I know, I know… Today’s installment is not really a tool but more of a concept/strategy. (But it is still very helpful. :) )
Let me set the scene…
You have some custom (or maybe client specific) content that includes Linetypes, SHX fonts, Blocks, plug-ins, hatch patterns… etc. that you would like to incorporate into Civil 3D such that they are available in all sessions. When Civil 3D is installed, it contains a number of default support folders that are automatically searched when looking for content. If you incorporated your custom content into the appropriate default support folders, you would be all set because Civil 3D would now be able to find your custom content as well as the default content.
While this works, it does present some potential problems. First, it can be a tedious process especially if you would like the content available on multiple computers. Next, it is not very portable. In other words, when you install the next version of Civil 3D, there is not really a quick way to retrieve your custom content and relocate into the newer Civil 3D's support folders. Third, what if some of the custom content has the same name as your existing content. One of them will have to be renamed…. I could keep going but I’m sure you get the idea.
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a container where we could store our custom content so we wouldn’t have to sprinkle it into various support folders? Well, we can!
By creating a custom "Support File Search Path" we can quickly define locations that will automatically be searched by Civil 3D. We can even point these paths to a shared network folder such that all computers pointing to that same location would automatically have access to custom content as soon as it was placed in the folder. And when it comes time to install a newer version of Civil 3D, simply add the custom folder to the newer version’s Support File Search Paths and your custom content is ready to go.
Note: Only Civil 3D / AutoCAD content accessible by searching the support folders is applicable. In other words, this will NOT work for every form of custom content. (TrueType Fonts, Subassembly .PKT files... for example)
Check out the video below to see how to works.
-Jerry
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