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Repair data shortcuts in Civil 3D when files are not found, such as when files have been moved or renamed.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
5 min.
Transcript
00:03
In this session we'll look at how to repair a data shortcut when the file it points to has been moved or renamed.
00:09
On my screen I have 3 drawings.
00:11
This one called Ex Topo contains a single surface called EG.
00:16
This drawing has been saved in my cloud project and if I come down to the data shortcuts area,
00:20
you can see that I've created a data shortcut to this surface.
00:24
I have another drawing saved in my cloud project called P Alignments.
00:28
This drawing contains a pair of proposed roadway center line alignments.
00:32
One is called Plank Road and the other is called Mills Rd.
00:36
Note that I've created a data shortcut to each of these alignments.
00:39
I have one more drawing stored in my project called Profiles.
00:43
In this drawing, I've used the data shortcuts we just looked at to create references to the surface and the two alignments.
00:49
I then used this reference to data to sample a pair of surface profiles.
00:54
So I have content in this drawing that relies on those two data shortcuts.
00:59
Let's break and then repair the shortcuts.
01:02
We'll start by closing the Profiles drawing and the Alignments drawing.
01:06
Then I'll open up a couple instances of Windows Explorer and I'll move the drawing containing the two alignments.
01:12
It seems the alignments file is currently stored within the drainage folder in my project.
01:17
This really should be in the civil folder.
01:20
To move the file, I'll right click hold and drag the file into the correct folder and then I'll choose Move here.
01:26
I will then wait a moment for that change to propagate to the cloud.
01:29
Finally, I'll close Windows Explorer.
01:32
At this point, I have data shortcuts that point to the wrong folder.
01:35
Let's open the profiles drawing again.
01:38
At first, we may not notice anything out of the ordinary.
01:41
If, however, I open the Alignments category, you can see the warning flags showing me there's a problem with my referenced alignments.
01:47
When you see data reference flags like this, it's very important to fix them.
01:52
These flags can cause a degradation in performance,
01:55
especially when working in the cloud because Civil 3D is constantly searching for something it can't find.
02:00
Having said that, these flags weren't super obvious to see.
02:04
Let me collapse this.
02:06
One recommendation I always make is when you're working on project drawings,
02:10
every now and then visit the Manage tab and click Validate Data Shortcuts.
02:14
If you have any broken references, they will show up plain as day down here in the project area.
02:19
If we fix broken shortcuts at the project level, it will also fix them in the drawing and any other drawings using the same data shortcuts.
02:28
To fix the Mills Rd. alignment shortcut, I'll right click on it and choose Repair Broken Shortcut.
02:33
Down at the bottom of the dialog box, I can see the name of the file that shortcut is looking for.
02:38
At the top, I can see that I'm in the folder where that drawing was last known to be.
02:43
It's obviously not here because I moved it.
02:45
I'm going to go U1 level to the Models folder, and then I'll jump into the Civil folder and we can see the file I'm looking for right here.
02:52
Now, in my case, I knew exactly where the file was.
02:56
In the event you don't know, you can cancel out of this dialog box and do a file search within your project for the file name you're looking for.
03:03
Since I have the file I need, I'll select it and click Open.
03:07
When I do, another dialogue box tells me that I have an additional broken shortcut that refers to this same drawing.
03:13
That would be the Plank Rd. alignment.
03:15
I'll click Repair All Broken shortcuts.
03:18
When finished, you can see how Civil 3D resolved the broken shortcuts within the project
03:22
and in turn resolved the broken references in my drawing.
03:26
Now that the drawing has been fixed, I'll make sure and save it.
03:29
Note that this Repair shortcut workflow also applies to files that have been renamed.
03:34
It's essentially the same thing.
03:36
The file referenced in the shortcut cannot be found.
03:38
That could be the result of a move or a rename.
03:41
All you have to do is reselect the file either by its new name or its new location to repair the shortcut.
03:47
Let's test the references.
03:48
I'll select one of the alignments, right click and choose Open Source Drawing.
03:53
This takes me right to the referenced alignments drawing.
03:55
The data shortcut knows exactly where it is.
03:57
I will then change the geometry of one of the alignments and click Save.
04:02
Finally, I'll flip to the Profiles drawing where we can see that it has recognized a change to the Data shortcut definition.
04:08
I'll click Synchronize to update the reference on screen
04:11
and prove that the references to my alignments that were once lost have now been restored.
04:16
As you can see, once a broken shortcut has been identified, whether it be caused by a renamed or moved file,
04:22
the Repair shortcut feature makes it easy to restore the pointer to the appropriate drawing.
04:27
Correcting a shortcut at the project level resolves that shortcut in every drawing that depends on that shortcut for its referenced data.
Video transcript
00:03
In this session we'll look at how to repair a data shortcut when the file it points to has been moved or renamed.
00:09
On my screen I have 3 drawings.
00:11
This one called Ex Topo contains a single surface called EG.
00:16
This drawing has been saved in my cloud project and if I come down to the data shortcuts area,
00:20
you can see that I've created a data shortcut to this surface.
00:24
I have another drawing saved in my cloud project called P Alignments.
00:28
This drawing contains a pair of proposed roadway center line alignments.
00:32
One is called Plank Road and the other is called Mills Rd.
00:36
Note that I've created a data shortcut to each of these alignments.
00:39
I have one more drawing stored in my project called Profiles.
00:43
In this drawing, I've used the data shortcuts we just looked at to create references to the surface and the two alignments.
00:49
I then used this reference to data to sample a pair of surface profiles.
00:54
So I have content in this drawing that relies on those two data shortcuts.
00:59
Let's break and then repair the shortcuts.
01:02
We'll start by closing the Profiles drawing and the Alignments drawing.
01:06
Then I'll open up a couple instances of Windows Explorer and I'll move the drawing containing the two alignments.
01:12
It seems the alignments file is currently stored within the drainage folder in my project.
01:17
This really should be in the civil folder.
01:20
To move the file, I'll right click hold and drag the file into the correct folder and then I'll choose Move here.
01:26
I will then wait a moment for that change to propagate to the cloud.
01:29
Finally, I'll close Windows Explorer.
01:32
At this point, I have data shortcuts that point to the wrong folder.
01:35
Let's open the profiles drawing again.
01:38
At first, we may not notice anything out of the ordinary.
01:41
If, however, I open the Alignments category, you can see the warning flags showing me there's a problem with my referenced alignments.
01:47
When you see data reference flags like this, it's very important to fix them.
01:52
These flags can cause a degradation in performance,
01:55
especially when working in the cloud because Civil 3D is constantly searching for something it can't find.
02:00
Having said that, these flags weren't super obvious to see.
02:04
Let me collapse this.
02:06
One recommendation I always make is when you're working on project drawings,
02:10
every now and then visit the Manage tab and click Validate Data Shortcuts.
02:14
If you have any broken references, they will show up plain as day down here in the project area.
02:19
If we fix broken shortcuts at the project level, it will also fix them in the drawing and any other drawings using the same data shortcuts.
02:28
To fix the Mills Rd. alignment shortcut, I'll right click on it and choose Repair Broken Shortcut.
02:33
Down at the bottom of the dialog box, I can see the name of the file that shortcut is looking for.
02:38
At the top, I can see that I'm in the folder where that drawing was last known to be.
02:43
It's obviously not here because I moved it.
02:45
I'm going to go U1 level to the Models folder, and then I'll jump into the Civil folder and we can see the file I'm looking for right here.
02:52
Now, in my case, I knew exactly where the file was.
02:56
In the event you don't know, you can cancel out of this dialog box and do a file search within your project for the file name you're looking for.
03:03
Since I have the file I need, I'll select it and click Open.
03:07
When I do, another dialogue box tells me that I have an additional broken shortcut that refers to this same drawing.
03:13
That would be the Plank Rd. alignment.
03:15
I'll click Repair All Broken shortcuts.
03:18
When finished, you can see how Civil 3D resolved the broken shortcuts within the project
03:22
and in turn resolved the broken references in my drawing.
03:26
Now that the drawing has been fixed, I'll make sure and save it.
03:29
Note that this Repair shortcut workflow also applies to files that have been renamed.
03:34
It's essentially the same thing.
03:36
The file referenced in the shortcut cannot be found.
03:38
That could be the result of a move or a rename.
03:41
All you have to do is reselect the file either by its new name or its new location to repair the shortcut.
03:47
Let's test the references.
03:48
I'll select one of the alignments, right click and choose Open Source Drawing.
03:53
This takes me right to the referenced alignments drawing.
03:55
The data shortcut knows exactly where it is.
03:57
I will then change the geometry of one of the alignments and click Save.
04:02
Finally, I'll flip to the Profiles drawing where we can see that it has recognized a change to the Data shortcut definition.
04:08
I'll click Synchronize to update the reference on screen
04:11
and prove that the references to my alignments that were once lost have now been restored.
04:16
As you can see, once a broken shortcut has been identified, whether it be caused by a renamed or moved file,
04:22
the Repair shortcut feature makes it easy to restore the pointer to the appropriate drawing.
04:27
Correcting a shortcut at the project level resolves that shortcut in every drawing that depends on that shortcut for its referenced data.
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