Alpha-numeric point numbers in Civil3D

Compatibility: Civil3D

A colleague of mine asked if it was at all possible to create a drawing based on data which contained alpha numeric point numbers.

I went through the usual help and tutorial documents, discussion groups and cad blogs and came up empty. I was about to give up when I discovered a work around which gave just about the same result.
I was resigned to the fact that Civil3D would just not accept alpha Point Numbers - however it would happily accept alpha Point Names. So why not substitute one for the other?

Here's what I did to achieve this.


Create a new point file format by copying the PENZD (comma delimited) format found under Settings>Points>Point File Formats in the Toolspace. In this example I called this Name,ENZD(comma delimited).

Select the first column (Point Number) and from the Column name drop down list, choose Name. Hit OK and OK again to exit this dialog.

Now all that's needed is a point label style which will display the Point Name. Create a new Point Label Style. In this example, I have named the new style Name (PtNo) Elevation Description.

The Point Number should be at the top of the Component name for the standard style. Rename the Component Name to Point Name (General>Name). Edit the Text>Contents. In the preview window, put your cursor before the Point Number.

From the Properties drop down select Name and press the left arrow button to push the selection into the preview window. In this example, I've added an additional space and added brackets around the existing Point Number field.

Press OK and OK again to exit out of the dialog box. All done.

If you import a point file with Alpha-numeric point numbers, select the Name,ENZD(comma delimited) point file format and set the Point Label Style to Name (PtNo) Elevation Description.

Let me know in the comments if you found this to be useful.