Export Civil 3D parcels to GIS shapefile

Last updated: 2022-02-14

Info:

The WisDOT coordinate projection zone category which was in use through Civil 3D 2016 and 2018 has been retired and is no longer needed in Civil 3D 2020 and beyond.

Coordinate systems in Civil 3D should only be applied when a projection transformation is needed.

Projections for Civil 3D 2020 and beyond should be selected from the Zone Category: USA, Wisconsin. WISCRS projections begin with NSRS2011 Wisconsin County CRS

Projections for Civil 3D 2016 and 2018 should be selected from the Zone Category: WisDOT.

This topic describes the workflow for translating parcels with associated attributes, such as parcel number and parcel area, into shapefiles for use with GIS software such as ArcGIS.

Verify the coordinate system in a parcel drawing by looking in the drawing status bar.

If there is no box showing a coordinate system then there is not a coordinate system assigned to the drawing.

To set a coordinate system use

  1. Close the target drawing(s) if currently open. The macro cannot be used on a drawing that is currently open.
  2. WisDOT Sheets tab > Manage panel pulldown > Set Coordinate System - Multiple DWGs
    1. Browse to the drawing(s) by Add...
    2. Select a county from the list in the dialog box and select the datum.
    3. Process All to set the coordinate system.

Civil 3D objects, such as parcels, must be exported to Autodesk Spatial Data Format (SDF) before exporting to shapefile. This converts the parcels into data objects (polylines) with attributes associated to the data objects. Parcels can be converted to polylines in other ways to create shapefiles, but no other method includes the parcel attributes except exporting to SDF.

Warning: Civil 3D objects with a style of "_No Display" will not export. Visible linework must be present in the drawing in order to export a Civil 3D object.

  1. Output tab > Export panel > Export Civil Objects to SDF

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  1. The Export to SDF dialog box will appear. Set the file name and location, confirm that the coordinate system information is correct, and click OK to export all Civil 3D Objects to SDF.
  1. Start a new drawing.
  2. MAPIMPORT at the command line.
  3. Choose Files of type:Autodesk SDF (*.sdf), browse to an SDF file, and click OK. The Import dialog box will appear.
    1. Set the coordinate system for the new drawing
    2. Input Layer column: Uncheck all except Parcels
    3. Data column: Click to set attribute data for parcels
    4. Import polygons as closed polylines: checked

    5. Click in the Data column in the Parcels row to set attribute data.

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      1. Attribute data
        1. Create object data: selected

        2. Select Fields... A list of attributes associated with parcels will appear in the Object Data Mapping dialog box. Select or deselect attributes to import.

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        1. OK all open dialog boxes to import the SDF file. Parcel shapes are inserted into the drawing as polylines with attributes.
    6. OK
  1. MAPEXPORT at the command line. This will bring up the Export Location dialog box.
  2. Export Location: Choose Files of type:ESRI Shapefile (*.shp), enter a file name, and OK. The Export dialog box will appear.
    1. Selection tab > Object type: Line selected

    2. Selection tab > Select objects to export: Choose either Select all to include all linework in the drawing, or choose Select manually. To select objects manually click the selection button.image7

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    1. Data tab > Select Attributes...

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    1. Select Attributes dialog. Under Object Data check the attributes to be exported and click OK.

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    2. OK
  3. OK in the Export Dialog box and a shapefile will be created, complete with attribute data, for use with GIS applications.