Tutorial 16: From CAD to cv-web

The panel leaves the drawing — carry the finished panel’s data from AutoCAD to cv-web in a browser, and read what Panel Set Analytics sees in it.

Everything so far has happened inside AutoCAD. But the panel you built is more than its drawing: on every save, ConstructiVision also keeps the panel’s data — geometry, openings, pick points, brace points, hardware — as structured files beside the drawing, ready to hand to anyone who needs the panel without needing AutoCAD. This lesson makes that round trip once, end to end: find the exported files the project already keeps, sign in to cv-web at simplestruct.com, upload the panel set to Panel Set Analytics, and read the analysis. The field notes behind each half live in Export lift-engineering data (the CAD side) and Analyze panel sets (the web side) — this lesson choreographs the journey between them.

Note

This lesson also exists in the browser. Work it in ConstructiVision on the web — same steps, same values, so you can follow either and end up with the same panel.

What you will build

From the finished panel TP08-12 and its project:

  • a look at the exported panel data files every save keeps current — TP08-12.cvpanel and the project-wide .cvp bundle, sitting in the project folder beside the drawings;

  • a signed-in SimpleStruct account session at simplestruct.com;

  • a completed Panel Set Analytics run on the exported panel — the project typicality score, the distribution curves, the per-panel table, and the downloadable PDF report;

  • optionally, the whole project imported into your team’s cloud library from its .cvp file.

Before you start

  • The advanced track builds on the finished panel thread: complete the panel lessons through Tutorial 9: Brace Points & Expansion Gaps. Lesson 9 matters here in substance, not just sequence — the pick points and brace points it placed are part of the data the export carries. (Tutorials 14 and 15 are not required — this lesson stands on the finished panel alone.)

  • Have TP08-12 open inside its project — click Open Drawing and pick it from the project folder.

  • You will need a browser with internet access and a SimpleStruct account — free, created in about a minute at simplestruct.com. If you don’t have one yet, Create your account walks through it; note that the account must use a company email address (public providers like gmail.com are refused).

Tip

Joining here? Download the lesson solution — the finished TP08-12 — and place it in the project folder you created in Tutorial 1 before opening it. The exported data files this lesson hands to cv-web are written into the project folder beside the drawing, so the lesson wants the drawing inside its project.

Lesson

Step 1 — See the handoff files the project already keeps

There is no export command to learn, because the export has been running all along. Open the project folder in Windows Explorer and look beside TP08-12.dwg: if you have followed the thread, you will find TP08-12.cvpanel — the panel’s structured data file — and a project file named after the project with a .cvp extension, the bundle that folds every panel in the project into one file. ConstructiVision refreshes both every time a panel is confirmed with OK: an up-to-date drawing means an up-to-date data file. (If you just downloaded the solution instead, they may not be there yet — the next step creates them.)

These are the same files Export lift-engineering data hands to a lift-engineering firm; today their destination is cv-web.

Step 2 — Refresh the export with one OK

To see the export happen — and to make sure the files carry the panel exactly as it stands — confirm the panel once:

  1. Click Edit Main Panel on the ConstructiVision toolbar. Main Panel Details opens with the finished panel’s settings; change nothing.

  2. Click OK. The panel redraws and saves, and the command line reports the export among its receipts: a [CV-EXPORT-PANEL] line naming the TP08-12.cvpanel file as it is written, and a [CV-CVP] line as the project bundle is reassembled around it.

  3. Check the project folder again: both files are there, timestamped just now.

That is the entire CAD side of the journey — the files are current, and nothing more is asked of AutoCAD. You can close it or leave it open; the rest of the lesson happens in a browser.

Step 3 — Sign in at simplestruct.com

Open a browser, go to simplestruct.com, and sign in — Panel Set Analytics works for signed-in users, and signing in is also what lets cv-web keep your results and your learning progress with your account. Use any of the sign-in doors (Create your account covers them all); you can tell it worked from the top bar, which now shows your membership badge and your name.

Step 4 — Upload the panel to Panel Set Analytics

  1. Open the Analytics page — Panel Set Analytics. Signed in, it shows an upload area.

  2. Drag TP08-12.cvpanel from the project folder onto the upload area (or click it and pick the file). The file is checked in your browser before anything uploads — a file that can’t be read is flagged immediately.

  3. Name the project — Riverside Distribution Center fits — and click Analyze panel set.

Progress streams live on the page. A one-panel set analyzes quickly; for larger uploads, if you leave before it finishes, cv-web emails you a link back to the same results page. The analysis is free during the preview — see Analyze panel sets for the current terms and Membership & Tokens for what does and doesn’t cost anything.

Step 5 — Read the results

The results page shows the panel you spent the curriculum building, measured against ranges observed across a large corpus of tilt-up panels:

  • Project typicality — the headline score for the set, with a per-metric breakdown.

  • Distribution curves — one per metric, with TP08-12’s value marked where it falls within the observed range.

  • Per-panel table — TP08-12’s placement, metric by metric. With one panel in the set, the table has one row; on a real project this is the panel-by-panel review.

  • Items not analyzed — anything the analysis skipped, listed so nothing disappears silently.

Read the placements for what they are: reference points on observed ranges, not engineering determinations. A value flagged “may need review” sits outside the typical band — a prompt to look, nothing more. The full framing is in Analyze panel sets.

Finish by clicking the PDF report download — the complete results as a file you can keep with the project or send with the panel book.

Step 6 — Take the whole project along (the .cvp bundle)

The .cvpanel you uploaded carries one panel; the project’s .cvp file carries them all, and it travels the same two roads:

  • Analytics accepts it directly — an upload can mix up to 20 files of .cvp, .cvpanel, PDF, .dxf, or .dwg, so a real project usually sends the one .cvp instead of a stack of panel files.

  • My Projects imports it into the cloud: open the My Projects page and drag the .cvp onto its drop zone. The project joins your team’s cloud library — panels browsable in the cv-web editor, open to everyone in your organization, from any machine. The page and its rules are covered in Work with cloud projects.

Try the second road with the project’s .cvp file: a moment after the drop, Riverside Distribution Center is a cloud project, and the round trip is complete — drawn in AutoCAD, readable anywhere.

Check your result

Tip

This lesson’s result lives almost entirely outside the drawing — data files on disk and results in a browser — so there is no CV-CHECK-LESSON16 command: the single-drawing lesson checker can see neither half of the journey. Check the outcomes themselves against the list below.

You should now be able to verify all of the following:

  • The project folder holds TP08-12.cvpanel and the project’s .cvp file, both timestamped at your Step 2 save — and a panel OK refreshes them.

  • You are signed in at simplestruct.com — the top bar shows your membership badge and name.

  • Panel Set Analytics shows a completed analysis: a project typicality score, distribution curves with TP08-12 marked, and its row in the per-panel table.

  • The PDF report downloaded and opens.

  • If you ran Step 6: Riverside Distribution Center appears in My Projects as a cloud project.

If an upload is refused or a sign-in loops, the web side has its own field notes: Analyze panel sets for the upload rules and Troubleshooting → cv-web (simplestruct.com) for sign-in trouble.

Where next

  • The CAD side in full: Export lift-engineering data — what the exported data contains and who else it serves.

  • The web side in full: Analyze panel sets — every part of the analysis, and the statistical ranges handout.

  • The cloud library: Work with cloud projects — team projects, local vs. cloud, and the import you just ran.

  • Showing the work without an account: Share a panel book by link — a share link opens your panel book for anyone, no sign-in needed; analytics itself stays a signed-in feature.

  • A companion video for this lesson is planned alongside the written curriculum.