In MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 16 you can now store Picklists and item Types look up data in one, single Excel file.
This new capability makes it much easier to manage and work with large amount of Item Type data as you do not need to define and manage a separate file for your picklist. All the information can be stored in a single, familiar source (Excel) and defining the picklists is as easy as filling a column in the Excel worksheet.
In Update 16 the Item Types dialog introduces the Picklist source under Picklist Options which lets you choose the picklist source for that property. Here you can choose Excel Files (*.xlsx) or a dgn file (.dgn).
Once you have set the source to Excel files, select the drop-down corresponding to Settings. The Picklist Settings window opens where you will see a variety of Picklist Options available such as Range, Named Range, Column and Custom.
The fields in the Picklist Setting dialog are enabled based on the Picklist Option selected. For more information on each of these options read product help. The selected values of the Picklist are then displayed in the properties of the selected Item type in the Attach Item dialog. Additionally, you can also view the values in the Properties Dialog, Picklist Option.
With this, you can also search for a pick list value in the Attach Item dialog from the search drop-down in the Properties section. You can search for a value by name in the search box or choose values from the list.
Use the configuration variable “ITEMTYPE_LOOKUP” to fetch excel values using the Excel Look up functionality.
The program automatically populates and displays the components of the corresponding key column with the help of the configuration variable and Expression Builder. Once the key column is entered in the ID field, the program reads the excel and all values are displayed in the Properties Pane dialog.
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To know what else is new in Update 16, watch this quick video.
To know what else is new in this update read New in MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 16.