Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Any referenced datasets can be downloaded from "Module downloads" in the module overview.
Transcript
00:09
In this video, we're going to open our survey database and we're going to perform a survey dataset import.
00:15
So in order to do this, we're going to go over to our Toolspace, inside of our Survey tab,
00:20
we're going to dropdown on our Survey Databases and we're going to locate our survey database.
00:26
A common error that happens inside of Civil 3D for users is that when you go to edit a survey database, some users will double click on this to open,
00:34
which is a normal convention for opening files inside of Windows.
00:38
But if you do that inside of Civil 3D and you double click on a survey database, what's going to happen is, and I'll do it here,
00:46
is you're going to see this little icon here, which is a stop symbol over a pencil, which basically means that this item can't be edited.
00:55
If you were to double click on this and you did see this icon here, what you want to go ahead and do is right click on here, close survey database,
01:04
right click on it again and open for edit.
01:07
Now you won't have that icon and this survey database is now editable inside of your Civil 3D drawing.
01:13
If you have opened this and you notice that you have an import event already happened inside of your Civil 3D, you can go ahead and delete it.
01:21
If you don't have this, don't worry, we're going to go through it and create it now.
01:25
So I'm going to go ahead and delete and click "Yes".
01:28
And now I have a fresh survey database with no import events and no survey points, no figures, no networks, and no queries.
01:37
So what we're going to go ahead do is we're going to right click on Import Events, we are going to import survey data,
01:43
and then we are going to walk through how to create a import of that survey dataset.
01:47
So we're going to specify a database, which is our survey database.
01:51
We're going to click "Next". We're going to specify a data source.
01:54
So the data source we want to use is we know we want to use a point file.
01:58
Point file's been provided as part of this video course.
02:01
And so we're going to go ahead and select Point File.
02:04
We're going to hit the "+" sign to add in that point file.
02:07
We're going to locate our datasets and our survey folder.
02:12
And you're going to go to your TopoSurvey.txt.
02:15
We're going to go ahead and open it.
02:17
And what you're going to have to specify next is the certain point file formats that you have.
02:23
I know for a fact that this file is a PNEZD (comma delimited) point format for a survey dataset.
02:30
So that is point number, northing, easting, elevation, and description with commas in between each of these descriptors.
02:38
So we're going to go ahead and select PNEZD,
02:40
and then we're going to look and you will see you have a point number, northing, easting, elevation, raw description.
02:47
So we're going to go ahead and hit "Next".
02:49
If there was a survey network, you could specify it here.
02:52
We have no survey networks for this dataset, so we're going to go ahead and hit "Next".
02:56
And then, now we have all of our import options.
02:60
So we'll specify our figure prefix databases here.
03:03
So what you want to do is want to make sure you have essentials selected.
03:07
You want to process your linework during the import.
03:10
Your linework code sets are going to be essentials, as we described in the previous video.
03:14
And then we are going to be importing our TopoSurvey.txt and we want to make sure that we are inserting figures and inserting survey points.
03:24
So we're going to go ahead and click "Finish".
03:29
And if you've done it successfully, what you'll see is you'll have a large amount of points and some figures imported into your file drawing.
Video transcript
00:09
In this video, we're going to open our survey database and we're going to perform a survey dataset import.
00:15
So in order to do this, we're going to go over to our Toolspace, inside of our Survey tab,
00:20
we're going to dropdown on our Survey Databases and we're going to locate our survey database.
00:26
A common error that happens inside of Civil 3D for users is that when you go to edit a survey database, some users will double click on this to open,
00:34
which is a normal convention for opening files inside of Windows.
00:38
But if you do that inside of Civil 3D and you double click on a survey database, what's going to happen is, and I'll do it here,
00:46
is you're going to see this little icon here, which is a stop symbol over a pencil, which basically means that this item can't be edited.
00:55
If you were to double click on this and you did see this icon here, what you want to go ahead and do is right click on here, close survey database,
01:04
right click on it again and open for edit.
01:07
Now you won't have that icon and this survey database is now editable inside of your Civil 3D drawing.
01:13
If you have opened this and you notice that you have an import event already happened inside of your Civil 3D, you can go ahead and delete it.
01:21
If you don't have this, don't worry, we're going to go through it and create it now.
01:25
So I'm going to go ahead and delete and click "Yes".
01:28
And now I have a fresh survey database with no import events and no survey points, no figures, no networks, and no queries.
01:37
So what we're going to go ahead do is we're going to right click on Import Events, we are going to import survey data,
01:43
and then we are going to walk through how to create a import of that survey dataset.
01:47
So we're going to specify a database, which is our survey database.
01:51
We're going to click "Next". We're going to specify a data source.
01:54
So the data source we want to use is we know we want to use a point file.
01:58
Point file's been provided as part of this video course.
02:01
And so we're going to go ahead and select Point File.
02:04
We're going to hit the "+" sign to add in that point file.
02:07
We're going to locate our datasets and our survey folder.
02:12
And you're going to go to your TopoSurvey.txt.
02:15
We're going to go ahead and open it.
02:17
And what you're going to have to specify next is the certain point file formats that you have.
02:23
I know for a fact that this file is a PNEZD (comma delimited) point format for a survey dataset.
02:30
So that is point number, northing, easting, elevation, and description with commas in between each of these descriptors.
02:38
So we're going to go ahead and select PNEZD,
02:40
and then we're going to look and you will see you have a point number, northing, easting, elevation, raw description.
02:47
So we're going to go ahead and hit "Next".
02:49
If there was a survey network, you could specify it here.
02:52
We have no survey networks for this dataset, so we're going to go ahead and hit "Next".
02:56
And then, now we have all of our import options.
02:60
So we'll specify our figure prefix databases here.
03:03
So what you want to do is want to make sure you have essentials selected.
03:07
You want to process your linework during the import.
03:10
Your linework code sets are going to be essentials, as we described in the previous video.
03:14
And then we are going to be importing our TopoSurvey.txt and we want to make sure that we are inserting figures and inserting survey points.
03:24
So we're going to go ahead and click "Finish".
03:29
And if you've done it successfully, what you'll see is you'll have a large amount of points and some figures imported into your file drawing.
Step-by-step guide
How to buy
Privacy | Do not sell or share my personal information | Cookie preferences | Report noncompliance | Terms of use | Legal | © 2025 Autodesk Inc. All rights reserved
Sign in to start learning
Sign in for unlimited free access to all learning content.Save your progress
Take assessments
Receive personalized recommendations
May we collect and use your data?
Learn more about the Third Party Services we use and our Privacy Statement. May we collect and use your data to tailor your experience?
Explore the benefits of a customized experience by managing your privacy settings for this site or visit our Privacy Statement to learn more about your options.