TRAINING
OUTLINE
I Directory
Structure
II Editing Project Settings
III Menu
IV Pull
Down/ Toolbars Menus
Lode
Base
Route
Connectivity Tools
Asbuilt
Design
Utils
Reports
2.1 Reports
VIII Draft
Using Toolbars
IX Report Tutorial
X Begin Import
ABOUT THE CLASS
Each day will begin at 8:30am and run until 4:30pm, with a one-hour lunch from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. We will also break each day for 15 minutes around 10:00am and again around 2:30pm.
We will begin with a look at the Settings files and menu used with the Drafting Assistant.
Using our Map Cut program we will cut a map from a larger system map.
We will open that map and insert a border and titleblock.
Next we will go through the drafting of base, route, and asbuilt.
We will review other utilities and reports.
Finally we will import design from the Design Assistant and use the QC process to make updates.
By
the end of this course you should have a good understanding of how the Drafting
Assistant operates. Be sure to keep
your manual close throughout the course as well as when you return to your
usual place of business. I hope you
have all read the manual and worked some with the program prior to today. If so you will benefit much more from this
course.
Here is the system of directories we use and I suggest you use the same:
“Your Drive:\Program Files\Lode Data Corporation\Design\4.0” for the Design Assistant install
“Your Drive:
Program Files\Lode Data Corporation\Drafting\4.0” for the Drafting Assistant install
Using the “Samples” install from the CD will create a sample
projects directory.
Your Drive:\Lode Data Projects\Your Project\Blocks
Example: C:\Lode Data Projects\Sample40\Blocks
Your Drive:\Lode Data Projects\Your Project\Maps
Example: C:\Lode Data Projects\Sample40\Maps
Your Drive:\Lode Data Projects\Your Project\Misc.
Example: C:\Lode Data Projects\Sample40\Misc
Your Drive:\Lode Data Projects\Your Project\Networks
Example: C:\Lode Data Projects\Sample40\Networks
Your Drive:\Lode Data Projects\Your Project\Specs
Example: C:\Lode
Data Projects\Sample40\Specs
Your Drive:\Lode Data Projects\Your Project\Settings
Example: C:\Lode Data Projects\Settings
Double click the Drafting Assistant icon and let’s begin.
II Editing Project Settings
The first thing you will see when you enter the Drafting Assistant is Project Settings. You may create and save Project Settings for as many projects as you like. They are saved with a “.prj” extension and should be stored in your projects settings directory. Use the “File” pull down to access New, Open, Save, and Save As. You can re-enter Project Settings at anytime from the first button on the Lode Data toolbar that loads with the Lode Data menu.
To set your Block Directory you can either type in the path or choose the Browse button located directly to the right. Set the path to match the directory where you have the symbols you will use for drafting this project.
C:\Lode Data Projects\Sample40\Blocks
Set the Map Directory to the path where you will store maps for this project.
C:\Lode Data Projects\Sample40\Maps
If you have already created Settings that
you will use on this project you can set the path to those files now.
Scaling in the Drafting Assistant is accomplished by setting relationships between two numbers: The Scale Factor for the entire map and the scale for the individual blocks. The scale factor for the block in training will be set to 1.
Type in the Base Multiplier. This is the number of base units that will equal one unit in your final drawing. If you will be drafting in feet the multiplier will be (12). If you are drafting in meters the multiplier will probably be (1). Setting this will allow you to work in feet vs. inches.
Choose Feet or Meters for your Drawing Units.
Type in your Block Break Offset. This setting will control the edit command “Break Existing Block”. That edit command allows you to automatically break existing lines that have blocks placed on them. The offset distance is how far away from the block that you want the line to be broken. It is recommended that you set this distance to (0).
Type in the height and width of the drawing area that you will draft within. This area should not include the titleblock. Do not include the “ ‘ “ (tic) mark.
Now that you have setup all of the settings you will want to save this file. Pick the File pull down and choose saveas. Give them a name that will easily identify them for later use. For instance, if you will use them on all 1”=100’ scale maps, you might call them SCALE100. If you will use them only for a town called Denver, you might call them DENVER. They will be given a “.prj” extension.
Click the “OK” button to proceed into the Drafting Assistant program.
The next time you enter the Drafting Assistant you can go directly to the File pull down and open an existing Project Settings file. It is easy to then modify existing settings for new projects and save then as a new file name for future projects.
III Menu
Your menu will be found in the Support directory of the Drafting Assistant program directory. To load the menu type menuload [Enter].
From the Menu Groups tab Browse to the Lode40.mnc
and Load it.
Units Engineering.
Drawing Settings – Blipmode off, and Ortho off. Coords set to 2.
Set Ltscale to 1
IV Pull Down/ Toolbars Menus
Pull Downs: Toolbars: Flyouts:
Lode Lode Data
Base Base Base Utilities
Route Route Draft Route
Asbuilt Asbuilt
Design Design
Utils Utilities
Reports 2.1 Reports
Connectivity Tools
Review
Pull Down Menus
Lode Base
Edit Project Settings Edit Base Settings Water
About Drafting Assistant Border Rail Road
Drafting Assistant Help Titleblock Building
Road Misc Block
Street Name Misc Line
CulDeSac Box Clean 4
Lot Line Clean 4
Route Asbuilt
Edit Route Settings Edit Asbuilt Settings Power Stop
Interactive Route Active Power Supply
10 Key Route Data Block PS Data Block
Pole/Ped Cable Terminators
Strand/Trench Line Couplers End Of Line
House Count Internal Couplers Misc Block
Pole Number Equalizers Misc Pline
Distance Distance Marker
Address Tap Level
Miscellaneous Tap
Drop Arrow Utilities
Riser Map
Cut
Export Create Route Connectivity Pan Zoom
Manually Connect What
Layer
Manually Disconnect Break
Existing Blocks
Show Connectivity Multi
Scale
Check Addresses Erase
Layer
Select Path Change
Layer
Export Route Move
Entity
Show Network Navigator Change Pline Width
Show Device Viewer Global Pline Width
Design Attribute Position Angle
Edit Design Settings Change Attribute
Import Design Global Change Attribute
QC
Branch Map
Inserter
Edit FDC Settings Reports Reports
FDC Import 2.1 Reports Load Reports
Save
Reports
Setup Report
Generate Report
Count Block
Query Bounder
V EDIT BASE, ROUTE, ASBUILT & DESIGN SETTINGS
Before you can setup blocks in the settings files you must have a set of blocks located in a directory that has been setup as your “Block Directory” in “Edit Project Settings”. (See “Editing Project Settings”)
Located at the top of each settings menu you will see the pull down menus “File Edit View”.
You can use the File menu to Open, Save, Save As, create a New base settings file or Print the current settings file. Once you have created a settings file you can open it, edit it, and save it as a different file for another project.
The Code is whatever name you would like to see when you choose that setting during drafting. Type in the name you wish to use here. Note that it will always display in all capital letters. The Description is what this setting will be named and referred to here in Base Settings.
The Block Layer area is used to define the layer you will place this block on. Click on the Define… button to create a layer for this block to be drafted on. (If the layer already exists in the drawing it will not be changed by what you setup here.) Type in the layer name you wish to have this block placed on. Use the drop down arrow to choose the linetype you wish to assign to this layer. Click the color button to choose a color for this layer. Press OK when finished.
Use the drop down arrow in the Block Settings section to select a block
from the block directory you have set up in your Project Settings. Type in the Scale Factor for this individual
block. Choose the type of rotation.
Rotate 0 Always rotate this item to 0 when placing.
Constant Choose an constant angle other then 0.
Auto Automatically rotate to the item you insert this on to.
Pick You will choose the rotation each time you place this block.
Choose the insertion object snap that you wish to use when placing this symbol. Choose the rotation object snap you wish to use when placing this item. Both of these object snaps can of course be set to none. Block Break is used to automatically break lines that this block is placed on. When it is used you can choose to set an Offset distance that you want the line to break away from the block. Setting this to 0 will break the line right at the block. Force Offset is used to place blocks a specific distance from items on specified layers. You might use this to place a 20’ wide pole 10’ from the street line whenever you pick an insertion point within 30’ of a street line. This way the pole, if it has an insertion point in it’s center, would always be placed just touching the street edge. Force Offset would not be used for placing a Border block. Attribute tags will be discussed later with blocks containing attributes.
Once all of the settings have been defined you should save the settings file. Clicking OK will only temporarily apply the settings; it will not save them to disk.
OPEN There is a map
in your Lode Data Projects\Sample40\Maps directory called 01TrainSource.dwg.
Util Choose Utils from your pull down menus.
Map Cut Choose Map Cut from the pull down.
19 Enter the number of rows of maps to cut.
10 Enter the number of columns to cut.
3000 Enter your map width.
2000 Enter your map height.
C:\Lode Data Projects\Sample40\Maps Accept the default path.
Place Grid Select “Place Grid…” to place the grid.
Int Type int and enter to set an intersection snap.
Click on the upper left most intersection int the drawing.
Auto Select “Auto” for automatic numbering.
Choose a “Prefix:” if you wish.
- Choose a “Separator” if you wish.
58 Type in 58 for that maps row number.
45 Type in 45 for that maps column number.
Increase 1 Select “Increase” for rows increasing by “1” down.
Increase 1 Select “Increase” for columns increasing by “1” to the right.
Name Select “Name…” to name the maps.
Pick lower left map Pick inside a drawing you want to be 58-45.
Go Go
VIII Draft Using Toolbars
Lode Data
Edit Project Settings – (See “Editing Project Settings”)
About Drafting Assistant – Lists the current version of the Drafting Assistant
Drafting Assistant Help – Drafting Assistant command reference
Base
Edit Base Settings – Edit Base Settings
Border – To place a border on your existing drawing
Titleblock – To add a titleblock to the existing drawing
Road – To draw streets
Street Name – To label streets with names
CulDeSac – To place a Cul De Sac
Lot Line – To draw property lines
Water – To draw water outlines
Railroad – To draw a line with crossing railroad ties
Building – To place any type of building that will be placed as a block
Misc Blk – To place all other base blocks not specified in the above buttons
Misc Pline– To place all other lines not specified in other buttons
Box Clean4 – To clean up intersections of crossing streets
Clean4 – To clean up intersections of crossing streets
Route
Edit Route Settings – Edit Route Settings
Interactive Route – To start the Interactive Route program for quick efficient drafting
10 Key Route - To start the 10 Key Route program for quick efficient drafting
Pole/Ped – To place an individual pole or pedestal
Strand Line – To draw strand or underground route lines between poles or pedestals
House Count – To place individual house counts
Pole/Ped Number – To place individual pole or pedestal numbers
Distance – To place individual distances between poles or pedestals
Miscellaneous – To place all other route blocks
Address – To place individual addresses
Drop
Arrow – To place drop arrows
Riser – To place a riser symbol
Connectivity
Tools
Create Route Connectivity – To create route connectivity in an existing map
Manually Connect – To manually connect a feature to a pole/ped location
Manually Disconnect – To manually disconnect a feature from a pole/ped location
Show Connectivity – To show items connected to a pole/ped
Check Addresses – To make sure addresses match house count
Select Path – To select a route path on the map
Export Route – To export route information to Design Assistant
Show Network Navigator – To display the network navigator
Show Device Viewer – To display the device viewer
Asbuilt
Edit Asbuilt Settings – Edit Asbuilt Settings
Active – To place individual asbuilt active devices
Data Blocks – To place individual asbuilt data blocks
Cables – To draft asbuilt cables
Coupler – To place individual asbuilt couplers
Internal Coupler – To place individual internal asbuilt couplers
Equalizer – To place individual asbuilt equalizers
Distance Marker – To place individual asbuilt distance markers
Tap Level – To place individual asbuilt tap levels
Tap – To place asbuilt individual taps
Power Stop – To place individual asbuilt power stops
Power Supply – To place individual asbuilt power supplies
Power Supply Data Block – To place individual asbuilt P. S. data blocks
Terminator – To place individual asbuilt terminators
End of Line – To place individual asbuilt end of line blocks
Misc Block – To place all other asbuilt blocks
Misc Pline – To draw all asbuilt related lines that are not cables
Design
Edit Import Settings – Edit Import Settings
Import – To import design from either the Viewer or the Design Assistant
QC Branch – Compare the drafted information against the Design Assistant data
FDC Settings – Edit Field Data Collector Settings
Import FDC – Import route from Field Data Collector
Utilities
Map
Cut – Cut individual maps form a larger drawing.
Pan Zoom - Pan and Zoom features
What
Layer? – List the layer that an item is drafted on
Break
Existing – Break all lines at selected blocks
Multi
Scale – Scale all blocks of the same name by the same factor
Erase
Layer – Erase everything on a particular layer
Change
Layer – Change the layer of a group of items
Arc
Edit – Edit the points of an Arc
Move
Entity – Move entities
Change
Pline Width – Change the width of polylines
Global
Pline Width – Globally change the width of polylines
Attribute
Position Angle – Change the position and angle of an attribute
Change
Attribute – Change the value of an attribute
Global
Change Attribute – Change the value of a group of attributes
Map
Inserter – Insert multiple maps and
explode them
Reports
Reports –
Create a customer report
Count Blocks – Count blocks
Query Bounder – Run a custom
query on a bounded area
2.1 Reports – Old report routine
Load Report – Load
already defined reports
Save
Report – Save a report you have created or modified
Setup
Report – Set up or revise a new report
Generate
Report – Generate a loaded report
Reports consist of three parts, which need to be created in order, Items, Query Definitions, and Query Options. You will want to save your reports once you have created them so that you can use them in other maps. You can write a report out to the screen, a block, and or a file. In the following tutorial you will create a report that will total two types of poles, two types of house counts, and one type of footage. You will write the report to the screen, to a file, and to a block that would be similar to a titleblock legend.
Insert into your current map (map 50-50 from the map cut tutorial) the sample report block called Report.dwg, supplied with your Drafting Assistant Samples installation. This block is just for the purpose of this tutorial. You can create your own custom blocks for writing reports to. First we will Setup the Items, then we will Generate the report.
Insert the report block
Util
Reports
Begin setup of Items Definitions
To
begin Item setup
Click on the Create
New Item Button and name the new item “JP”
Now from the block
available blocks select “R_PoleJnt”
Send it into the JP
item using the “>” button
Click on the Create
New Item Button and name the new item “PP”
Now from the block
available blocks select “R_PolePow”
Send it into the PP
item using the “>” button
Click on the Create
New Item Button and name the new item “Poles”
Click on the box
next to Combine. For Item 1 select “JP” from the drop down. Select “Add” for
the operation. For Item 2 select “Poles” from the drop down
Click on the Create
New Item Button and name the new item “ACT”
Now from the block
available blocks select “R_CountActPot” and select the Attribute “COUNT_ACTUAL”
Send it into the ACT
item using the “>” button
Send it into the POT item using the “>” button
Click on the Create New Item Button and name the new item “ACTHC”
Now from the block
available blocks select “R_Residential” and select the Attribute
“COUNT_RESIDENTIAL”
Send it into the
ACTHC item using the “>” button
Click on the Create
New Item Button and name the new item “HC-ACTUAL”
Click on the box
next to Combine. For Item 1 select “ACT” from the drop down. Select “Add” for
the operation. For Item 2 select “ACTHC” from the drop down.
Send it into the FTG item using the “>” button
This would be a
good time to save your report file.
Pick Query Definition tab
Select the “Create New Query” button and the name the new query “Titleblock”
Now select the following items one at a time to be added to the new query.
FTG click
on the single arrow to move it to the query
HC- ACTUAL repeat
POLES repeat
HC-POT repeat
Now from the queries defined select the “FTG” and go to the report block section of the dialog box. Now you can either type in “report” in the select block area or you can select pick button and pick on the report block on the map.
Now select the attribute you want to write the information to in the report block from the drop down selection.
Repeat this process for the “HC-ACTUAL”, “POLES” and “HC-POT”
Pick the Query Options tab
Select where you want the information to be sent to.
Block
Screen
File (Requires the “File name” and location.)
Now select if you want to run the report on the entire map “ALL” or if you want to select just a certain “AREA” on the map.
Click on the Generate report
X Begin Import
Open map Training from your map directory
Start the Design Assistant/View
Load the network named Import
Open the Design toolbar
Click on the Import icon
(Overview on the operation of the Design Assistant or Viewer.)
Import this network on to the corresponding route
XI QC
Highlight a location in the Design Assistant
QC Branch
Make changes to your design network
QC branch and update changes