Mark, 

We have a braided ramp that has corridors that overlap and Components would not show up in the cross sections at certain locations.

Today I learned the following:

• Components, of course, are parts of the template you manipulate in your template library.
• Under the Create Surface tabulation in Roadway Designer you have a little button called Clipping Options.  It is separated into three columns:   Corridor / Clipping Corridor /Clipping Options.Corridor is the cookie dough.Clipping Corridor is the cookie cutter.
• Clipping Options can be changed by clicking on it.  Your options are Clip All, Clip End Conditions and Clip None.  Changing this to Clip None put my components back into my corridor and fixed the problem of components not showing up in the cross-sections.

As your understanding of InRoads is deep - do you have more to add that would deepen our understanding?  We enjoy your Footsteps of the Zen Dude as it is always insightful.  Your books gave me the ability to start this wonderful InRoads experience 9 years ago.   Thank you.  

Mr. T  

Hi Mr. T!

I'm glad my book assisted in your learning process. I wish I could help a lot more people and I am always trying to figure out how to help the most people in the best way possible . . . and still put food on my table ; )

I would add this tidbit to your items: (Since you have my book I know you already know some of this . . . but I feel a Footsteps tip coming on for everyone else's enjoyment ; )

Templates are created using Components.

 Components are created from individual points that are given a Name and Style.

This Template is used in the Roadway Designer to create a design surface.

The design surface contains a breakline for each of the points used in each of the Components.

Each of these breaklines represents one of the points on the Template. Also, InRoads knows that certain breaklines combined form certain Components.

You can create a cross section and display these Component shapes on the section.

InRoads knows how to draw the Component shape because it stores the relationships of theComponent Points from the Template construction. It draws this shape on the cross section by basically using the section 'slice' across each breakline and 'connecting-the-dots'.

So, InRoads is looking at each of the breaklines developed by those template points. And based on the way the Components were constructed, it connects the breaklines to form the Component shape.

Now, what do you think would happen if one of those breaklines that formed the Component were trimmed, partial deleted, broken, renamed, or otherwise lost?

Well, InRoads would recognize that as a problem.

And it wouldn't be able to redraw that Component shape in that area since it's missing a 'dot' to connect.

And therefore it won't be able to draw that Component in the plan view, cross section or at any location where its integrity or continuity has been compromised.

Trimming Components at intersections, driveways, curb cuts and any other place always creates the potential of a Component losing one of its shape anchors. And that is what the Roadway Designerclipping options are doing near the end of the roadway.

I hope that this helped, and if it didn't just let me know and I'll see what I can do to dig into this a bit more. 

Civilly yours,
- zen