Civil 3D 2009 Data Shortcuts

Civil 3D 2009 has drastically improved the functionality and interface for data shortcuts. With the new version these are now an extremely viable tool for sharing data within small and medium sized firms looking to adopt Civil 3D. When you get into larger firms that are doing data sharing over a WAN with multiple office work share, we still recommend Vault for your data management and project sharing needs. Data shortcuts currently have the ability to:
· Annotate Civil 3D model across multiple drawings
· Annotate and object update when referenced model changes
· Model integrity maintained
· Remote project team workflow
· Leverage Civil 3D model across drawings (data reference)
· Control object display across drawings
The only functionality that Vault has over data shortcuts is versioning and data management.
Using the “New and Improved” data shortcuts in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 has a very similar user interface as Vault. The access to the data shortcuts is now contained within the Prospector tab once you set your toolspace from Active Drawing View to Master View you can locate Data Shortcuts just below the Projects collection. Within the 2009 Data Shortcuts you now have the ability to set up a “Working Folder” which is extremely similar to the “project” within a Vault. Typically the working folder is going to be a network location where your project data will be stored. If you are migrating from a Land Desktop environment this would most likely be the same or similar location where your Land Desktop Project data was previously stored. After your working folder is set you then have the ability to create a “New Data Shortcuts Folder”, this will be a folder that is created on a project basis. Each project that you work on for various clients will have its own Data Shortcuts Folder where your information is to be stored. When you switch your data shortcuts folder by using the “Set Data Shortcuts Folder” command it automatically refreshes the data shortcuts and shows only what is associated with your current project.
When creating the new folder you then have the ability to give the “project” a name or numbering convention that your company uses. You also have the ability to use a “Project Template” that will create a custom a custom folder structure to suit your company’s needs. When making the transition from LDT to Civil 3D I will typically recommend that you start with using a folder structure that is similar to what was used in LDT so that the users have an easier time getting used to the transition. The default project template structure that comes with Civil 3D is located at C:\Civil 3D Project Templates\_Sample Project. This template structure can be set up to not only store your data shortcuts, but can also be used to create a structure that will allow you to store your source drawings, reports, production drawings, external references and any other miscellaneous documentation.
When creating data shortcuts you now have the ability to use the multiple options. In the past if you had a project with many alignments that multiple users on the project team needed to access for design, you needed to create one object (or alignment in this case) per drawing. Your use of data shortcuts can be applied to Surfaces, Alignments, Profiles, Pipe Networks and View Frame Groups (Plans Production Tools). When sending data to clients or other parties working on the project E-transmit capabilities recognize data shortcut file dependencies in a drawing and XML files There is even a completely new interface that allows you to manage your data shortcuts, similar to how you manage your external references. If you have a broken link with one of your xml files or if one of your files has been re-named you can to go your Start à All Programs à Autodesk à AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 à Data Shortcuts Editor. There are a few precautions to be taken when using the data shortcuts editor.
· Before editing data shortcuts, ensure that no one else is currently creating or editing the same set of data shortcuts within AutoCAD Civil 3D. Otherwise, one user can overwrite changes made by the other.
· Changes made in the Data Shortcut Editor window do not take effect until shortcuts are reloaded.

In the event that you begin your Civil 3D Adoption process with Data Shortcuts and decide that it is best for your firm to later move into a Vault Data Management environment keep in mind that you CAN in fact move Data Shortcuts from a Data Shortcut project into the Vault. After your firm is up and running on Vault and Data Shortcuts are no long a viable way for your firm to share data you can also type in SHORTCUTNODE as a system variable to remove the Data Shortcuts menu from your Prospector tab.