Best Practices for Working With Autodesk Collaboration for Civil 3D

Checklist for Working with Autodesk Collaboration for Civil 3D

• Ensure that every project team member is using one of the following products with file locking support:
  • Civil 3D 2020.3 or Civil 3D 2020.4
  • Civil 3D 2021
  Note: Project team members who are using AutoCAD 2020 and 2021-based products can install the File Locking for Autodesk® BIM 360® application, which provides automatic locking and unlocking for DWG and DWT files that are stored in BIM 360 when they are opened in AutoCAD.
• Ensure that every project team member has the latest version of Autodesk Desktop Connector installed.
• Understand BIM 360 user access levels, roles, folder permissions, and project organization.
• Understand the difference between a Civil 3D data shortcut project and a BIM 360 project:
  • There is not a 1:1 relationship between a Civil 3D data shortcut project and a BIM 360 project.
  • Creating a data shortcut project within Civil 3D will not result in the creation of a BIM 360 project.
  • Before creating a data shortcut project in BIM 360, a project must exist in BIM 360.
• Ensure that the working folder and the data shortcut project folder in Civil 3D are set to the correct locations.

  It is recommended that a subfolder within \Project Files is set as the data shortcut working folder from within Civil 3D. You can create the Civil 3D data shortcut project within that specified working folder.

  Note: It is possible to set the top level \Project Files folder as the working folder, but only administrators can see the \Project Files folder so it is recommended that you use a subfolder within \Project Files.

General Recommendations

• It is recommended that you create a new project in BIM 360 instead of moving an existing project to BIM 360 and continuing the work. For information about moving an existing project, see the Migrating Existing Projects to BIM 360 section below.
• For tracking and communication purposes, it is recommended that user accounts in BIM 360 use the users' real names.
• To prevent files from being uploaded to a related data folder when files are uploaded to BIM 360, it is recommended to avoid saving or uploading drawings to BIM 360 that contain references to local files. Store files in BIM 360 that you plan on making references to, and when referencing data in a drawing or in a template, make the reference to file located in BIM 360 rather than to a file on a local drive or a local server.

  For more information about the related data folder, see The Related Data Folder section below.

• Store project data and content in BIM 360. For example, store fonts, materials, drawing templates, reference templates, standards, and so on, in BIM 360.
• When you upload files to BIM 360, avoid attempting to upload unsupported files. For more information, see Supported Files.
• The specified path and file name for uploaded files must be less than 260 characters. If this length is exceeded, the files might not upload successfully and you could experience unexpected behavior. For more information, see Docs - Long Path.
• Some files that you might typically work with in Civil 3D do not have automatic locking support and will need to be locked and unlocked manually. Automatic locking and unlocking are not supported for survey databases. You need to manually lock and unlock these files when working with them to avoid editing conflicts.
• To unlock files that are locked by others, you need Folder Control permission. For more information, see Folder Permissions.

Set Up the Project Folder Template and Project Permissions

There are two options that you can use when creating a Civil 3D data shortcut project:

1. Manually create the project folder structure in BIM 360 and then create the data shortcut project within Civil 3D using the standard data shortcut project creation workflow. Using this approach, you create a new project in BIM 360 without referencing the settings from a BIM 360 template, and then you create the data shortcut project in Civil 3D within the BIM 360 project.

   A limitation with this approach is that you will need to manually set BIM 360 permissions for the folders in the project. After you create a BIM 360 project, set the working folder in Civil 3D to be a subfolder within the \Project Files folder in the new BIM 360 project and then create a data shortcut project in that folder using the New Data Shortcuts Project Folder command.

2. Create the project folder structure in BIM 360 using a project template, and then create the data shortcut project within Civil 3D. This approach provides the ability to set folder permissions and then use the structure (including the permissions that are set on the folders) as a template that can be used when creating new projects.

   This approach is documented in the following sections.

Create a Project Template in BIM 360

You can create a project in BIM 360 to use as a template and then copy the settings from the template when you create new projects. You can customize the folders for this project template in BIM 360 or it can match the current Civil 3D project template that is installed in your C:\Users\Public\Documents\Autodesk\Civil 3D Project Templates folder.

When you copy the settings from a template project to create a new project, only the folder structure and permissions are copied to the new project. Files that are included in a project template folder structure are not copied when you create a new project from a project template.

Note: To avoid issues when creating a Civil 3D data shortcut project later, a project template should not include the _Shortcuts folder. If a _Shortcuts folder is included in the template and is copied to a new project, it may cause issues when creating the new data shortcut project from within Civil 3D in the BIM 360 project.

1. Sign in to BIM 360.
   Note: To complete the steps in this task, you need to be a BIM 360 Account Admin.
2. Click the Module Selector and select the Account Admin module.
3. Click the Projects tab.
4. Click Add to begin creating a new project.
5. On the Create Project Profile page, do the following:
   • Enter a Project Name such as Civil 3D Project Template.
   • Select Template Project as the Project Type.
   • Optionally enter your company address.
   • Click Save & Continue to display the Activate Services page.
6. On the Activate Services page, do the following:
   • Click Activate next to Document Management.
   • Do not select a project under Copy Project Settings.
   • Enter your e-mail address and click Save to add yourself as a project administrator.
   • You can add other project administrators if you would like to share this template project.
   • Click Finish to create the project.

You now have an empty template to populate with your company's typical folder structure.

Add Folders to the Project Template and Assign Role-based Permissions in BIM 360

Add the typical folders that you use in a project and then assign role-based permissions to the folders.

Many functions in BIM 360 can be managed at a user, role, or company level. It is recommended to use role-based permissions when possible when you are setting up the project template in BIM 360. You can assign folder permissions to a BIM Manager or Civil Engineer role and then for each project, you can assign roles to people instead of having to manage individual access.

The folders and their permissions will be copied when you create a project from the project template.

1. In BIM 360, navigate to your newly created Civil 3D project template.
2. Click the Module Selector and select the Project Admin module.
3. Click the Members tab.
4. Assign yourself the role of Project Admin.
5. Click the Module Selector and select the Document Management module.
6. Click the Folders tab.
7. In the Project Files folder for the project template, add the typical folders that you use in a project.

   These folders will be copied to new projects you create that are based on this template.

8. Next to the Project Files folder, select the More button and select Permissions.
9. In the Permissions window, click the Add button to display the Add Permissions dialog box.
10. Type in a few letters for the name of a role (Civil Engineer, Project Manager, and so on) and then click on the role name in the list.
11. Click the Permission Level list and select the permissions level you would like to assign to this role. For more information about permissions, see Folder Permissions.
    • Permissions are not immediately active in Civil 3D after they are applied in BIM 360. It takes several minutes after specifying permissions in BIM 360 to make the permissions active in Civil 3D.
    • Folders with View only permissions are not visible to Civil 3D users.
12. Click Add to complete the process. The role should now have a small triangle next to it. When assigned to a real project, you can expand this triangle to see the users that have that role.
13. Close the Permissions window and repeat the process of adding permissions to other project folders as needed.

You now have a BIM 360 template project with role-based permissions assigned to folders. You can now use this template to create a new project as described below.

Create a BIM 360 Project Using Settings from the Project Template

1. Click the Module Selector and select the Account Admin module.
2. Click the Projects tab.
3. Click Add to begin creating a new project.
4. On the Create Project Profile page add the project name and other details, and then click Save & Continue to display the Activate Services page.
5. On the Active Services page, click Activate next to Document Management.
6. Under Copy Project Settings, select the template project you set up for your Civil 3D projects. The folder structure and any folder permissions will be automatically copied to the new project.
7. Add one or more project administrators, and then click Finish.

   In the next steps you will create a data shortcut project in Civil 3D that will be stored in the BIM 360 project.

Create a Data Shortcut Project in Civil 3D

1. In Civil 3D, use the Set Working Folder command to set the working folder to be a subfolder in the \Project Files folder within your BIM 360 project folder.
2. In Civil 3D, use the New Data Shortcut Folder command to create a data shortcut project within the working folder of your BIM 360 project folder.
   • You can use the same name as the BIM 360 project or a different name.
   • If you already have your project folder structure set up the way you want it based on copying your template project, do not select the Use Project Template check box.
3. In BIM 360, verify that the new _Shortcuts folder that was automatically created when you created the data shortcut project has the required permissions.

Accessing and Working in the Data Shortcut Project

Project team members who are collaborating on the project can use the following steps to access and work in the project.

1. In Civil 3D, use the Set Working Folder command to set the working folder to match the working folder in BIM 360 that was specified when the data shortcut project was created.
2. Use the Set Data Shortcuts Project Folder command to select the data shortcut project.
3. Create data shortcuts in the project.
4. Create data shortcut references from the data shortcuts.
5. Upload files to BIM 360 that you plan on making references to and make xrefs to those files.
6. You can use the Check Reference Status command to check for updates of referenced files in the current drawing.
   Note: It might take several minutes before updates that have been made to referenced files are available. You may not be immediately prompted to update xrefs due to the default XNOTIFYTIME.

   If updates are detected when you use the Check Reference Status command, a message will be displayed to alert you of new versions. To load new versions of referenced files, click on the link in the message, or you can close and re-open the host drawing.

   Note: In most cases, it is not necessary to close and reopen a drawing to update its references. However, sometimes the reference files may not download and you will need to close and reopen the host drawing.
7. To update the data shortcut list in the Prospector tree, right-click the collection and select Refresh.

Migrating Existing Projects to BIM 360

It is recommended that you create new projects in BIM 360, but if you would like to move your existing projects from a local server to BIM 360, it is recommended to move the whole project by dragging the top folder and dropping it into the destination BIM 360 folder on the connected drive using Windows Explorer. By using this method, most of the file references in the project can be copied to the same folder in BIM 360 and the path can be maintained.

Instead of moving existing drawing templates (DWT files) that have references to files in BIM 360, it is suggested that you create a new template. If you would like to move customized templates to BIM 360, you will need to update references manually after uploading the template to BIM 360.

Some files do not maintain their links when a project is migrated to BIM 360. These files include surface source references, and quantity takeoff criteria files. After migrating a project, you will need to update references to these files manually.

Before migrating an existing project, it is recommended that you review and update your project data if needed before uploading it:

• Check folder paths to ensure that they do not exceed the path length limit and rearrange folders if needed to shorten the path length. For more information, see Docs - Long Path in the Desktop Connector Help.
• Update the paths of references so that they are relative paths instead of absolute paths.
  Note: Using relative paths can prevent issues from occurring when uploading data using the BIM 360 web site or when uploading files that are not in the same folder structure.
• Repair broken links to references and avoid creating circular xrefs.
• Set the xref reference type to be Overlay instead of Attach.
  Note: Using Overlay instead of Attach can reduce the possibility of creating circular xrefs.
• Remove duplicate, unused, or corrupt data.
• Consider rearranging the folder structure and updating links so that all files are in the same folder structure.

  If referenced files are not in the same folder structure as the host drawings, the referenced files will be uploaded into the related data folder within the host drawing’s folder and the links in the host drawing to the referenced files will be recreated. For more information, see The Related Data Folder section below.

  To avoid the creation of a related data folder, you can either move the referenced files into the same folder structure as the host drawings and update the links, or you can use the following steps when uploading:

  1. Update the paths of the references so that they are relative paths instead of absolute paths.
  2. Upload the folder that contains the referenced files.

     When uploading folder by folder, the same relative folder structure that exists locally should be created in BIM 360 so that the paths to the referenced files are maintained.

  3. After uploading the folder that contains the referenced files, rename or move the local folder so that its location cannot be found by Desktop Connector.

     Renaming or moving the local folder that contains the referenced files prevents the referenced files from being uploaded to a related data folder when their host drawings are uploaded.

  4. Upload the folder that contains the host drawings.

     Upload this folder to a location in BIM 360 that will preserve the same relative folder structure that exists locally so that the paths to the referenced files are maintained.

The Related Data Folder

When uploading files to BIM 360, it is recommended that files that are referenced by host drawings as external references or data shortcut references or files referenced by templates are organized inside the same folder structure as the host drawing (such as in the same folder or in a subfolder).

If referenced files are not in the same folder structure, the referenced files will be uploaded into the related data folder within the host drawing's folder and the links in the host drawing to the referenced files will be recreated.

A message will be displayed in the Event Viewer when this occurs. You can redirect the links to data shortcuts using the Manage Data Shortcuts command.

You can move the source file from the related data folder to another folder in BIM 360. If you move the source file, the reference is maintained.

For more information, see About Migrating Existing Civil 3D Projects to BIM 360 and To Upload Documents to BIM 360.

Design Sharing and Reviewing in BIM 360

You can use the BIM 360 viewing and markup tools with the drawings you have stored in BIM 360. You can create issues and use the markup tools to add notes. For more information, see To Use BIM 360 Viewing and Markup Tools for Civil 3D Drawings.

Archiving BIM 360 Projects

You can use BIM 360 to archive a project and its data. For more information, see Manage Projects.

Cleaning Up the Local Cache

You can use the Free Up Space command to remove local Desktop Connector workspace files and folders to free up disk space. For more information, see Docs - Free Up Space.

Important: Deleting documents from your connected drive while it is connected will result in the documents being deleted from the BIM 360 project. You can delete local documents using the Delete Local command if you are using the Desktop Connector offline mode. Deleting local folders when you are in offline mode is not supported. For more information, see How To Clear the Cache of the BIM 360 Desktop Connector.