Possible solution to fix corrupted Gravity Network Solids

Issue:

You have a Civil 3D drawing that the Structures in Profiles, Sections or Model have all disappeared, and cannot be redrawn.

Causes:

This problem is caused by the 3D Solids used in the parts, that are specific to the Parts list have corrupted.  To be clear, this is generally a corruption in the part’s list, not the actual part itself, so we have to build a new parts list to get rid of the corruption.

Here’s a non-corrupt part list (SW Isometric Model View):

Here’s a corrupt parts list (SW Isometric Model View), notice that the structures are missing:

Solution:

Below outlines the process to fix the parts list.  Be aware that it will take some time (but it is faster then re-creating the drawing)
 

1. Click on a pipe (or structure), in plan view and select Network Properties
   
   
2. What we are looking for in the screen shot above is to know what network (STORM) and what Parts List (_Storm) we are working with.
    
3. In Toolspace => Settings, expand out Pipe Network, then expand out Parts Lists and Right mouse click on _Storm (the problem one), and select Edit.
    
4. In this screen, navigate to the information tab and rename is as -Corrupt or something you can identify easily later.  Apply and save the changes.
   
   
5. Now you have a choice to make.  You can either
   1. Import/copy a working parts list from your template or working drawing set (assuming it’s not corrupt).  This may or may not work, if it doesn’t then step B below does.
   2. Create a new parts list – capturing the sizes, styles, etc from the corrupt one (that’s why we left it there)
       
6. Once you have the new parts list created, and it has the parts that are corrupt (as a minimum), we go back to Toolspace => Settings, expand out Pipe Network, then expand out Parts Lists and Right mouse click on _Storm (the problem one), and select Replace With..
   
   
   and Select the new parts list (or the named one from the template)
   
   
   
   We do this to quickly change the Parts list in use to the new one, rather than have to Edit Network on each network in the drawing and manually change it.
7. Here’s the last step, now we need to click on the structure, then use the Swap Part to swap it to a new part size then swap it back to the correct one.  Once that is complete, I recommend checking the part:
   
   Before the Swap:
   
   
   After the Swap Part Operation:
   
    
8. You will need to repeat this on all objects that are not appearing (typically the entire network’s structures).  If you have the IMAGINiT Civil 3D Utilities, you can use the Swap Multiple Parts to swap the parts of the same size & type in one shot.  This does make repairing it much faster.
   
9. That should be it, you may need to adjust styles (if you have changed the part to have a different style), and the structures should either appear in Profiles automatically (if they’d been added in the past), or now you simply need to re-add them to the profiles or section views.

About the Author

Sr. Technical Support Specialist<br><br>An AutoCAD Certified Professional, Ryan is responsible for taking client cases and assisting with issues with the software - everything from regular glitches to software deployments and whatever else goes wrong. He's proficient in AutoCAD (including customization), VBA, LISP, and Civil 3D.

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