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LorraineAlborzfar,EIT
CADMasters,Inc.Blog
NeilBondy
DrewBurgasser,PE
JohnCatoline
ZachGraff,PE
KenHo
KyleKondo,PE
Posted on March 16, 2011 by Neil Bondy
BrianLee

Assign Elevations to Contours from an ESRI Shape File

MichelleSelf,PE

MatthewSparks,PE
Shapefiles(.shp)areacommonfileformatintheGISworld,thefileformatisoftenusedto
ElizabethValerio,EIT
exchangedatabetweenESRIsoftwareandAutoCAD.Becauseeachsoftwarepackage
EvelynWakeman

structuresdatadifferently,translatingitintosomethingusefulcanbechallenging.For
example,shapefilevectorsarealways2D.Thoughiftheyarecontours,theyshouldhavean
Links:
attributethatrepresentstheirelevation.Inthispost,IllgothroughimportinganESRIshape

CADMasters
CADStandardsManager
filecontainingcontours,andmovingthosecontoursuptotheappropriateelevation.

CompuMart
eBooks
Videos
AutoCADMap,Civil3D,LandDesktop,andTopobaseallhavetheabilitytoimportashape

file.Youllneedthe.shp,.shx,and.dbffilesinordertoimportandperformthetranslation.
Blogs:
Angel'sCivil3DThoughts

PartAImporttheShapeFile:

BIMOntheRocks
BetweenTheLines
Civil3DReminders
1. Startanewdrawing.
LynnAllen'sBlog
TheKungFuDrafter
2. TypeMAPIMPORTatthecommandline.
RevitClinic

3. MakesureFilesoftypeissettoESRIShapefile,selectthefile,andclickOpen.
4. IntheImportdialog,selectImportpolygonsasclosedpolylines.
5. ClickinsidethecellunderData:

6. ClickCreateobjectdata.
7. ClickOKtoclosetheAttributeDatadialog.
8. ClickOKtoclosetheImportdialog.
Whenthefileisdoneimporting,zoomextentstoseetheresults.Selectacontourlineandlook
atthePropertiesPalette.NoticethattheAutoCADElevationpropertyis0,butthatwealso
haveanODcategoryinProperties.Thisistheobjectdatathatwebroughtinwithfile.Note
whichfieldcontainsyourelevationdata,thensaveandclosethefile.

PartBConnecttotheImportedDWG
1. Startanothernewdrawing.
2. IftheMapTaskPaneisnotcurrentlyshowing,typeMAPWSPACEatthecommandline
andselectOn.

3. IntheMapExplorertab,rightclickDrawingsandclickAttach.
4. ClicktheCreate/EditAliasesbutton,

,ifthedrawingisnotontheCdrive.Otherwise,

skiptostep11.
5. EnteranamefortheDriveAlias.Notethatitcanbemultiplecharacters,butnospaces
areallowed.
6. IntheDriveAliasAdministrationdialog,clickBrowse.
7. IntheChooseDirectorydialog,selectthelocationwhereyousavedthedwginPartA.
8. ClickOK.
9. IntheDriveAliasAdministrationdialog,clickAdd.andthenclickClose.
10. IntheSelectdrawingstoattachdialog,forLookin,selecttheAliasthatyoujust
created.
11. SelectthedrawingpreviouslycreatedinPartA,clickAdd.
12. ClickOK.

PartCQuerytoAssignElevations.
1. IntheTaskPaneontheMapExplorertab,expandQueryLibrary,rightclick

CurrentQueryandclickDefine.
2. ClicktheLocationbutton.SelectAll
3. ClickOK.
4. FortheQueryMode,selectDraw.
5. ClickAlterProperties.
6. SelectElevationandclickExpression.
7. InthePropertyAlterationExpressiondialog,expandObjectData,expandtheobject
datatableandselectthefieldthatcontainstheelevationdata
8. ClickOK.
9. IntheSetPropertyAlterationsdialog,clickAdd
10. ClickOK.
11. ClickExecuteQuery.
Zoomextents,andthereyouhaveit,yourcontoursinthedrawingwiththeproperelevations
assigned.Savethenewdrawingandthendetatchthefirstdrawing.(OntheMapExplorer
taboftheTaskPanerightclickyourdrawingandclickDetatch).Youmaydiscarditifyou
like.Becarefulusingthistechniquewithlivedataasitispossibletomodifytheattached
drawings.IfyouthinkthatotherGIStoolssuchasthiswouldbehelpful,considerMap3D
trainingtotakefulladvantageofyoursoftware.

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This entry was posted in Civil 3D, GIS, Map 3D, Topobase and tagged Attributes, Contours, DBF, Elevation, Map 3D, Object Data, SHP, SHX,
Topo, Topography. Bookmark the permalink.

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