Organizing the Dynamo Graph and Settings Inputs (7:24)

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INSTRUCTOR: In this session, we will

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discuss how to organize your graph using the Dynamo grouping

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and aligning tools.

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Organizing your graph is an important step

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for ensuring readability to the next viewer of your script.

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We will also review how to set nodes

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as inputs so they appear as available entries

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within the Dynamo player.

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This is also an important step for anyone

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that wants to use your script in their workflow,

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but is not familiar with the Dynamo interface.

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The individual workflows covered in this lesson

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are aligning nodes using the Dynamo tools,

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grouping nodes, renaming those groups and individual nodes,

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and setting the nodes as inputs or outputs.

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Let's switch over to the Dynamo interface

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with our finished graph and get started.

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This is the completed graph from the previous session.

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It looks a bit messy and difficult to understand,

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so we will be aligning the nodes to make

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the graph visually appealing.

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There are several Dynamo tools I can

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use to help organize the graph.

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Underneath the Edit menu, at the top,

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I can choose Clean Up Node Layout.

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Dynamo will automatically organize your graph

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by aligning nodes in the left justification.

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If you prefer to organize the graph further,

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you can select individual nodes and align them

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with different justifications.

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Selecting multiple nodes in Dynamo

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works the same as an AutoCAD in Civil 3D.

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By left mouse-picking and holding

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the Shift key down at the same time,

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I can individually select nodes and add them

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to my selection set.

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I can also do a window to select multiple nodes

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at the same time, or use the crossing window.

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Once I have the nodes selected that I want to align,

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I'm going to right-mouse click and choose

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Align Selection, Top.

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You'll notice that all the nodes that I had selected

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are now aligned along the top edge.

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Once I have my graph organized, I want to group

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the nodes to draw attention to their individual functions.

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I'm going to gather all of the calls

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given with the alignment, the name and station and list

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creation, into one group.

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I'll do this by selecting all of the nodes,

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right-clicking, and choosing Create Group.

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You'll notice that a color is placed on the back of all

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of these nodes.

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By left-clicking on the group, it

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will highlight all of the nodes that are part of that group.

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By holding down my left mouse button,

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I can easily move and organize all

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of these nodes that are in that group at the same time.

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To rename the group, I'm going to double-click on the group

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title and give it a new name.

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I can also change the background color of the group

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by right-clicking inside of the group color

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and giving it a specific color.

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I'll continue by grouping the nodes that

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are converting the stations to coordinate system,

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and then deploy.

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Lastly, we'll gather all the nodes

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used to create the block and the drawing into our final group.

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Now that our graph is organized, we

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need to establish which nodes will need a specific entry

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through the Dynamo player.

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I'm going to start at the far-left of the graph.

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At our very first node, Selecting Alignment

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By Name, we need the user of this script

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to enter in the specific name of the alignment.

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So we need to set this String node as an input file.

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To do this, we will left-pick to highlight the String node,

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right-click, and choose Is Input.

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If you right-click again, you'll see that the checkmark

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is next to Is Input.

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In the Dynamo player, the user will

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see String with a location for them to input a value.

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We want to call their attention that they

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need to enter a value to select the specific alignment by name.

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So we need to change the name of this node

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to give them an indication of which

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values they need to enter.

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To bring in a node, you're going to double-click on the node.

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And when the Edit Node Name dialog box appears,

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you're going to enter in the value that would

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appear in the Dynamo player.

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For this specific input value, I'm

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going to ask the user to name the alignment.

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Once I click Accept, you'll notice

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that the name of the node has changed to Name of Alignment.

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This is what will appear in the Dynamo player.

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I'm going to keep moving through the graph

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and setting the input values for each individual entry

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that I need the user to make.

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The next input value we need to set, the interval value.

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Again, I'm going to right-click on the Number node

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and establish this as an Is Input.

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By double-clicking on the Number node,

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I'm going to rename this node to Interval Between Blocks.

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Again, this is the entry that will

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appear on the Dynamo player.

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I may want to give an option to the users

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to allow them to include geometry stations of the block.

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To do this, I'm going to also need

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to set this Boolean value as an Is Input.

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I'm going to rename this Boolean node to Include Geometry

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Stations.

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The next input value that I want to set

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is going to be the Alignment Offset Coordinates.

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For my specific purposes, we were doing it

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along the center line of the alignment.

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But that doesn't mean that the next person that's

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going to use the script may not want to establish an offset.

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So I'm going to change this Number node to Is Input

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and rename the node to Offset Value.

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In the Create Block group, I need

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to enter the name of the block that's in my current drawing.

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So the String node that is applied

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to the Name value of the block name,

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I need to also set that as Is Input

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and rename this node to Block Name.

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I'm also asking to set this specific block

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on a specific layer.

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So I need to change this last String node to an Is Input

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and change the name of that node to Block Layer.

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Once I have saved my Dynamo script,

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I can close out of the Dynamo interface.

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When I'm back into Civil 3D and I go to the Manage tab,

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Visual Programming panel, go to the Dynamo player,

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you'll notice that I now have the CreateTreeAlongAlignment2

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Dynamo script that I just created.

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By clicking on the Edit Input Values,

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you'll notice that here are all the entries that I just

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established as inputs in my Dynamo interface.

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This concludes the session on organizing the Dynamo graph

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and setting inputs.