We all occasionally hear the refrain or claim: “Our projects in Civil 3D are too small to make Data References (DREFs) and Data Shortcuts worth the effort. We manage to get most of our work done in one drawing.”
We can work this way in Autodesk Civil 3D.
Folks do successfully work without DREFs every day in Civil 3D Land.
Like it or not, Civil 3D is very flexible about how we manage and maintain our project data.
Indeed. It can be refreshing not to worry about setting our Working Folder and checking that the correct Civil 3D Project is selected in the Toolspace. Everything is right there.
To create a new version of our drawing work is as easy as SaveAs.
This is a good news and bad news thing.
“I trust these people save a lot.
I hope they are disciplined about drawing versioning as well.”
Afterall, the Civil 3D Data Shortcut rigmarole takes hours out of our production workday.
Just kidding.
We do have to think about our projects and the project data behind differently.
Civil 3D Data References (DREFs) and Data Shortcuts do make our project work more complicated. The use of DREFs means that we have more complex projects, more formal project structures, and more complicated project drawing naming conventions.
To DREF or Not To DREF? That is the Question
In Civil 3D, we often must trade one form of complication for another.
A single drawing project can make locating the source of many production issues more problematic.
For example: which version of our FG (or even the EG) surface are we publishing now?
Why do the Structures in the storm drain Pipe Network get the wrong top surface elevation assigned to them?
This second one example can be pretty interesting.
We can select the correct FG surface but how that surface model triangulated can produce bogus elevations at key points on the FG surface. I trust you are familiar with the many problems that can arise from Civil 3D surfaces with different data source orders, build properties, Edit orders, etc.
Is Civil 3D a Team Sport?
The single drawing Civil 3D project works better for the individual Civil 3D user.
They get to organize and manage all the Civil 3D data behind as they see fit.
That always makes sense to everyone.
What if we have follow that other someone’s work?
What if there is simply too much work for one person to do?
What if we want to employ options in the project?
The use of quality checked DREFs from separate drawings can help a Civil 3D team of individual Civil 3D users better manage and resolve many project data behind issues and options.
The DSM Cometh
The introduction of the Data Shortcut Manager (DSM) tool (2020.1) was truly a game changer and enabled new and more productive Civil 3D workflows.
See the Civil 3D Managed Data Reference Replacement and Civil 3D DREF Replacement Strategies posts.
“Here is the updated FG DREF that produces the correct elevations for the Curb Inlets in the storm drain Pipe Network.”
“Here are the updated Alignment and Profile DREFs for this updated Pond, Parking Lot, or Roadway Improvement corridor.”
Divide and Conquer
Both External Reference (XREF), Image Reference (IREF) and Data Reference (DREF) support were built into Civil 3D from the beginning. They reflect the classic Divide and Conquer strategy that civil engineering and survey firms have typically employed to simplify, manage, and develop practical solutions to complex problems.
See The World of Data References in Civil 3D post and video.
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