Is there any way (Keyin, dialog, other) to give a data point at zero offset, profile grade elevation?
Yes, I am aware of the SE= precision keyin. I have to know the profile grade elevation already in order to use that.
I am hoping (against hope!) that there is some way to get the profile grade elevation for a known station while in that cross section(!) and use it to place an element.
Geopak had a great tool for this, but I am, unfortunately, no longer working in Geopak. Does InRoads have anything I can use like that?
MaryBPower Inroads 08.11.07.615
You can display the alignment in 3D (Geometry>View Geometry>View 3-D Alignment) and import the displayed into a surface as an untriangulated feature. You can then display the alignment feature in your cross sections. Make sure the interval is less than and divides evenly into the cross section interval.
I take it the answer is...There is no tool to accomplish this simply.
That sounds like a lot of steps, a lot of "extra" files, and a lot of work - as many steps as it takes to just "query" the profile grade at a known station.
Man, I hate InRoads some days...Does answering this kind of question get any easier in OpenRoads?
MaryB
Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918Power InRoads 08.11.09.918OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2
I understand your frustration. I'm sure I'd be feeling the same way about GEOPAK if I had to use it after using InRoads for several years.
InRoads cross sections are based on a horizontal alignment, but that's the end of their connection to any geometry. Everything that displays in cross sections must be from a surface (surface, component or feature). It's frustrating to have to drape a right-of-way line on a surface to get it to show up in cross sections, but it is what it is.
There are some other workarounds to get what you're looking for but they all involve creating a surface feature to display and annotate in your sections. For instance, as I was typing this I remembered you can import geometry directly into a surface - bypassing the display and import from graphics I mentioned above.
As far as OpenRoads - I think you can take your GEOPAK to InRoads experience and multiply it by a factor of 50 or so (in a negative way). We started a pilot rollout of SS4 and quickly abandoned it because it was so inferior to SS2. I've been using OpenRoads for a few months now and, while better than SS4, to my mind SS2 is still a far superior product.
I don't care if the cross section doesn't understand what a profile is - I was hoping that InRoads could understand what a profile was, enough that the same information can be queried whether I'm in Plan, Profile, or Cross Section. There seems to be a severe disconnect between the geometry as designed, and the information that's available from that design. I don't need InRoads to DRAW (display) anything for me - I just need a data point (station & elevation). Heck, if there were a way I could just query the geometry to get that information I could type it into the key-in myself.
Bentley Development Folks! Please do NOT be so wrapped up in the next best thing that you forget all about Plans Production! While the modeling is wonderful, and the promise of automatic annotation is fantastic, there is still more information that needs to go into a set of plans. As advanced as the modeling is, getting design closer to production than ever before, there are going to be items that won't/can't be designed that way that will still need to be created to produce a complete plan set. Small projects, older engineers - times when "all that modeling" is going to be seen as a big waste of time... The CAD technician will not be obsolete for a number of years yet. Please try your best to NOT lock us out of being able to do OUR jobs.