ProjectWise Explorer Clients connected to a spatially enabled ProjectWise datasources can utilize the MicroStation Scanner to process *.DGN and AutoCAD *.DWG, when MicroStation is present on the client machine.
During the scanning operation, two choices are available for extraction:
Extract Location Only
Extract Location and Coordinate System
For CAD files, the presence or absence of a MicroStation Geographic Coordinate System element will determine whether extraction of the Coordinate System is applicable.
The Spatial Location Scanning tool is launched from the ProjectWise Explorer > Tools > Scan Spatial Locations…
If the datasource is not spatially enabled, the menu item will appear disabled.
Example: Extract Location Only
OSGB-SX.dwg approximates the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain 1:250000 SX quadrant in the vicinity of Cornwall, situated along the southern border of the OSGB grid system.
No MicroStation coordinate system element is present within the DWG file, so we must use the Extract Location Only option, supplying the coordinate system definition manually.
Note that the Available coordinate systems are defined via the ProjectWise Administrator, by users defined as a Spatial Administrator.
The results are as expected:
Example: Extract Location and Coordinate System
A DWG file may contain an AutoCAD Coordinate System definition.
These cannot be read by MicroStation, nor AutoCAD without second tier Autodesk applications and thus cannot be utilized.
A MicroStation Geographic Coordinate System definition may be applied via MicroStation and saved within the DWG:
In these cases, ensure that the Master Unit applied to the DWG file is accurate per the coordinate system definition.
Extraction of the coordinate system is successfull, and results are as expected:
Example: Extract Location and Coordinate System (invalid geometry)
Taking the example a step further, we can see that there are some instances whereby a given geometry is not valid for the assigned coordinate system.
This may occur when the incorrect coordinate system is assigned to a cad file in error, or when the extents of a file valid for transformation are modified to exceed the parameters of the assigned coordinate system.
To examine the latter, we will sully the previously successful OSGB-SX_BNG.dwg, with data which extends beyond the OSGB grid definition:
The summary reveals that creation of the document’s spatial location has failed:
0 file location(s) created
Examination of the detailed summary reveals successful extraction of the coordinates and coordinate system, but failure to assign the spatial location to the document in question:
12,16:53:03,SUCCESS,Extracting Scanned File's Coordinate System Information
13,16:53:07,SUCCESS,Extracting Scanned File's Geometric Information
14,16:53:07,ERROR,Creating Location
18,16:53:07,ERROR,Error [1] Number: 32768
This scenario is further assessed by viewing the document’s properties, and attempting Extract Extent.
In the second panel, we find that the extent can be extracted, indicating that the MicroStation Scanner is valid and functioning.
However in the third panel, attempts to save the document fail with Error Saving Spatial Location for current item, indicative of the failure to reconcile the (invalid) coordinates of the assigned coordinate system, with the reference CS defined for the datasource.
This condition may also occur for valid spatial locations which exist outside the scope of the reference coordinate system, when the reference coordinate system is too small or otherwise unsuited for the location defined.
Custom Geographic Coordinate System use:
For scenarios where a custom (*.dty) is provided:
- The custom CS must be defined within MicroStation before assignment is possible.
Examine the variable MS_GEOCOORDINATE_USERLIBRARIES in this case.
MS_GEOCOORDINATE_USERLIBRARIES
This configuration variable is string of the form “LibraryPath1[ShortName1];LibraryPath2[ShortName2]”, where LibraryPath<n> is the file name of the library, and [ShortName<n>] optionally specifies the identifier that appears in the Select Geographic Coordinate System dialog.
For example, suppose a consultant worked with the California and Oregon Departments of Transportation, and each supplied a library of custom Geographic Coordinate Systems. This configuration variable might contain “PROJ_GEODATA:CaltransCoordSystems.dty[Caltrans];PROJ_GEODATA:OregonDOT.dty[Oregon DOT]”. Here the configuration variable PROJ_GEODATA is a project-level configuration variable selecting a directory. If the ShortName is not specified, the root of the file name is used.
If no directory is specified in LibraryPath, the directory specified by the MS_GEOCOORDINATE_DATA configuration variable is used.
- The custom CS must also be available to the ProjectWise Spatially Enabled datasource.
This is accomplished by modifying the ProjectWise Integration Server’s dmskrnl.cfg, eg:
[UserCS]
Group1=mycustomcsfile.dty
Group2=e:\mycustomcs\mycustomcsfile2.dty
Short and succinct group names are recommended in this case. See the ProjectWise help for more detail as needed.