ArcGIS for AutoCAD is a plug-in to AutoCAD and works with the tools and standard entities of AutoCAD. Additionally ArcGIS for AutoCAD supports the use of COGO point entities, and their related tools when working within AutoCAD Civil 3D. COGO points can be included in ArcGIS for AutoCAD feature layers and hold ArcGIS for AutoCAD attributes field values.
Integration capabilities
ArcGIS for AutoCAD works with a limited number of Civil 3D tools and element types. In this release, ArcGIS for AutoCAD supports Civil 3D COGO point entities as valid feature point entities for document feature layers and web feature layers.
Note:
The mapping capabilities of the Autodesk Connecter for ArcGIS and its functionality is an independent technology and is not integrated with ArcGIS for AutoCAD. The table shows independent geospatial capabilities of the Civil 3D ArcGIS Connecter and the ArcGIS for AutoCAD equivalents:
| Civil 3D ArcGIS Connecter | ArcGIS for AutoCAD |
|---|---|
AutoCAD geospatial coordinate definitions | |
Maps | Use map and image layers. |
FDO feature connections | Use ArcGIS web feature layers. |
COGO point support
You can use POINT, BLOCK REFERENCE, and COGO POINTS CAD entities interchangeably as the expression of point features in ArcGIS for AutoCAD. You can choose any of these element types as the default element type for an ArcGIS for AutoCAD point feature layer. You can change the element type of existing ArcGIS for AutoCAD point features as COGO points using the apply symbol capabilities of ArcGIS for AutoCAD. When you're working in Civil 3D, by default ArcGIS for AutoCAD uses COGO points to express point features from web feature layers added to the drawing.
COGO points created in ArcGIS for AutoCAD can be used in Civil 3D surfaces, Civil 3D point groups, and other Civil 3D workflows, including any other Civil 3D COGO points.
COGO point behaviors in ArcGIS for AutoCAD
The following apply to COGO point behaviors in ArcGIS for AutoCAD:
- Upon adding a web feature layer in Civil 3D, the default point feature element type will be COGO points.
- COGO points drawn by ArcGIS for AutoCAD from web point feature layers will have a default raw point description that includes the ArcGIS feature layer name as a prefix and the GIS object ID value as a suffix. A new COGO point group will be created with the web point feature layer name prefix.
- If an existing COGO point group exists where the definition used to define that group includes the web feature layer name, no new Civil 3D point group will be created. In that case the web point features would be included in the existing Civil 3D point group based on their raw description.
- New ArcGIS web point features created using the create feature capability of ArcGIS for AutoCAD will have the raw description prefix set by the user or the original default value of the feature layer name.
- ArcGIS web feature attributes with the field name of ROTATION or NAME will be linked to the current value of the COGO properties of the same names. You can modify these values using Civil 3D or the attribute editing user interfaces of ArcGIS for AutoCAD.
- User defined parameters (UDP) with names that match feature attribute field names will be managed as linked property fields.
Document feature layer and Civil 3D name restrictions
In addition to standard AutoCAD entities and AutoCAD entities organized into document feature layers, ArcGIS Pro supports the reading of various Civil 3D data types found within Civil 3D drawings. To avoid confusion with these established data types, and data structures, you cannot create document feature layers using these reserved names. Attempting to name a document feature layer with one of the reserved names will result in a feature layer name prepended with the letter T.
The following is a list of these reserved document feature layer names:
- Alignment
- AlignmentProfile
- Appurtenance
- Catchment
- CogoPoint
- FeatureLine
- Fitting
- Grading
- Parcel
- ParcelSegment
- Pipe
- PressurePipe
- Site
- Structure
- SourceSurfPoint
- Breakline
- GravityNetwork
- PressureNetwork
See also
Supported entity types of document feature layers