Topic: Do any Civil 3D Subassemblies Work?????

[kevinh]

I am trying to use the Vertical Link : Generic Vertical Link subassembly.  Because you cannot have two points on top of each other when creating a surface Autodesk has programmed the vertical link to have a slight slope to the right.  This works well till you need to place this subassembly on the left side of your baseline.  Now it has the slope going in towards the centerline and it will not produce a correct surface model. I guess maybe I need to look through the subassemblies again and see if another one will work.  I guess it is just another one I can mark on my "don't use" list.  Anyone in the business of creating a library of subassemblies that work?

Kevin

[mjfarrell]

Use the Link Width and Slope Sub Assembly.


NOTE: There is a bit of a trick required here to enter the desired NEAR vertical slope.

The software must be fooled into letting you do this by editing your Ambient Settings for
Slope, Grade, and or Grade/Slope to the highest possible precision otherwise it will reject your slope value.

There might also be the possibility of using an offset within that assembly (works best if that vertical deflection is fixed).  Place the offest where it would occur mathematically, over to the left side and up from centerline; then attach any other components as needed. The offset will model as desired until you tell it to follow an alignment, and THEN you will be needing to design a profile for it to follow.

One might try the VERTICAL retaining wall with a very narrow width.

[ChristopherF]

If you send me a drawing with an alignment, profile, subassembly and corridor I'll post how to make the subassembly to do what you expect it to do. I'm kind of in the business of creating subassemblies that work, I just don't do a good job of getting paid for it.


Christopher at Civil3dReminders.com
http://blog.civil3dreminders.com/
http://style.civil3dreminders.com/intermittentblockoftheday

I am trying to use the Vertical Link : Generic Vertical Link subassembly.  Because you cannot have two points on top of each other when creating a surface Autodesk has programmed the vertical link to have a slight slope to the right.  This works well till you need to place this subassembly on the left side of your baseline.  Now it has the slope going in towards the centerline and it will not produce a correct surface model. I guess maybe I need to look through the subassemblies again and see if another one will work.  I guess it is just another one I can mark on my "don't use" list.  Anyone in the business of creating a library of subassemblies that work?

Kevin

[mjfarrell]

If you send me a drawing with an alignment, profile, subassembly and corridor I'll post how to make the subassembly to do what you expect it to do.

ChristopherF, one would think that you should not need Kevin's data if it is a simple setting in the assembly construction parameters or targeting within the corridor.  However that is just my observation.

Kevin, having not noticed this behavior in the Vertical link I will perform a couple of experiments as time permits today and report back to you.

[mjfarrell]

Kevin, I just a ran a few quick tests. I am NOT getting the bad deflections you describe in my corridor sections.

See attached image.

[ChristopherF]

I was going to modify the .net or vba subassembly code. Since you confirmed originally that there was a problem, the solution would be one of programming to get the program to use the correct offset for the left side. But to check to see if I got it correct I'd need some data, I'm too lazy to create my own.

Christopher
http://blog.civil3dreminders.com/
http://style.civil3dreminders.com/intermittentblockoftheday

[mjfarrell]

I was going to modify the .net or vba subassembly code. Since you confirmed originally that there was a problem, the solution would be one of programming to get the program to use the correct offset for the left side. But to check to see if I got it correct I'd need some data, I'm too lazy to create my own.

Christopher

Note: I did not confirm there was a problem, I did offer alternate methods to try.
It has been my practice for a long time to NOT deny that a user is having an issue, because they actually might be.
That and it makes one look a bit arrogant to suggest that they are not having a problem (even if they are not).


The laziness you mention could be one reason for your difficulty in profitting from your skills. (just an observation)
It took less than 10 minutes to run several scenarios with this Vertical Link assembly in a corridor.

[Jeff_M]

FWIW, there IS a problem with the vertical link when you create a Surface. The "vertical", as we all know, in a TIN does not work. So the programmers built in a 0.002 offset for the vertical point. However, this offset is ALWAYS to the right of the section. So any Vert.links created on the left side will have the vertical offset closer to the centerline than the preceding point. This was discussed a year or two ago in the adesk discussion group, but the code remains the same today.

Michael, Christopher called it lazy. I call it "Why should I have to duplicate something the OP has already done, in order to help the OP?" If you don't see a problem in your attempt to duplicate it, that means you wasted valuable time to come to the conclusion it MAY not be a problem. But if you would label both of the top vertical segments you'd see where the deflection problem is.

[Jeff_M]

After a quick search back thru the Adesk group archives (on MY pc, the forum search has major issues right now), I don't find the discussion I was thinking of. Although I did find a few 2-3 message threads that asked about it. And 2 of them confirm the "left side doesn't work" problem.

Christopher, I haven't done much with the Subs besides modify obvious mistakes. Is there a mechanism to determine which side the sub is on and modify the deflection accordingly? If not, I think this sub needs to have a Right/Left Side property added to it. I had actually started doing this, and had it working except I could not get the actual value of Left or Right to show up in the Properties.........but for some reason I deleted that and restored the original code. Maybe I'll try to redo that at lunch today.

[sinc]

Yes, it's a relatively easy modification to the subassembly code, if you can sort through the mass of code and find the right place.

[mjfarrell]

I don't consider getting to practice modeling the corridor a waste of time; just a chance to hone my skills.   

[ChristopherF]

Other than laziness, I can't do paid work for competitors without filling out a bunch of paperwork to disclose the conflict of interest (and there is no guarantee that it will be approved). I can however give stuff away for free and do so. I do however get minor compensation from Google for placing adds on my sites. A whoping penny today.

Christopher

The laziness you mention could be one reason for your difficulty in profitting from your skills. (just an observation)
It took less than 10 minutes to run several scenarios with this Vertical Link assembly in a corridor.

[mjfarrell]

As an independent consultant, I often invest a lot of time in issues for potential clients so they know that I can solve their challenges before they hire me on a paid basis.

Even if or when I vest larger blocks of time towards some issues; this is still not wasted time for me.
As I have stated in other posts I can not know all problems, unless I tackle some that I find on the internet to dissect and practice on.  My experience doesn't come without a price, (doing the work, to solve a problem even if there is no 'money' in it for me that day), and then when that knowledge proves usefull, more than worth the energy spent acquiring it.

[ChristopherF]

You can find out how I did it here:  http://blog.civil3dreminders.com/2008/09/vertical-subassembly.html
And the revised files here: http://style.civil3dreminders.com/customsubassemblies

[mjfarrell]

From the material that you LINK to it is unclear to myself; are you adding a left, or right option to this new vertical link sub assembly?  Or are you only creating a vertical link that will now lean outwards when placed on the left side of the assembly baseline?