Mike A. Porter shares a warning about using the Edit Xref in Place command when working with AutoCAD Civil 3D drawings.

"If you are a Civil 3D user and are used to editing xrefs in place, make sure the 'Prompt to select nested objects' check box is selected. If you have survey points in both drawings, and check the box to 'Automatically select all nested objects,' the survey points in your working drawing will be deleted. We learned this the hard way, after spending considerable time dragging points to get a visual look only to have them all disappear after editing an xref."

Notes from Cadalyst tip reviewer Brian Benton: AutoCAD has the capability to edit an xref drawing in place. It’s a nice feature that helps you access the referenced file while you are still in the drawing file. It can make things easier because you can see the linework as it is going to be displayed in your drawing file. It also means you don’t have to stop what you are doing, open the referenced file, make your changes, save, exit, come back to your drawing file, and reload the xref. For small changes it can be a great time saver.

Because Civil 3D is a "vertical" product of AutoCAD (meaning it is built on top of AutoCAD), it has this feature too. Unfortunately this tool often breaks Civil 3D, causing errors or issues with Civil 3D objects like points. Many Civil 3D users don't use this tool, just to make sure they avoid any issues.