Original Article Date: Sep 18, 2002
Ever wondered how to deal with flipping dimension text when you rotate a view? Read all about it in this article. 2004-01-13 Updated to include MicroStation V8.
MicroStation V7: Ever notice how your dimension text rotates about the dimension line when your view is rotated? Take for example the image below. The left side shows the normal view orientation and a freshly placed dimension. The right side shows the same view rotated 180 degrees. Note that the dimension text is behaving as though it's view independent...that is...it remains parallel to the view for easier reading.
This is the as-designed and default behaviour of the view that the dimension was placed in for MicroStation V7. However, if this is undesired, you can keep your dimension text from flipping like this by doing the following:
The results will be obvious the next time you rotate your view! On a side note, you can also prevent your dimension text from flipping if you execute this keyin before any dimension text is set: mdl l calculat;calc tcb->ad4.ext_dimflg.viewRotation=1
MicroStation V8: In MicroStation V8 things are just a bit different. The default display of a rotated view with dimensions shows the dimension text as being relative to it's original orientation.
In the event that you'd like the text to remain parallel to the view, do this:
The results will be evident immediatly after selecting the element.
Final Notes The keyin I used above is based upon Change Dimension View View_Num where View_Num would be the view number the change is to be applied to. With thanks to Bentley's Josh Schifter and Sunand Sandurkar who shared this information somewhere, sometime, and somehow. :-)
AskInga Article #120