OpenRoads: Problem with Missing Dynamic Cross-sections

Occasionally, an OpenRoads file will fail to show the dynamic cross-sections properly. I really don’t know what precisely causes this but it is a royal frustration, to say the least. When you open the dynamic cross-section view you see something like this:

That is, you see an empty view where there should be some cross-sections.

The fix is pretty simple. Right-click and hold in the cross-section view until the following context toolbox opens:

Then click on Delete Dynamic Cross Section Views. I know, it sounds pretty scary. And yes, there are actually some things being deleted, namely the cross-section view and model definitions. This should not be confused with the models created as part of the cross-section plans production processes using the Create Cross-Sections tool.

After clicking on this command, the software will work a bit. The view being used for cross sections will be closed and the other views will do some strange things but don’t be alarmed. Nothing bad is happening, except…

Your other views will be reset to a different state. The logic which drives this reset escapes me, but there is apparently some sort of saved settings which are used to reset the views. Your results will vary, but in the most recent project where I did this, the Default-3D model in view 5 was reset to Default, levels display was changed and both views had the ACS triad turned on and Level Overrides turned on. These reset display settings match a state of the file when I received it from my client but I had changed the settings and saved settings long since. So, it appears that the views are being reset to a state which existed at the time that the Dynamic Cross-Section views became corrupt.

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Robert Garrett

Robert has over 25 years experience as a practicing engineer and is licensed in the State of Tennessee. After graduating from Tennessee Technological University, Robert worked for the Mississippi State Highway Department, Bridge Design Division. Then he spent 12 years with the Tennessee Department of Transportation in the Roadway Design Office and later served as Regional Manager in the Design Survey Office. From 2000 to 2006, Robert worked for Robert G Campbell and Associates in Knoxville, TN where responsibilities included roadway, site, and utilities design projects. Joining Bentley Systems in March 2006, Robert wrote specifications & documentation for software development. Duties included testing, customer feedback and ensuring the products met the needs of the civil engineering user base. He also developed training material for education both internally to Bentley and for outside organizations. He served as Product Manager for Utilities Products, including the new OpenRoads Subsurface Utilities Design and Analysis software. Robert also provided guidance and implementation services for new technologies. He is a frequent presenter and trainer at user conferences.

One comment on “OpenRoads: Problem with Missing Dynamic Cross-sections

  1. Scott Flodin Reply

    Thank you! This was the only solution I found to fix my “existing ground not showing in x-sections” problem.

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