TRANSFER FILES BETWEEN LAND DESKTOP AND CARLSON

[jbrun]

I have always used the standalone versions of Carlson until just recently. I am now running Carlson Survey and Civil 09 inside Land Desktop 09. What is the best way to convert points back and forth between Carlson and Land desktop. I've tried the points convert option from carlson to softdesk and sometimes it works and other times it takes for ever or it doesn't even work. What about all the other files, is there a better way than transfering by xml format? Is anyone else having trouble going back and forth between Carlson and Land Desktop bewteen drawings. I was told before doing this that I would be able to switch between Carlson Menus and Land Destop Menus with a push of a button, but it doesn't seem to work like that you almost have to completely exit out of one porgram and go into the other.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[Dent Cermak]

The easiest way to get your points into LDD is to save your crd file as a text file. The conversion of a Carlson point block to an Autocad point is iffy at best. Erase the points from your drawing, open it in LDD, then insert the AutoCad points via the text file.
Right now, LandXML is the only transfer protocol that works that I am aware of. Data transfer is a tad cumbersome, but that is true for all non-AutoDesk programs. AutoDesk wants everyone to conform to them and not vice-versa. In that case it becomes the AutoDesk user's problem to get their data. You should be able to send them a DWG file and a TXT coordinate file and then the rest is up to them.
Yes, there is an AutoCad Menu button in Carlson, and, as you have found out, it sends you to the AutoCad menu.......NOT the Land Desktop Menu. So what you were told is not a total lie, just another "expert" giving you the "facts". Beware of software sales people. MOST do nothing but sell the product and have NO CLUE on how to use it. They will tell you anything to make a sale. Take a look at the folks listed here under the Carlson College Page. Those people teach the package and they sell the package. This is where you should be getting your software and support. Most local VAR's cannot provide that support.