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Document Type: FAQ Product(s): Bentley Architecture Version(s): V8i Original Author: Bentley Technical Support Group Legacy Document Number:
Document Type: FAQ
Product(s): Bentley Architecture
Version(s): V8i
Original Author: Bentley Technical Support Group
Legacy Document Number:
Dynamic Views are the underlying MicroStation functionality essentially composed of Clip Volumes, Display Styles, Saved Views and Reference attachments. This allows you to resymbolize 2D/3D geometry based on the Display Style applied to the elements within the Clip Volume, which can be recalled via a Saved View and referenced into a sheet model.
Drawing Views add Building-specific resymbolization options to Dynamic Views, including section plane hatch/patterning, Unification, Family/Part symbology overrides, and Drawing Rules (Bentley Architecture only at this time).
Building Views are Drawing Views which are named and managed via the Building View Manager tool. In addition to providing intuitive tools for placing Plan and Elevation views, it also provides tools to automate the process of generating independent DGN models/files with the applicable Saved Views attached via reference files.
To make the section place clip visible again, open the Saved Views dialog and click on the Show column (far left) for the applicable named view. When you are finished making changes to the Clip Volume, turn its display back off by un-checking this option so that it does not display in any existing Building View models.
It's likely that the Element Selection tool settings have been changed so that the “Disable Handles” option has been turned ON. When in this state, you cannot modify a Clip Volume or any other element that uses Edit Handles. In order to change this behavior, open on the Element Selection tool and check whether the “Disable Handles” button on the right side is turned on (depressed). If so, click on it in order to turn this option OFF. You may also want to verify that the selection Method is set to Individual and the Mode set to New. This combination will allow you to directly click on the section clip shape.
There are three methods that should work:
1. The recommended method:
3. When you attached the Building View for the first time turn ON the “Synchronize with Saved View” option. Any changes to the Saved View will automatically be applied to all reference attachments that use it. This method is not necessarily recommend since you could unknowingly change the appearance of a drawing without know it.
Note: Any changes made to geometry falling within the Saved View clip volume should be visible automatically. That’s why we call them Dynamic Views!
This is a known limitation in the initial V8i release, v08.11.05.xx, and is the result of limitations in MicroStation’s Dynamic Views Hidden Line rendering mode. This limitation should be lifted in the V8i SELECT series update release, v08.11.07.xx.
Yes, this is possible. In the desired view window click on the upper left icon to open the View Attributes dialog. In the View Setup task, click on the Saved Views drop-down and select your Building View from the list. The elements in that view window should now display as per the selected Building View. NOTE: If you want this change to persist, remember to Save Settings prior to exiting the file.
The Ceiling Height property value determines the overall range, or volume, of a space. So even though the space’s shape element is hidden below the second floor slab in this scenario, the space's Ceiling Height value extends beyond and through the slab into the cut plane of the Clip Volume, causing it to be annotated.
Correcting the space height would be the optimal solution in this case, removing any connection to the second floor and allowing only the second floor space labels to display. You could also turn off the Spaces drawing rule in the Building View definition. This will remove annotation from all spaces associated with that drawing.
In addition to control the display of all space annotation en masse, annotation from Architectural rules can be hidden individually by right-clicking on the annotation and selecting "Hide Annotations" from the context menu. Similarly they can be unhidden by selecting the element to be annotated, right-clicking and selecting "Unhide Annotation from the context menu. Or, for the first floor spaces showing up on the second floor, you can right-click on the Space Label (in your sheet) and from the popup menu select "Hide Annotation".
Check the Drawing Scale of your Building View. If using a 1:1 scale it’s certainly possible that your space labels are there, but so small in relation to the building components that they display as dots.
When attaching a Building View to an external sheet for drawing composition, all of the applicable elements should display. If this is not happening, please verify the following:
The delivered help in 08.11.05.xx is not completely accurate. In order for this variable to be active, it simply needs to be defined and a value assigned; i.e., the value itself is irrelevant. In order to make it inactive, simply give it a null value.
The purpose of this configuration variable is to generate the levels necessary to properly display Building Views based on the levels and symbology defined in the applicable Family/Part definitions. This is a different process altogether than when using Drawing Extraction Manager.
The Drawing Extraction process creates new graphics in an independent design file and/or model, using levels based on Family/Part assignments. For example, a single object in the 3D model, such as a wall, could potentially extract to four different levels – Cut Plane, Forward View, Cut Pattern and Centerline. When this wall needs to be generated in the drawing extraction, if the levels defined in its assigned Part do not exist they will simply be created during the extraction process.
Drawing Views, on the other hand, do not create or write new graphic elements at all. Instead, they simply change the display of the existing elements in the 3D model and present them to the screen. So using the wall example mentioned above, the Drawing View may need to represent the resymbolized Cut Plane, Forward View, Cut Pattern and Centerline for that wall just like the drawing extraction process.
But since MicroStation cannot display graphics to the screen if the required levels do not already exist, we need a way to create them ahead of time.
To accomplish this, Building applications will read all project and dataset Family/Part files when opening a DGN file, then compare the levels assigned in those part definitions against the levels that currently exist in that active DGN file. If the levels needed by the Family/Parts do not exist, we will force them to be created by generating a series of hidden elements using those missing levels. The creation of these hidden elements helps prevent these new levels from being inadvertently deleted, since you cannot manually delete a level if an existing element is using it.
The BB_DVDATASETELEMENTS configuration variable, if set, tells the software to perform this Family/Part level check and force the creation of any missing levels, thereby allowing Building Views to display the correct resymbolization based on part assignment. NOTE: Since Bentley Architecture is the only Building application making full use of Building Views in the V8i 08.11.05.xx series, it is the only application which includes this variable in its local startup configuration file (atflocal.cfg).
In regards to modifying DGNLIB files, it is very important that this configuration variable is first disabled. If the variable is for whatever reason set, when the DGNLIB is first opened all available Family/Part files will be scanned and all missing levels (and hidden elements) added to that DGNLIB file. The best way to avoid this scenario is to edit the DGNLIB using plain MicroStation since the configuration variable will not be used. If you do need to modify a DGNLIB with Bentley Architecture running, for example modifying or creating a Task Based GUI, please make sure that you comment out BB_DVDATASETELEMENTS before opening the DGNLIB file.
This DGNLIB file contains a Detailing Symbol Style definition named “BB_BuildingCallouts” that changes the default style of the Section, Elevation and Detail Callouts as follows:
The color is changed from black to red.
The line weight is changed from 0 to line weight 2.
The level assignment is changed to G-ANNO-SYMB.
After following the steps below, when you use one of these three callout commands from the Create Views task group (while in a Building View model) you will be able to click on the “Detailing Style” pick-list and switch from the “Default” style to “BB_BuildingCallouts”. Note that in subsequent releases of V8i, this file will be renamed as BB_DetailingStyle.dgnlib.
Note: For more precise control another option is to comment out the configuration variable in step # 3 and un-comment any of those below:
You may also edit the detail styles for any of the three commands by opening BB_ELEMENTTEMPLATE.DGNLIB and modifying the applicable settings. Note: Once you have placed one of the three callouts, you can click on the magnifying glass icon next to the “Detailing Style” pick-list which will automatically activate BB_ELEMENTTEMPLATE.DGNLIB for editing.
Yes, you can use the File > Save As function to produce an independent DGN file that can be opened in prior versions, or saved to DWG, using the following steps:
Yes, there is a tolerance setting that affects the output of vector graphics to external DGN files as well as for plotting. If this value is set too high, some elevations and sections may not produce all the graphics seen on the screen when saved out as vector graphics or plotted.
You can access this setting during the Save As process by clicking on the magnifying glass icon noted in Step # 6 from the item above. In the "Visible Edge Settings" dialog box, set the Tolerance field to 0:1 (one inch) or its metric equivalent as a starting point. If that still does not provide the expected results, you may have to adjust this field again and give it a larger value.
This tolerance setting works based on the range/extents of the elements being processed. The larger the range, the tighter this tolerance needs to be. For example, if you are saving a plan view of a door and the extents of the view are clipped tight around that door, a low tolerance value will suffice and the door arc will appear very smooth. However, if you need to plot a large floor plan instead, a higher tolerance value would be required in order for that same door arc geometry to be generated smoothly.
This same tolerance will be used when plotting vs. using the Save As command. In this case you can access this setting outside of the Save As dialog by choosing File > Export > Visible Edges, which will open the same "Visible Edge Settings" dialog box mentioned above.
No, as of 08.11.05.xx, Drawing Extraction Manager still serves a purpose. A good example of this is the new RAM Import > Drawing Generation feature in Structural V8i. This new feature is integrated with the Drawing Extraction process, performing operations that would be difficult (if not impossible) to complete with Drawing Views as they exist today. Another example would be drawing rules for both Bentley Structural and Bentley Building Mechanical Systems, which are not yet fully implemented within the Drawing View workflow.
Also, it’s important to mention that there is a tool for converting existing Drawing Extraction definitions into Building View definitions. By selecting an existing drawing definition within the Drawing Extraction Manager dialog and clicking on the “Sync Drawing View to Drawing Def” tool - the center icon across the top of the Drawing Extraction Manager dialog box - a new Building View definition will be automatically created in the Building View Manager. This new Building View definition will use every drawing view setting that is common between the two; e.g., Region settings, Plan Symbol usage, Cut Patterns, etc. This same tool can also synchronize the auto-generated Building View definition when the original drawing definition is modified.
Having this tool in place allows you to continue using Drawing Extraction for immediate production needs, test Drawing Views to see how they might work for specific workflows, and then when the time comes, transition without having to recreate everything.
The 2D/3D mode is no longer supported in V8i, having been replaced by Building Views which provide a much more robust "real time" environment. However, you can also use the “Sync Drawing View to Drawing Def” tool outlined above with this type of drawing extraction in order to bring your work forward.
You can use your Plan Only files in V8i by using the following steps:
In V8i 08.11.05.xx, the two primary conditions where dimension association may not be retained are when dimensioning: A) 2D elements that fall along the Cut Plane. B) 3D elements that fall within the Forward View. These cases are scheduled to be resolved in the upcoming V8i 08.11.07.xx SELECT series update release.
For performance reasons all edges are faceted before exporting an HLN file when using the V8i series. This is the same result you would see when enabling the “Facet All surfaces” option in MicroStation V8 XM Edition. The preferred option in V8i is to use Drawing Views instead.
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