This topic describes how to open an Autodesk Civil 3D 2020 drawing and view the Autodesk Civil 3D objects in a prior version of the software. It also describes interoperability between Autodesk Civil 3D 2020, Autodesk Civil 3D 2020.1, and prior versions.
Opening an Autodesk Civil 3D 2020 Drawing in a Prior Version of AutoCAD Civil 3D
- Drawings saved in Autodesk Civil 3D 2020 can be opened in Autodesk Civil 3D 2019 and AutoCAD Civil 3D 2018.
- To open an Autodesk Civil 3D 2020 drawing and view the Autodesk Civil 3D objects in a version of the software prior to AutoCAD Civil 3D 2018, set the PROXYGRAPHICS system variable value to 1 in Autodesk Civil 3D 2020 to save the graphics with the drawing and then use the Save As command to save the drawing to a prior drawing file format. When you open the drawing in a prior version of the software, the Autodesk Civil 3D objects will be displayed as proxy graphics.
Interoperability Between Autodesk Civil 3D 2020.1 and prior versions
This section describes interoperability between Autodesk Civil 3D 2020.1, Autodesk Civil 3D 2020, Autodesk Civil 3D 2019, or AutoCAD Civil 3D 2018.
Reference Templates
- A host drawing will reference all the components in a reference template by default if the host drawing is opened in a prior version of
Civil 3D and the reference template path is found.
When the host drawing is reopened in Autodesk Civil 3D 2020.1, the reference template defaults that were specified using the Set Reference Template Defaults command will be restored. The components that had been selected when using the Set Reference Template Defaults command in Autodesk Civil 3D 2020.1 will be referenced into the host drawing, and other components that were not selected will be removed from the host drawing if they are not in use.
- The reference template priority settings are preserved if a host drawing is opened in a prior version of Civil 3D. For example, if you specify that a style will be referenced from a lower priority template in Autodesk Civil 3D 2020.1, that specification will be preserved if you open the host drawing in a prior version.
Interoperability Between Autodesk Civil 3D 2020 and prior versions
This section describes interoperability between Autodesk Civil 3D 2020 and Autodesk Civil 3D 2019 or AutoCAD Civil 3D 2018.
Object Changes
There are no specific object changes introduced in Autodesk Civil 3D 2020 that affect drawing interoperability with Autodesk Civil 3D 2019 or AutoCAD Civil 3D 2018.
However, the notes in the Interoperability Between Versions topic in the Autodesk Civil 3D 2019 Help may apply to your workflows. For example, if you create an object in Autodesk Civil 3D 2020 and that object type was introduced in Autodesk Civil 3D 2019.2, the object is displayed as a proxy object if you open the drawing in Autodesk Civil 3D 2019.1.
Survey Database Format Change
The survey database format has been updated from Microsoft SQL Server Compact (SQL CE) format to SQLite. To use existing survey databases with Autodesk Civil 3D 2020, they must be converted to SQLite.
Use the Survey Database Migration Utility to convert survey databases from SQL CE to SQLite.
The Survey Database Migration Utility is a separate download available at https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad-civil-3d/downloads.
For more information about using this utility, see To Update a Survey Database.