OBM - What's the best way to bring in alignments?

Question

I may be doing something fundamentally wrong. Going back to when I first started using OBM, the tutorial said to bring in the .alg file that you need. This would copy in the alignment "live" from the InRoads .alg file. I've always done it that way. But then I see where you can bring in a reference file instead. What is the best way? If I have the alignment live in my file and the InRoads file is updated how will my live alignment be updated? Can I modify it to match the updated InRoads alignment? 
 Thanks, Eric

Sri · Answer

Eric, Using the Civil elements in a reference file is the recommended best practice. You can certainly modify your imported InRoads alignment once it is imported and in your OBM file, but depending on the complexity of the alignment, we may introduce unnecessary errors. 
 One other suggestion is to rename the alignment in your file, attach a reference with the alignment, and then try to use the Alignment command (Ribbon Tool Bar > to switch and push the bridge to the referenced alignment. Please try this with a test/backup file, before attempting on your data file.