Civil 3D Part Builder - Not JUST 3D - Part 2

Creating a Custom Variable

Based on some of the comments from the previous post, I am going to take a couple of steps ahead and cover creating a custom variable that can be passed to the Parts List in Civil 3D. This post is assuming you already understand the basics of Part Builder and know how to model a structure. If not don’t worry, we will be getting back to the basics in Part 3.

Step One (Note: it is very important that these steps be followed in exact order), click the options button at the top of the Content Builder as shown.

In the Options dialog box check the Custom Sizing Flag and click OK. What this does is allow the ability for us to create a custom variable and then later adjust that variable in the xml files that will allow the custom variable to be visible in the Part List. This is an important step, because we can still create the custom variable in Part Builder, but if this option is not checked then certain information for that variable will never come through after editing the xml files and then never be available in the Parts List.

Step Two, create the initial variable. In the Content Builder go to Model Parameters right click and select Edit.


In the Model Parameters click New and you will get the following dialog box.

In this example I am creating a parameter that I will use for an inline reducer structure I created. I am already using SID, the Inner Structure Diameter for the diameter coming into the structure. So I need another parameter for the reducing diameter coming out of the structure so that I will be able to create multiple part sizes in Parts List from a single structure. Make sure you keep in mind or write down the exact name and description of the new parameter just created, because we will need to add that exactly as it is here in one of the xml files. For now just use a constant value for the Equation because we will modify this in the Size Parameters.

Step three, modify the size parameters. Right click on Size Parameters, as show below, and select Edit Configuration.

In the Parameter Configuration dialog box, shown below, find your new variable. We will want to modify this variable here as much as we can to be what we want so there will be less to do in the xml files.

In my variable RID, the Reducing Inner Diameter, I have changed the Data Storage type from a constant to a List, that way I can go into the values for this variable and add all the sizes that I will use to create this part in Parts List. We also want to change the Visible attribute from False to True; this is part of what will allow us to see this variable in the Parts List when adding sizes. Now look at the Context and Index Attributes for this variable, shown above in the box, these are the pieces of information that we will need to modify in the xml files that will allow the variable to pass to the Parts List. You’ll notice that in the context of this variable that it is calling it a Model Distance Parameter, where the other variables have a specific context matching the variable itself. This is because the context for this variable does not exist in the xml file, so we are going to have to add it. Also you will notice the Index of this variable is set to 1, were the others that pass to the Parts List are 0, we will have to modify this as well in the xml file.

Step four, edit the xml files. Make sure you save your structure and exit Part Builder, and close Civil 3D before we edit the xml files. Once everything is saved and closed there are two xml files we need to edit. The first will be the xml file for the structure itself which will be located in …/Pipes Catalog/US Imperial Structures/Your Chapter/Reducer.xml, where … is the location on your system for the Pipes Catalog and Your Chapter is the chapter you created at the time you created or saved the initial structure. The second xml file to edit will be …/Pipes Catalog/Aecc Shared Content/AeccPartParamCfg.xml, this is the xml file that will read the context of the structure and eventually allow us to pass this variable to the Parts List.

Open the structure xml file with notepad.

Find your new variable as shown highlighted above. Then find the context and index for this variable also shown highlighted above. Change the context to be something similar to the description with no spaces, for this variable I used “StructReduceDiameter”. Then change the index to “0”. Remember to keep the parenthesis on these attributes. Save and close the xml file.

Now open the AeccPartParamCfg.xml file.

In this xml file the new variable does not exist, so we have to create it in two places. In this case the easiest thing to do is find a variable that is similar to the one you created; the RID variable is similar to the SID variable. Do a search for SID copy the line and paste into a new line as shown highlighted above. Edit the variable name, description and context to match what is in the structure xml file.

Now we need to add the context to the Structure Domain.

Find the Structure Domain towards the bottom of the xml file or do a search for the context of the variable that is similar to the one you created. It is very important in this step to make sure we add the context of the new variable in the appropriate Domain type. In the case of the inline reducer, I created it as a Junction Structure, so I added the context of “StructReduceDiameter” in the Junction Structure category, as highlighted above. Save and close the xml file.

The final step is to verify that everything works. Reopen your structure in Part Builder and go to the Size Parameters, Edit Configuration.

You will see by the highlighted information above that the Context and Index of the variable is now reading the information that we edited in the xml files. Exit Part Builder and go to your Parts List in Civil 3D add the Part Family for the structure if not already in your list and go to Add Part Size.

You will see by the highlighted information that our custom variable is now available in Parts List.

Civil 3D Part Builder - Not JUST 3D - Part 1

The transition from 2D to 3D applications is difficult enough! Now throw Part Builder into the mix and you now are trying to figure out the complexities of Parametric Modeling. Parametric Modeling (Part Builder) is a method that uses parameters to define the size and geometry of features and to create relationships between those features. In this blog series we will we will cover Part Builder from head to toe by defining the components within Part Builder and then walking through the steps, and pitfalls, of creating a structure that will work with pipe networks.

When creating a new part or modifying an existing part, Part Builder opens the new or existing drawing and also opens a palette called the Content Builder, shown below.

Before we look at the first step of defining a part in part configuration lets cover the buttons on top of the “Content Builder” from left to right.

The first button is “Save Part Family”, when you first create a new parametric part; the part comes up as an unnamed drawing and is not yet part of the “Pipe Catalog” until you save the part family.

The next button is “Save Part Family As” this button will be very useful once you have successfully created your first structure. Since many structures can be similar in build, you can save each structure as a new structure and make modifications rather than rebuild from scratch.

The next button is “Generate Bitmap” once your structure is built you will use this button to create the bitmap image that will be used as a preview when you add a part family to your “Parts List”.

The next button is “Validate” you will use this button often when you build your parts. As you get further into the modeling of your part, especially as you work in the “Model Parameters”, “Validate” will give you the error notifications of your calculations by clicking the “Details” button at the bottom of the tool palette.

The last button is “Options”, clicking on it will show the dialog box below.

There are two options that can be set, the first is “Custom Sizing Flag”, this will allow the creation of custom sizes that do not exist in the catalog, you can check this one depending on how much control you want your users to have of creating sizes. The next is “Hide Part Flag” this one will not show the part family in your parts list if the validation fails. Once you have a successful validation you will need to go back into this dialog box to uncheck the Hide Part Flag.

Now that the functions of the “Content Builder” are covered we can set the “Part Configuration”

PART NAME - The “Part Name” is the file name of the structure that was created at the time the parametric part was created in the Getting Started – Catalog Screen when selecting Part Builder from Civil 3D. Once the structure is created the “Part Name” can’t be changed.

PART DESCRIPTION - The “Part Description” is the description of the part family that is found when adding parts to the parts list or the description used for the part in the part chapter and is created in the Getting Started – Catalog Screen at the same time as the Part Name.

PART DOMAIN - The “Part Domain” categorizes whether the part is a pipe or a structure.

PART TYPE - The “Part Type” defines the behavior properties that will be assigned to the part. There are three predefined part types for structures, General Structure, Inlet-Outlet Structure, and Junction Structure. Depending on the type of structure you are looking to create, setting the Part Type will determine the default relationship parameters to be used for the structure.

PART SUBTYPE - The “Part Subtype” does not affect the behavior of the structure, but it allows you to organize your parts into more detailed groups that allow you to filter groups of parts during part selection.

PART SHAPE - The “Part Shape” will determine the default size parameters to be used in the definition of the structure. There are three predefined part shapes for structures, Box, Cylinder, and Sphere.

We will revisit what a couple of these Part Configurations do with the default parameters when we get into the size and modeling parameters. In Part 2 we will begin to cover the modeling of the structure.