CIM Manager Suite User Guide
May 1, 2023
https://www.ctcsoftware.com
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Contents
Overview .............................................................................................................................................................................. 3
Installation and Configuration ............................................................................................................................................. 3
License Activation and Management .................................................................................................................................. 3
Cloud Shared or Free Trial License ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Trial Licensing ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Cloud Shared Licensing ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
Network Floating Licensing .................................................................................................................................................. 8
Changing Licensing at Any Time ........................................................................................................................................ 12
How to Use ........................................................................................................................................................................ 13
Linetype Manager .............................................................................................................................................................. 14
Style Manager .................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Template Tracker ............................................................................................................................................................... 18
Layer Boss .......................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Survey Template Manager ................................................................................................................................................. 23
Getting Help ....................................................................................................................................................................... 26
CIM Manager Suite User Guide
May 1, 2023
https://www.ctcsoftware.com
Page 3 of 26
Overview
Autodesk® CAD managers at Civil and Survey firms alike will find great value in the CIM Manager Suite. The CIM
Manager Suite contains Civil 3D® and AutoCAD® tools for efficient CAD management, including content and template
creation and editing.
Installation and Configuration
The standard workstation installation requires little more than running the setup program. For more information
regarding topics such as automating workstation installations and preconfiguring workstation settings, please refer to
the CTC CIM Suites Installation and Configuration Guide document.
License Activation and Management
The productivity tools provided with light background colors are free tools that run without any special licensing. The
productivity tools provided with dark background colors are premium tools which require licensing.
Unless initially preconfigured by the system administrator, the first time any of the licensed tools are launched, the
Product and License Information dialog will appear which requires specifying the kind of license that is to be used:
One of the choices must be made and configured correctly using the “Apply” button in order to proceed with using the
tool.
The selected licensing will automatically apply to all of the tools that are included in the suite which require licensing. So
once the first tool has configured the licensing, the other premium tools will automatically be licensed as well.
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Cloud Shared or Free Trial License
The first choice for Cloud Shared or Free Trial License should be selected if your organization has a CTC Software online
account and either have purchased cloud shared licenses, or have acquired a trial license for the account.
If your organization does not have a CTC Software account, the link on this form will allow you to create one.
The first time you try to use a cloud shared or trial license, you may be asked to login to CTC’s portal. You may not be
asked to login if you are already logged in from another tool, such as CTC’s HIVE™ product.
Trial Licensing
Trial licenses allow you to use the software (including premium tools) without any purchased licensing for a limited time,
typically 14 days. The software will generally be fully functional during the trial, with a few exceptions where
functionality may be limited during a trial.
Any standard Internet connection is required to use trial licensing.
Once you’ve been granted a trial license, the status at the top of the dialog should look like this:
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Cloud Shared Licensing
Cloud shared licensing allows you to get a license from CTC Software’s cloud license server, requiring only a standard
Internet connection. The licenses must be purchased and configured by your organization for their CTC Software
account.
With cloud shared licensing you can also “borrow” a license, which will temporarily apply the license to your computer
and will thus allow you to continue using the software even when you don’t have a reliable Internet connection.
However, while the license is borrowed, it will be one less license that’s available to other users in your organization.
For regular (non-borrowed) licensing, all you do is select Cloud Shared or Free Trial License option and connect to CTC’s
cloud services with your login.
Once you click the Apply button and are successfully logged in, the tool will connect to the online licensing engine, verify
your account has been allocated a license for this product, and return a success message.
When successfully applied, the status at the top of the screen will update. For example:
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Borrowing a Cloud Shared License
IMPORTANT: For normal use of the software, where you have a standard Internet connection, you DO NOT need to
borrow a license. Borrowing a license is normally only needed when you know you will need to use the software at a
time when you won’t have a reliable Internet connection. While you have a license borrowed, that is one less shared
license available to all other users.
NOTE: Borrowing is only available for purchased cloud shared licenses. Borrowing is not available for trial licenses.
IMPORTANT: In the event your computer is lost, stolen or damaged (e.g. a hard drive crash) an administrator CAN
NOT recover a borrowed license. In that case, the license will be unavailable to all users until the borrow period has
naturally expired. As such, you only want to borrow a license for the barest minimum amount of time needed.
Begin by opening the Product and License Information screen. From here, click the ‘Borrow…’ button to the right of the
Cloud Shared choice to begin the process of choosing the length of time to borrow a Cloud Shared license.
The date selector should appear:
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Confirm the date selection and click the Borrow License button. A success message should appear.
Returning a Borrowed Cloud Shared License Early
To return the license early, in the Product and License Information form, find the Return Early… button and click it.
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A prompt will appear confirming that the license should be returned.
Click the Yes button, then you should see:
The license status should now show a ‘not borrowed’ message.
Network Floating Licensing
When choosing the “Network Floating” choice, the CTC Network Floating License Server software must be installed and
configured by a system administrator on a computer connected to your office LAN or WAN. The installation and
configuration of this server software is described in the CTC CIM Suites Installation and Configuration Guide document.
IMPORTANT: Using network floating licenses on a remote Civil 3D workstation which is using a software VPN
connection to the company network is not recommended. This typically includes workstations that need to start up VPN
client software in order to connect to the company network. Because software VPN connections are generally less
reliable, the quality of maintaining the license after starting the software is in jeopardy and cannot be ensured. If the
remote Civil 3D workstation is to use network floating licenses, then a hardware VPN connection is strongly
recommended. If a hardware VPN connection is not available, the best practice is for the remote workstation to use a
borrowed license (discussed below) instead.
Your system administrator will need to tell you the path (computer name or IP address) of the license server computer,
which you must enter on this screen.
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Once you have set the server name (or IP address), click the “Apply” button. This will verify the settings by attempting
to check out a floating license for this suite. If the server can be contacted correctly and a license checked out, the
following dialog will appear:
At this point, the status at the top of the Product and License Information screen should show that a network floating
license has been acquired.
Borrowing a Network Floating License
IMPORTANT: For normal use of the software, where you have a connection to the network with your license server,
you DO NOT need to borrow a license. Borrowing a license is normally only needed when you know you will need to use
the software at a time when you won’t have a reliable connection to your network. While you have a license borrowed,
that is one less shared license available to all other users.
IMPORTANT: In the event your computer is lost, stolen or damaged (e.g. a hard drive crash) an administrator CAN
NOT recover a borrowed license. In that case, the license will be unavailable to all users until the borrow period has
naturally expired. As such, you only want to borrow a license for the barest minimum amount of time needed.
Begin by opening the Product and License Information screen. From here, click the ‘Borrow…’ button to the right of the
Network Floating choice to begin the process of choosing the length of time to borrow a network floating license.
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The date selector should appear:
Confirm the date selection and click the Borrow License button. A success message should appear.
Returning a Borrowed Network Floating License Early
To return the license early, in the Product and License Information form, find the Return Early… button and click it.
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How to Use
All tools are launched from their respective buttons on the CIM Manager Suite Ribbon tab.
Users may also launch the tools using the follow command line strings:
o Linetype Manager LINETYPEMGR
o Template Tracker TEMPLATETRACKER
o Layer Boss
o Export Object Layer EXOBJLAY
o Create/Edit Object Layer SETOBJLAY
o Export Drawing Layers EXDWGLAY
o Create/Edit Drawing Layers UPDATEDWGLAY
o Survey Template Manager
o Export Description Key Set XDKS
o Create or Edit Description Key Set DKS
o Export Figure Prefix Database XFPD
o Create or Edit Figure Prefix Database FPD
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Linetype Manager
The tool consists of one dialog box that allows users to edit AutoCAD linetype files (.lin) in an intuitive and graphical way.
As linetype definitions are created or assembled a preview provides instant feedback. All linetype definitions write to a
native .lin file and are compatible with any DWG file.
Upon command initiation the follow dialog will launch:
Upon clicking New or Edit, the following dialog box will launch:
Create a new linetype.
Linetype file opening
and saving.
Filter options to
limit the list of
linetypes below.
Sort the display by
linetype order or
display order.
When sorting by
display the order
does not affect
the order of
linetypes in the
.LIN file.
Linetype preview
and scale option.
Import all linetype
definitions in current dwg.
Edit, Copy, or delete the
currently selected linetypes.
Change the order that
linetypes are sorted in the
linetype file. Only available
when “Actual” order
method is selected .above.
Insert selected linetypes
into current drawing.
Import linetypes from
selected objects in dwg.
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NOTE: Importing of complex linetypes from the current drawing will prompt the user to specify the rotation type for text
and shape components, because it can’t be read with with Linetype Manager. Users need to specify one of three options
for complex linetypes:
1. Relative to line: text and shape components will insert relative to the line object, regardless of the direction of
the line segment
2. Plan readable (upright): text and shape components will insert relative to the line object, but will rotate 180
degrees upon the insertion point when the text/shape component is upside down.
3. Relative to WCS (absolute): text and shape components will insert relative to the World Coordinate System,
regardless of the line segment direction.
Available for Text or
Shapes. Option to
make the
component rotation
relative to the line
(R), plan readable
(U), or relative to the
drawing WCS (A).
Options to create or
edit Line/Dot,
Space, Text, or
Shape components.
Component
Definition. For Shape
file, the .shx files
must be found in
Support File Search
Paths in Options.
Linetype preview
and Scale option.
Delete components.
Change the order of
components.
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Style Manager
Gain access to the styles used by Objects, Labels, and Tables for quick and easy editing. Editing can happen in a
spreadsheet like window directly in the app, or the data can be exported to MS Excel for larger editing efforts and then
imported back in to update the DWG.
Once Style Manager has been opened, the following window will appear.
When clicking on Options, the following window will appear.
List Filters
List of
categories
that contain
styles.
Expand to see
additional
subcategories
Selected items
will appear in
the preview
window
Styles can be
exported to a
new Excel file
or add to an
existing file
Use the search bar
to find specific
names, layers, or
text in the
description
Replace brings up a
window with find and
replace functions
Use Compare to
import Excel
updates highlight
and apply changes
During export, tabs
can be created
based on the styles
selected
Some basic options
to remember
window position
and control visibility
of columns in the
preview window
This dropdown
control how the
category list is
displayed. Either
match the Civil 3D
space, or sort
Alphabetically
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After clicking on the Replace button, this window will appear.
Using the Compare button will assist with importing changes from the edited excel files.
Typical find and
replace command
that provides the
ability to control
what the change
will be applied to
There is also an
option to add
custom text as a
prefix or suffix with
the same
application control
The compare
function will allow
review against
edited excel files, or
against other DWGs
The compare
function will allow
review against
edited excel files, or
against other DWGs
Use the highlight
option to get a
visual on what is
going to change,
then use the apply
option to see the
changes before
pushing back to the
model
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Template Tracker
Track down the use of Layers, Text, Dimension, and Leader Styles in any drawing or template. Easily replace and edit
these embedded elements throughout the current file. This includes use of Layers in Civil 3D Styles, Text Styles in
Dimension or Table Styles, Text Styles in Block definitions, and more. The dialog box is modeless, allowing users to
simultaneously work in Template Tracker, Toolspace, Layer Manager, etc.
Once initiated, the tool will prompt the user with the following dialog box:
NOTE: There may be some layer and text references that cannot be tracked in Template Tracker. Known references
include Pressure Pipe related styles in versions 2021 and older, and some “legacy” Styles. To force delete these Layers,
utilize the native LAYDEL command, followed by an AUDIT to set the reference to Layer 0.
Swap all entities in the
selected Objects.
Entity type to
search for.
Filters to limit
the list below.
List of entities
in current
drawing.
Selecting one
will populate
the References
list, if
applicable.
Edit Layers in a Civil
3D Style.
Purge unused Civil 3D
Styles.
Delete the selected
entity IF all references
are removed.
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Layer Boss
Speed up Civil 3D Layer management and creation by syncing with an Excel spreadsheet. All Layer Properties can be
managed from an external spreadsheet, allowing faster template management. All Civil 3D Object Layer settings can be
synced in the same way. Initial spreadsheet creation occurs through a simple export option from any drawing or
template file.
Layer Boss consists of 4 different functions:
1. EXPORT OBJECT LAYERS: Export Civil 3D Object Layer settings to an Excel spreadsheet
2. CREATE/EDIT OBJECT LAYERS: Sync and add Civil 3D Object Layer settings from any Excel spreadsheet
3. EXPORT DWG LAYERS: Export AutoCAD Layer Properties Manager settings to an Excel spreadsheet
4. CREATE/EDIT DWG LAYERS: Sync and add AutoCAD Layer Properties settings from any Excel spreadsheet
Upon initiation of EXPORT OBJECT LAYERS the following dialog will launch. User can select the current drawing or
browse to another drawing. The export will provide an Excel file with helpful lists populated for certain columns.
Upon initiation of CREATE/EDIT OBJECT LAYERS the following dialog will launch:
Opens sample Excel
file with Object Layer
settings formatting.
Excel file to read from
Select current or
other drawing to
add/sync Object Layer
settings with.
Creates new Layers in
drawing if do not exist and
are found in Excel file.
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Upon clicking Next, the following report will display. Only after clicking OK here will the changes write to the DWG.
Upon initiation of EXPORT DWG LAYERS the following dialog will launch:
The export will provide an Excel file with helpful lists populated for columns. A tab will be created for each drawing
source. If linetypes and plot styles are exported from the .lin and .stb files during the export process they will appear in
this list, in addition to those already loaded into the drawings.
The export will also include a New Layer Name field. Use this to rename layers and to keep their references when the
spreadsheet is synced back to Civil 3D. If new layers are to be created simply add those in the Name field and specify the
appropriate settings.
Red error if invalid entry (does
not match Object Layer row).
Green denotes updated field
Blue denotes Layer doesn’t exist. If
“Create New Layers” in previous window
was checked, this Layer will be created.
Include current and/or External references.
Include additional drawings.
Limit Layers exported by current drawing
Layer Filters, or manually entered text filter.
Total Layers to export.
Update report after making changes to
Excel file and saving.
Export linetypes from .lin files found in
Options > Support file search path.
Shade the Excel cell the color of the Layer.
Export plot styles from the current STB file
to excel. Only applies to STB-based DWGs.
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Upon initiation of CREATE/EDIT DWG LAYERS the following dialog will launch:
Upon clicking Next, the following report will display. Only after clicking OK here will the changes write to the DWG. If the
option to export linetypes from .lin files and plot styles from .stb files was selected during the export process, and one or
more of those linetypes or plot styles was selected in Excel, Layer Boss will automatically import those definitions into
the drawing upon syncing.
Excel file to create/sync
Layers from.
Create/sync Layers in current
or selected drawing.
Option to sync or add layers.
With sync, Layers found in
the DWG, but not in Excel
will be deleted.
Opens empty
Layer list
Excel
template.
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Green denotes updated value.
Red error if invalid entry or
characters.
If duplicate entries in Excel file.
Deleted Layers if Sync was
selected on previous screen.
Update report after making
changes to Excel file and
saving.
Cannot be deleted because of
Style references.
Options to Ignore, choose a
Layer to swap, or click
ellipsis to open Template
Tracker. Use Shift/Ctrl
selection to edit multiple.
Deleted layers that are used
in a Description Key Set.
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Survey Template Manager
Greatly improve survey template management through automated configuration of Description Key Sets and Figure
Prefix Databases. Easily export, import or sync settings from an Excel spreadsheet. Automate Layers and Styles creation
and editing.
Survey Template Manager consists of four functions:
1. EXPORT DESCRIPTION KEY SET: Export Description Key Set settings to an Excel spreadsheet
2. CREATE/EDIT DESCRIPTION KEY SET: Create and edit Description Key Sets from an Excel spreadsheet
3. EXPORT FIGURE PREFIX DATABASE: Export Figure Prefix Database settings to an Excel spreadsheet
4. CREATE/EDIT FIGURE PREFIX DATABASE: Create and edit Figure Prefix Database from an Excel spreadsheet
Upon initiation of EXPORT DESCRIPTION KEY SET or EXPORT FIGURE PREFIX DATABASE the following dialogs will launch.
User simply selects the desired option and then chooses where to save the Excel file. Note, the options are based on the
current drawing for Desc Keys, and the Survey User Settings path for the available Figure Prefix Databases.
Upon initiation of CREATE/EDIT DESCRIPTION KEY SET the following dialog will launch:
Upon clicking Next, the following report will display. Only after clicking OK here will the changes write to the DWG.
Choose Excel file.
Create new or update an existing Key Set.
Sync or add to Key Sets. With sync, rows
found in the DWG, but not in Excel will
be deleted.
Creates new C3D Styles if not found.
Uses the default settings in the DWG. For
Point Styles, option to specify a block
name in the Excel file.
Opens empty Desc Key Excel template.
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Upon initiation of CREATE/EDIT FIGURE PREFIX DATABASE the following dialog will launch:
Upon clicking Next, the following report will display:
New codes that don’t exist in DWG.
Edited codes that already exist in the DWG.
If duplicate entries in Excel file.
Deleted entries if Sync was
selected on previous screen.
Update report after
making changes to
Excel file and saving.
Choose Excel file.
Create new or update an existing Figure
Database.
Sync or add to Figure Database. With
sync, rows found in the Database, but not
in Excel will be deleted.
Creates new C3D Styles if in the current
DWG if not found. Uses the default
settings in current DWG.
Opens empty Figure Database Excel template.
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New codes that don’t exist in the Figure Database.
Edited codes that already exist in the Figure Database.
If duplicate entries in Excel file.
Deleted entries if Sync was
selected on previous screen.
Update report after
making changes to
Excel file and saving.
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Getting Help
The User Guide can be accessed by clicking on the “Help” button in any dialog box. Otherwise, users can access this help
menu after installation here: C:\ProgramData\CTC\CommonCIMProjectSuite
Technical Support can be reached by contacting your CTC Express Tools Reseller, or by submitting through the link in the
ribbon:
