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Creating a Surface Reference

Product Documentation
Intermediate
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You can create a reference to an existing surface in a data shortcut or a Vault project.

The surface reference is a lightweight read-only copy of the original, but it gives you access to surface data for other objects such as alignments and profiles. Before you create the surface reference, it must exist in the current project collection on the Toolspace Prospector tab.

Note

A surface reference has no data definition, but has masking and watershed analysis functionality.

Tutorial Exercise: Creating and Adding Data to a Surface

To create a reference to a data shortcut surface

  1. In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, in Master View, ensure that the correct working folder is identified on the Data Shortcuts node.
  2. Expand the Data ShortcutsSurfaces collection, right-click the desired surface, and then click Create Reference.

    The Create Surface Reference dialog box is displayed, in which you can optionally change properties of the reference surface, as described in the following steps.

  3. In the Create Surface Reference dialog box, change the source of the reference by selecting a source in the Source Surface drop-down list.
  4. Click to select a layer. For more information about layers, see Object Layer Dialog Box.
    Note

    If you do not select a layer, the surface is placed on the current layer.

  5. In the properties grid, click the Value column for the Name property. Enter a name for the surface.
    Note

    To name the surface, click its default name. Enter a new name, or use the name template. For more information, see Name Template Dialog Box.

  6. To change the style for the surface, select the Style property in the properties grid. Click in the Value column.

    The Select Surface Style dialog box is displayed. For more information, see Surface Styles and Display.

  7. To change the render material for the surface, select the Render Material property in the properties grid. Click in the Value column.

    The Select Render Material dialog box is displayed. For more information, see Assigning Render Materials to Objects

  8. Click OK to create the surface reference.

    The surface name is displayed in the Surfaces collection in the Prospector tree with a next to it.

To create a reference to a surface in a Vault project

  1. In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, in Master View, expand the Projects <project name> Surfaces collection, right-click the desired surface, and then click Create Reference.

    The Create Surface Reference dialog box is displayed, in which you can optionally change properties of the reference surface, as described in the following steps.

  2. In the Create Surface Reference dialog box, change the source of the reference by selecting a source in the Source Surface drop-down list.
  3. Click to select a layer. For more information about layers, see Object Layer Dialog Box.
    Note

    If you do not select a layer, the surface is placed on the current layer.

  4. In the properties grid, click the Value column for the Name property. Enter a name for the surface.
    Note

    To name the surface, click its default name. Enter a new name, or use the name template. For more information, see Name Template Dialog Box.

  5. To change the style for the surface, select the Style property in the properties grid. Click in the Value column.

    The Select Surface Style dialog box is displayed. For more information, see Surface Styles and Display.

  6. To change the render material for the surface, select the Render Material property in the properties grid. Click in the Value column.

    The Select Render Material dialog box is displayed. For more information, see Assigning Render Materials to Objects

  7. Click OK to create the surface reference.

    The surface name is displayed in the Surfaces collection in the Prospector tree with a next to it.

Toolspace Context Menu (for data shortcut project)

Prospector tab: Data ShortcutsSurfaces<surface name> Create Reference

Toolspace Context Menu (for Vault project)

Prospector tab: Projects<project name> Surfaces<surface name> Create Reference

Command Line

CreateSurfaceReference (for Vault surface only)

Dialog Box

Create Surface Reference


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