top of page

Use-Cases | Profile Generation

Line Labels Disappearing

Issue

"... I am working in the generated profile and I have all the existing ground [linework] labels in and I make a change to one of the markers and hit current, then I go back to the profile drawing and hit the GEN. button and I lost existing ground.  I go back to the design drawing and put the change back and hit the GEN button again and I now see the existing ground but all the labels are missing.  Is that how it’s intended to work?   I have to re-label everything every time I don’t realize the profile crashed.  Truthfully I have no idea why the profile crashed as all I did was remove one marker on the centerline profile and I lost both curbs existing ground. ..."

​

Scenario 1
Re: "...I now see the existing ground but all the labels are missing.  Is that how it’s intended to work?..." 

The Line Labels do not have a "Remove" button. Unlike some other ASE elements, when you erase them, the program assumes they are gone and forgets about them. 

 

Labels & Profile Generation
When ASE begins a profile generation cycle, it records the presence of line labels in the profile. If they are present, they will be there after the next generation cycle completes (successfully, that is).

 

Paving Feature Design Cycles

However, if you modify your design in such a way that the generator crashes before it can finish drawing the profile, the Line Labels will not be re-created.

 

If you then correct the design error, and regenerate the profile from the crashed state, it has no line labels to record and redraw.

 

Label-Persistence Is Design-Dependent

Those labels are not persistent and they will only be re-created if they are already there when you start a new generation cycle.

​

 

Solution 1

f you don't want a crash condition to affect subsequent generation cycles, it would be best to re-open your profile drawing without saving it after the crash.

​

​
Scenario 2
Re: "...I have no idea why the profile crashed as all I did was remove one marker on the centerline profile and I lost both curbs existing ground..." 

​

Labels & Profile Generation

Without something to look at or examine, I can only guess, considering that I'm working "blind". However, based on experience, if you removed a Marker and it caused your generated profile to crash, your action created some kind of logical design error that the profile generator was unable to interpret.

 

Profile Generation Sequence

ASE Civil creates profile components in the following sequence [1]:

  1. Existing Linework: L2 > L1 > CL > R1  > R2

  2. Finished C/G Linework/Labels: L2 > L1 > CL > R1  > R2

  3. Dimensions
  4. Vertical Curve Data labels

  5. Profile Linework Labels

​

Based on the sequence shown above, it's easier to see that when design errors confuse the Profile Generator system, it isn't able to continue.

​

Therefore, if you changed the centerline and lost a curb, it's most likely that your error was on the centerline, which crashed the generator and prevented the curb from being drawn. 

​

Example

For example, let's say your centerline grade breaks started and ended at 10+00 and 20+00, respectively. Then let's say you had an "On-Grade" feature defined at 19+50.

 

Then let's say you undefined or moved the terminal grade break Marker, so your centerline component now ends at 18+00.

 

If you export the data (if it exports successfully at all) then try to generate your profile, the L1 component may come in fine, and your centerline profile will cause the generator to crash. Thus your R1 component (and R2 if working on a divided road) will never come in because of the problem with the centerline (that being a paving feature [the On-grade at 19+50] exists in a region where no tangents are defined). 

I hope this helps to clarify what you experienced. 

​

Editorial

I'm constantly working on the next generation of ASE. The fundamental difference is going to be that paving feature design will be mostly automated. In cases where the engineer or design does explicitly define features, ASE will be constantly auditing the input to ensure that logical errors are not introduced into the paving design/profile database. This will eliminate numerous problems which account for the lion's share of my support requests. Right now you have to be careful to ensure that every paving feature definition and modification is logically sound before you proceed with trying to process that information. 

Please accept my apology for the current shortcomings associated with paving feature definition. This is one of the most error-prone parts of the entire program because of the logical/mathematical sensitivity and lack of error-checking in this area. 

​

 

Solution 1

Check the vertical design logic closely. Make sure that you fully understand how each of the Paving Features used in the road design are intended to work on the profile and with adjacent Paving Features on the same component.

​

bottom of page