Creating Reports in Project Explorer

00:00

RUSS NICLOY: Hello and welcome to creating reports

00:02

in Project Explorer.

00:03

My name is Russ Nicloy, Civil Solutions Specialist

00:06

at MACER Technologies.

00:07

In this course, we are looking at creating reports and tables

00:10

through project Explorer for civil 3D.

00:13

This session is part 3 of 3, creating reports and tables.

00:17

In this learning path we are at the creating reports course.

00:21

This session will look at creating reports, modifying

00:24

objects set actions and exporting to a 2D drawing file.

00:30

We're going to start this process from already having

00:32

created an object set.

00:34

We're on the Object Set tab, and we

00:36

can see the object set that we have created here.

00:39

This only has one object in it.

00:41

You could create objects sets with more but in this case,

00:44

we're only looking at the one alignment.

00:46

The object that we're looking at is in the middle window here.

00:51

And then all of the independent data

00:53

of that is laid out down below in the format

00:56

that this report or table is going to be using.

01:01

Now, to create a report I'm going

01:03

to highlight the object set and then run the selected action.

01:07

It's going to take the action from this action field

01:10

here and run that.

01:11

A quick run selected action.

01:15

In here we see the report.

01:17

There may be some things that we need to change about it though.

01:20

This is the header.

01:21

This is the object table, overall object table,

01:23

and this is the sub object table.

01:26

Those are important to understand.

01:27

When you come back and look at the object set down here

01:30

the alignment has an object table and sub object table

01:33

option.

01:34

I'm going to turn off the object table, that top one.

01:36

I'll double click on that and notice

01:38

that I could turn both of them on or off from here.

01:41

I'll say use object table and turn that off,

01:44

leaving the sub object table.

01:46

I'll say, OK, and just run that selected action again.

01:51

My old report is still here but now the new report

01:53

misses that object information.

01:57

I'm going to go back in.

01:59

And if you notice if I select off to the side

02:02

all of this text is magenta, which means I can edit it.

02:05

I can click on any part of it, double click on any part of it

02:09

to get back to my edit the object set dialog box.

02:13

In this case, I want to get rid of the header.

02:15

I'm going to go to the Edit Style, and go to the Header tab

02:20

and uncheck the header.

02:22

I'll say, OK.

02:25

OK.

02:26

And then run that selected action again.

02:28

And there you can see now the header is gone.

02:30

Only the sub object table and the title are available.

02:37

Now, with that done, the report is where we want it,

02:39

so we can leave that.

02:41

But now I do want to create a table in a very

02:44

similar fashion.

02:45

To do that I could go back and create a new object set

02:48

or I could simply come here to the Object Set Name,

02:50

right click, Copy.

02:52

Or right click on the Name again, and Paste,

02:55

and paste in a copy of that.

02:57

I'm going to double click on that.

02:59

And again it opens up the object set of the copy.

03:03

I'm going to change this to Table.

03:11

Change the object set action to export

03:13

to model space or paper space.

03:16

I'm going to choose the model space

03:18

but if your standards are to put this in paper space

03:20

you can do that.

03:21

I'll click on model space, that opens up this option below,

03:25

I'm going to make it dynamic.

03:27

I'm going to come over to the AutoCAD table Output options

03:32

and pick an insertion point.

03:34

If you leave it at zero it will be

03:36

at the zero, zero coordinate spot on your file.

03:39

So I'm going to click an insertion point

03:41

and left click a point somewhere down here.

03:44

The title cell will be the object name.

03:48

And I'm going to not use the default table styles

03:51

but I'll use a specific table style.

03:53

I'm going to browse over and pick a style that I've already

03:55

created for a white background style,

03:58

that way I can see this table when my background is white.

04:01

I click Open, and that sets all of those defaults.

04:05

So I'll click OK.

04:07

And one thing before I run this with this

04:10

selected I want to make sure the sub-object type

04:12

is Alignment PIs, and it is.

04:14

If it's not I may get a table with different information.

04:17

I can always double check the info here.

04:19

I'm going to come up and run that report.

04:22

Notice I'm highlighting the second one there.

04:24

I'll click Run Selected Actions, and that table is down here.

04:31

And it's the same information that we

04:33

had in our report in the same layout.

04:37

One last thing that we can do is we

04:39

can export instead of to a report

04:40

or table is export to a 2D drawing file.

04:44

For this I will go back to the alignment's tab.

04:48

I'm going to select the South Santa Fe Drive.

04:52

I'll control select the South Platte River Parkway,

04:57

and scroll down to the West Mineral Avenue.

05:00

I'll right click and add to object set.

05:03

It does not matter which tab or what kind of object

05:05

set I'm creating here.

05:08

I'm going to come into the Object Set Actions

05:11

and export to 2D AutoCAD drawn file.

05:15

I'm looking at the name to see what kind of name that's

05:17

going to be.

05:19

And notice if I change the name here it changes the name here.

05:24

I'm going to click the Browse to drop

05:26

this in my project location.

05:32

OK and OK.

05:34

And then when I go over to the object sets tab

05:38

I now have an alignment with three objects.

05:41

If I run the selected action and open that file.

05:47

Now, it's exported those alignment's as 2D objects.

05:53

If I select on one there's a series of lines and arcs

05:57

but accessible by 2D file formats like base AutoCAD.

Video transcript

00:00

RUSS NICLOY: Hello and welcome to creating reports

00:02

in Project Explorer.

00:03

My name is Russ Nicloy, Civil Solutions Specialist

00:06

at MACER Technologies.

00:07

In this course, we are looking at creating reports and tables

00:10

through project Explorer for civil 3D.

00:13

This session is part 3 of 3, creating reports and tables.

00:17

In this learning path we are at the creating reports course.

00:21

This session will look at creating reports, modifying

00:24

objects set actions and exporting to a 2D drawing file.

00:30

We're going to start this process from already having

00:32

created an object set.

00:34

We're on the Object Set tab, and we

00:36

can see the object set that we have created here.

00:39

This only has one object in it.

00:41

You could create objects sets with more but in this case,

00:44

we're only looking at the one alignment.

00:46

The object that we're looking at is in the middle window here.

00:51

And then all of the independent data

00:53

of that is laid out down below in the format

00:56

that this report or table is going to be using.

01:01

Now, to create a report I'm going

01:03

to highlight the object set and then run the selected action.

01:07

It's going to take the action from this action field

01:10

here and run that.

01:11

A quick run selected action.

01:15

In here we see the report.

01:17

There may be some things that we need to change about it though.

01:20

This is the header.

01:21

This is the object table, overall object table,

01:23

and this is the sub object table.

01:26

Those are important to understand.

01:27

When you come back and look at the object set down here

01:30

the alignment has an object table and sub object table

01:33

option.

01:34

I'm going to turn off the object table, that top one.

01:36

I'll double click on that and notice

01:38

that I could turn both of them on or off from here.

01:41

I'll say use object table and turn that off,

01:44

leaving the sub object table.

01:46

I'll say, OK, and just run that selected action again.

01:51

My old report is still here but now the new report

01:53

misses that object information.

01:57

I'm going to go back in.

01:59

And if you notice if I select off to the side

02:02

all of this text is magenta, which means I can edit it.

02:05

I can click on any part of it, double click on any part of it

02:09

to get back to my edit the object set dialog box.

02:13

In this case, I want to get rid of the header.

02:15

I'm going to go to the Edit Style, and go to the Header tab

02:20

and uncheck the header.

02:22

I'll say, OK.

02:25

OK.

02:26

And then run that selected action again.

02:28

And there you can see now the header is gone.

02:30

Only the sub object table and the title are available.

02:37

Now, with that done, the report is where we want it,

02:39

so we can leave that.

02:41

But now I do want to create a table in a very

02:44

similar fashion.

02:45

To do that I could go back and create a new object set

02:48

or I could simply come here to the Object Set Name,

02:50

right click, Copy.

02:52

Or right click on the Name again, and Paste,

02:55

and paste in a copy of that.

02:57

I'm going to double click on that.

02:59

And again it opens up the object set of the copy.

03:03

I'm going to change this to Table.

03:11

Change the object set action to export

03:13

to model space or paper space.

03:16

I'm going to choose the model space

03:18

but if your standards are to put this in paper space

03:20

you can do that.

03:21

I'll click on model space, that opens up this option below,

03:25

I'm going to make it dynamic.

03:27

I'm going to come over to the AutoCAD table Output options

03:32

and pick an insertion point.

03:34

If you leave it at zero it will be

03:36

at the zero, zero coordinate spot on your file.

03:39

So I'm going to click an insertion point

03:41

and left click a point somewhere down here.

03:44

The title cell will be the object name.

03:48

And I'm going to not use the default table styles

03:51

but I'll use a specific table style.

03:53

I'm going to browse over and pick a style that I've already

03:55

created for a white background style,

03:58

that way I can see this table when my background is white.

04:01

I click Open, and that sets all of those defaults.

04:05

So I'll click OK.

04:07

And one thing before I run this with this

04:10

selected I want to make sure the sub-object type

04:12

is Alignment PIs, and it is.

04:14

If it's not I may get a table with different information.

04:17

I can always double check the info here.

04:19

I'm going to come up and run that report.

04:22

Notice I'm highlighting the second one there.

04:24

I'll click Run Selected Actions, and that table is down here.

04:31

And it's the same information that we

04:33

had in our report in the same layout.

04:37

One last thing that we can do is we

04:39

can export instead of to a report

04:40

or table is export to a 2D drawing file.

04:44

For this I will go back to the alignment's tab.

04:48

I'm going to select the South Santa Fe Drive.

04:52

I'll control select the South Platte River Parkway,

04:57

and scroll down to the West Mineral Avenue.

05:00

I'll right click and add to object set.

05:03

It does not matter which tab or what kind of object

05:05

set I'm creating here.

05:08

I'm going to come into the Object Set Actions

05:11

and export to 2D AutoCAD drawn file.

05:15

I'm looking at the name to see what kind of name that's

05:17

going to be.

05:19

And notice if I change the name here it changes the name here.

05:24

I'm going to click the Browse to drop

05:26

this in my project location.

05:32

OK and OK.

05:34

And then when I go over to the object sets tab

05:38

I now have an alignment with three objects.

05:41

If I run the selected action and open that file.

05:47

Now, it's exported those alignment's as 2D objects.

05:53

If I select on one there's a series of lines and arcs

05:57

but accessible by 2D file formats like base AutoCAD.

Creating Custom Reports and Tables with Project Explorer– Practice Exercise

Task 1: Create a report configuration

  1. Open the practice file, 001-Reports and Tables-Exercise.dwg.
  2. Open the Add-ins ribbon tab, in the Project Explorer tab select Launch Project Explorer.
  3. In the middle window scroll-down and select South Santa Fe Drive.
  4. Be careful not to select the profile entry which trees-out below the alignment.
  5. In the lower window switch to the Alignment PIs tab.
  6. In the middle window right-click on South Santa Fe Drive. Choose Add to Object Set > New Object Set.
  7. Change the Object Set Name to S Santa Fe PI Report.
  8. Change the Object Set Action to Report to HTML File (*.htm).
  9. Under Layout Style select Use Specific Layout Style and click the Edit Style button.
  10. Make sure the Alignment tab is selected at the top.
  11. Set the Alignment/Profile Column Chooser to Set Column Layout for Alignment PIs
  12. At the far right select the Unselect All button.
  13. Turn on the checkmarks for Station, Easting, Northing, Distance In, Direction In, PI Included Angle, and Curve Radius.
  14. Select the Northing row, then click the up arrow at the right of the dialog once so it appears above the Easting row.
  15. Click OK. Browse to the folder where you saved the exercise dataset and save the Layout Style as Exercise PI Report.xmpt.
  16. At the top right make sure the File Output Options tab is selected.
  17. Change the Filename Template to {ObjectSet_Name} (without the Drawing_Name) included).
  18. Next to the Output Path click the Browse button.
  19. Browse to the folder where the exercise dataset is located. Click OK.
  20. Under Report Styles select the Use Specific Report Style. Then click Edit Style.
  21. In the Page Options tab change the Layout Units to inches. Change the Report Header to {Report_Name}.
  22. In the Table Options tab turn off the Use Background Colors.
  23. In the Report Header tab double click in the Drawing: field and change the text to Report Name: and change the Field Value for that row to {Report_Name}.
  24. Select the Drawing Path row, right-click and choose Delete Row. Click OK.
  25. Browse to the folder location where the exercise dataset is located and save the report style as Exercise Table Style.xmpr.
  26. Click OK to close the Create Object Set dialog. Click OK to confirm the object set was successfully created.

Task 2: Create a report

  1. In the Project Explorer window switch to the Object Sets tab (at the left).
  2. In the top window select the S Santa Fe PI Report object set.
  3. In the middle window, in the South Santa Fe Drive row, double click on the Object Table field (currently reads Yes).
  4. Turn off the Use Object Table? Option. Click OK.
  5. In the top window, make sure the S Santa Fe PI Report row is selected.
  6. Above the top window select the Run Selected Action button.
  7. When prompted Do you wish to open this file now? Click Yes.

Task 3: Switch report settings to produce a table.

  1. In Project Explorer Object Sets tab top window, right-click on S Santa Fe PI Report and choose Copy.
  2. Right-click on the S Santa Fe PI Report row again and choose Paste.
  3. Double click on the name of the new S Santa Fe PI Report - Copy.
  4. Change the Object Set Name to S Santa Fe PI Report Table.
  5. Change the Object Set Actions to Export to AutoCAD Table(s) in MODEL Space.
  6. Change the Object Set Action type to Dynamic.
  7. Make sure the Layout Style is set to Use Specific Layout Style and is still set to Exercise PI Report.xmpt from the previous exercise task.
  8. At the top right make sure the AutoCAD Table Output Options tab is open.
  9. Click the Pick Insertion Point icon. Wait for the dialogs to temporarily close so you can select an origin point for the table in the drawing file.
    • You are selecting the upper left corner of the table.
  10. Change the Title Cell Text Template to [ObjectSet_Name}.
  11. Click OK.
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