To Create a Network Topology

Network topology defines the interconnection of links and, optionally, nodes at link junctions. Network segments have a specified direction. Links can be lines, open polylines, or arcs. You can use information from different layers to define a network topology.

To create a network topology

1. Do one of the following to bring the linework into the current drawing:
   • Attach the drawings containing the linework. Query the linework into the current drawing.
   • Open the drawing containing the linework.
   • Import the linework from another file format.
2. Click Create tabTopology panelNew. Find
3. In the Create Topology - Select Topology Type dialog box, do the following:
   • Click Network to specify the type of topology to create.
   • Enter a name and description for the new topology.
   • Click Next.
4. In the Create Network Topology - Select Links dialog box, specify the links to include in the topology:
   • To include all links in the map, click Select All.
   • To manually select the links to include, click Select Manually. Click Select Links to select the links in the map. When you finish selecting links, press Enter.
   • To filter (restrict) link selection by layer (only links on the specified layers will be selected), specify the layers in the Layers box. To select from a list of layers in the map, click Select Layers. If the layer is not listed, it may be Frozen, Locked, or Off. To use all layers, enter an asterisk (*).
   • To filter link selection by object class, specify the object classes in the Object Classes box.
   • Click Next.
5. In the Create Network Topology - Select Nodes dialog box, select the nodes to include:
   • To include all nodes, click Select All.
   • To select nodes manually, click Select Manually. Click Select Nodes to select the nodes.
   • To filter (restrict) node selection by layer (only the nodes on the specified layers are selected), specify the layers in the Layers box.
   • To use only selected blocks as node objects, specify the blocks in the Blocks box. To use points as nodes, select the ACAD_POINT block.
   • To filter node selection by object class, specify the object classes in the Object Classes box.
   • To have AutoCAD Map 3D toolset create node objects at the endpoint of links, click Next. Otherwise, go to step 7.
6. In the Create Network Topology - Create New Nodes dialog box, do the following:
   • To create new nodes, select Create New Nodes.
   • Select a layer for the new nodes.
   • Select a block to use for the nodes. To use a point object, select ACAD_POINT. Modify the appearance of a point object using the PDMODE and PDSIZE system variables.
7. Click Finish to create the topology.
8. If appropriate, save the topology information back to source drawings.