Download Product Documentation

3 Hierarchy, Customization, and
Maintenance
3.1
Civil 3D Style and Setting
Hierarchy
Civil 3D employs a hierarchical model to Styles (how things
look) and Settings (how the software behaves). Changes
made at higher levels in the Civil 3D Toolspace Settings tab
cascade down to lower levels unless there is an existing child
override already applied at the lower level.
3.1.1 Hierarchy in Civil 3D
Here are the three levels of hierarchy in Civil 3D:
o Drawing Level
o Feature/Style Level
o Command/Object/Instance Level
The template(s) are constructed with this hierarchical
structure and methodology in mind.
o
A style that is referenced by another Style or Set is in use
even though it may not be used directly in the current
drawing.
o You can replace references to one named Style with
another in the Setting tab of the Toolspace
o You can easily Delete or Purge styles that are not in use.
o To Delete a parent style you must Delete all the child
styles that refer to the parent first.
The Import and Purge Utilities
o Newer version of Civil 3D include Import and Purge
utilities. These are found in the Manage Ribbon.
o The Import Style utility currently does not support
Description Key Set imports.
o Be careful not to Purge “Standard” styles as these are
required for most Civil 3D Features in the object model.
3.1.2 Label Style Defaults (LSD)
The hierarchical model applies to Feature Label Styles. Label
Style Defaults may be applied down to the Label Style”Type”
level in all releases of the product.
3.1.3 Parent and Child Label Styles
Below the Label Style Type level one Label Style may control
most of the properties of other Labels. This is referred to as a
“parent child relationship”.
If you are familiar with AutoCAD dimension styles, the
vernacular is essentially the same.
3.2
A Template is the Top Level of the
Hierarchy
From a template (or any drawing) you can import and/or
overwrite styles.
o Be careful about copying groups of styles between
drawings from middle levels in the tree. Depending on
the release of Civil 3D you are using you may get
unexpected results.
o Styles in use are clearly marked in the Toolspace Settings
tree with an icon. Make sure you refresh the Toolspace
itself before depending on the current use display.
MoreCompetency, Inc.
www.cadpilot.com
©2009-15 MoreCompetency, Inc.
Solution Standards
Page 13