Cleaning Civil 3D Drawing Objects using MAPCLEAN
Just because some commands are lesser used does not mean that these commands are useless. Take for example the command MAPCLEAN.
MAPCLEAN is a Map 3D command, but many people are unaware of these commands for use in civil design projects. Do not overlook this command as it has so much to offer!
Upon activation, you are presented with a dialog where you can select your objects to be cleaned and modified using various criteria such as direct selection, by layers, or object classes. You also have the option to select anchor objects which are used as reference objects during the cleanup operation. These anchor objects do not move or get altered; instead, objects being cleaned will move toward anchored objects, depending on the cleanup action selected.
After object selection, we move into the Cleanup Actions section of the MAPCLEAN dialog where we choose which cleanup actions to preform on the selection set objects. Various cleanup operations are available to you including deleting duplicate items, erasing short objects, simplifying objects, weeding polylines, among others.
Some of these operations have similar commands available to you, such as the OVERKILL command versus the Delete Duplicates cleanup action, but you will find that the MAPCLEAN cleanup action variants work more efficiently and produce better results.
For each cleanup action you would like to preform, you must add the cleanup action to the column on the right of the Cleanup Actions section of the MAPCLEAN dialog. For each selected action you will be presented with various options related to each cleanup action, such as tolerances, weeding factors, supplementing factors and others. While you do have option to preform multiple cleanup actions at one time, it is recommended to preform one at a time to have better control over the results.
For detailed information on each of the cleanup actions available to you, refer to the Civil 3D help file by pressing F1 while within the cleanup actions page of the MAPCLEAN dialog. You can also access this information at the following link to the Civil 3D 2022 Help File.
After choosing the Cleanup Actions, you can then choose Cleanup Methods where you have conversion options and cleanup methods such as modifying objects versus retaining or deleting original objects while creating new ones.
For frequently used cleanup operations, note that you can save MAPCLEAN settings using the Save and Load buttons found on the bottom left corner of the MAPCLEAN dialog box.
Now that you have been introduced to the MAPCLEAN command within Civil 3D, make sure to keep it in mind for various cleanup purposes. Whether it is cleaning up drawing objects received from others prior to introducing them into your own project files or for the many times that you need to weed or simplify geometry in your own work, you may find that the MAPCLEAN command is a valuable tool in keeping the integrity and professionalism of your project drawings up to high standards.
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