How to copy elements from one .dgn to another

Hi All:

How do you copy elements from one .dgn file to another and keep the elements at the same x, y.

In AutoCad I would copy and paste at 0,0...but can't find the command in Microstation.

Thanks!

Parents
  • The DX= is to copy elements from a reference file into the active file at their same location using the regular copy tools - not the clipboard..

    If you wany to put something in the clipboard at a known origin:

    1. Make your selection set.
    2. Tentative Snap to the desired origin point but do not accept the tentative.
    3. On the Edit menu, select Copy.
    4. Open another file. Select Edit > Paste. The origin you snapped to is the insertion point of the copied selection - at this point, you either snap to a known point and accept it to paste it there, or if you know the coordinate, key in XY=nnnnnn,nnnnnn to issue a data point at that coordinate.

    Charles (Chuck) Rheault
    CADD Manager

    MDOT State Highway Administration

    • MicroStation user since IGDS, InRoads user since TDP.
    • AutoCAD, Land Desktop and Civil 3D, off and on since 1996
  • LOL!

    Seems this is not understood here....still waiting for step by step how to accomplish this from the clipboard...

    So simple in AutoCAD...seems Microstatioin is lacking in this (needs a command to copy and paste from clipboard using a base input)

     

    Thanks all but can't get anything to work and can't find any info in the help menu.

    In Civil I use this command all the time to transfer elements from one file to another, don't want to attach the file, just need a simple copy to clipboard and paste into another file at the same base point

    I spoke to support on this matter, and they did'nt know how to do it without a ref attach

  • thanks for the reply but I understand refs

    what I need is a way to transfer elements from one file to another using the clipboard and have the elements come in the other file at the same absolute x,y as in the file that they were copied from

    I use refs all the time, but sometimes I have elements in one file that I want to transfer to another file

    the commands in AutoCAD are "copy with base point" and "paste with base point"

    so I just copy from 0,0 and paste with 0,0 so the elements are in the exact location as in the file I copied from

    it appears Microstation doesn' t have this command

    I just can't believe the only way to accomplish this is to attach and then detach the file

    I have tried the suggestions mentioned here...but they simply do not work for me

    I've called support about this and they told me they don't know how to do it without refs

    I can't find the info in the help menu

    Are there any other places I could try for help?

  • thermal:

    what I need is a way to transfer elements from one file to another using the clipboard and have the elements come in the other file at the same absolute x,y as in the file that they were copied from

    Please describe the exact reason why you want to do just this (and why taking advantage of references -- thus minimizing data redundancy, etc. -- will not provide what you are looking for). TIA

      

  • LOL!  thanks again for your reply!

    Because I want to move elements from one file to another....

    Like I said...I fully understand refs!

  • Glad you can laugh, but I am being very serious. Please explain why (exactly) you want to copy and not reference information from one file to the next to the next to the next to the next to the next... etc.

      

  • To Expand on the process Cadd Cop laid out..

    1. Select the element or elements you want to copy

    2. Tentitive snap at to the insertion location.. (In theory you could locate a point at the x 0, y 0 location and snap to this..)

    The X,Y location tentative snapped to will now appear in the message center at the bottom of the screen.

    3. Click Edit > Copy 

    4. Edit > Paste - Make Accudraw active in the file being pasted to (use your space bar to toggle through accudraw you will want accudraw to be set to XY, 2D file or XYZ 3 D file)...enter the X Y in accudraw, this will place the insertion point exactly where you want it. DP to locate.

     

    Mike Barkasi

    Bentley Professional Services

     

    Michael Barkasi

    Application Engineer 

    Reality Modeling



Reply
  • To Expand on the process Cadd Cop laid out..

    1. Select the element or elements you want to copy

    2. Tentitive snap at to the insertion location.. (In theory you could locate a point at the x 0, y 0 location and snap to this..)

    The X,Y location tentative snapped to will now appear in the message center at the bottom of the screen.

    3. Click Edit > Copy 

    4. Edit > Paste - Make Accudraw active in the file being pasted to (use your space bar to toggle through accudraw you will want accudraw to be set to XY, 2D file or XYZ 3 D file)...enter the X Y in accudraw, this will place the insertion point exactly where you want it. DP to locate.

     

    Mike Barkasi

    Bentley Professional Services

     

    Michael Barkasi

    Application Engineer 

    Reality Modeling



Children
  • Mike Barkasi's solution seems to be on the right track, but I still can't get it to work right. If I use X,Z as 0,0 in my first drawing, when I tentative snap to the insertion location, and then I go to my second drawing and key in 0 and 0 in my accudraw fields, what I get is the insertion point at 0 units and 0 units (x,y) away from the location where my accudraw crosshairs are located when I open this second drawing! I'm not sure why, but when I get into the second drawing, the accudraw crosshairs are somewhere in space, not necessarily at 0,0, and keying in 0,0 in the accudraw fields will just keep the insertion point in the same place where the crosshairs appear when I opened the drawing.

    I noticed that I can follow Mike's procedure and get it to work if I actually snap to 0,0 in the second drawing, so if I draw a dummy line at 0,0 and snap to it after going to Edit>Paste, then I can get it to work.

    I think the problem is that keying in 0, 0 in the accudraw dialog box, places the datapoint at unites relative to its current position, not absolute coordinates 0,0. I think there's a way to change this in the accudraw settings, but I'm not sure.

  • No it doesnot work. It always pastes according to view rotation which is non-sensical in 3d space. 

    Only viable possibiltiy how to copy and paste objects across files correctly is via references. (it works fine but ctrc ctrlv should work fine as well)

    It is quite a disaster how poorly ctrc ctrl is designed (connect version). There is a whole dialog while pasting with no real options. Why there are no options what is your reference plane/coordinate system you want it to paste to. Trivial options that one thinks of instantenously are :global coordinate system, current ACS, according to view (which is defualt non changable behaviour and the least expected way imaginable).