Civil 3D: Two Points, One Label

Not all curbs are perfect, which is why top of curb and flowline elevations are collected when surveying an existing site.

After the points are imported into a drawing, these points may look like Figure 1. After point label styles are applied for plan production, they may look like Figure 2. Then after the labels have been grip-edited and arranged, the points may look like Figure 3.

Although Figure 3 may look great, when a viewport is changed to a different scale, the points then may display like Figure 4; although the labels resize with the scale change, their original base points maintain their original location resulting in text overlap because they are separate labels.

When the viewport is rotated 180̊˚as in Figure 5, a similar behavior results with each label flipping to stay plan readable; the point labels flip independently since they are separate labels.

Figure 6 shows the label behavior when the viewport is rotated at 45˚which reveals the differences in the label configurations in both labels.

A great solution to this issue is to create one label that shows both TC and FL point elevations. When rescaling or viewport rotation occurs, both elevations stay positioned with respect to each other since we will be able to position both elevations with respect to one another, something that cannot be done with separate labels.

When building a label style, textual components are usually created to pull text values from the object. A label cannot pull textual components from separate objects unless a reference component is added. A reference component can pull text from other objects. Not all components provide reference components as an option. Point labels do not. However, a general note label can.

Creating a General Note Label that Calls Out Two Cogo Point Elevations

1. On the “Settings” tab of the “Toolspace”, expand the “General” category.
2. Next, expand the “Label Styles” category, right-click on “Note”, and click “New”.
   
3. On the “Information” tab, type in a name for the style; descriptions are optional but help to alleviate confusion.
   
4. On the “General” tab, configure the appropriate settings.
   
5. On the “Layout” tab, click the red X to delete the default text component.
   
6. Click the black triangle on the right side of the button and select “Reference Text” from the pop-up menu. In the “Select Type” dialog, click “Cogo Point”.
   
7. Name the component appropriately, configure the component to be anchored to the top right of the marker, set an appropriate text height, and set the attachment point (the point on the component that will coincide with the anchor point) to bottom left. Then, click the ellipsis next to “Contents” to open the “Text Component Editor”.
   
8. In the right pane of the “Text Component Editor”, select the default text, then press the delete button. Use the “Properties” section toll to select the “Point Elevation”, and precision set to 0.01, click the “Apply Edits” button. Click to place the cursor in front of the text property and type “TC”.
   
9. In the “Label Style Composer”, click the Copy Component button, name the component appropriately, then click the ellipsis next to “Contents” to open the “Text component Editor”.
   
10. In the “Label Style Composer”, select the “TC” text, and type “FL” in its place. Click “OK” to continue.
    
11. In the “Label Style Composer”, change the anchor component to the “TC” component. Select bottom right for the anchor point, then select top right for the attachment. Both components will appear as question marks in the preview window.
    
12. On the “Dragged State” tab of the “Label Style Composer”, under “Dragged State Components”, configure the display property to stacked text and adjust the leader settings as needed. Click “OK” to finish.
    

 

To test the new label style, open the “Add Labels” dialog.

13. With “Feature” set to “Note”, “Label Type” set to “Note”, set the “Label Style” to the new label.
14. Click the “Add” button. We will first be prompted for the label location and after clicking, we will be prompted to select first the TC cogo point, then the FL cogo point. Press the “Enter” key twice to create another label repeating the selection of a label location, TC cogo point, and FL cogo point. Repeat until all labels are established.
    
15. Using point groups, we can configure the original cogo point labels not to display. Then we can arrange the new labels as preferred.
    

Now the TC-FL annotations in the viewports of Figures 4, 5, and 6 are in sync, moving together when grip editing and keeping their positions with respect to the other.

Using reference text in labels is a way to combine properties from two or more objects into one. The availability of reference text components is present in most label types, but not all. In those cases, general note labels with reference text can be used.