Using Property Sets in Civil 3D for Field Inspection Data

Property Sets are collections of data attached to objects or object styles that are not native properties of the object represented. AutoCAD Civil 3D exposed Property Sets a few years ago with the release of 2017. There aren’t very many demonstrations of what we can use them for but if you look at a drawing from AutoCAD Architecture, you will find many Property Set examples to learn from.

I created a model of a building a short time ago from a point cloud using AutoCAD Architectural. Little did I know that while I was placing doors, windows, and walls, I was working with Property Sets.

AutoCAD Civil 3D is built on AutoCAD Architectural. Underneath that Land Development exterior, you can tap into functionality like WallAdd to draw walls and DoorAdd to place doors. Type Window at the command line and note the choices that pop up.

Property Sets were developed to attach information to objects that cannot be extracted to annotation natively from objects, or that may change each time you place that object. Fire rating, thermal properties, or manufacturers’ specifications are examples of data that could be assigned through Property Sets. With Property Sets, you could build list choices, categorization, and schedule styles that you can build into the software. Sounds a little like QTO but it isn’t. This was all created in AutoCAD Architectural primarily for creating schedules.

In AutoCAD Civil 3D, if you make the Manage ribbon tab current, you will notice a Define Property Sets button on the right. Clicking this will run the PROPERTYSETDEFINE command which opens a dialog oddly titled Style Manager. You would expect that this would be one of those hidden gems that you can use to manage your Civil 3D styles but there are no styles to be found here. In fact, it is very empty and starkly blank. What is being displayed is the filtered view. Turn the filtered view off by clicking the depressed (blue) filter button (shown below left). This unveils many more hidden gems (shown below right)!

If you stare at the newly revealed data tree long enough, you will come to realize that this is indeed made for the Architects. So how can we as enjoyers of AutoCAD Civil 3D use this to accomplish our own Civil deeds? Let’s explore what we can do with field collected inspection data.

We will be inspecting drainage structures and will be using a form on a mobile device for data input. This form will be the guide for setting up our Property Sets. Note that Property Sets are stored in the drawing so ultimately this should be set up in a template that can be reused for other inspection projects. If inspections are your thing, you could set up all inspection related Property Sets in one template to make things more manageable.

Create a Property Set

Type StyleManager at the command line. This will open an unfiltered version of the PropertySetDefine dialog. In the Style Manager dialog, do the following:

1. Right click on the Property Set Definitions branch and click New. A new branch is created under Property Set Definitions called New Style. Nothing about this will feel like a AutoCAD Civil 3D style so let’s get over it and type in a new name: Storm Structure Inspections. Notice that Storm Structure Inspections now has three tabs associated with it (as indicated below right).
   
2. This Property Set will contain all the results of the inspection. The inspection sheet is a form with choices and write-in options. Each one of those entries will be defined in this Property Set. We have the following entries to set up:
   • Structure ID: Write in
   • Structure Type: Choice (Curb Inlet, Grate Inlet, Combination, Yard Inlet, Manhole)
   • Structure Construction: Choice (Precast, Brick, Block, Combination)
   • Depth: Write in
   • Frame to Grade: Choice (Flush, Below, Above)
   • Cover Diameter: Choice
   • Cover Condition: Choice (Good, Fair, Poor)
   • Casting Condition: Choice (Good, Fair, Poor)
   • Step Condition: Choice (Good, Fair, Poor)
   • Step Type: Choice (Cast Iron, Reinforced Plastic, Precast, Stainless Steel, Other)
   • Apron Condition: Choice (Good, Fair, Poor)
   • Drop Connection: Choice (None, Outside, Inside)
   • Infiltration: Choice (Pipe, Invert, Casting, Walls)
   • Comments: Write inNotice some of the data types are choice and the choices for certain entries are the same. This will make the setup process go a bit faster. Since the manholes will be GPS field located, they will be imported into AutoCAD Civil 3D as COGO points. Now that we are clear on the object type we’ll be working with as well as the additional data we want to attach to each, we can proceed with our workflow enhancements.
3. Click on the Applies To tab for the Storm Structure Inspections property set. With Applies To set to Objects, find Cogo Point among the choices, and click its checkbox on.
   
4. Click on the Definition tab to add the first data type. We can choose from the buttons along the right edge of the dialog. The first item on our list of entries would be Structure ID. We will set this up as a Manual Property Definition. Clicking the top button, opens the New Property dialog. For name, type in Structure ID. Start With allows you to select a previously defined property to copy settings to this new property. Click OK and you will get a warning. Using spaces in a property name is discouraged because then it could not be used as an attribute definition in a tag block. The ultimate plan is to use a point label for our annotation, so we can ignore this warning without consequence.
   
5. The first entry looks like the image below. There are columns to configure. Each of these columns provide important contributions toward the behavior of this property.
   
   • Description – a text field where you can type additional information about the property.
   • Type – a dropdown menu, and the data type choices are as follows:
   ◦ Auto Increment – Character
   ◦ Auto Increment – Integer
   ◦ Integer
   ◦ Real
   ◦ Text
   ◦ True/False
   • Source – for manual properties, this will be blank. If any of the other property types are used, the source will be listed here automatically.
   • Default – for manual properties.
   • Units – value is based on the configuration of two columns: Type and Format. Type must be set to Real and Format must be configured to use a Property Data Format definition. Once those columns are set a list of units will be displayed based on the unit type specified in the Property Data Format.
   • Format – value is set based on a Property Data Format which would be manually set up in the drawing/template. Property Data Formats are set up in the branch just above Property Set Definitions on the left.
   • Example – Uses what is configured in the Default, Units, and Format columns, this value will automatically display.
   • Visible Order – Use this column to manipulate the order of these entries.
6. Let’s create a Property Data format for the Structure ID. Right-click on Property Data Formats in the left pane and then click New. Type Structure ID for the name.
7. In the right side of the dialog, make the Formatting tab current. Property Data Formats are not only used to set unit types, but they can also be used to add prefixes and suffixes. Configure the following fields:
   • Prefix: STR-
   • Under Text, Case: Upper
   • Under Real Numbers, Precision: 0The dialog should look like this:
   
8. Click Apply to continue (clicking OK will close the dialog).
9. Click on the Storm Structure Inspections property set definition and configure the following:
   • Type: Auto Increment – Integer
   • Default: 1
   • Format: Structure ID
   • Order: 1When finished, the Structure ID property should look like the following:
   
10. Click OK to continue.Next, we will set up our Structure Type property. Since this will be a choice list, we need to set up a List Definition:Under the Multi-Purpose Object branch, right-click on List Definitions and click New.
11. On the General tab, type Structure Type.
12. On the Applies To tab, fill in the Manual Property Definition checkbox.
13. On the Items tab, click Add to create a choice value. In the name column, type Combination.
14. Repeat step 13 for Curb Inlet, Grate Inlet, Manhole, and Yard Inlet.
15. Click Apply after completing step 14.
16. Return to the Definition of the Storm Structure Inspections property set definition and do the following:
    Add a manual property set called Structure Type.
    • In the Type column, choose list.
    • In the Source column, select Structure type (the List Definition previously created).
    • Configure Manhole as the default value.
    • Leave format set to Standard.

With the concepts we have used so far, we can set up the rest of the inspection data in the Manhole Inspection property set. When complete, we can add the property set to our point data.

To add the Property Set to the point group called Manhole Inspection:

1. Right click on Manhole Inspection point group, right-click, and click Select.
2. On the Properties palette, click on the Extended Data tab.
3. On the bottom left of the Extended Data tab, click the Add Property Sets button.
   
4. In the Add Property Sets dialog, check Storm Structure Inspections, then click OK.
   

Now all points representing Manholes will have these extended properties attached which can be configured according to the inspection results:

An alternative to using the Properties dialog to manage Property Set data would be Project Explorer, a relatively recent addition to AutoCAD Civil Civil 3D. Project Explorer can be opened from the Home tab to the right of the Palettes panel. Once opened, there is a Property Set Definitions tab that is dedicated to the organized display of this data. In this dialog you can select each point and enter the Property Set data for each.

Property sets are a great way to attach extended data to objects in AutoCADCivil 3D. The next step would be to annotate this data which will be the subject of my next post.

 – Cyndy Davenport