MicroStation Tips & Tricks

MicroStation Tips & Tricks
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ALT+DATA to Match - To quickly match an elements level, color, line style or line weight: hold
the pointer over the element, and press ALT+Data. The active attributes will change to match
the element under the pointer.
Auto Focus Tool Settings – When enabled, this workspace preference prevents the input focus
from moving automatically to the Home position when Reset is pressed. Instead the focus
stays in AccuDraw which makes it a snap to position a new origin by pressing O. If you need to
go home, just press ESC.
Setting off, Place smartline, data points, focus is in AccuDraw, reset and focus goes home.
Setting on, place smart line, datapoints, focus in AccuDraw, reset and focus stays in AccuDraw.
Press O to position new origin and continue drafting.
Bentley DGN iFilter - Bentley DGN IFilter is a tool that enables searching text content in DGN
files using Windows Search or Google Desktop. It supports all the text-based elements such
Dimension Styles as text, text nodes, fields, tags, XYZ text, cells, and digital signatures. It also
supports overridden dimensions.
Change Case – Located in the Text tool box (not the Text task), the Change Text Case tool is
used to change the case of a piece of text. It also supports text selection via a fence.
Text tool box > Change case
Change Reference View - In this edition you can change the orientation of the reference
attachment by clicking the reference's Orientation column in the References dialog.
Ref Dialog, Orientation, change views
Clash Detection - Clash detection is an analytical tool which automates the clash detection
process. The clash detection feature allows you to identify sets of business or graphical
elements and to detect geometrical clashes between these object element sets.
You can then interactively and graphically review these clashes, annotate or markup particular
clashes, and assign them for follow-up.
Clash Detection > New > Beams and Pipes
Drag Level=Beams to Set A
Drag Level=0107 to Set B
Clip Volumes and Display Styles - A Clip Volume is used to limit the displayed volume for a view
to the region within a clipping element. This is useful for working within a limited volume of a
model without being hindered by geometry outside the region of interest. When a clip volume
is applied to a view, only elements that are located within the clip volume will display, or can be
snapped to, in that view. Each view may have a different clip volume applied.
A display style consists of a render mode and optional settings and overrides that you can
specify. Display styles are created and managed in the Display Styles dialog. Additional display
modes are provided by default. The display styles apply to saved and dynamic views as well as
normal views. Display styles are typically saved as shared resources in DGN libraries
Open Clip Volume toolbox
Apply or Modify Clip Volume > Section Clip Tools > YZ Plane
Display Clip Element > On
Select the view
Adjust bolts.
View Attributes > Turn on/off the Forward, Cut and Back
Adjust symbology of display styles.
Adjust bolts
Coordinate Cell - In addition to inserting fields in text, you can also insert placeholder fields in a
cell or cell model. A placeholder field is a field that is waiting for a target. When the target is
provided, it can re-evaluate and display its property value.
For example, you might create a monument cell that contains a Place Holder Cell Properties
field to specify the location of the origin. By default the cell model the field displays the field
name origin. When the cell is placed in another model and the fields are updated, the field
displays the origin of the cell.
Place cell
Turn off the field background via Preferences > Text > Hide Field Background
Flip models to update field or keyin FIELD UPDATE ALL
Color Preferences - New options have been added to the View Options category of the
Preferences dialog that allow you to control the design model background color, sheet model
background color, element highlight color and selection set color.
Workspace > Preferences > View Options
Color Enhancements - The following color books are provided in this edition: Natural Color
Systems® , (NCS) , PANTONE® Goe
Ctrl + Tentative – Use this combination of keys to quickly move the AccuDraw compass to the
point snapped to. Same as doing Tentative + O
Display Priority - In a 2D model, you can assign an active element priority, which sets the
display priority value for new elements that you place in the model. The elements assigned the
highest element priority value are displayed in the front, while the elements assigned the
lowest values are displayed at the back.
Move items around and change the display priority of each.
Display Sets – Display sets let you select a group of elements to display in selected views, with
all other elements hidden. You can create display sets from selection sets or named groups.
Display sets display is controlled from the View Attributes dialog, where the Display set control
lets you turn their display on and off. With Display sets active, you can use the Named Groups
dialog to select a named group and then display only the elements in the group, in the chosen
view(s), by clicking the Put Elements into the Display set icon. This lets you quickly switch
between different named groups. Using the view control pop-up menu, you can set selected
elements as the display set, or you can clear the display set, so that all elements display. You
can also add or remove elements from the display set.
Add elements to a display set: Right Click > Display Set > Set
Turn display set on/off via view attributes: View Attributes > Turn display set on/off to
show effects.
Select the elements to remove from the display set: SHIFT + Reset > Display set >
Remove.
From a difference view, select other elements to add to the display set: SHIFT + Reset >
Display set > Remove
Clear the display set: Right Click > Display Set clear.
Docking - There is a new method for docking dialogs to the edges of the application window.
Docking indicators appear on the screen when you begin to move a dockable dialog. When you
drag a dockable dialog over one of the docking indicators, it highlights the available docking
region (along the corresponding edge of the application window. Simply release the mouse
button, and the dialog becomes docked to the selected edge
Show docking indicators and behaviour
Double Click to Fit View – To quickly and easily fit the view, simply double click the middle
mouse button.
Drag selection support during manipulate commands - After selecting a manipulation tool, you
can now select multiple elements by dragging a window around them. In addition, the
manipulate tools support the drag window at the beginning of the command, or after the first
group has been selected. You can then hold the CTRL down to add additional elements or CTRL
+Drag for multiple elements. Note that this is not a Selection Set.
Drag and Drop to Attribute Pickers – Position the Element Selection arrow over an element,
when it highlights, drag it to the Attributes toolbox and drop it on the icon for the setting. For
example, to set the Active Line Weight to match an element's line weight, drag the element and
drop it on the Active Line Weight icon in the Attributes toolbox. If you enable the display of
the Symbology Preview box in the Attributes toolbox, you can use the drag and drop technique
to change all of the above settings to match the attributes of an existing element.
Turn on Symbology Preview in the attributes tool box.
Drag drop elements to icons.
Dynamic View Automation - Dynamic views have been automated in order to simplify these
workflows. You can use the Create Dynamic View dialog to complete these workflows more
easily and quickly. By using the settings in this dialog in different combinations, you can
complete different Drawing Composition workflows.
Apply or Modify Clip Volume (from view tool bar)
Tool Settings: Section Clip tools , XY Plane, Display Clip Element, Create Dynamic View
Turn on the Create Saved View, Create Sheet, and Create Drawing check boxes.
Create Dynamic View dialog: Create Save View > Section View, Create Sheet, Seed Model,
Scale 1:2.5, Open Model
First a new drawing model is created in which the saved view associated with the clip
volume is attached as a reference. Then a new sheet model is created in which the saved
view of the drawing model is attached as a reference.
Edit Text in Cells – Text in cells can now be edited directly. Simply double-click the text to open
the Word Processer and edit as required.
Place cell , Edit text.
Element Selection Tabs - Five attributes tabs, which are hidden by default, are added to the
Element Selection tool. To display one or all of these tabs, right-click on the attributes section
of the tool settings window. From the menu that opens, turn on the desired attributes.
Element Selection
Select All
Expand tabs
Right click on a tab title and note additional tabs that are off by default.
Turn on Transparency.
Eye Dropper – In the True Colour tab of the Active Colour dialog, you can select, hold and drag
the eyedropper to anywhere on your monitor to select a colour.
Geo-Coordination - MicroStation V8i contains new Geo-Coordination features. These features
let you specify the position of your design contents on the earth´s surface. Once that position is
established, the design can be easily coordinated with other data for which the geographic
location is known.
Show GCS – it’s UTM27 Zone 17N
Attach GCS Hydrography model, it’s UTM 83N (drag drop from model dialog)
Do not reproject, note it’s in the wrong location.
Reproject, now it’s correct.
Attach image. It’s correct.
Change GCS to LL83, note how refs and image also reproject.
Geographic Coordinate Systems – Define Placemark Monument - Now you can more simply
and accurately create placemark monuments using known coordinates. The Define Placemark
Monument tool settings window has been modified. A new drop-down called Source has been
added to the tool settings window. The Create New Placemark and Get Placemark from Current
GPS Position icons have been removed. When you click the Source drop-down, the new
placemark sources are displayed. These sources are Longitude and Latitude Values, Cartesian
Coordinates, Global Positioning System, and Reference with Geographic Coordinate System.
You can now view the properties of the placemarks in the Placemark Properties tab of the
Element Information dialog.
Geographic tool box > Define Placemark Monument > Show options
Element Info dialog > Show new Placemark Properties tab
Harvesting Folders – A harvested folder displays models or named views that are contained in a
set of files. Using harvested folders, you can keep track of sheets, views, and drawing titles,
because the folders are an up-to-date view of what is in the files. MicroStation generates the
contents of a harvested folder by searching for specified resources within a set of files. When
resources are added, removed, or renamed, harvested folders can be refreshed to reflect the
changes.
To create a harvested folder, create a Configuration Variable link by specifying a MicroStation
configuration variable, a resource filter, and optionally a configuration variable expression. The
configuration variable identifies the set of files to be searched.
Organize > Project Explorer
Note default link sets…these are all harvested resources and work well with the
examples workspace.
Link Sets > Active file
Project Explorer > Today’s Work
This harvests the design models of the files in the active folder
Custom Variable Name: {Model: Design}$(_dgndir)
You can also just use $(_dgndir) to harvest the entire contents of the working folder.
i-Models - A Bentley i‐model is a container for open infrastructure information exchange and
enables bi‐directional feedback in dynamic workflows. An i‐model can be information‐rich
meaning that it contains geometry as well as all business data which does not require the
source application to be available. You can compose information ‐rich i‐models from multiple
2D and 3D geometry and data sources in a single lightweight container. Every i ‐model is self
describing, which means that source application features are not required to display or describe
the business information stored within.
Open the i-model > Note it’s read-only
File > Item Browser
Explore Base Casework.
Zoom, highlight, transparent options on.
Explore Doors.
Search “door where Catalog Instance like glass centered”
Jump to Active Level - This feature allows you to jump to the active level in the Level Manager
and the Level Display dialogs. The Jump to Active Level item has been added to the right–click
menu from the right pane of the Level Manager dialog and to the lower pane of the Level
Display dialog. This is particularly useful when working with a large number of levels because it
eliminates the need to scroll through the level list to find the active level.
Level Display
Right Click > Jump to Active Level
Mark-ups - A markup is a notation made in a ProjectWise Navigator file that you can view in
MicroStation through the Markups dialog.
Tools > Redline > Markup Dialog
Related Markups
Review the two clash markups.
Change model to Coordinate Cell
Review two markups
MS_DEFAULTSHEETRGB =R,G,B – When you create the very first sheet model in a file,
MicroStation will use the RGB value as defined be the variable to set the background color. If
the file already has a sheet model defined, it will be used to set the background color of any
subsequent sheet models created in the file. The background color of the sheet model can be
overwritten by the color options in the Workspace Preferences dialog. A similar variable is
used to control the background color of new drawing models. MS_DEFAULTDRAWINGRGB =
R,G,B If the variable is not set, MicroStation V8i will use a predefined colour of RGB=192,192,
208 (grayish blue) for the background of new drawing models. This predefined color cannot be
changed.
MS_LEVEL_USE_ASCII_NAME_SORT - When set, it will cause Level Manager and Level Display
to sort names according to ASCII order. With it set: 1, 10, 2 and 20. Without it set, this is the
default: 1, 2, 10 and 20
Named Groups (Quicksets) for References – To filter the attachment of complex models as
references, first put the elements you need in a named group or quickset. Then attach the
group as a reference rather than the contents of the entire model.
Select some elements
Put into a quickset (CTRL+SHIFT+1)
Recall the quickset to show they are added (CTRL+1)
Show Named Groups dialog.
Open link
Attach index model as reference, but use Named Group
On The Fly Links - MicroStation enables you can attach one or more links to an element in the
open DGN file. This allows you to click the element and open the files that are linked to it. For
example, you could add a link to a Microsoft Excel workbook that contains specifications and
costs for beams, or use a key in link to quickly navigate to the next drawing sheet. Once links
are added to an element, you will see a link icon adjacent to the element when the Element
Selection tool is active. Right clicking then provides a Follow Link option along with a list of
linked items. To quickly and easily add links to elements on the fly, choose Add a Link to an
Element from the Organize task. In the tool settings dialog, choose the type of link and other
associated options. Then simply select the element to attach the link. In the event that you
want to delete or even edit an existing link, you can do so via the Element Information dialog.
Organize > Add a Link to an Element
Type > From File > City Drawing.pdf
Type > From File > JPG or XLS
From URL: mailto:[email protected]?subject=Approval Request & body=Revisions
completed.
From URL: http://www.mywork.com
Pin and Roll Tabs – Dockable dialogs have been modernized with the addition of pins to fix
their docked location. When pinned, the dialog displays as a tab will roll into the screen when
the tab is clicked. Once the cursor is moved away from the dialog, it will automatically roll up
to its pinned location. The pin icon will be horizontal when pinned and upright when not
pinned. Using pin and roll dialogs can save on valuable screen real estate.
Point Clouds – Integration of the Point tools vortex engine provides you with an easy-to-use,
high-performance option for visualizing data from laser scanners.
A few cool things you can do with point clouds is to display them on a 2D sheet, use a view’s
clip volume to clip the point cloud, assign the point cloud to a level, manipulate the point cloud
with the standard MicroStation tools (Move, Rotate, Scale…), and change the size of the points
via the line weight setting which is very useful when you’re zoomed close and just a few points
are visible.
Rotate the view around
File > Point Clouds
Notice POD file is attached. Note: Can also attach other formats (ie: LAS from lidar), but
they get converted to POD.
Presentation > Point Cloud Presentation
Style > Show list. Note that not all POD files contain this data. Sample file only has
Elevation data.
Colorization > Sea Mountain Topo
Elevation Depth 10000
Pop-up key-in browser – When in the Home position, just press ENTER to open the keyin
browser under the cursor.
Quick Info - Rather than using the Element Information dialog to retrieve bits of information
about the selected element, simply use the Quick Info dialog. To do that, hover your cursor
over the element and press ALT + RESET. The resulting compact dialog allows you to review
and even edit the symbology values.
Cursor over element, ALT+RESET
Raster Reference Geospatial PDFs - Geospatial PDF files are now supported as an input format
in Raster Manager.
Show GCS [UTM27-17N]
Attach GCS LandUse PDF, lands in correct spot.
Also open PDF in Reader to show geospatial stuff
Raster References as Elements – As with references, raster references are treated as
elements which allow you to manipulate them as you would any other element. In the
event that this is undesirable, simply lock the raster attachment. They’ll still be
selectable, but impossible to manipulate. And, to prevent accidental
deleting/detaching when they are unlocked, turn on Workspace > Preferences > Raster
Manager > Disable Delete element Tool on Selected Rasters.
Raster Manager > Attach > Raster Drawing .itiff > Place Interactively
Read only off, open dialog off.
Move and scale into position.
Element Info > Extended > Locked
Workspace > Preferences > RasterManager > Disable Delete element Tool on Selected
Rasters
Reference Activation - A new capability lets you edit a reference in-place. That is, you can edit a
reference from within the active model. To do this you first must activate the reference. When
you activate a reference, you must open it for write access thus blocking any other users from
modifying that file. As you activate references, you acquire their locks and hold them until you
either explicitly release them or exit your session. The reason that deactivate doesn't
automatically release the lock, is that once the lock is relinquished it is not possible to undo
changes. So, if you are actively working on a set of 3 files jumping from one to another via
activation, it makes sense to hold the locks until you decide you're ready to release them.
Hover over contour > right click > Activate
Note that all inactive models become gray
Change workspace preference colour.
Change weight of major contour. “level element select major”
Note reference dialog and activated status. This means you’ve acquired the write lock to
the file which will enable you to undo changes even though the file is deactivated.
Deactivate and make changes to the active model
Undo to show undoing reference changes.
Release the lock on the reference.
Reference Annotation Scale - In the past you may have added annotations to design models
that are referenced into sheets. You also may have added annotations directly on the sheet. If
the annotations were too small, you would have changed the model's annotation scale, but
that would have affected only the annotations directly on the sheet. The annotations in the
reference were not changed. Therefore, the only way you could change the annotations was to
exchange into the reference and scale them. Now the active model's annotation scale applies to
annotations in references, too. If you change the scale of the annotations on the sheet, the
scale of the annotations in the references changes as well. To make a reference's annotations
use the active model's annotation scale, you must turn on this option. In the References dialog
there is a new column named Use Active Annotation Scale. If this column is not visible, rightclick in the column headings and turn it on. To turn on this option for a reference, click in this
column to make a check mark appear.
Show attached reference.
Settings > Drawing Scale > 1:50000
Reference does not update.
Reference dialog, enable Use Annotation Scale
Rinse and repeat.
Reference View Flags – A few feature of MicroStation is the ability to control each references
view flags. Now you’ll be able to turn the fill display, or any other view attribute, on for one
reference and off for another. To do that, select the reference in the References dialog, then
choose Settings > Presentation. If Use View Flags is turned off, then the settings are controlled
by the parent model. If the option is turned on, then each attribute listed can be turned on or
off independent of the parent model. The ability to turn on or off this switch is also available
with the following keyin: REFERENCE SET USEVIEWFLAGS=<setting_spec> <file_spec>
View Attributes, turn on/off fill, weight, text. Works on all files.
Reference dialog, select R1, Settings > Presentation.
View flags > Turn on,
Fill > OFF
Keyin: reference presentation, select the reference, accept, adjust the settings.
Remap Elements in Level Manager – To quickly move elements from one level to another,
simply use the Remap Elements to Level dialog from the Level Manager. To use this new utility,
select the source level in the Level Manager, issue a right-click and choose Remap Elements to
Level from the resulting menu. Then simply select the destination level and click Ok. It can’t
get any easier than that!
Level Manager > Default > Right Click > Remap Elements > Index Topics
Right click context menu - A context menu is a menu that appears when you right-click. It is
also called the Reset Pop-up menu. You can customize this menu by adding menus and menu
items to it. You can show or hide and enable or disable these menus and menu items based on
named expressions.
You can customize the context menu by copying MicroStation toolboxes and tools to it so that
you can activate tools from these menus. Custom menus and menu items can be added,
moved, copied, reordered, deleted, and renamed on a context menu.
Show how right click menu works.
Running Coordinates – To enable the display of running coordinates, right-click on the status
bar and turn on Running Coordinates from the available options. As you move your cursor, the
coordinates of your current position display according to the active Tentative Point Mode.
When you left-click, a menu displays six options. When dealing with a Geocoordiante System,
such as latitudes and longitudes, choose ACS Position.
Turn on running coordinates in status bar
Change mode to ACS Position
Save As Image with Display Styles – The active display style is honored when creating an
image.
Change display style to Transparent then create image
Change display style to Monochrome with shadows and create image
Show both images.
Saved View Boundary Elements - The Saved View dialog has a new column called Show. When
enabled, a boundary element will display showing the extents of the saved view. These
graphics can be selected with the Element Selection tool, or by a fence, and be manipulated like
a standard element.
Selection Overlap mode is right to left – To select elements in overlap mode, drag the selection
box right to left. If you go left to right it’s the inside mode.
Single Shot – To set MicroStation up for single shot tool usage, set the following in the
Workspace Preferences dialog: Look and Feel > Single Click > Single Shot and Task Navigation >
Presentation > Tool Box.
Snapmode as preference – There’s a new variable that enables you to tell MicroStation where
to get the default snap mode and multi-snap settings from. MS_SNAPMODE_SOURCE = 0 is the
legacy setting whereby the default snap mode comes from the current design file.
MS_SNAPMODE_SOURCE = 1 stores the default snap mode as part of the User Preferences and
applies it
Open snapmode.dgn and show default snap.
Back to index.
Expand set MS_SNAPMODE_SOURCE = 1; lock snap keypoint
Set the default snap mode to midpoint by SHIFT + CLICK – this is now written to the UPF.
Open snapmode.dgn to show that it’s using User Pref snapmode.
Expand set MS_SNAPMODE_SOURCE = 0
Spell Check a Model - Introduced in XM, the Spell Checker can be used to review text, text
nodes, tags, dimensions, notes and symbols for spelling errors. Spell Checker searches the
selected text elements and flags any words that do not have a match in its dictionary. You can
review individually selected text elements and/or selection sets within the fence contents.
The Workspace Preferences dialog contains a section with options and toggles specific to the
Spell Checker. In addition, there are three configuration variables that allow you to define the
dictionary, language and location of core dictionaries.
To check the spelling in the active model, use the Spell checker from the Text task. To check
spelling before you place text, use the spell checker in the word processor.
Transparent Toolboxes – Transparency has been extended to toolboxes.
Trim Tools - The Trim Element tool has been renamed Trim Multiple, and has new modes.
Regardless of which mode you are in, after you select the cutting element, you can select
multiple elements by dragging a selection line across them, so you can simultaneously trim,
extend, or trim and extend them at their intersection with the cutting element.
The Extend Element to Intersection tool has been renamed Trim To Element. The default
behavior of the enhanced Extend To Element tool remains the same as before. However, a new
tool setting has been added which lets you invert the element identification behavior, so that
the first element you identify is now the cutting element, and the second element you identify
is the element that gets extended or shortened. When this tool setting is on, after you select
the cutting element, you can select multiple elements by dragging a selection line across them
to simultaneously extend and/or shorten them.
The Extend Two Elements to Intersection tool has been renamed Trim To Intersection, and has
been enhanced to let you extend or shorten two elements of any type to their intersection.
Trim to Intersection
Trim to element > Select cutting element first > ON
Trim multiple
View Different Models - You can view more than one model from the same file in separate
views. To do that, open multiple windows and define which model to view from the View
Attributes dialog. Just navigate to the View Setup section and note the Models picker. To see
this already set up, take a look at the file called Drawing Composition in the Examples/General
workspace.
Open and tile another window. Note they are all looking at same model.
View Attributes > View Setup > Choose different model.