Project Explorer for Civil 3D - Part 3 Reports

Project Explorer is an application that is used to manage the content of Civil 3D models and provide reports. Last week Project Explorer for Civil 3D – Part 2 Managing Objects was presented which covers tools used to edit and create Civil 3D objects.

Part 3 presents the reporting capabilities of Civil 3D objects and the detailed information utilized within the design model. There are numerous settings that can be saved and re-used for consistency.

Quick Report

The quick report feature provides a fast and simple workflow for creating a report from Project Explorer. It is launched by selecting the object you want the report based on and right clicking to open the menu with options for several commands.

The Create Quick Report dialog will open and provide the ability to configure settings for the content and the table layout for the report.

1. The name for the file can be typed in or use the drop down to pick from a list of defined parameters. The file type can be set to .txt, .csv, .htm, .pdf, .docx, .rtf, or .xlsx.
2. The Layout Style controls the content and how the content is displayed. There are two options, Use Layout of the Project Explorer Window and Use custom Layout Style (see Fig. 2a). Check boxes for Use Object Table(s) and Use Sub-Object Table(s) to define if you want Object and/or Sub-Object information included in the report.
3. Edit Report Style provides the ability to set page controls such as size, orientation, margins, headers, and footers (see Fig. 3a).

Figure 2a – Layout Options

Layout Options defines the format, data columns and parameters, heading, and labels. Tabs at the top allow you to make settings for each object type, each object type has a Column Chooser drop down to control column layout for sub-objects. The last tab provides general settings for the overall display options for the content. Once you have configured your settings, save it to a file that can be opened for your next report.

Fig. 2a

Figure 3a – Report Options

Report Options provide settings for page layout, headers, footers. Additional tabs across the top provide options for fonts, and table configurations. These settings can also be saved to a file that can be recalled when needed for another report.

Fig. 3a

Provide a path to a folder where you want the report to be saved. Project Explorer will present the option to review the report as it gets saved, which will open it in the application you chose the file type to be associated with.

The Quick Report feature is a simple and quick solution to creating a report from the data within your Civil 3D drawing. Project Explorer has been a useful addition to Civil 3D and continues to improve on production efficiency. Next up, look for Part 4 where we will take a look at inserting tables into a drawing and exporting Civil 3D drawings to 2D AutoCAD drawings.

About the Author

Civil Applications Expert<br><br>With extensive experience in both engineering and IT, Brian helps organizations make the most of their design technology. Whether it’s through a custom setup, training, implementation, or creation of organization-specific templates and styles, Brian helps both users and managers understand the best methods and processes to get the most from their chosen solutions.

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