New in MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 15 - (Public Technology Preview) Expression Builder

You can now build your expressions easily and intuitively using the new Expression Builder dialog. We introduced Item Types Expressions in a recent MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update to allow our users to use calculated properties within Item types. Expressions were received very well but most of our users found them difficult to use, as the initial implementation was geared more towards programmers or more “techie” MicroStation users.

We wanted to make Item Types expressions appealing and usable for as many users as we could as they unleash a tremendous potential for a huge number of automation workflows so we developed a complete new Expression Builder dialog.

The new Expression builder will make the creation of an expression quicker and easier, from the selection of the right function or operator to picking the right property and validating the expression before rolling into production.

You can pick the desired functions from the available Function groups on the left-hand side of the dialog or selecting   in the toolbar.   displays the Function groups that are available for use, in a drop-down menu. You can also use Ctrl + Space instead of    . After selecting a function group you can select a property from the right-hand side section. You can use the   tool in the toolbar to concatenate two expressions to calculate a property. You can also use various Arithmetic, Comparison, Conditional and Logical operators from the “Select Operators” drop-down menu. The selected type of operators will display in the toolbar.

Once you have created an expression you can validate it by clicking on the Test button and you will be notified by a message whether the expression is valid or not.

The following video demonstrates an example of Concatenation where the result of two combined expressions is used to derive properties.

We hope that with this new dialog you will find it easier to create and use expressions in many of your workflows. This will boost your productivity, reduce the risk of errors, and automate some of the tedious manual tasks that we all dread.

To see what else is new in Update 15 please read New in MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 15.

We look forward to hearing from you about how useful this enhancement is and if you have any suggestions for improvement. if you’re interested in speaking with a Bentley expert about making the move to MicroStation CONNECT Edition, please complete this form to have someone contact you to provide advice and assistance.

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