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Tip #163 - Link a Reference File to a Project

By Hannah Poon posted 11-19-2021 16:52

  

Hey TBC’ers! Have you ever wanted to link a reference file to a project? Utilizing the new Reference File Manager, you can select a VCE project whose data you want to display in your current project for referencing purposes (aptly called a reference file). Due to dynamic linking, any changes made to the selected reference project will be reflected in your current (referencing) project any time you reopen it, or when you select to manually perform a reference update. This great, new feature was introduced in Trimble Business Center v5.60


Follow the steps below to learn how to link a reference file.


  • With your current (referencing) file open, select Add a Reference File in the Home tab of the TBC Ribbon.


  • Browse for your desired reference file and click Open to import it. 


  • The objects included in the reference file are displayed in the graphic views in your current project. 

Note: Solid-colored reference objects and surfaces are displayed with transparency applied to help differentiate them from other objects in your project.


  • A new Reference File parent node displays in the Project Explorer. Nested beneath it is a Reference File node representing the reference file you selected. In the Properties pane of your selected reference file, you can change the file location for the reference file if it has been moved, adjust the transparency and override the color of linked reference data in your graphic views, and select whether to add/update reference files that are locked (in use).


  • A new Reference Files list is added to the View Filter Manager to allow you to easily hide and show the reference objects in your graphic views. 


To download TBC v5.60, you can head to https://trimble.com/downloadTBC. To learn what’s new in our latest release, you can visit https://geospatial.trimble.com/blog/whats-new-tbc-v560.


For additional learning content, visit our TBC Survey and Construction YouTube page:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TBCSurvey/videos


I hope this tip comes in handy in one of your upcoming Field to Finish Workflows!


#tbc
#referencefile
#xref
4 comments
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11-24-2021 14:51

Hi Nick,

You cannot copy reference file material into the current project like the pcopy command in Terramodel. As of right now, a reference file can only be linked to a project so reference file material (objects and surfaces) cannot be copied directly into a master project. You can create reference surfaces and snap to objects but you cannot select to copy reference objects and surfaces into the current project.

Hope that helps,
Hannah

11-24-2021 14:39

Hi Barney, 

The reference file will contain all layers/entities (surfaces and objects) in the current (referencing) / "master" project. At this time, layers from the reference file do not come one-by-one into the referencing project so you can only toggle the whole reference file on/off in the View Filter Manager.

However, if you have different View filters in the original reference VCE, the reference file can be changed to reflect that view in the master project by opening the Properties for the reference file (right-click the reference file in the Project Explorer > Properties) and selecting the "View filter" drop-down field to open the list of View filters. Then, you can select to apply one of the View filters defined in the reference project to the reference data displayed in your master project.

Best,
Hannah

11-23-2021 20:28

A great addition and definitely long overdue!

I presume the referenced file will contain all layers and entities in that project, or just surfaces?

If it is more than one entity, do we have the ability to turn referenced layers on/off (as with AutoCAD)?

Cheers.

11-23-2021 14:23

Awesome command!

Can you copy reference file material into the current project (similar to pcopy from Terramodel?)?
Cheers