Centralizing the Global Data Folder in Corridor EZ

Corridor EZ is an application that integrates with Civil 3D and accelerates the creation of corridors, particularly those involving roadway networks, automating the creation of intersection and cul-de-sacs. As with any software, preferences and settings need to be configured in order to produce designs acceptable by governing municipalities. Once these settings have been established, they can be centralized and shared so that each user in the organization will be creating consistent designs.

Corridor EZ has many settings that should be centralized and shared:

• Active Drawing Settings: These are default settings for the drawing to use while running the software. These settings relate to display, default templates, dimensions, styles, and design standards. You can use several sets of settings if needed based on who you do work for.
• Templates: A Corridor EZ template contains the cross-sectional design associated with an alignment. Corridor EZ comes with many sample templates, but you’ll find yourself either editing the sample templates or creating new ones depending on the project.
• Intelligent Sections: These are settings that define how Corridor EZ daylights to surfaces under special conditions.
• CSD Styles: Corridor EZ originated from a larger set of land development tools called Civil Site Design (CSD). You will see the acronym throughout the software. CSD styles are settings that control how Corridor EZ displays and labels its objects prior to porting it over to Civil 3D.
• Exchange Settings Conversion Files: These are settings that relate how CSD parameters translate to Civil 3D parameters. In these files, subassemblies are selected to represent sub-sections in the Corridor EZ templates, and each parameter of the subassembly is configured to match up with a CSD parameter. With the creation of additional templates in your organization, new codes may need to be configured in Exchange Settings in order to successfully create the corridor from the Corridor EZ model.

When Corridor EZ is installed, all default settings for the application are stored locally. This location is referred to as the Global Settings folder, which is located here:

C:\ProgramData\CSS\ARD\Common

To centralize the global resource folder:

1. Copy the Common folder along with its contents to your shared location e.g.:
   L:\CAD Assets\CEZ\Common (Common being the Common folder copied from the original location)
2. Open C:\ProgramData\CSS\ARD\Program Settings\ARDNETInitialise.ini file with a text editor.
3. In the text editor, run a Find-Replace:
   • Find: C:\ProgramData\CSS\ARD\Common
   • Replace with: L:\CAD Assets\CEZ\Common i.e., your path to the shared common folder.
4. Save the file and copy it up to the shared common folder for safe keeping.
5. Replace the original ARDNETInitialise.ini with the customized version in C:\ProgramData\CSS\ARD\Common on each workstation.

After centralizing the Global Settings folder and distributing the customized .ini file, all users will be operating Corridor EZ in a collaborative environment, sharing settings and producing consistent designs.