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AEC

Solutions from Synergis: Parcel Labels Made Easy

7 Dec, 2006 By: Bill Frederick

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Create user-defined properties in Autodesk Civil 3D

Have you ever tried to add additional information -- such as deed book and page number or an owner's name -- to your parcel label styles in Autodesk Civil 3D? Well, you can. It's a very easy process to create information fields, using the User-Defined Property Classifications feature.

To access the User-Defined Property Classification folder, you must open the Toolspace, switch to the Settings tab and expand the Parcel collection. After expanding the Parcels collection, you can create a new classification. To begin, right-click and under the User-Defined Property Classification folder, select New.

Group like items together, such as recorded or taxing authority information, so that you can have a controlled list of properties available for parcels, per site on the Prospector tab. Although this is a manual process, it lets you leave the information in the drawing and place it on a parcel label style.

After creating a User-Defined Property Classification group, you can add a list of properties to have available for your parcels. Right-click and select New to create the property. Next, choose a name for the property that will be displayed in the User-Defined Properties dialog box later in the process. A simple but effective way to create a name for properties is to select a string. A string allows for alphanumeric and character input. Items such as a deed book and page number would require this option, with names [?] such as DB 1290, PG 0123. Repeat this process as necessary.

To use the newly created properties, access the parcel collection on the Prospector tab of the Toolspace. Within the Sites collection, right-click Parcels and select Properties. Select the Owner Info classification from the drop-down list to activate the fields.

There are two ways information can be added to the parcels. You can enter data on the Toolspace or access the Edit User-Defined Properties dialog box located in the Parcel pull-down menu. In general, it's much easier to enter or edit data with the later method. This process can be done on a single parcel or multiple parcels. To use this method, pick a starting point in a parcel and cross through all the parcels to be edited.

When you select multiple parcels, use the back and forward arrows located at the top of the dialog box to edit each parcel's data.

Once you've entered the data, it's time to create a parcel label style that uses the new properties. To create or modify the style, access the Parcel Label Styles located on the Settings tab of the Toolspace.

User-defined properties are displayed in the Properties drop-down list. Simply select the property you want add to the style and click on the blue arrow to add to the text component editor. You can add any additional text to the label at this point.

After completing the style, apply the newly created style to the desired parcels.

Hopefully, with this knowledge, you can display the data you need on your parcels. When you use a parcel label style created by Civil 3D, you can utilize the scale and rotation capabilities within the software. Note that parcel label styles are generally configured to always be plan readable (horizontal to the page), whether in model space or in a viewport that may have a twist (rotation) associated within it.

Good luck and happy creating!