Survey Database and the Vault

This blog was moved in October of 2008. Click Here to read this post and join us at I.II.I Professional Consulting Services where we are continuing our efforts in Paving the Way for your success.

Click Here for a full menu of our Professional Services

You can use the Survey tab to create local survey databases, however, should you? Starting a new Project in Civil 3D 2007 will AUTOMATICALLY create a new survey database of the same name.

Each local survey database is stored in the project working folder, for example: C:\Civil 3D Projects\. The Help file mistakenly states you can set the current working folder from the Toolspace Survey tab, but you can't. You need to set the current working folder on the Prospector Tab while in the Master View - Right Click on "Projects."



Be careful with your Working Folder definition. The working folder maps your local copies of project files to the master copies of project files in the Vault database. Your work is STORED in the vault. When you open a drawing, a COPY is placed in the working folder on your local drive (file access is much faster this way). Even attached x'refs are pulled across to allow local access - but this means you can NOT open and edit an x'ref from within another drawing you've attached to a project - the vault locks it down, it will be read-only.

You specify a default working folder name when you install Autodesk Civil 3D, but you can change it at any time.

Again, the working folder contains your local copies of files for all the projects stored in a Vault database (think you need a rather large local Hard Drive?). If all your projects are stored in the same Vault database, you will use the same working folder for all projects. If you work with projects that are stored in different Vault databases, use a different working folder for each Vault database. If you decide local storage is at a premium, you'll want to store your local files on a server and point everyone to that directory - but you'll slow access to the files (I hope you turn off the real-time virus scanning for this folder).

In general, you should not change your working folder in the middle of an Autodesk Civil 3D session. The working folder is used to determine the state of your LOCAL copies of files in relation to the master files in the Vault.

Once a drawing lives in the Vault, you don't open it - you check it out. When you're done, you don't save and exit, you save and check the drawing back in. Check Out, Check In - Check Out, Check In - be careful Grasshopper.

Study the Vault before and how Civil 3D works in conjunction with it before you roll out Civil 3D 2007. The Vault is an incredible tool, but you'll lose your hair quickly if you're not careful!

Cheers!