We have encountered occasional cases where model elements contain unusual geometry affecting the results of Visible Edge calculations. Such geometry may be imported from other applications or other result from other causes (it can be hard to tell how an object was created from the end result).
In OpenBuildings Designer we set default values for the Visible Edge settings by configuration (MS_VISEDGE_DEFAULTS) in the application CFG. These should work for most people most of the time, so most people should never need to see these settings. (Note that MicroStation does not set these defaults, so where teams are working between the two applications it would be a good idea to include this configuration statement for MicroStation users too.)
Changing the Visible Edge settings may be a way to deal with situations where unexpected representations are presented. They are available in the UI, typically in a Drawing Model, in the References dialog by right-clicking on Cached (1), then clicking the Visible Edge Settings icon (2) which presents the available settings for adjustment (3):
Changing the Method and Accuracy settings from their defaults of Exact/To Tolerance to Fast/High may produce the correct representation. Otherwise different combinations can be tried. Making these changes manually works well for isolated instances.
Another approach in isolated cases is to revisit the geometry that produces unexpected results, where practical it is better to clean up geometry rather than work around it.
In situations where multiple files are affected and geometry clean up is impractical, Fast/High or whichever combination produces acceptable results could be set to override the application defaults by adding an MS_VISEDGE_DEFAULTS statement to the WorkSet CFG, e.g.:
MS_VISEDGE_DEFAULTS = Method=Fast,CalculateIntersections=True,PlotMethod=Fast,RemoveSmoothEdges=True,Accuracy=High,Tolerance=0.1 Millimeters,OcclusionTolerance=0.001 Millimeters,ProcessTextAndDimensions=True,DoTransparencyThreshold=False
More detail on the settings that can be used with MS_VISEDGE_DEFAULTS can be found in the help documentation at: Home > 3D Design and Modeling > Understanding 3D Models > Visible Edges DGN Files > Visible Edge Processing Configuration Variables.