Importing data to AutoCAD Lt

[RDK]

I am designing a municipal sub division. In this design I have to calculate road grades, individual lot grades, top of manhole elevations etc. All these elevations are dependent on the centerline profile chosen.

While it is a simple calculation to calculate the lot grades from the road grades, every lot has seven different elevations marked. (Each corner, side yard and house grade) While some lots share information with the adjacent lot, there will still be several hundred different numbers to be transcribed from my Excel spreadsheet to the AutoCAD drawing.

Any change in road grades has the potential impact to change lot grades. Since road grades will change as the design develops the need is to enter the lot elevations several times. Individual numbers will not change unless there is a change in road grades: any change in road grades will change many of the numbers.

The potential for transcription errors is high to say the least.

I have tried to use OLE but have found that this is simply more work and more frustrating than transcribing and checking the numbers. It also slows down the opening of the drawing from a few seconds to minutes.

I have a couple of programs (QuickCOGO for Windows and Sokkia’s ProLink) that will take a txt file of coordinates, including elevations, and convert them to a dxf file. The problem is that there is no control of the exact placement of the elevation number. This means that I have to adjust the location of each number manually after exporting the information.

What I would like to be able to do is to import a table of numbers, always in the same format and order, into AutoCAD, and have these numbers placed in the drawing in locations and on layers that I specify. These specifications would be static. There would only be slight changes to move the numbers around a little if notes or overcrowding becomes a problem. Batch processing of the numbers is not a problem.

Is there some way to import a table of numbers into AutoCAD and then have them placed in the drawing in the manner I have described.

I am currently using AutoCAD Lt 2002 and Excel 2000. I do not wish to upgrade to full AutoCAD because if the cost but would switch to one of the specialized CAD programs that handle this sort of task better.

Any ideas or suggestions?



Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[RiBeneke]

I doubt you will find an add-on to AutoCAD lite that will do what you want.
There are add-ons to full AutoCAD that will do it (eg RoadMate from

http://www.technocad.co.za),

and AutoCAD Map will probably do it too.

This is the usual finance see-saw in an engineering practice. Cheaper software = lower capital and lower output results and (usually) lower income per hour. Expensive software (if properly used) = higher capital and higher output. Sophisticated expensive software may also be more task-specific, so you need to decide if you will do enough of this specific type of work to justify the cost.

 

[RDK]

Two programs that look good on line are Excellink by

http://www.xanadu.cz

and XL2CAD by

http://www.dotsoft.com

Has anyone any experience with either of these products in AutoCAD LT?




Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com