Data Shortcuts
How you work with data shortcuts in AutoCAD Civil 3D depends on whether you are the creator of the shortcut or the shortcut has already been created by another user.
Note:
Data shortcuts contain references to source drawings. The best practice is to keep those source drawings in the same data shortcuts folder that you created in Prepare Your Local Workspace. This will guarantee that the source drawings will be synchronized to your local workspace with the data shortcuts. To help identify data shortcut files after they are imported to the vault, we recommend that a Meridian System Administrator create a dedicated document type for them that will be assigned to files with the .XML file extension as described in Assign Document Types To Imported Documents.
To work with data shortcuts:
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Start AutoCAD Civil 3D and prepare a project folder as described in Prepare Your Local Workspace.
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If a data shortcut that you want to work with already exists in the Prospector tree and you open an existing drawing from there, you will be prompted to synchronize the data shortcuts to your local workspace. If you create a new drawing, you can synchronize them manually as described in the following task.
If the data shortcuts that you want to work with do not already exist, create new ones as necessary. This will first create the XML files in a new folder structure in your local workspace. These files and folders will be automatically copied to the vault project folder when you save or close the drawing and your local workspace is synchronized with the vault. The data shortcuts will be synchronized to the local workspaces of other users when they also configure their local workspaces as described in Prepare Your Local Workspace and open project drawings from the vault.
If you need to edit the data shortcuts:
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In the Accruent menu, click Edit Data Shortcuts to create working copies.
We recommend that a single user be responsible for modifications to the ShortcutsFolders.xml file that resides in the project folder and that it not be modified by multiple users.
To manually synchronize data shortcuts:
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In AutoCAD Civil 3D, in the Accruent menu, click Synchronize Data Shortcuts to Local (local workspace) or Synchronize Data Shortcuts to Vault.
The Synchronize Data Shortcuts to Vault command only synchronizes new or modified shortcuts. To synchronize all shortcuts in legacy projects, use the Synchronize All Data Shortcuts to Vault command instead. The command is invisible by default.
To make it available, set the AcadBaseConfig registry value on the your PC as described in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cyco\AutoManager Meridian\CurrentVersion\AutocadLink. Depending on the quantity of shortcuts, this command can take considerably longer to complete than Synchronize Data Shortcuts to Vault and so it is not recommended for use in Remote mode.
Work with Data Shortcuts