Civil Commands in BricsCAD

Quick answer: BricsCAD’s Civil Tools include 56 commands covering alignments, corridors, TIN surfaces, civil points, civil strings, grading, and GIS/LandXML import and export. Grouped below by category.

Alignments

Command	What it does
`ALIGNMENT`	Creates horizontal, vertical, and 3D alignments (by PI)
`ALIGNMENT3D`	Creates a 3D alignment from horizontal and vertical alignments
`ALIGNMENTCURVE`	Creates an unconstrained horizontal curve alignment element
`ALIGNMENTEDIT`	Edits a horizontal or vertical alignment
`ALIGNMENTELEMENTBETWEEN`	Creates a horizontal alignment constrained on both sides by other elements
`ALIGNMENTELEMENTFROM`	Creates a horizontal alignment constrained on one side by another element
`ALIGNMENTLINE`	Creates an unconstrained horizontal line alignment element
`ALIGNMENTVERTICAL`	Creates a vertical alignment
`ALIGNMENTVIEW`	Creates a vertical alignment view for a horizontal or 3D alignment

Civil Points

Command	What it does
`CIVILPOINT`	Creates civil points, represented by symbols and labels
`CIVILPOINTATTRIBUTES`	Adds or removes user-defined attributes on civil points
`CIVILPOINTEDIT`	Edits civil points
`CIVILPOINTEXPORT`	Exports civil points to an external file
`CIVILPOINTGROUP`	Creates a civil point group

Civil Explorer Panel

Command	What it does
`CIVILEXPLOREROPEN`	Opens the Civil Explorer panel
`CIVILEXPLORERCLOSE`	Closes the Civil Explorer panel

Corridors

Command	What it does
`CORRIDOR`	Creates a corridor from a corridor template
`CORRIDOREDIT`	Adds or removes a corridor region
`CORRIDOREXTRACT`	Extracts a 3D solid, 3D mesh, TIN surface, 3D polyline, or outer boundary from a corridor
`CORRIDORTEMPLATE`	Creates a corridor template
`CORRIDORTEMPLATEELEMENT`	Creates a corridor template element from closed polylines
`CORRIDORTEMPLATEELEMENTEDIT`	Adds or removes components on a corridor template element

Import and Export

Command	What it does
`CIVIL3DIMPORT`	Imports objects from an Autodesk Civil 3D drawing
`CIVILDWGEXPORT`	Exports civil objects as native DWG entities
`GISEXPORT`	Exports spatial and attribute data to SHP, GML, or KML/KMZ formats
`GISIMPORT`	Imports spatial and attribute data from SHP, GML, KML/KMZ, or Geodatabase formats
`IFCEXPORT`	Exports a BIM model to IFC
`LANDXMLEXPORT`	Exports civil entities to a LandXML file
`LANDXMLIMPORT`	Creates TIN surfaces or alignments from a LandXML file

Grading

Command	What it does
`GRADING`	Creates a graded surface on an existing TIN surface
`GRADINGBALANCE`	Balances grading cut and fill volumes
`GRADINGEDIT`	Splits or merges gradings

Surface Labels

Command	What it does
`ADDSURFACELABELS`	Adds spot elevation, slope, or contour labels to a surface

Multi-Sided Polygons (mpolygons)

Command	What it does
`MPOLYGON`	Creates multi-sided polygon entities from closed polylines, circles, or specified points
`MPOLYGONEDIT`	Adds, deletes, moves, disconnects, or rebalances mpolygons
`POLYDISPLAY`	Changes the display mode for every mpolygon in the drawing

Boundary Trim and Elevation

Command	What it does
`MAPTRIM`	Trims entities (closed polylines, circles, closed splines, or ellipses) to a boundary
`MOVEBLOCKSTOELEVATION`	Updates a block’s insertion point Z value to match its attribute or corresponding GIS data

Section Lines and Views

Command	What it does
`SECTIONLINES`	Creates section lines between selected points or at specified stations along an alignment or string
`SECTIONVIEWS`	Creates section views for civil entities

Civil Strings

Command	What it does
`STRING`	Creates a Civil String entity, a 3D object made of line and curve segments
`STRINGADDCURVE`	Adds curves to a Civil String
`STRINGADDELEVATIONPOINT`	Adds elevation points to a Civil String
`STRINGADDPI`	Adds points of intersection (PI) to a Civil String
`STRINGDELETEELEVATIONPOINT`	Deletes elevation points from a Civil String
`STRINGDELETEPI`	Deletes points of intersection from a Civil String
`STRINGFROMOBJECT`	Creates a Civil String from an existing entity

TIN Surfaces

Command	What it does
`TIN`	Creates a new TIN surface from selected source data
`TINASSIGNIMAGE`	Assigns a raster image to a TIN surface as a material
`TINEDIT`	Adds or removes points, breaklines, or boundaries on a TIN surface
`-TINEXTRACT`	Extracts meshes, solids, points, faces, contours, borders, or intersection lines from a TIN surface, grading, or TIN volume surface, via the Command line
`TINMERGE`	Combines two or more TIN surfaces into a single new one
`TINMODIFY`	Deforms or smooths a TIN surface
`TINPROJECT`	Projects point-based entities (points, blocks, text) or linear entities (lines, polylines, circles) onto a TIN surface
`TINVOLUME`	Creates a TIN volume surface between a base and comparison surface, or an elevation
`TINWATERDROP`	Creates a water drop path on a TIN surface in real time as you move the cursor

Note: Octave’s own command table only lists -TINEXTRACT (the Command line variant), but its Related Commands section separately references a dialog-based TINEXTRACT with the same description, one that never got its own row in the main table. If you’re looking for a dialog-based version of this command, it likely exists even though this source doesn’t describe it directly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between a horizontal alignment and a 3D alignment? A horizontal alignment defines a path in plan view. A 3D alignment combines a horizontal alignment with a vertical one to define the path in three dimensions.

How do I bring in an existing Civil 3D drawing? Run CIVIL3DIMPORT to create BricsCAD civil entities from an Autodesk Civil 3D drawing.

What’s a Civil String, and how is it different from a regular polyline? It’s a 3D object made of line and curve segments, purpose-built for civil work, with its own dedicated commands for adding curves, elevation points, and points of intersection.

Can I balance cut and fill volumes automatically after grading a surface? Yes, using GRADINGBALANCE.