The screen, part by part

CivilCraft has one screen. There are no tabs and no layouts. The side panels can move, float or go to a window of their own: see Arrange the panels and use a second monitor. From top to bottom and left to right:

• the app bar (CadCraft mark, app name, version, About, screen mode, Help, Save for offline, Paper and Model)
• the toolbar with seven groups of buttons
• the left panel: Site, Points, Surface, Display and, once you import some, GIS layers
• the plan in the middle, with the profile view under it when it is open
• the right panel: Properties of what is selected
• the status bar along the bottom

App bar

The thin bar at the very top belongs to the CadCraft site, not to CivilCraft itself.

• The version menu shows which build you are running.
• About CivilCraft opens the app's page on the site.
• Full screen cycles the screen modes: full screen, then full screen with the bars hidden, then back to normal. ⌃⇧FCtrl+Shift+F does the same on every platform, including a Mac (it is the Control key there, not Command). With the bars hidden, move the pointer to the top edge to bring them back.
• Help (or F1F1) opens this help in a side panel; F1F1 or EscEsc closes it.
• Save for offline keeps CivilCraft in this browser so it opens with no connection; it then shows Offline ready. See Files you can open, save and export.
• Paper and Model switch between a light and a dark theme. The plan and profile follow the theme; PDFs always print on white.

Toolbar

Each group has a small label above its buttons. Hover over a button to see its tooltip and key.

A drawing tool stays pressed while it is active. Clicking it again, pressing EscEsc or pressing VV returns to Select. Undo, Redo, Copy and the items in More are grayed out when they cannot act; the tooltip says why (for example "Select survey points first"). Every button is listed in Toolbar reference.

On a narrow window the toolbar scrolls sideways.

Left panel

Site

• Name: the project name. It names every file you save or export and is printed in the PDF title strip.
• Units: US feet or Metres. This says what the numbers mean. Changing it does not convert coordinates; see Units, stations and number formats.

Points

Empty, it tells you how to open a point file. With points it shows the file name, the number of points and how many have an elevation, then a table of point groups: one row per first word of the description (GRD, FL, TBS …), with a count and a Surface choice:

• Points: the points go into the surface (the default for every group).
• Breakline: the group's points are joined, in point-number order, into one breakline.
• Left out: the group does not touch the surface.

Surface

Facts about the existing ground: points, triangles, lowest and highest elevation, mean elevation, 2D and 3D area, breaklines and whether there is a boundary. Under the facts, a box lists anything the surface builder had to fix or could not do. Then:

• Longest outside edge: 0 keeps every outside triangle; a number trims long thin triangles off the outside.
• Links that appear when they apply: Remove the boundary, Remove drawn breaklines and, for a surface read from LandXML, Rebuild the surface from the points.

Display

• Surface: Existing ground or Proposed (graded). The second is available once a pad or corridor grades without problems.
• Contours every, Major every and Bands (the number of color bands).
• Checkboxes: Contours, Contour labels, Triangles, Elevation bands, Slope arrows, Points, Point labels, Breaklines, Surface edge, Pipes.
• A legend of band elevations appears when bands are on.

Display settings are saved with the project but are not undo steps: ⌘ZCtrl+Z never turns a checkbox back.

Plan

The plan shows the points, the surface and everything you design, in plan view with north up. Wheel to zoom at the pointer, drag empty space to pan. The full list is in Keys and mouse.

• On an empty project a box titled Start with survey points lists the first steps and offers Open the sample site.
• While a drawing tool is active, a hint at the top of the plan says what to click and how to finish.
• Dragging a file over the plan shows "Drop a point file, LandXML or project".
• Selected things are highlighted. A selected alignment or pad shows square grips at its PIs or corners; a selected structure shows one grip. Drag a grip to move it.
• Selected survey points have a ring. ⇧Shift and a click adds or removes a point; ⇧Shift and a drag draws a box that adds the points inside it. See Select, copy and paste survey points.

Profile view

Press RR or click Profile to open it under the plan. Its bar has:

• an alignment list (enabled when there are two or more alignments)
• Add PVIs: while it is pressed, a click in the profile adds a PVI (II toggles it)
• a readout of station, ground, design elevation, grade and cut or fill under the pointer
• a close button

The profile shows the existing ground, the design profile, grades on each tangent, each PVI's station and elevation, each vertical curve's L and K with its BVC and EVC, high and low points, and the vertical exaggeration. It always fits the whole alignment: it does not zoom or pan. Moving the pointer along it puts a dot on the alignment in the plan.

Right panel: Properties

Its heading says what it shows.

• Project (nothing selected): the alignments and pads as links, the Earthwork block, and the Pipe network block with its rules and problems.
• Alignment: name, start station, length, the PI table, the curves, the design profile's PVI table and facts, and the Corridor settings.
• Pad: name, elevation, cut and fill slopes, area, daylight facts and earthwork.
• Structure or Pipe: sizes, rims, inverts, slope, cover and any problems.
• Point and its number: the point's coordinates, elevation, description and group (read only).

Fields take effect when you press ReturnEnter or leave the field. A value that is not accepted is marked as invalid and nothing changes.

Status bar

• E and N: easting and northing under the pointer.
• Ground elevation there (and Graded where a pad or corridor changed it), or "Off the surface".
• The nearest alignment (or the selected one) with the Sta and offset (L or R) under the pointer.
• On the right, messages: what just happened, or why something was refused. A message clears itself after a few seconds.

Dialogs

• Import points: opens with every point file. See Import survey points.
• Plot the plan to PDF: see Plot the plan to PDF.
• Unsaved changes: asks before New or opening a project or LandXML file throws away unsaved work. Save a copy downloads the project first.

Small screens

Below about 760 pixels wide, the panels stack: toolbar, plan (with the profile under it), status bar, then Properties, then the left panel. Scroll the page to reach them.