This week Autodesk released a major Update 6 for Civil 3D 2020. The Autodesk Civil 3D 2020.6 Update includes updated Civil 3D features, performance enhancements, significant fixes for many Civil 3D issues, and many important API enhancements for Autodesk Civil 3D 2020.
The Civil 3D 2020.6 Update is also a one stop shop Update improvement for Civil 3D 2020. The Civil 3D 2020.6 Update includes the product fixes included in the previous and important Updates for Civil 3D 2020.
Autodesk Civil 3D 2020.6 Update
Support for Autodesk Docs and the latest rebranded Autodesk Desktop Connector (ADC) has been added. The Civil 3D 2020.6 User Interface now refers to Autodesk Docs instead of BIM 360. You want to make sure that you also update the installed ADC to the current Autodesk Desktop Connector 14.10 Update released earlier this month.
See the recent The Autodesk Reference Explorer and Civil 3D post for some important and useful ADC Reference Explorer Civil 3D management report capabilities.
There are very significant Civil 3D API enhancements included in Civil 3D 2020 Update 6. These should be cascaded forward into upcoming Civil 3D 2021 and Civil 3D 2022 Updates. Note that many of these API improvements should result in important future Civil 3D capabilities for Dynamo for Civil 3D for example.
Important Civil 3D 2020.6 Fixes
Almost every Civil 3D 2020 user benefits for the long list of Update 6 fixes. Civil 3D 2020 Update 6 includes important fixes for some 2020 Data Shortcut issues, a number of Pipe Network issues, and the more than annoying disappearing Feature Lines as Corridor Baseline issue.
Framework for Civil 3D and Civil 3D 2020.6
Our preliminary testing of the Civil 3D 2020.6 Update and existing builds of the Framework for Civil 3D 2020.5.3 Release 8 products confirm that the existing Framework for Civil 3D Templates, Civil 3D Styles, and other supplied Framework resources function with the Civil 3D 2020.6 Update.
The Civil 3D Batch Save Utility and 2020.6 Update
Our initial testing showed that the Civil 3D Batch Save Utility when employed with the Civil 3D 2020.6 Update installed may throw sporadic session on open errors for reasons unknown.
None-the-less, Batch Save will completely process the 2020.6 updates of Civil 3D projects, Civil 3D Templates, Civil 3D Style libraries, and other resources.
We have yet to test Batch Save updates of Autodesk Docs hosted projects, but we expect similar results.
Civil 3D 2020.6 Update New Features
Many of the listed new features in the Civil 3D 2020 help files were included in Update 5. Some of these new features were improved upon in Update 6.
Gravity Analysis
- Includes a new setting called Pipe Length Type which can be used to specify the pipe length type to use for the analysis calculations.
Fixed Issues
Autodesk Civil 3D 2020.6 includes the product fixes included in the previous updates for Civil 3D 2020. The many API improvements and fixes are listed at the bottom of this post.
Alignments
- Fixed an issue in which alignment minor station labeling did not work as expected.
Autodesk Collaboration for Civil 3D
- Improved performance when switching data shortcut projects for projects that are stored in BIM 360, downloading source files only when required.
- Fixed an issue that caused the host and consumer drawings in the cloud to be updated when dismissing the "Data shortcut definitions may have been changed" notification.
Catchments
- Fixed an issue in which the catchment exclusionary property would exclude catchments from other catchment groups.
- Fixed an issue in which the value of catchment exclusionary property was always 'False' after reopening the drawing.
Corridors
- Fixed a stability issue that would occur when trying to open the corridor Rehab Manager with the German Country Kit installed.
- Improved stability when restoring corridor bowties.
Cross Sections
- Fixed an issue in which parts of corridor section labels would be moved to the wrong location in a section view when the source sample line became skewed.
- Fixed an issue in which the default label set for section view creation would not be held when switching to another alignment while creating section views.
Data Shortcuts
- Fixed an issue in which a data referenced alignment that was used as a reference for a pipe network was not updated after the alignment name was updated in the source drawing.
- Improved performance when switching data shortcut projects for projects that are stored in BIM 360, downloading source files only when required.
- Fixed a stability issue that would occur if the Shortcuts folder is readable, but its contents such as ShortcutsHistory.xml are not readable.
- Fixed an issue in which data shortcuts were created at a temp address which was caused by an automatic save in AutoCAD.
- Fixed an issue in which the surface definition source xml was saved at a temp address which was caused by an automatic save in AutoCAD.
- Updated the Data Shortcuts Editor to show the variable DSSysVar in the path.
- Fixed an issue in which ETransmit did not include Civil 3D data shortcuts.
- Fixed an issue in which the referenced pressure network name changed unexpectedly after synchronizing data shortcuts.
- Fixed an issue in which Civil 3D would lock up (and the DWG file would become read only) when saving a source drawing with a shared data reference.
- The issue was caused by multiple Civil 3D sessions trying to read the data shortcut source drawing while it was being saved in another session.
- Please make sure the system variable DataShortcutsSourceCheck is turned off (set its value to 0) in Civil 3D on every computer working on the same project.
- Note that when the system variable DataShortcutsSourceCheck default value is set as 0, a notification will be displayed in the host/consumer drawing whenever the source drawing is saved, even without any entity/geometry change.
Drawing Import/Export
- Fixed an issue in which the Export to DGN setting Use remapping file would not work for Microstation Connection.
- Fixed an issue in which nested xref drawings did not show exploded objects after using the Export to DGN command.
- Added the ability to use Microstation Connect when exporting a Civil 3D drawing to DGN when both Connect and V8i are installed.
- Added a new system variable named DGNOpenAfterCreation to keep Microstation open after a drawing is finished being exported to DGN.
- Added the ability to use the user's UCF when exporting a Civil 3D drawing to DGN when Microstation is installed.
- Fixed a stability issue that would occur when exporting a Civil 3D drawing that has xref drawings that contained points.
- Added a setting to set a sleep time so that MVBA has time to run after exporting a drawing to DGN.
Feature Lines
- Fixed a performance issue that would occur when selecting feature lines while the Properties Palette was open.
- Fixed an issue in which feature lines that were used as corridor baselines and located in a site would disappear from the site.
- Fixed an issue that caused invisible alignments to be created while updating a feature line which is the baseline of a corridor. Related to this issue, customers are encouraged to use the PurgeHiddenAlignsfromSites command on drawings that have feature line-based corridors.
- If you do not run the PurgeHiddenAlignsfromSites command prior to editing a feature line in a feature line-based corridor, and you subsequently have issues with the feature line that is used in the corridor (for example, it is missing and you can no longer select it), undo your changes or close the drawing without saving it, reopen it, and then run the PurgeHiddenAlignsfromSites command.
- Errors that will lead to missing feature line issue are automatically detected and fixed when opening a drawing. This operation will only run when Civil 3D detects a potential error in the drawing.
- Fixed an issue in which PI points would be added at incorrect locations of a feature line when using the _AeccFeatureLineCrossing command when the intersected point is far away from the feature line in 3D space.
Hydrology
- Fixed an issue in which a blue line was shown in the culvert analysis results in the Hydraflow Express Extension.
- Improved culvert analysis performance in the Hydraflow Express Extension.
LandXML
- Fixed an issue in which LandXML import would create an additional copy of an imported pipe network.
- Fixed a performance issue that would occur when importing surfaces from a LandXML file.
- Added an option to the LandXML Import Settings to control whether to add breaklines. Import performance is improved when the option is set to Off.
Miscellaneous
- Fixed a stability issue that could occur when opening a drawing.
- Support for Autodesk Docs and the new rebranded Desktop Connector has been added. The User Interface now refers to Autodesk Docs instead of BIM 360.
Pipe Networks
- Fixed an issue in which velocity values reported in different tables in the gravity network analysis report were not consistent due to precision differences in the calculations.
- Added a warning message in the Event Viewer when a structure height is edited so that the height is outside the allowed range specified by the part's Rim to Structure height.
- Added the ability to store structure type and tail water data for a null structure.
- Fixed an issue where the style, rules, and other settings could not be changed in a parts list for a null structure.
- Fixed an issue in which the pipe network label anchor settings didn't work as expected.
- Added the ability to select the pipe length for gravity network analysis.
- Added the ability to change a structure type from "None" to "Outfall" when using the Analyze Gravity Network command.
- Fixed an issue in which some of the output was incorrect in Analyze Gravity Network report.
- Added the ability to support more anchor points in plan and profile labels for pipes.
Profiles
- Added the ability to support pipe and pressure pipe expressions in profile view bands.
Quantity Takeoff
- Fixed an issue in which Quantity Takeoff was affected by an empty material subcriteria setting.
Reference Templates
- Fixed an issue in which Civil 3D would close unexpectedly or a code set style would be corrupted when attaching a particular template to a particular drawing.
Reports
- Enhanced the AeccReportAlignPoints command so that using the NETLOAD command to load AeccTransportationX.dll and restarting Civil 3D is not necessary in order to run the report. You can also enter ReportAlignPoints at the command line to run the command.
- Fixed an issue in which many design profile types were excluded from the Transportation Extension reports.
API
- Fixed an issue in which a sample line could not be created at an alignment start station or end station using the API.
- Data Shortcuts have been refactored away from ARX and moved to the DBX module level, in order to be moved by the API.
- Fixed an issue in which the API sectionViewBandSet.ImportBandSetStyle would not import a band set style.
- Added the ability to return 0 for Catchment TimeOfConcentration API.
- Added a new API, SectionView.SampleLineId, to support getting the object ID of a sample line. Added a new API, SectionView.SectionViewGroupName, to support getting the SectionViewGroup name. Added a new API, SectionView.SectionViewGroup(), to support getting the SectionViewGroup object.
- Added a new Expression.ReferenceString API to get the reference string of a Expression that can be used to create other expressions.
- Added an API, GetDSProjectId(), to get the data shortcut project ID according to the project path. Added an API, AssociateDSProject(), to associate a data shortcut project to the current drawing.
- Added a new API, SectionViewGroupCollection.Add(), to support setting section options when creating section views. The available section options in the API include: Draw, Clip Grid, Label Set, Override Style.
- Added a new API parameter to the function SectionViewGroupCollection.Add() to support setting the section view style when creating section views.
- Added a new API parameter to the function SectionViewGroupCollection.Add() to support setting the section view band set style when creating section views.
- Added an API, RepairBrokenDRef(), to repair broken DRef entities in a host drawing. Added an API, GetReferenceInfo(), to get reference information on a DRef entity.
- Added a new API, FeatureLine.CurvesCount, to support getting the curve count of a featureline. Added a new API, FeatureLine.GetCurveRadius(), to support getting the radius value of the curve in a featureline. Added a new API, FeatureLine.SetCurveRadius(), to support setting the radius value of the curve in a featureline.
- Added an API, CreateReference(), to create a Data Reference entity at the host drawing according to the host and source database, entity name, and entity type of source drawing.
- Added a new API, SectionViewGroup.UpdateLayout(), to support updating the layout of a section view group.
- Added a new API, SectionViewGroup.ImportLabelSetForSectionsInGroup(), to support importing a label set for sections in a section view group.
- Added a new API, SectionOverride.ImportLabelSet(), to support importing a label set for sections in a section view.
- Added support for section corridor points labels in the API. Added a new label group SectionCorridorPointLabelGroup. Supported adding and removing corridor points label items in a section label set.
- Added support for running a quantities report in the API as a new static method of the SampleLineGroup class.
- Updated an API, CreateReference(), to create a Data Reference entity for a Corridor at the host drawing.
- Updated an API, CreateReference(), to create a Data Reference entity for a Surface at the host drawing.
- Updated an API, CreateReference(), to create a Data Reference entity for a ViewFrameGroup at the host drawing.
- Updated an API, CreateReference(), to create a Data Reference entity for a SampleLine at the host drawing.
- Updated an API, CreateReference(), to create a Data Reference entity for Pipe Networks at the host drawing.
- Added an API, RepairBrokenDataShortcut(), to repair broken Data Shortcut objects in a Data Shortcut project.
- Added a new API, Section.CorridorSurfaceId, to get the corridor surface object ID if section type is corridor surface.
- Added a new data shortcut API, ExportableItem^ GetExportableItemAt(int index), to get the information of an exportable object. This includes the object and also its parent, direct children, recursive children, and dependent objects.
- Enhanced the CreateReference() API to return a collection of ObjectIds, including all of the ObjectIds created.
- Enhanced the GetExportableItemsCount() API to return SampleLineGroups but not SampleLines.
- Added a new API, SectionCorridorPointLabelGroup.getDisplayedSubEntities(), to get sub-entity labels that are displayed in the drawing and have valid anchor info.
- Added two new properties in SectionCorridorPointLabelGroup, StaggerLineHeight1 and StaggerLineHeight2, to support setting the stagger line height.
- Fixed a defect in method SurfaceElevationLabel.Create(), where an elevation label created on XReffed surface did not appear.
- Enhanced the CreateReference() API so that it does not return the DataShortcuts objects which are set as invisible.
Read the Civil 3D 2020.6 Update notes in the Civil 3D 2020 on-line Help
The Power to Make Civil 3D Work
Get the Framework for Civil 3D Release 8