I am using 2020 U3 trying to figure out the best way to handle feature crossing points (ie. right of way, fence, wetlands, etc.) in a Cross Section Annotation group. I am well aware of the right of way example Cross Section Point Annotation - Troubleshooting the Location Annotation Filter - YouTube for a single feature, but I have many potential features to annotate. It is a big ask of anyone to need to hard code all possibilities of labeling every unique type of crossing feature in and create a giant annotation group so hopefully there are solutions in place.
First, is there a wildcard function to reduce feature definitions down to prefix, suffix or contains versus adding a unique expression for every single crossing feature?
Secondly, I had the thought of using ItemTypes and named expressions to assign XS label shorthands to certain feature definitions so I could use one text favorite for a multitude of different crossing features. Oftentimes, the feature definition name is too long to show in XS and individual feature names are incremented numerically. I set something up to annotate an item type for point features, but it did not assign to the point the way it should have. I know the text favorite and item type work because in the video below because all I had to do was one-click to reassign the text field. Almost there, but close only counts in horseshoes:
Hopefully a workaround exists now, but these two small inclusions are the difference between having 4 annotation definitions versus 20,50,100+ for cross sections. It would be something a standards coordinator could easily include rather than put the burden on designers to figure out Annotation Groups every time a unique feature comes up. Thank you.
Hi,
Unfortunately there are no wildcards in the Cross Section element filters and this has made it a constant maintenance task for each project (I have requested this since it was first added to the software).
Regarding integration with named expressions/item types there is nothing like that as far as I know. One recent enhancement is the ability to annotate by Feature Definition Description so you can have a more universal label in place of Feature Name, however there are still some limitations, eg. This only works for Corridor features and not linear geometry (hopefully fixed in the next release).
Regards,
Mark
OpenRoads Designer 2022 R3 (10.12) | Microstation 2023 | ProjectWise CE 3.4
Thanks Mark. I noticed your posts on this from years ago, but I was hopeful this was the direction Cross Section Annotation Groups would be headed in by now. Without filter wildcards or more interaction with element information (like item types), all the information from style or symbology manager from InRoads SS2 related to cross sections would need to be explicitly stated line by line as unique Annotation Definitions in ORD. Why not allow more predictive or rule based cross section annotation definitions to cut maintenance down and simplify cross section annotations?