TRANSPORT AND MAIN ROADS

AUTOCAD CUSTOMISATION POINT 4a

April 2011

Introduction:
Release of Point 4a AutoCAD Customisation
CADD Systems has been working hard to improve the operation and functionality of the Main Roads AutoCAD
Customisation. The file RevisionHistory.txt, in the installation folder of your customisation version (e.g.
C:\Apps\MR_CUST\ACAD\ACAD2010), provides details of the changes that have occurred since the Point 3 release in
October 2009.
This document provides a summary of the essential alterations in this Point 4a release.

I:\cadd business\App - AutoCAD\06 Web Page Updates\Point 4 Release\2010-06-30 Point 4 AutoCAD Customisation Release.doc
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Table of Contents

New and Modified commands ................................................................................................................................................1

Commands rewritten in C# .NET........................................................................................................................................1
Tool Palettes............................................................................................................................................................................1
MUTCD Blocks ..................................................................................................................................................................1
Plan Sheets ..........................................................................................................................................................................1
Template (DWT) and Drawing Standards (DWS) files ..........................................................................................................1
Minor fixes ..........................................................................................................................................................................1
Included layers ....................................................................................................................................................................2
Experimental content ..............................................................................................................................................................2
Pavement Marking Overrules (AutoCAD/Map/Civil 3D 2010 onwards)...........................................................................2
Background .....................................................................................................................................................................2
The solution.....................................................................................................................................................................2
Usage...............................................................................................................................................................................2
Sample Drawing..............................................................................................................................................................2
Identified issues...............................................................................................................................................................2
Instability.....................................................................................................................................................................2
Circles .........................................................................................................................................................................2
Arc and circle direction ...............................................................................................................................................2
Linemarking Width .....................................................................................................................................................3
Strings from 12d..........................................................................................................................................................3

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New and Modified commands

Commands rewritten in C# .NET

The following commands have been rewritten in C#.NET due to the removal of VBA support in AutoCAD 2010.
Enter Text (ET)
Merge Layers (MLA)
Read MX APL File (RAPL)

A new command Geotechnical Notes (GTN) has been written in C# .NET.

These are compatible with AutoCAD/Map 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. They have also tested in Civil3D 2009, 2010 and
2011.

Tool Palettes
MUTCD Blocks
The MUTCD blocks have been extensively updated to match those presented in the MUTCD 2003 edition (2009 issue).

They currently use solid hatching where required. CADD Systems would like to receive feedback on the user experience
to determine whether this is practical, or whether a reduced hatch pattern would be more usable.

Plan Sheets
The following plan sheet modifications have been made:
The plan sheets have been updated to reflect the Drafting and Design Presentation Standards manual.
The revisions area on the left of the plan is a table that expands vertically as additional rows are added to the
table.
The tool palette entries run a LISP routine that inputs the drawing file and explodes it to give the correct access to
the revision table and the rest of the block. The LISP routine also detects whether the user is in Model or Layout
and prompts the user to select a layout for insertion if in Model.
The Locality and Index and Working Plan plan sheets have been removed. Their content can be easily
constructed using the Design Detail plan sheet and various inserts such as the Scheme Approval, Drawing
List Table and graticule blocks available from the Plan Sheets tool palette.
The fault where turning the GDA logo on turned some other linework off has been rectified.

Template (DWT) and Drawing Standards (DWS) files

Minor fixes
Some layer definitions have been corrected. Namely Kerb Lip which had a dashed rather than continuous linetype as
defined in the Drafting and Design Presentation Standards Manual.

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Included layers
A default set of layers has now been included in the template file for new drawings. These are:

MR_CHN_018 MR_CON_100 MR_DSH_070

MR_CHN_025 MR_DCH_018 MR_DSH_100
MR_CHN_035 MR_DCH_025 MR_TXT_025
MR_CHN_050 MR_DCH_035 MR_TXT_035
MR_CHN_070 MR_DCH_050 MR_TXT_050
MR_CHN_100 MR_DCH_070 MR_TXT_070
MR_CON MR_DCH_100 MR_TXT_100
MR_CON_018 MR_DIM MR_TXT_140
MR_CON_025 MR_DSH_018 MR_TXT_200
MR_CON_035 MR_DSH_025 MR_VPT
MR_CON_050 MR_DSH_035
MR_CON_070 MR_DSH_050

This move facilitates the correct transfer of Culvert cross sections and responds to user requests. The long term intention
is that Culvert will create the layers correctly if they do not exist. Until then this provides a work around.

Experimental content
Pavement Marking Overrules (AutoCAD/Map/Civil 3D 2010 onwards)
Background
Linestyle scaling and definition associated with pavement marking has always been an issue with AutoCAD. Normally,
we require that all linestyles are represented with the same line-gap spacing regardless of the scale of the drawing.

That is:
If the linestyle is defined as a 5mm line with a 3mm gap,
At 1:500, the line should measure 5mm and the gap 3mm.
At 1:250, the line should measure 5mm and the gap 3mm.

The PSLTSCALE AutoCAD variable exists to ensure that this is the case.

However, this does not apply to pavement marking where a 3m line with a 9m gap should be 3m and 9m at the scale of
the drawing.

That is:
At 1:500, the line should measure 6mm and the gap 18mm,
At 1:250 the line should measure 12mm and the gap 36mm

The solution
A new technology was added to AutoCAD 2010 that enables what they call Overrules to be applied to objects that
enable them to be represented in a way that is not possible with normal linestyles. CADD Systems are experimenting
with this technology to allow us to represent pavement marking linestyles correctly. This will remove the need to
manipulate linestyle scaling for pavement marking linework.

CADD Systems are looking for feedback on user experience of the tool so that we can gauge any improvements and
address any issues that come up in day to day use.

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Usage
There is no setup required on your part to enable the overrules. They are provided through a .NET dll which is preloaded
through the acaddoc.lsp file in the customisation.

The Overrules apply to the following layers:

Survey: MRS_LD, MRS_L3, MRS_L6, MRS_LA, MRS_LL, MRS_LR, MRS_LT, MRS_LH.

Road Design: MRR_LD, MRR_L3, MRR_L6, MRR_LA, MRR_LL, MRR_LR, MRR_LT, MRR_LH.

There are two commands for use. These may be changed in the future to something more meaningful. Were open to
suggestions:
ORON OverRules ON
o This command applies/reapplies XData to the lines on pavement marking layers that defines the
line/gap requirements for each line, arc, circle and polyline.
o It then turns on the overrules.

OROF OverRules OFf

o This command turn the overrules off.

As a minimum, the ORON command should be used prior to plotting. See Identified issues for further information.

Sample Drawing
The sample drawing Pavement Marking Overrules.dwg is provided in the \Help\Samples Files folder in the
customisation. XData has already been applied to the objects in this drawing. It allows you to see the behaviour without
committing one of your own drawing.

It does not matter than XData may be applied to objects in your own drawing files. This will sit inert unless the ORON
command is used.

Identified issues
Instability
During development, the development PC displayed some instability around manipulating the linework while the
Overrules were active. The solution at the time was to deactivate the Overrules using OROF, and then reactivate prior to
plotting.

However, once this PC was reimaged and AutoCAD reinstalled, this behaviour has not been experienced again.

Circles
Circles do not behave properly for Double Barrier (*_LD), Barrier Left (*_LL) and Barrier Right (*_LR) linetypes. For
the LL and LR linetypes, the solid line is placed directly on the circle rather than offset as instructed in the code, while the
LD linetype does not draw at all. Additionally the solid line does not close the full circle.

This should not be a problem as there should be no need to draw these linetypes as circles.

Arc and circle direction

Arcs and circles always draw anticlockwise regardless of the direction you selected the defining points. In the following
screen captures, the top arc has been drawn left to right:

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The only way to get around this is to convert the arc to a polyline using PEDIT and then use the Reverse command to
change the direction. Circles cannot be converted to polylines. The only way to fool AutoCAD is by breaking the circle
turning it into an arc (or arcs) and then converting the resulting arc to a polyline.

Linemarking Width
At this point in time, the methods available for defining the overrules contain a polyline method. However this method
does not contain a width property. This means that the width of the pavement marking cannot be represented simply.

Additional coding could be added to approximate the width of each stripe, however this could add an unnecessary
processing overhead. We would like to hear from users about whether this is a real issue.

The offset used for the LL, LR and LD linetypes has been exaggerated to help with keeping the linework separated. We
encourage feedback that enables us to determine the most appropriate offset for general use.

Strings from 12d

Polylines generated by 12d can tend to have points spaced very closely together. This is currently causing issues both in
the display of conventional pavement marking linetypes and in the maths being carried out by the ORON routine.

The safest method for making ORON work correctly is to draw simplified polylines that trace the 12d polylines.

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