Pay Item Favorites

Your Civil 3D file will “remember” which files it needs to correctly assess quantities. The Favorites list is a separate category that can be populated for quick access to commonly used pay items. This list is saved inside the DWG.

In this exercise, you'll look at how to open a pay item and categorization files and add a few items to the Favorites list for later use:

1. Create a new drawing using the _AutoCAD Civil 3D (Imperial) NCS template. Metric users should use the _AutoCAD Civil 3D (Metric) NCS template.
2. From the Analyze tab QTO panel, choose QTO Manager (see Figure 17.1) to display the QTO Manager.
   

   

3. Click the Open button at the top left of the QTO Manager to display the Open Pay Item File dialog.
4. In the Open Pay Item File dialog, verify that the Pay Item File Format drop-down list is set to CSV (Comma Delimited).
   
5. Click the Open button next to the Pay Item File text box to browse for the file.

   In Windows 7 and Windows 8, you can find this file in C:ProgramDataAutodeskC3D 2016enuDataPay Item DataGetting Started.

   Metric users should copy the Getting Started_METRIC.csv file to C:ProgramDataAutodeskC3D 2016enuDataPay Item DataGetting Started, downloadable from the book's web page (www.sybex.com/go/masteringcivil3d2016).

6. Select the Getting Started.CSV file or Getting Started_METRIC.csv.
7. Click Open to select this CSV pay item file.
8. Click the Open button next to the Pay Item Categorization File text box to browse for the file.
9. Navigate back to the Getting Started folder and select the Getting Started Categories.xml file.

   This file can be used by both Imperial and metric users.

10. Click Open to select the file.

    Your display should look similar to Figure 17.2.

    

11. Click OK to accept the settings in the Open Pay Item File dialog.

    The QTO Manager will now be populated with a collection of divisions, as shown in Figure 17.3. These divisions came from the Getting Started Categories.xml file.

    

12. Expand the Division 200 Group 201 Section 20101 branches, and select the item 20101-0000 CLEARING AND GRUBBING. You may need to widen the Pay Item ID column.
13. Right-click and select Add To Favorites List, as shown in Figure 17.4.

    

14. Expand a few other branches to familiarize yourself with these pay items.
15. Add the following to your Favorites list in preparation for the next exercise:
    • 60404-2000 CATCH BASIN, TYPE 2
    • 61106-0000 FIRE HYDRANT
    • 61203-0000 MANHOLE, SANITARY SEWER
    • 63401-0600 PAVEMENT MARKINGS, TYPE C, BROKEN
16. Save the drawing as 1701_QTOPractice.dwg or 1701_QTOPractice_METRIC.dwg and keep it open for the next exercise.

    When finished, scroll to the top of the Pay Item ID list and expand the Favorites category. Your QTO Manager should look similar to Figure 17.5.

    

Civil 3D ships with a number of pay item list categorization files but only one actual pay item list. This avoids any issue with out-of-date data. One commonly used categorization type found in the C:ProgramDataAutodeskC3D 2016enuDataPay Item DataCSI folder is MasterFormat2004. In the United States folder, you can also find categorization files for AASHTO and Federal Highway Administration. The pay item files that install with the software are intended to be examples. Contact your reviewing agency for access to its pay item list and categorization files if they're not already part of the Civil 3D product.

Once you have pay items to choose from, it's time to assign them to your model for analysis.

Searching for Pay Items

In the top of the QTO Manager is an extremely handy filter tool. If you don't know what category an item is listed under, you can type it in the field to the left of the binoculars icon.

When you first click the binoculars icon to execute the filter, it will appear as if nothing happened. That's because the category headings are in the way of the listing. To see an uncategorized version of the list your filter produced, select Turn Off Categorization from the drop-down to the left of the filter field, as shown in Figure 17.6.

In the following exercise, you will use the filter functionality to add items to your Favorites list:

1. If it's not still open from the previous exercise, open the 1701_QTOPractice.dwg or 1701_QTOPractice_METRIC.dwg file. You must complete the previous exercise before proceeding.
2. If the QTO Manager is not already open, from the Analyze tab QTO panel, choose QTO Manager to open it.
   
3. To the left of the filter field, click the drop-down to select Turn Off Categorization.
4. In the filter field of the QTO Manager, type grandi and then click the binoculars icon. You can alternatively press ↲ instead of clicking the binoculars icon.

   Your filter should result in three types of trees.

5. Right-click the first item, Fagus Grandifloria, and select Add To Favorites List.
6. In the filter field of the QTO Manager, type Washington and then click the binoculars icon.
7. Add 63620-0500 Pole, Type Washington Globe No. 16 Light Standard to the Favorites List.

You will find that by adding your most frequently used items to the Favorites list, they will be at your fingertips instead of you having to dig through branch after branch of pay items.

When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename QTOPractice_FINISHED.dwg or QTOPractice_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.

AutoCAD Objects as Pay Items

The most basic use of the QTO tools is to assign pay items to things like blocks and linework within your drawing file. The QTO tools can be used to quantify any number of things, including tree plantings, signposts, and area items such as clearing and grubbing. In the following exercise, you'll assign pay items to blocks as well as to some closed polylines. Be sure the Getting Started.csv (or Getting Started_METRIC.csv) and Getting Started Categories.xml files are loaded as described in the first exercise.

1. Open the 1703_AcadObjectsInQTO.dwg or 1703_AcadObjectsInQTO_METRIC.dwg file.
2. From the Analyze tab QTO panel, choose QTO Manager to display the QTO Manager.
3. Expand the Favorites branch, right-click CLEARING AND GRUBBING, and select Assign Pay Item To Area, as shown in Figure 17.7.

   

4. At the select Point or [select Object]: prompt, type O ↲ to activate the Object option for assignment.
5. Click the closed polyline around the outer edge of the site, as shown in Figure 17.8.

   

   Notice that the closed polyline fills with a solid hatch pattern indicating what area is being used. The command line should also echo Pay item 20101-0000 assigned to area when you pick the polyline.

6. Press ↲ to end the command.
7. Select the hatch to activate the Hatch Editor contextual tab.
8. From the Hatch Editor contextual tab Properties panel, change Hatch Transparency to 90.
9. Right-click the hatch and select Display Order Send To Back.
10. Move the QTO Manager to the side and zoom in to the intersection of ROAD A and ROAD B where you can see one or more of the blocks representing trees.
11. Select one of the tree blocks and then right-click and choose Select Similar. All of the tree blocks are selected.
12. Back in the QTO Manager, under the Favorites branch, select 62606-0150 Fagus Grandifloria, American Beech.
    
13. Near the top of the panel, click the Assign The Selected Pay Items To Object(s) In The Drawing button.

    Notice the great tooltips on these buttons.

14. Move your cursor over the graphics area of the drawing and press ↲ to end the assigning command.
15. Repeat steps 11 through 14 to assign the pay item 61106-0000 Fire Hydrant to all of the fire hydrant blocks on the site.

When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename AcadObjectsInQTO_FINISHED.dwg or AcadObjectsInQTO_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.

Pricing Your Corridor

The corridor functionality of Civil 3D is invaluable. You can use it to model everything from roads to streams to parking lots. With the QTO tools, you can also use the corridor object to quantify much of the project construction costs.

In this example, you'll use the pay item list along with a formula to convert the linear curb measurement to an incremental count of light poles required for the project:

1. Open the 1704_QTOCorridors.dwg or 1704_QTOCorridors_METRIC.dwg file.
2. From the Analyze tab QTO panel, choose QTO Manager.
3. Expand the Open button in the top-left corner of the QTO Manager and select Open Formula File.
4. In the Open dialog, browse to the C:MasteringCh17 folder and select Getting Started Formulas.for file. Click Open to continue.
5. Expand the Favorites branch to display your 63620-0500 light standard pay item.
6. Widen Panorama to reveal the Formula column, and click in the Formula cell in the 63620-0500 light standard row, as shown in Figure 17.9.

   

   Civil 3D will display the Pay Item Formula: 63620-0500 dialog, as shown in Figure 17.10. (The Expression box will be empty when you first open it, but you'll take care of that in the next steps.)

   

   Assume that you need a street light every 300 feet (or 100 m for metric) but only on one side of the street. To do this, you add up all the lengths of curb and then divide by 2 because you want only one half of the street to have lights. You then divide by 300 (or 100 for metric) because you are running lights in an interval. Finally, you round to the nearest integer and add 1 to make the number conservative.

7. Enter the formula using the following steps:
   
   1. Click the Property button and select Item Length from the drop-down list.
   2. Use the buttons in the dialog or your keyboard to divide this value by 2 to get half of the curb length.
   3. Use the buttons in the dialog or your keyboard to divide this value by 300 (or 100), which is the spacing of the light standards.
      
   4. To round this value, move your cursor to the beginning of the expression, click the Function button, and select ROUND.

      Note that there are also ROUNDUP and ROUNDDOWN expressions available if these are better suited for your calculations.

   5. Move your cursor to the end of the expression and add the closing parenthesis for the ROUND command.
   6. Use the buttons in the dialog or your keyboard to add 1 to the calculation to be conservative.

   The formula should now match the one shown previously in Figure 17.10.

8. Click OK.

   Note that the pay item list now shows a small calculator icon on that row to indicate a formula is in use.

   Now that you've modified the way the light poles will be quantified from your model, you can assign the pay items for light poles and road striping to your corridor object. This is done by modifying the code set, as you'll see in the next steps.

9. In the Toolspace Settings tab, expand General Multipurpose Styles Code Set Styles, right-click All Codes, and select Edit to display the Code Set Style – All Codes dialog.
10. On the Codes tab, expand the Point branch and find the row for Crown, as shown in Figure 17.11.

    

    As always, you may need to widen some of the columns to view the necessary text.

11. Click the truck icon in the Pay Item column, shown in Figure 17.11, to open the Pay Item List dialog.
12. Expand the Favorites branch, and select Pavement Markings, Type C, Broken.
13. Click OK to return to the Code Set Style – All Codes dialog.

    You should see the pay item number of 63401-0600 in the Pay Item column of your dialog.

14. Again in the Point branch, find the row for Back_Curb, and repeat steps 11 through 13 to assign 63620-0500 to the Back_Curb code.

    Remember, this is your light-standard pay item with the formula from the previous steps. Your Code Set Style – All Codes dialog should look like Figure 17.12, which lists a pay item for both of these point codes.

    

15. Click OK to accept the settings in this dialog.
16. Switch to Prospector and expand the Corridor branch.
17. Right-click North River Crossing and select Properties to open the Corridor Properties dialog.
18. On the Codes tab, expand the Point branch.

    Notice that the Back_Curb and Crown codes reflect pay items in the far-right column.

19. Click Cancel to exit the dialog.

When this exercise is complete, you can close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename 1704_QTOCorridors_FINISHED.dwg or 1704_QTOCorridors_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.

Corridors can be used to measure a large number of items. You've always been able to manage pure quantities of material, but now you can add to that the ability to measure linear and incremental items as well. Although we didn't explore every option, you can also use link codes to assign pay items to your corridor models. Point codes measure the length of the associated feature line. Link codes measure cumulative area between assemblies.

Now that you've looked at AutoCAD objects and corridors, it's time to examine the pipe network objects in Civil 3D as they relate to pay items.

Pipes and Structures as Pay Items

One of the easiest items to quantify in Civil 3D is the pipe network. There are numerous reports that will generate pipe and structure quantities. This part of the model has always been fairly easy to account for; however, with the ability to include it in the overall QTO reports, it's important to understand how parts get pay items assigned. There are two methods: via the parts lists and via the part properties. These methods can also be applied to pressure network pipes, fittings, and appurtenances.

Highlighting Pay Items

Before you run any reports, it's a good idea to make a cursory pass through your drawing and look at what items have had pay items assigned and what items have not. This review will allow you to ideally catch missing items (such as hydrants added after the pay item assignment was done) as well as see any items that perhaps were blocked in with unnecessary pay items already assigned. In this exercise, you'll look at tools for highlighting objects with and without pay item assignments:

1. Open the 1708_QTOHighlighting.dwg or 1708_QTOHighlighting_METRIC.dwg file.
2. From the Analyze tab QTO panel, choose QTO Manager to display the QTO Manager.
   
3. In the QTO Manager, select Highlight Objects With Pay Items, as shown in Figure 17.19.

   

   Notice that from this same drop-down menu you can also choose Highlight Objects Without Pay Items, Highlight Objects With Selected Pay Items, or Clear Highlight.

4. Pan around the drawing and zoom in on the trees at the intersection of ROAD A and ROAD B.
   
5. In the QTO Manager, select Highlight Objects Without Pay Items.

   Notice that the trees turn from green to muted gray. This means they have a pay item assigned.

6. In the QTO Manager, switch back to Highlight Objects With Pay Items.
   

   Next, you will change the pay item assignment for the trees at the intersection of ROAD A and ROAD B since the planner has decided to use a different tree type.

7. In the QTO Manager, click the Remove Pay Item(s) From Specified Objects button.
8. At the Select object(s): prompt, select five of the trees near the intersection and press ↲ to end the command.

   Notice that the trees go from green to a muted gray, indicating that they no longer have a pay item associated since the highlighting is enabled.

9. In the QTO Manager, enter Maple in the text box to filter.
10. Turn the categorization option off to more easily see the filtered results.
11. Select item 62601-0100.
    
12. Click the Assign The Selected Pay Items To Objects In The Drawing button.
13. At the Select pay item(s) from master pay item list or [Enter]: prompt, press ↲.
14. At the Select object(s): prompt, select the same five trees that you just unassigned pay items from and press ↲ to end the command.

    Notice that the trees go from a muted gray to green, indicating that they once again have pay items associated with them since the highlighting is enabled.

    Unassigning and then reassigning a pay item may seem cumbersome. Instead, you may find it simpler to edit the pay item.
    

15. In the QTO Manager, click the Edit Pay Items On Specified Object button.
16. At the Select object(s): prompt, select the remaining tree near the intersection to display the Edit Pay Items dialog.
17. Select the FAGUS GRANDIFLORIA row and then click the red X in the upper right to remove this pay item from the tree, as shown in Figure 17.20.

    

18. Click the plus sign in the upper right to display the Pay Item List dialog in order to add a new pay item to the tree.
19. Enter Maple in the text box to filter.
20. Select item 62601-0100 and click OK.
21. Click OK to accept the new pay item designation shown in the Edit Pay Items dialog.
22. In the QTO Manager, select Highlight Objects Without Pay Items from the drop-down menu shown previously in Figure 17.19.

    This switches the highlighting from objects that do have pay items to objects that do not have pay items.
    

23. In the QTO Manager, select Clear Highlight to return the drawing view to normal.

When this exercise is complete, you may close the drawing. A saved copy of this drawing is available from the book's web page with the filename 1708_QTOHighlighting_FINISHED.dwg or 1708_QTOHighlighting_METRIC_FINISHED.dwg.

While highlighting objects with QTO Manager, you can add, remove, or edit pay items using the tools at the top of the QTO Manager. You can leave the objects highlighted while performing any other AutoCAD command. This makes it easier to correct any mistakes made during the assignment phase of the process. Finally, always be sure to clear highlighting before exiting the drawing or your peers might wind up awfully confused when they open the file!