven layout tabs per drawing. I recommend no more than 3-5. Technically, you can add 256…AND I HAVE SEEN THIS BEFORE! Most people on the forums say between 5-10 layouts are the max they will use.
  • CIVIL 3D LABELS 
    • Use data shortcuts and label live in the sheet files. Try not to label a really long profile, corridor, or large surface that spans multiple sheets. This can really slow down the performance because AutoCAD and Civil 3D will process/cache every object whether you are viewing it or not. Also, use XCLIPS. 
  • TURN OFF THESE SETTINGS 
    • Hardware Acceleration 
    • Smooth Line 
    • HPQUICKPREVIEW 
      • Controls whether a hatch preview is displayed when specifying a hatch area.

To learn more about managing data in Civil 3D, click here.

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