What’s new in CutOnce 3.0

3.0 adds a check before every plot and a cleaner, faster-to-read dialog. Your 2.2 configuration, project files and logs carry over unchanged.

How Civil 3D objects stay connected

Civil 3D is a dynamic model. A surface feeds a profile, the profile and alignment drive a corridor, the corridor builds sections, quantities and sheets. Data shortcuts carry those objects into other drawings. Edit one link and everything downstream rebuilds from it, often without you seeing the change.

What the impact warning lists

• Profiles and profile views built on an alignment.
• Corridors that use the alignment, profile or surface as a target.
• Sample line groups and view frames that will shift with the alignment.
• Grading groups that reference a surface (on releases whose API exposes them).
• Pipe parts nearby, found by bounding box, so treat them as “worth checking”.

The habit to build

Before you edit an alignment, profile or surface, ask what is built on it. If the list surprises you, stop and check with whoever owns those objects. Your firm’s CAD manager can add extra commands to this warning (see Control Center).

Related: Stop, Undo or keep goingGrip editing an alignmentManual surface edits

Stop, Undo or keep going

CutOnce never blocks you without a choice. Each warning ends with a decision on the right: Continue first, the red Stop last. Enter or ESC always means Continue, so muscle memory never cancels a command by accident.

Related: Control CenterEvent codes

The CutOnce Control Center

One window to switch every check, warning and log on or off for yourself. Choices save to your AutoCAD profile and apply to every open drawing at once. Turning a master switch off greys out the switches under it. A lock icon means your CAD administrator set that value for everyone.

Good to know

• Reset to defaults returns every switch to your firm’s defaults.
• Once per session hides repeat warnings, but Events.csv still records every one. Overridden labels are called out on every plot regardless.
• How to add other watched commands… walks CAD administrators through adding a command to the change-impact warning.
• For scripts and toolbar buttons: ^C^C-CUTONCE;WarnEXPLODE;; toggles one setting.

Related: Stop, Undo or keep goingColor modesCommand reference

Check before you plot

The message

What it checks

• Out-of-date corridors and surfaces. The sheet would print geometry, grades and labels from before the last change. See Out-of-date corridors and surfaces.
• Xrefs unloaded or not found. Base files, utilities or survey would simply be missing from the sheet, and nothing on paper tells the reader.
• Civil 3D labels with overridden text. The label shows what someone typed, not what the model says. See Labels with overridden text.

Your choices

• Plot anyway (Enter): plot as is. Good for a quick check print.
• Rebuild and continue: shown when something is out of date. Rebuilds everything, then starts the plot again.
• Stop PLOT: cancel and fix first.

Good to know

• PUBLISH checks the active drawing only, not the other drawings in the sheet list. Open them, or run CUTONCE-PLOTCHECK in each.
• Labels are read in Model Space and the current layout. On very large drawings the label check stops after about half a second to keep plotting fast, and the count reads “at least”.
• Batch and scripted plots never wait on a click. A plot from a script, AutoLISP, another application, the console, or with FILEDIA at 0 shows no dialog. The result is still logged.
• CUTONCE-PLOTCHECK runs the same check without plotting, lists every check, and offers Rebuild all. When everything passes it reads “Ready to plot. Nothing needs attention.”

Related: Out-of-date objectsXrefs broken or unloadedOverridden labels

Out-of-date corridors and surfaces

The message

What it means

Civil 3D flags a corridor or surface as out of date when something it is built from has changed (an alignment, a profile, a target, a breakline, a data shortcut) and the object has not rebuilt yet. Until it does, what you see and plot is the previous design.

Why it matters

• Sheets disagree with the model. Sections, grades, daylight lines and quantities print from old geometry.
• Errors travel. A stale sheet in a submittal becomes a review comment, an RFI, or a field change.
• Downstream surfaces lag too. A corridor surface built from an out-of-date corridor is also wrong.

Do this instead

• Choose Rebuild and continue. CutOnce stops the plot, rebuilds every out-of-date corridor and surface in one go with a progress bar and checklist, then starts the plot again.
• Or run CUTONCE-PLOTCHECK and click Rebuild all before you start a plot set.
• Rebuild before every issued set as a habit, even when Rebuild Automatic is on for small objects.

Good to know

• The rebuild cannot be cancelled half way, because each step changes the drawing.
• Settings typed at a -PLOT prompt are not replayed after the rebuild. The command starts fresh.
• This check uses IsOutOfDate, available in the Civil 3D 2024 to 2027 API. On a release without it, the dialog says “Out-of-date check skipped”. The xref and label checks still run.

Related: Check before you plotHow objects stay connected

Labels with overridden text

The message

In the standards check: “Overridden labels show text someone typed, not live values: they stop updating when the design changes.” In the plot check: “4 labels have overridden text. This plot may not match the design.”

What it means

Someone used Edit Label Text on a spot, slope, station offset, pipe, structure, parcel, note or segment label. CutOnce sorts them two ways:

• Edited: the override still contains live fields such as <[Station Value]>. It updates, but the wording no longer follows the label style.
• Typed over: plain typed text. It never updates when the alignment, profile or surface changes.

Why it matters

• The sheet stops telling the truth. A typed-over elevation looks right until the grade changes.
• QA/QC cannot catch it. The label looks like every other label.
• Standards drift. Edited text sidesteps the label style the firm maintains.

Do this instead

• Type CUTONCE-LABELS to select every overridden label in the current space, or only the typed-over ones.
• Open Edit Label Text and restore the live values. If the style does not say what you need, ask for a new label style instead of typing over.
• Overridden labels are called out on every plot until they are fixed, even with warnings set to once per session.

Label groups (an alignment’s station ticks, for example) have no per-label overrides and are not counted. Health.csv records LabelsOverridden and LabelsTypedOver for every drawing.

Related: TEXT instead of labelsReading the standards check

Grip editing an alignment

Why it matters

• Stationing shifts. Every station downstream of the edit moves, so callouts, sample lines and sheet match lines no longer line up.
• Ground profiles resample. The existing-ground profile is recut along the new path; your design profile may now float or dig.
• Superelevation needs recalculating. Curve changes invalidate attainment lengths and critical stations.

Do this instead

• Use the Alignment Layout Tools or Geometry Editor to type exact radii, lengths and PI locations.
• Check the listed profiles, corridors and sample lines right after the edit.
• Rerun the superelevation calculation and review design checks.

Related: Grip editing a profileHow objects stay connected

Grip editing a profile

The warning lists the corridors and profile views built on the profile you are dragging.

Why it matters

• Grades and K values become arbitrary. A dragged PVI lands on whatever the cursor hits, not a design value.
• Low points and clearances move. Drainage, cover and vertical clearance can fail without anyone noticing.
• Corridors rebuild from it. Every section and quantity follows the drag.

Do this instead

• Edit PVI station, elevation, grade and curve length in Profile Layout Tools or the Profile Grid View.
• Run design checks for minimum K and grade, then review the listed corridors.

Related: Grip editing an alignmentOut-of-date corridors

Manual surface edits

What it means

Civil 3D rebuilds a surface from its definition, in order. A manual edit is stored as an operation at a location. When new data is added above or below it in the list, the edit can shift, double up or disappear.

Do this instead

• Fix the source: add a breakline, adjust a feature line, tighten a boundary, clean the point group.
• If you must edit manually, note why in the surface description so the next person knows.
• Check the listed profiles, corridors and volume surfaces afterwards.

Surface edits started from the Toolspace right-click menu do not raise a command event, so CutOnce cannot see them.

Related: How objects stay connected

MOVE on Civil 3D objects

The message, while you select

Why it matters

• Design objects carry real-world coordinates. Moving them moves the design off its survey control.
• Dependents follow. Profiles resample, corridors rebuild, and data shortcuts push the shift into every drawing that references them.
• It hides coordinate problems. Moving the design to “fit” an xref masks the real issue, which is usually the xref.

Do this instead

• Choose Deselect it, keep going to move the linework and leave the design object where it belongs.
• If the base is off, fix the xref insertion or the coordinate system. See Xref not at 0,0,0.
• Moving an xref has its own warning. See Moving or copying an xref.

Related: Stop, Undo or keep goingCoordinate system and units

STRETCH on Civil 3D objects

While you pick, the warning offers Stretch it anyway, Deselect it, keep going and Stop STRETCH.

Why it matters

• Crossing windows distort geometry unevenly. Some vertices move and others stay, so tangents, curves and grades bend in ways no design rule produced.
• Constraints break quietly. Fixed and floating entities lose tangency; profiles lose curve lengths.

Do this instead

• Edit the object’s geometry with its layout tools, using typed values.
• Deselect Civil 3D objects and stretch only the drafting linework.

Related: MOVEGrip editing an alignment

ROTATE on Civil 3D objects

While you pick, the warning offers Rotate it anyway, Deselect it, keep going and Stop ROTATE.

Why it matters

• Bearings become false. Every bearing, direction label and legal description now disagrees with the survey.
• Coordinates move. A rotation about any point other than the true origin shifts the whole design.

Do this instead

• Rotate the view, not the model: use a rotated UCS with PLAN, or rotate the viewport with DVIEW or the view frame.
• Leave design objects in true north and real coordinates.

Related: Coordinate system and units

SCALE on Civil 3D objects

While you pick, the warning offers Scale it anyway, Deselect it, keep going and Stop SCALE.

Why it matters

• Design values drift. Radii, lengths, grades and areas all change by the factor; stationing no longer matches the field.
• It is usually a units problem in disguise. Scaling by 0.3048 or 1200/3937 fixes the look and breaks the data.

Do this instead

• Fix drawing units and the coordinate system in Drawing Settings, then reinsert with the right insertion units.
• For grid-to-ground, use the drawing’s scale factor settings, not SCALE.
• For plotted size, use annotation scale.

Related: Coordinate system and units

Reading the standards check

How to read it

Number tiles show only what needs attention. Show details opens the full report: objects not ByLayer (Model Space, layouts, and block definitions), xrefs with their status and insertion point, the coordinate system and insertion units against the project standard, and overridden labels. Each tile type has its own Learn more link below.

Fix in this order

1. Coordinate system and units. Everything else sits on top of them.
2. Broken or unloaded xrefs. You cannot judge what you cannot see.
3. Xrefs off 0,0,0. Shared coordinates first, then drafting.
4. Overridden labels. Restore live values before anything is issued.
5. Objects not ByLayer. Last, because it is cosmetic until you plot or screen.

When everything passes: “Nothing to fix: ByLayer, xrefs, coordinates, units and labels all check out.”

Related: ByLayerXrefsCoordinates and unitsOverridden labels

Objects not ByLayer

Why it matters

• Plotting breaks. Hard-coded colors ignore the firm’s plot styles and pen weights.
• Layer control stops working. Freezing or recoloring a layer leaves the overrides behind.
• Background screening fails. When the drawing becomes someone else’s xref, your objects will not screen with the rest.

Do this instead

• Select the objects with Quick Select or SETBYLAYER and set color and linetype to ByLayer.
• Inside block definitions, edit the block and set its objects ByBlock or ByLayer.
• Need a different look? Use a different layer or style, not an override.

Xrefs broken or unloaded

Why it matters

• You design blind. Utilities, right of way or survey that should be on screen are not.
• Sheets go out incomplete. Since 3.0 the plot check also flags unloaded and missing xrefs before you plot.
• Paths rot. Absolute paths break when projects move between servers or are shared with others.

Do this instead

• Open External References, repath broken xrefs with relative paths, and reload.
• If an xref is unloaded on purpose, unload it in a working copy or detach it before issuing.

Related: Check before you plotXref not at 0,0,0

Xref not inserted at 0,0,0

Why it matters

• Hidden offsets. The base looks right on screen but every coordinate in it is wrong by the insertion offset.
• Coordination errors multiply. Each discipline that “fixes” it by moving their own work adds another offset.

Do this instead

• Reattach the xref at 0,0,0, rotation 0, scale 1.
• If it still does not line up, the source drawing is in a different coordinate system or units. Fix the source.

Related: Coordinate system and unitsMoving an xref

Coordinate system and units

What it flags

• No coordinate system assigned (unless your firm turned that off for details and sheets).
• A coordinate system that differs from the project or from a loaded xref.
• Insertion units set to Unitless, or different from the project or an xref.

Why it matters

• Feet and US Survey Feet are not the same. The difference is about 2 parts per million: small on a lot, several feet across a state plane zone.
• Geolocation, imagery and GIS exchange depend on it. Without a coordinate system, nothing outside Civil 3D knows where the design is.

Do this instead

• Set the zone in Drawing Settings, Units and Zone, and match the project.
• Ask your CAD manager to add a CutOnce-Project.ini to the project’s top folder so every drawing is checked against the right system and units.

Exploding Civil 3D objects, blocks or hatches

The message

Objects picked after EXPLODE started are reported right after it ran, with Undo EXPLODE: “They are plain geometry now: their design data, labels and anything built on them are gone. Undo brings them back.”

Why it matters

• Civil 3D objects lose design intent. An exploded alignment, corridor or pipe network cannot be rebuilt from its pieces.
• Blocks and hatches lose their data. An exploded hatch becomes many separate lines: it loses its boundary association and area, can no longer be edited as a pattern, and adds to file size.
• Downstream objects break. Profiles, labels, data shortcuts and quantities that relied on the object stop working.

Do this instead

• Delivering to someone without Civil 3D? Use Export to AutoCAD (EXPORTTOAUTOCAD) on a copy, not EXPLODE in the design file.
• Need to change the look? Change the style, not the object.
• Already done it? Click Undo EXPLODE or type U.

Related: Exploding attributed blocksSave a copy

Exploding or bursting attributed blocks

“Attribute data used for tags, schedules and data extraction is gone; only the displayed text remains.”

Why it matters

• Schedules and data extraction break. Structure tables, title block fields and asset tags read attributes, not text.
• BURST keeps the look, not the data. The values stay visible as plain text and can no longer be edited or reported.

Do this instead

• Edit attributes with EATTEDIT or the Properties palette.
• Redefine the block if its geometry is wrong.
• Undo right away if it was a mistake.

Binding an xref

Why it matters

• The link is gone. Updates to the source never reach this drawing again.
• Standards break. Bound layers arrive renamed with prefixes and duplicate the firm’s styles.
• Files bloat. Registered apps, styles and blocks pile up. Expect a growth warning at the next save.

Do this instead

• Keep the xref attached or overlaid while design is active.
• Bind only for a formal archive or transmittal, on a copy.
• Detaching an xref is not a bind and is not reported.

Related: Unusual growthEditing an xref in place

Moving or copying an xref

Why it matters

• The base leaves shared coordinates. Your design now lines up with a base that is in the wrong place.
• A copied xref is two references. One is in the wrong place and both plot.

Do this instead

• Undo, then fix the source drawing or its coordinate system so it overlays at 0,0,0.
• To show part of a base elsewhere on a sheet, use a viewport, not a moved copy.

Related: Xref not at 0,0,0MOVE

Editing an xref in place

Why it matters

• You may not own the file. The xref often belongs to another discipline, office or consultant.
• The change is quiet. Nobody using that file is told it changed.
• Civil 3D objects do not belong here. REFEDIT works on AutoCAD geometry; design objects should be edited in their source drawing.

Do this instead

• Open the source drawing, make the change there, and tell the people who use it.
• Only looking? Use the xref’s layers or a viewport, not REFEDIT.

Related: Binding an xref

Promoting a data reference

Why it matters

• Two versions of the truth. The source keeps changing; your copy does not.
• Nobody can tell from the sheet. A promoted alignment looks exactly like a referenced one.

Do this instead

• Keep the reference and ask the source owner for the change.
• If you are taking over ownership, agree it with the team and retire the old source so only one exists.

TEXT or MTEXT instead of Civil 3D labels

Do this instead

• Station, offset, elevation, grade, pipe size and parcel area all have label styles. Add Labels from the Annotate tab.
• For general notes, plain MTEXT is fine. Continue.

Related: Labels with overridden text

Unusual growth since the last check

What it means

CutOnce compares this save with the last check of the same drawing in your Health.csv. Any count up by the firm’s threshold (20% by default) or new since the last check is flagged. Big jumps in registered apps, styles, anonymous blocks or layers usually come from pasted content, bound xrefs, or blocks from other firms.

Do this instead

• Click Clean up now… to purge after the save. See Cleaning up a bloated drawing.
• Paste from other drawings with care; insert blocks from your firm’s library.

After upgrading to 3.0, the first save may flag Styles growth once. Style counts now come from the Civil 3D style collections, so the baseline resets.

Cleaning up a bloated drawing

Good to know

• PURGE only removes items nothing uses. An unchanged count means everything of that kind is still in use.
• Each step’s messages are on the command line (F2).
• The whole cleanup is one undo step. Undo cleanup is the same as typing U.
• If your CAD administrator requires a backup and the copy fails, cleanup stops and nothing changes.
• Cleanup is not offered while a drawing is closing. If it does not start after the save, type CUTONCE-CLEANUP.

Related: Backup copiesUnusual growth

Backup copies and Save a copy

Save a copy appears on the growth warning and on warnings for risky edits. It copies the drawing to the firm’s backup folder before you go ahead. CUTONCE-BACKUP makes a copy any time; CUTONCE-BACKUP-FOLDER opens the folder.

• What is copied: the drawing as last saved, so a copy made from a warning never includes the change being warned about. With unsaved changes, CUTONCE-BACKUP asks whether to save first.
• Names never collide: C-Grading__20261015-143005-789_jsmith-CAD-PC12.dwg, down to the millisecond, plus user and computer.
• Every copy is recorded in Backups.csv, even with logging off.
• Where: your firm’s shared backup folder, or Documents\CutOnce Backups if none is set. CutOnce never deletes copies.

Linking warnings to articles

Each Learn more link opens this page at the anchor for its topic. The address and anchors are built into CutOnce 3.0, so they stay current with each update. Override any of them to send designers to your own content.

Point links at your own content

Uncomment LearnMoreUrl to use your own copy of this page, then override only the topics you want in LearnMoreAnchors. A topic left out uses the built-in anchor; "" opens the top of the page. For example, to send the overridden-labels link to its own article:

("LearnMoreAnchors"
  . (("STD_LABEL_OVERRIDES" . "label-overrides")
     ("PLOT_GATE"           . "firm-plot-standard")))

LearnMoreHighlight is off by default: links open each article with its heading at the top. Set it to T to also highlight the article’s “Learn More topic:” line, which every article on this page carries.

Event codes in Events.csv

Events.csv gets one row per warning, including warnings hidden by once-per-session. Columns: who, when, drawing, event type, detail.

The ratio of COMMAND-STOPPED to warnings shown is the clearest measure of whether the guardrails change behavior. Combine every person’s logs in Excel with Data > Get Data > From Folder.

Branding and color modes

Every 3.0 window shares one frame, built so a warning reads in five seconds:

1. Header: your logo tile, name and tagline, a version pill, over a thin line in your brand color.
2. Severity: a color strip down the left and a round icon. ! for WARNING and HIGH RISK, a check for ALL CLEAR, i for INFO.
3. Headline says what is happening; one sentence says why it matters; number tiles or a short list show only what needs attention; anything longer waits behind Show details.
4. Action bar: Learn more on the left; the decision on the right, Continue first and Stop in red last.

Designers pick Normal (graphite header, white body), Light or Dark in the Control Center. In Dark, severity and brand colors are brightened to stay readable. Set the firm default with ColorMode and lock it if every designer should match. Without a logo, the tile shows the CutOnce mark: a check above a dashed cut line. CUTONCE-PREVIEW shows a sample Explode, Plot or Rebuild window in your branding.

Command reference