C3D points in a Carlson dwg

Are they part of a xref in the drawing?

Freeze the stuff you do not want. ?ÿThen wblock the stuff you do want into a new dwg.

@va-ls-2867?ÿ

No, not X-reffed.?ÿ And if I move everything to another location, the C3D points stay where they're at.

@brad-ott?ÿ

Yeah, that's one way of doing it.?ÿ Or I can just freeze and ignore them.?ÿ I just figured there might be a way to just get rid of them without doing a work-around.?ÿ Thanks

File > Drawing Utilities > Remove Civil 3D Custom Objects

This usually works for me. Carlson 2021.

@peter-lothian?ÿ

Thanks, but I couldn't get it to work.?ÿ C3D points and labels are still there.

Also, what kind of option is this??ÿ It highlights the E in both options.

Erase or Explode AEC entities during conversion [<Erase>/Explode]?

@jph I usually hit return as "Erase" is the . It should completely erase the AEC point objects. Typing out "Explode" should convert them to basic AutoCAD objects (point nodes & attributes?) but I haven't tried that option.

If you send the drawing to me plothian -at- dgtassociates dot com I can give it a whirl.

@peter-lothian?ÿ

Thanks.?ÿ I'll just live with how I'm doing it

There are few items you might try to remove C3D objects (these items are related to the IntelliCAD platform):

1. Issue the File -- Save As command and save down to the original R12 DWG format (the last release of AutoCAD that didn't support AEC [aka ARX] objects). Bear in mind, however, this DWG format also didn't support MText, Annotative Text, Dynamic Blocks, etc, so some desired functionality might be lost.
2. Under Settings -- Carlson Configure -- General Settings, look for this and clear the checkmark if enabled:
   Use Dialog For Selection Set Filter:?ÿFor IntelliCAD, this option chooses whether to prompt for selection set filters in a dialog or command prompt at the "Select objects" prompt.
   Once disabled, issue the Erase command and during the command prompt, you should see a [FILter] option. Within Filter, the following prompts are exposed:
   Select by filter: [Add/Remove/Block/Color/LAyer/LTScale/LType/LWeight/Proxy/THickness/TYpe/Value/Width/Exit]:
   Issue the Proxy option to add/remove those types of entities based on whether you want to erase or invert a selection for something like a WBLOCK command.
3. Set the AECOBJECTS command to 0. From the IntelliCAD Help:
   Determines whether AEC objects are read and displayed.
   0 (AEC objects are not read or displayed)
   1 (AEC objects are read and displayed)
   I just learned about this option two weeks ago and haven't really experimented with it but if set to 0 and then a DWG is opened, I would surmise a subsequent save would remove the objects (because they hadn't been read).
4. The File -- Import -- Civil 3D Drawing -- All command should (I believe) convert the supported AEC objects into either standard entity types or underlying data files.

If you have DWG content that continues to propagate ARX objects, feel free to send an example to me at lnelsonATcarlsonswDOTcom and I/we will try to diagnose what might be causing the issue. I hope this information helps.

Sounds like the C3d points are "locked" therefore can't be deleted/moved/etc.

Try selecting the points you want to delete, in C3d you can right click and select "unlock". Then you should be able to do what you wish. I'm a C3d guy so that's all I know, not sure how the two talk to each other or operate since I haven't used Carlson in ages.

@ladd-nelson?ÿ

Thanks, but I'm not using ICAD version

@squirl?ÿ

Thanks, but selecting/right-clicking doesn't bring up that option in Carlson

Looks like living with it or using Brad's method

You won't be able to edit these objects, including erasing, because they are proxy objects. Of course, being a C3D guy I can't tell you with certainty what may work, but I think you've nailed it as far as what your options are.

Ladd did touch on this with his second and third points. Two may work, but you might have to approach it in a different way. If you're interested I can elaborate further. His third point I don't think would work. Yes there is a setting (different for AutoCad than the command he mentioned) where you can set proxy objects to not display, but I don't buy into his thought process that they will go away. I think they will continue to reside in your drawing even if they are not displayed.

If it were me, and you are so inclined, I would maybe look at altering my methodology prior to getting to this stage so that perhaps it would become a non-issue. Something along the lines of making a LandXML file of the points from C3D, then exporting that C3D drawing to AutoCad. Just a suggestion.

I know you've been waiting for me to chime in!?ÿ

@blitzkriegbob

Posted by: @blitzkriegbob

I know you've been waiting for me to chime in!?ÿ

Definitely.?ÿ Thanks

Posted by: @blitzkriegbob

Ladd did touch on this with his second and third points. <snip> His third point I don't think would work. Yes there is a setting (different for AutoCad than the command he mentioned) where you can set proxy objects to not display, but I don't buy into his thought process that they will go away. I think they will continue to reside in your drawing even if they are not displayed.

Having just recently learned about the AECOBJECTS variable (and how it functions in IntelliCAD), I opted to do a bit of testing:

1. I set the variable to 0 (off, "AEC objects are not read or displayed") and used IntelliCAD to open a C3D drawing with (literally) thousands of proxy objects (points, surfaces, centerlines, etc), size of 20.6 MB on my hard-drive. True to form, the objects did not display.
2. I issued a WBLOCK command (having made sure all of my layers were On and Thawed) and made an ALL selection set of the contents of the DWG. The resulting DWG reduced to 594 KB on my hard-drive.
3. I did open the result with the AutoCAD-based Survey OEM product and was told that the only remaining proxy objects are/were 76 AeccNetwork 100 objects. I'm not sure why these object remained while the others were removed but I did get a remarkable reduction in DWG size.

I'm relatively confident the AutoCAD-based platforms will (would) continue to propagate the objects unless the Export to AutoCAD function is/was used but it appears that IntelliCAD will permit the vast majority of AEC Objects to be removed from a drawing.

I hope this information helps.