Convert Old Design Models to Sheet Models

Say you have a bunch of old design models that actually represent sheet layouts. They may each contain a reference attachment representing border graphics and title block. There is a quick and easy way to convert such design models to sheet models. By converting them to sheet models, you are organizing your project in the recommended manner: design models should represent model geometry; sheet models should represent layouts for printing.

You can make use of the Sheet Boundary and Border Association features, which are available in sheet models. The border attachment can be associated to the sheet boundary in sheet models and then you can print them.

Here is an easy way of doing that using a VBA macro.

Open the DGN file which contains old design models in MicroStation V8i or MicroStation V8 XM Edition.

To use the macro (in the attached ZIP file), you have load it first.

1.       Go to Utilities > Macro > Project Manager

2.       Drag and drop attached ConvertModel.mvba in VBA Project Manager

3.       Click on Visual Basic editor to open the macro code

4.       Double click on Convert module

Once you have opened the macro, you can edit the code. You have to do following changes in code.

·         In Modelname array, enter names of design models to be converted

·         In Bordername array, enter file name and logical name of the border file attachment in each design model

Note: The border file should be attached as a reference to be able to associate with sheet boundary.

The macro will

1.       Open the design model

2.       Convert it to sheet model

3.       Associate the border file to the sheet boundary, and inherit the size from the attached sheet model

You can try the macro with the DGN file in the attached ZIP file. DGN file contains design models with sheet border attachments. For convenience, the border models are in the same file. You just have to run the macro and see the result.

More blogs are comming up so be there.