In Part Two of the Explorer blog series, we will take a closer look at the Explorer dialog, File tab.
Browsing and Managing File Content
The File tab displays file content in categories such as models, saved views, references, levels, and so on.
File content can be browsed and managed by displaying the following content:
Browsing and Managing Model Content
You can also view the content of the active model. The model content includes saved views, levels, named groups, rasters, point clouds, references, elements, and so on. The model content is displayed by expanding the active model under the Models category. You can view the content of the active model only.
Right Clicking Categories
Expanding each category within the File tab, such as models, saved views, references, levels, and so on, lists items within that category or further sub-categories. Here you will discover that there are numerous capabilities when right-clicking on items. For instance, you can manage the file content displayed in the Explorer File tab in the following ways:
And not limited to the Properties dialog, but selection of the objects in Explorer dialog are synchronized to the selection of the corresponding objects in various modeless dialogs.
When you drag a model, saved view, model link, or saved view link from the Models, Saved Views, or the Explorer dialogs, the corresponding model or saved view is attached to the active file, the Reference Attachment Properties dialog opens so that you can make the required reference settings.
File Tab Icon bank
The icon bank provides the following functions:
Performing Searches
In the File tab – and as we’ll see later – the Items, and Resources tabs of the Explorer dialog, you can search for objects within the tree. Based on the requirements, you can either perform a Simple search, Criteria search, or an Advanced search.
So, as you can see, the File tab is a great way to browse and manage the content of the file. It is a central location where normally you would have to investigate perhaps multiple dialogs for the information you are looking for. For instance, what levels are being used in the active model. Or how many Drawing Boundaries there are in the model. Or even what references are attached – and their content, as well.
Next in Part Three of the Explorer blog series, we will take a look at the Items tab. If you were familiar with the Item Browser dialog in previous versions of MicroStation, then it has been merged into the Explorer dialog. The Items tab displays a list of folder-like nodes representing the “item types” which is the non-graphical, business data behind the graphical elements.