The Civil Object Enabler is a freeware application that you can use to access AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 drawing files. This release allows object data created in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 to be accessed outside the AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 environment.
For example, if half of your AutoCAD seats are AutoCAD 2009, and the other half are AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009, the people using plain AutoCAD 2009 can install the Civil Object Enabler. After installing the Civil Object Enabler, they can open drawings that were created in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 and view, plot, manipulate, and copy the custom objects.
Without this enabler installed, you can share drawings using proxy graphics. Proxy graphics provide an alternative means to display objects using simple graphical representations. Objects represented as proxy graphics lack the full “intelligence” of true objects. Proxy graphics also increase drawing size. AutoCAD uses this mechanism for DWG file compatibility if the custom application is not loaded.
Set the PROXYGRAPHICS drawing setting to 1 to save the graphics with the drawing, otherwise a “bounding box” is displayed where the object is located when opened with the Object Enabler.
Installing the Civil Object Enabler on any AutoCAD 2009 product enables:
- Support of the AutoCAD List, and erase commands on civil objects
- Snap points on civil objects (so you can use Object Snaps and object tracking)
- Grip editing of labels
- Support for display of certain types of civil objects in the AutoCAD Object Properties Palette
The appearance of AutoCAD Civil 3D civil objects is controlled by styles, which can have different settings for viewing the objects in both 2D and 3D views. The Civil Object Enabler respects these settings, so a surface configured to show only contours in 3D, for example, will show only contours when viewed in 3D in an enabled AutoCAD session.
AutoCAD Civil 3D civil object styles can be configured so that the object appearance can be controlled by manipulating layers. If the object style settings, such as color and lineweight, are set to BYLAYER, you can perform the following in an enabled AutoCAD session:
- Change the object layer and object subcomponent layer settings to update the object display
- Turn the layers on/off or freeze/thaw the layers to change object visibility
If the layer settings in the object style are set to BYBLOCK, changing the object layer in an enabled AutoCAD session will change the display of the object and its subcomponents accordingly.