SOLVED? Structures not showing up in profile

[CyberAngel]

I had some storm drain and sewer profiles. One day the structures disappeared, but the pipes didn't. This issue seems to have happened to other people as well, but nobody could find a solution. Until now.

 

I tracked down the pipe network catalog to a folder. You can locate this folder on your system by pulling down the Create Design tab on the Home panel of the ribbon and picking Set Pipe Network Catalog. You reach the same window through the main Pipes menu, which includes the command to Set Pipe Network Catalog. The path to the folder is in the Catalog Folder box. That same window lets you select the structure and pipe catalogs, which must be present in that folder.

 

Apparently, those catalogs have to be valid groups of files. I could select the Imperial Structures catalog, but I could only ever access the first batch. I guessed that the second one had become corrupted somehow, so the validation process just gave up. I never tried to edit my structure catalog, so I don't know what happened to it.

 

The solution was to get a copy of that entire folder containing that structure catalog and replace the original. After that, everything worked as before. If you don't have a co-worker with a good version, I suppose you can repair or re-install Civil 3D. There's no telling if or when the problem will recur, but at least now I have a fix.

 

Interesting side note: I was able to restore the structures temporarily by creating a block and redefining the profile structure style to use that instead of the part parameters. The block is a rectangle, size .25 horizontal by 1.0 vertical, with the insertion point defined where you set it in the style, for example, the rim is the center of the top side. Not only does defining this block display the structure, it makes the label visible too. The downside here is that changing the style obliges other users to deal with the same temporary fix instead of seeing the correct structure.

[CyberAngel]

It's two weeks later, and the same problem came back. I tried restoring the pipe catalog files again, but that didn't work.

 

What did work was the nuclear option. I wrote down the inverts for each box. In turn I disconnected the pipes from each box, deleted each box, created a new box, adjusted the plan label, reconnected the pipes, and redefined the inverts. Then I toggled the Draw button for each box in the profile view. Finally I added a profile label for each box. And if the problem comes back again, I'll have to re-create all the structures again. Thanks to the users on some other board who suggested this fix.

 

The only reason I can see for this issue is a faulty audit, or a corruption that affected a subsequent audit. This doesn't happen in every drawing. I noticed an audit had removed a number of aecdb* blocks. Since the structures remained on the plan, it must have been the instances of those structures on the profile that broke. Why Civil 3D can't recover from an error that it created itself is a mystery.

 

Edit: For some reason, this whole problem never happens when I open a drawing in C3D 2022. In other words, when a drawing is missing its profile structures in 2021, I can open the same drawing in 2022, and the structures are there--but in 2021 they're still missing. So there's a bug in 2021 or in my configuration of it.

Edited October 21, 2022 by CyberAngel

[CyberAngel]

Another update: Autodesk has become aware of this issue. See this page.

 

Their solution is... don't use the version with the bug.

 

Edit: The symptom appeared again. This time because someone put some of the structure labels on one layer and a half dozen on another, then froze the layer with most of the labels.

Edited July 17, 2023 by CyberAngel

[Mujahid.u]

Hi, i think i know you problem and the solution was easy.

 

your structure was not missing rather it was hidden.

 

Solution: locate the structure name in TOOLSPACE right-click and select structure properties. Then find insertion rim behavior under it there is Insertion Rim Elevation. Just add .00001 to the value and click OK and your structure will appear again.

 

Example: your Insertion Rim Elevation value was 703.891. Make it 703.89101