Overview

The foundation of any civil engineering project is the simple point. Most commonly, we think of points as identifying the location of existing features, such as trees and property corners; topography, such as ground shots; or stakeout information, such as road geometry points. However, points can be used for much more. This chapter will focus on both traditional point uses and introduce ideas to apply the dynamic power of point editing, labeling, and grouping to other applications. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

• Import points from a text file using description key matching

• Create a point group

• Export points to LandXML and ASCII format

• Create a point table

Anatomy of a Point

Civil 3D points are intelligent objects that represent x, y, and z locations in space. Each point has a unique number and, optionally, a unique name that can be used for additional identification and labeling.

In previous releases of Civil 3D, points were not really individual objects. The point group was considered the object, and a point was considered a component of the point group. In Civil 3D 2008, the point (see Figure 4.1) behaves as an individual object that can be moved, rotated, and manipulated with far greater ease than in previous releases. Point properties can be viewed and changed in the AutoCAD Properties palette, as shown in Figure 4.2.

Figure 4.1: A typical point object showing a marker, point number, elevation, and description

Figure 4.2: The AutoCAD Properties palette