The use of Name Filters is fundamental to the power of Civil Designer.
The Names page of the Filter is common to many different routines. It offers a filter on the relative process based on the alphabetical characters in the name. Both inclusion and exclusion filters are available and work in conjunction with one another. An entry of ALL and NONE (always in uppercase) is always the default and this bypasses the filter. In other words, ALL the points will be included and NONE of the points will be excluded. Filtering can be applied to all visible surfaces or to any selected surface. If you select to filter a specific surface that is not currently visible you will be given the opportunity of making it visible.
Wildcard characters can be used when specifying a filter item. The wildcards available are:
* (asterisk) - matches zero or more characters.
? (question mark) - matches a single character.
These wildcard characters are position dependant and can be used in combination.
A filter definition of M*H# will allow names that start with M and end with H followed by a digit. This will match with MH1, MISH7, M327H9 but not with MHA (the A is not a digit). Changing the filter to M?H# will now fail the previous examples as the name must be exactly 4 characters long starting with M followed by any single character or digit, and ending with H followed by a single digit. A filter definition that checks for some characters within a name would be entered as *<what you want to find>*. In other words, the filter definition *MH* will match with MH1, START_MH and BERMHEIGHT as the characters MH appear consecutively in these names, but will fail MISH7 and M3297H9 as the M and H characters in these names are separated by other characters.
A filter definition that contains no wildcard characters implies that the name must be matched exactly.
The wildcard * is a substitute for ALL as it will accept all names. Note that it is not a substitute for NONE. Name filters that were defined with version 6.1 or earlier of the program should be changed as they will now only succeed if they match the name exactly. To get the same filter as previously used, you should add the * wildcard before and after the filter entry.
The system used is that each name is checked individually. If it matches any of the five inclusion items, it is considered a valid point. If it passes the inclusion test as a valid point it is then tested for each exclusion item. If it matches any of the five exclusion items, it is no longer considered valid.
An empty filter item (one that will not be checked) must be entered as two consecutive minus signs i.e. --. Entering a space will mean that point names consisting of only a single space will be filtered.
The Name Filter can always be used in combination with the Surface Details facility (in the Display Settings dialog) for surface control.
The successful use of naming filters depends on a bit of preliminary thought and planning. The idea is to use a unique descriptor for any feature you are likely to be interested in but also use common denominators where possible. For instance, BSD might be chosen for Bottom of Side Drain, but then distinguish between left and right by adding an L or R. This will mean that later, should you want to isolate the entire side drain, you will be able to do so by picking all the points with SD in them with a filter such as *SD*, or *SD?. However, it would also be possible to select a feature string of just the bottom left edge of the drain, for example, by using a filter such as BSDL (which must match exactly).
There are two golden rules to follow when putting the naming scheme into practice:
Settle on a naming convention that is easy to remember and is pertinent to the particular task on hand.
Stick to your convention and make sure that everyone else involved does so as well. Inconsistency will quickly lead to confusion and errors.
Remember that Civil Designer distinguishes between upper and lower case characters. Therefore, it can be useful to reserve all the lower or upper case characters for a general class of points. For example, you might reserve upper case for all points that exist on the ground and lower case for points that are theoretical.