We are planning to migrate from Civil 3D to nanoCAD GeoniCS

Changing a design platform is never easy. The complexity of this process depends on a huge number of factors: the size of the organization, the number of departments and specialists, the type of projects, the level of BIM maturity of the company; how fully and qualitatively the business processes are described, what is the competence of the IT team and the motivation of the employees, how deeply they know the current software, how high is the level of its customization and integration with other enterprise systems, and so on.

My name is Alla Zemlyanskaya, I am a technical specialist in the CAD implementation and support department of the company “System software”Nanosoft's Premier and Focus Partner in the Construction and Mechanical Engineering areas. In this article, I will cover the four main stages of the migration process from Autodesk Civil 3D to nanoCAD GeoniCS (Fig. 1).

Step one: data collection

The first thing to start with is data collection (Fig. 2). You should have a good idea of ​​how exactly Civil 3D is used and by which departments. What are the main tasks they solve on a daily basis, what source data they use, what they get as output.

Does the company have approved design standards and rules? CAD standard, BIM standard, documentation for DWT templates for Civil 3D, as well as other documents that regulate the rules and results of the specialists' work? From such documents, you can glean a lot of useful information regarding the specifics of data use, their organization, the order of joint work, requirements for final models and drawing design.

Since we are talking about a very specific transition from one software product to another, it is assumed that a functional analysis in one form or another has already been carried out and an idea of ​​the functional capabilities of the software has been formed. Based on this knowledge, it is possible to compare the workflows in Civil 3D and nanoCAD GeoniCS – not from the point of view of advantages and capabilities, but in order to find an adequate match of tools (Fig. 3).

It may happen that the analysis of the data collected at the first stage about the use of the current software will lead to an unexpected result. For example, you will come to the conclusion that the level of use of Civil 3D is far from ideal. Of course, there is no scale on which the percentage of functionality use could be reflected in the range from zero to one hundred, and then place the names of specialists on this scale – this is completely unrealistic. Nevertheless, there are some markers that allow you to assess the maturity and skills of working in the product. Quick links to data, corridors, custom design elements, custom DWT templates including expressions for labels, sets of properties and dynamo scripts are just some of the benchmarks.

However, any result is a result. By conducting such a survey on your own or with the help of external specialists, you will determine the most important work processes; you will understand what you need to pay attention to first and you will be able to plan the sequence of work with different departments.

Let's take a closer look at what you should rely on when assessing the maturity of your ecosystem. Let's start with the Civil 3D customization components.

Civil 3D Customization Components

1. DWT templates.

● Layer structure and settings.

● Dimension, text, and table styles are key design tools; AutoCAD tools that Civil 3D uses.

● Object Layers (dialog box Drawing parameters) – this tab is used to specify layers of various objects in Civil 3D. For example, you can specify the placement of all routes in the ROUTE layer, all sections in the SECTIONS layer, etc.

● Environment Options (dialog box Drawing parameters) – This tab is used to define the default environment (background) parameters for various objects; some of these parameters affect the units of measurement. The parameters control such properties as angle, area, direction, elevation, etc.

● Styles of objects, labels and tables – settings for the appearance of objects, display and content of associated labels and tables.

● Command settings – default command settings (setting object parameters, querying properties, assigning default styles, etc.).

● Pipe and Manhole Rule Sets – properties that affect the behavior of pipeline network elements when they are created, moved, or edited.

● Checks of design solutions for the route and profile – mathematical formulas used to check the conformity of the geometry of the route or profile elements with the design requirements.

● Characteristic sets – sets of custom properties created manually or automatically calculated using formulas.

2. Tool palettes.

3. Catalogs and libraries of elements.

● Gravity Network Element Catalogs – contain descriptions of all elements of the pipeline network that can be inserted into a drawing. At the top level, they are divided into two main domains: one for pipes and one for wells: outlet heads, catchments, etc.

● Pressure Pipe Network Catalogs – Each pressure pipe network catalog consists of a single SQLite database.

● Corridor Modeling Catalogs – is a library of catalogs containing tools, tool palettes, and tool packages.

4. External auxiliary files.

● A set of corridor codes (.codes).

● Design criteria file (.xml).

● Expense items file (.csv).

● Roundabout standards file (.atj).

● Catalog of railway switches (.json).

5. Plugins and dynamo scripts.

nanoCAD GeoniCS does not need such an extended customization system simply because it was initially created taking into account Russian norms and requirements. There are a number of tasks that in Civil 3D can only be solved using an external application, but in nanoCAD GeoniCS they are part of the basic functionality. An example of such a task is creating a detailed route plan for display in a sub-profile table. Or a module for calculating a cartogram.

However, even taking into account the focus on the Russian user, it is impossible to foresee all situations and create a product that in the basic configuration would meet all the requirements of all customers. Therefore, in nanoCAD GeoniCS, of course, there is the possibility of customizing and adapting the styles of objects and annotations. Let's look at what can be customized and adapted.

Customization components nanoCAD GeoniCS

1. DWT templates.

● Layer structure and layer settings.

● Dimension, text and table styles are key design tools; tools nanoCAD platformswhich GeoniCS uses.

● Styles of objects, labels and statements – settings for displaying objects, their captions and tables associated with them.

● Sets of rules for pipes and wells – individual parameters of a certain type of network.

● Monitoring violations along the route – criteria for checking plan and profile elements.

● A register of semantic indicators and object data – integer, real, logical and text properties that can then be used in expressions for signatures and statements.

2. Tool palettes.

3. Catalogs and libraries of elements.

● Network equipment databases (.mdb).

● Library of design elements.

● Library of route templates.

4. External auxiliary files.

● Network rules files (.cfg).

● Files with object settings (.ini).

5. Plugins and scripts.

Globally, the systems are very similar, but differ significantly in details. It is these details that make software mapping of settings impossible. The good news is that, having analyzed all the elements of customization (Fig. 4) for Civil 3D and generally done this work for one software, the BIM team will cope with this task for another platform in a shorter time.

It is important to avoid the trap of searching for an “analog”: do not focus on finding an identical workflow or spend an unreasonable amount of effort to get the developer to change the software or data architecture. It will be more effective to invest the team’s efforts in customizing the new design platform based on the experience of customizing the previous platform.

Also, based on the results of the first stage, you will be able to create an optimal specification of workstations. GeoniCS has a modular system with division by functionality, which allows you to flexibly select a set of modules and not overpay for unused tools.

Stage two: drawing up a compliance diagram

The next step is to analyze the information obtained in the first step, prioritize tasks, and create a mapping scheme for styles and object settings.

“Correspondence scheme” in the case of the software pair nanoCAD GeoniCS and Civil 3D is not a technical term, but rather a general organizational concept. At the time of writing, we were unable to find publicly available information on the use of, for example, XML schemas or some other format for transferring object style settings and labels (tags) between these products.

Therefore, in general, a mapping scheme should be understood as a table in which a customization element of the current workflow in Civil 3D is matched with a customization element of the workflow in nanoCAD GeoniCS. This conditional “mapping” will primarily help the team that will carry out the important process of changing the platform for the company. Secondly, this scheme may be useful to users at first.

For example, this is what the settings look like for the “Route” object (Fig. 5), which is called the same in both software products. The location of the settings in Civil 3D is: Tools area Ò tab Parameters. Path to settings in nanoCAD GeoniCS: Drawing Explorer Ò tab Installations.

The table of correspondence between the settings groups may look like the one shown in Fig. 6.

Each node, represented by a folder icon, contains style lists inside, and for labels (captions) and tables (statements) also expression lists. Detailed customization is performed precisely at this next level using special dialog boxes. In Civil 3D, such a window is called Style editor (Fig. 7), and in nanoCAD GeoniCS – Style Composer (Fig. 8).

They have a virtually identical tab structure and allow you to customize the appearance and behavior of an element down to the smallest detail. Moreover, the mechanism for recording label properties in a short formula is also as similar as possible. Compare how the parameters for the picket value are recorded (Fig. 9).

But the formulas are not identical, which, as it seems to me, excludes the possibility of automatically transferring the settings. But, I repeat, if users have already gone through this path once, configuring templates for one product, it will obviously be faster and easier to reproduce the settings in another platform, since the principles are known.

In the example above, the tools for making adjustments are quite similar. Let's look at another situation where they differ significantly. Let's look at the track settings again. set of rules 34.13330.2021 Highwayswhich establishes standards for the design of public roads outside the boundaries of populated areas, provides the main technical requirements, including the parameters of the plan elements and the longitudinal profile of the road. When designing highway routes in Civil 3D and nanoCAD GeoniCS, it is possible to set up automatic verification of design criteria, but they are organized differently.

In Civil 3D, these are expressions for different elements that are then combined into sets – for example, to check roads of different categories. Accordingly, in the tool area, this appears as a filled node Project Checklists and separate check folders for straight lines, curves, clothoids, etc. (Fig. 10).

IN nanoCAD GeoniCS the check is created not through expressions, but through selecting options and entering values ​​in a dialog box Route violation display style on tabs Plan control And Profile control (Fig. 11).

Accordingly, in the Drawing Explorer these will be named styles, without additional entities in the form of expressions (Fig. 12).

To summarize, the more detailed documentation an organization has regarding enterprise standards and the drawing templates it uses, the faster a transition plan will be drawn up, the priorities for developing templates by section and the time resources required for this will be determined.

Step Three: Data Migration

Up to this point, we have talked about similar approaches used in Civil 3D and nanoCAD GeoniCS in terms of working with objects and managing element styles. However, there are also significant differences between the products. One of these differences concerns the storage of object data in the project. In Civil 3D, all intelligent objects are stored directly in the .dwg drawing, while in nanoCAD GeoniCS, all information related to geopoints, surfaces, networks, routes and their subordinate profile objects is stored in the project as quick-access binary files.

When planning the transition from Civil 3D to nanoCAD GeoniCS, specialists who will be responsible for the technical part of the event should study the concept of working with projects in nanoCAD GeoniCS – without it, it is impossible to organize effective work with special nanoCAD GeoniCS objects.

The main format for data transfer is LandXML, which is well suited for transferring data about geo-objects. In Civil 3D, the command for exporting to an external XML file allows you to export information about the objects shown in Fig. 13.

Importing from a LandXML file into nanoCAD GeoniCS allows you to obtain objects in the project shown in Fig. 14.

The transfer of data on the geometry of objects occurs with high accuracy and without losses. After importing from LandXML, the objects will appear in the system folders of the nanoCAD GeoniCS project and will be accessible through the Project Explorer. You can fully work with them as if these objects were originally created in nanoCAD GeoniCS.

Survey points can be transferred via the .mdb database format or via external text data. The tools for setting up the export-import format in Civil 3D and nanoCAD GeoniCS are very similar, so the exchange via text files of coordinates or a spreadsheet can be set up quite painlessly. Then the survey points (or project ones) will already become geon objects and will be stored in the nanoCAD GeoniCS project database, which is a more flexible, advanced and secure way of storing data compared to storing points inside a dwg drawing.

Also, when planning the transition, it should be taken into account that the developers of the nanoCAD Platform, on which nanoCAD GeoniCS is based, have made life much easier for users and implemented support for Civil 3D objects directly through the TopoPlan module for nanoCAD platforms. Thanks to it, the engineer has the opportunity to quickly use the results of work performed in Civil 3D. For example, if, with the “Topoplan” module of the nanoCAD Platform, you open a dwg file created in Civil 3D and containing a TIN surface in nanoCAD GeoniCS (Fig. 15), the object will not only be correctly recognized, but the basic properties of the surface that the designer may need will also be available: the range of marks, the area in 2D/3D (without the ability to edit). It will also be possible to change the surface style (the styles will come from Civil 3D). In addition to this, in the properties panel you can control the visibility of surface elements: edges, contours, points, boundaries, etc. By the way, such functionality is not even in Civil 3D itself.

However, with this method of data transfer, objects will not be added to the project, which means their functionality is limited. However, depending on the workflow, it may be sufficient in some cases.

Stage four: creating comfortable conditions for users

In conclusion, I would like to remind you that, having planned and thought through the entire technical side of the issue, you must not forget that it will ultimately be people who will work with all these schemes, documents, rules and regulations. Therefore, when creating technology, always keep in mind the interests of users. If you leave them alone with complex technical information, there is a high risk that people will resist, sabotage the transition, and in some cases they may simply not cope. Training will help prevent these problems. At all previous stages, you need to ask yourself the question, how will we teach our users this…

The success of such a complex and large process will largely depend on how well the support of project groups is organized. Users must clearly know where to look for information, there must be a convenient knowledge base, fortunately, there are now many platforms for building such a system.

The information in the knowledge base should be indexed, information search should not cause difficulties; if you can’t find it, then the contacts of the technical support team should always be at hand. And this resource should also be included when planning the transition from one design platform to another.

Are you ready to migrate to nanoCAD GeoniCS?

So, we have figured out that nanoCAD GeoniCS is a suitable solution for migration from Civil 3D. The program has wide capabilities of basic CAD, as well as specialized tools for working with dynamic intelligent objects.

The first task when planning a migration is to form a team responsible for this process and distribute roles among its members.

The transition from Civil 3D to nanoCAD GeoniCS is a completely feasible task, which can be systematically implemented in four stages:

· data collection;

· drawing up a compliance diagram;

· data migration;

· subsequent technical support for users.

You can go through the entire migration route yourself or enlist the help of others. integratorwho has extensive experience in implementing similar projects.

The transition to a new design platform will allow the company not only to restore the processes previously established using Autodesk technologies, but also to move forward, using the advantages and unique tools nanoCAD GeoniCS And nanoCAD platforms. If you have any questions or haven't decided yet how your projects will migrate, write in the comments. I'm ready to figure it out with you!

Alla Zemlyanskaya,
technical specialist
CAD implementation and support department
of the company “System Software”