I’m Giving it Away

Trading my way to AU has been a total failure, so I’m going to give away the book, Introducing AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010, that I traded for (unless you want to trade for it to keep the trades going). If you do get it all I ask is that you provide a review of the book.

To get my copy of Introducing AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 just post in the comments your favorite post from this blog. I’ll put all of the names of people who provided a comment in a hat and let my daughter pick a name from it on Monday September 7, 2009.

Now off to think about another way to get to AU.

Multiple Fonts in a Label Component

I have never really tried before, but recently I tried and found you can have multiple fonts in a label style. To get multiple fonts in a label open up the Text Component Editor and click on the Format Tab.

Once in the Format tab select the text you want to change fonts. Select then select the font you want the selected text to be.

If you haven’t typed the text, you can change the font and then type and the newly typed text should be the newly selected font. I don’t usually have occasion to use this tool, but it’s good to know it’s available.

Unfortunately you can’t use the same method to have different justification in a text component label.

Station Tracker

Did you notice the Station Tracker made it to the ribbon in Civil 3D 2010? I hadn’t, but saw it today on the Analyze Tab.

Station tracker draws a line on the alignment associated with a profile view (or vise versa) letting you see where you are at. This can come in handy in determining where you are in the world. http://screencast.com/t/iFMGHl9wnjn

Microsoft Excel – PivotTables Reports

Microsoft Excel has many features that are often overlooked. One feature that I’ve found useful in the past is PivotTable Reports. PivotTable Reports allow you to quickly sort large amounts of information. In the past I used it to keep track of equipment and personnel at a large aboveground mine in Southern California. For this example I’m going to use a smaller dataset from Excel Help.

The first step to create a pivot table is to go to Data > PivotTable and PivotChart Report… from the menu bar.

This will bring up a wizard that will help collect the data for the PivotTable.

For this example I’m using the data in the current worksheet, but you could get data from an external data sources.

Next highlight the data you want to create a report for.

Now choose to keep the data in the worksheet or in an existing worksheet.

Next drag the items from the PivotTable Field List to the places to show the report that is needed.

As you drag and drop the fields the PivotTable Report shows the data. Once finished the PivotTable should look something like this:

The PivotTable is easily modified by using the drop down arrows. One can remove data using them. For instance if you didn’t want to see golf, you could remove the data from the PivotTable.

Once unchecked, Golf will be removed from the PivotTable

Hopefully you can see the benefits of using PivotTables and will find a way to use them.

Headed to Omaha, Nebraska

I’m headed to Omaha, Nebraska this week. I often wonder how many people are actually using Civil 3D. Looking at the data from Google Analytics it would appear that not too many people are using Civil 3D and reading my blog (or searching the internet) in the Cornhusker State. Looking at the data closer it looks like there is one regular reader of the blog in the entire state, he/she works for a large architectural, engineering and consulting firm based out of Omaha.

I was looking for activities to do after the training seminar I’m going to. I noticed I missed the Omaha Civil 3D Users Group by a week. I’m planning on going to an Omaha Royals game on Wednesday if I can find my way by bus or foot from the hotel to the stadium. Do you have any suggestions on what to do in the evenings in Omaha?