We received a couple of references from our subs in which all have master units set to survey feet but some have sub units as also survey feet and others say inches. I don't think this is as much of a problem as the resolution units are different between them. some are 1000/SF and others are 10000/m.
I was working in inroads the other day and used their file that had their surface triangles to import into my surface. Everything seemed to be correct at the time but now when I open that file the triangles I displayed are shifted from the location from the reference which I used to bring them in. The resolution in the file I was using is set to 10000/ft which I believe is completely wrong. I'm wondering if someone can explain how Microstation deals with files when they have the resolution set differently.
I'm using the latest version of MS as I just installed it last week. 08.11.09.459
Turning off true scale lets you force MicroStation to use a ratio of master units to master units. If you know both units should be the same, setting the scale to 1 to 1 with true scale off should make the units match. If they were attached with a aligned global origins, you should be good to go. Otherwise you might need to move the reference file to align with the active file.
This trick is also sometimes necessary when using DWG reference files.
Charles (Chuck) Rheault CADD Manager
MDOT State Highway Administration
The master units between the two files were the same. What was different was the resolution between the two files. I'm worried that because the resolution was different, it will mess things up. It's still early in the project so now is the time to fix it if it will make a difference. If it doesn't make a difference then I won't worry about it.
There is a new warning box that comes in when referencing. "The active model has storage units of Feet, but the reference model has storage units of US Survey Feet. Because International Feet and US Survey Feet are nearly identical, mixing them can result in subtle problems, particularly for design projects that span more than a mile. Are you sure you want to continue attaching this reference?"
I was confused what it was talking about since both files are using Master Units in Survey feet but the warning talks about "storage" units. This is the units used in the resolution units. So I'm thinking it does make a difference but I'd like to know exactly how.
Thanks!
We've run into this on many occasions. I'm working on highways and we usually receive a master file from the DOT or the surveyor. We take that file and and make a copy of it. This becomes the seed file for the project. We create a 2d & a 3d file from this. If we do receive files from another entity we will request a file using the same storage & working units (we like to supply our seed files to any subs). We do, at times, need to deal with mis-matched settings because of older projects. Typically we will reference these files into a copy of a seed file and make sure everything lines up (by known points if possible) and then merge that file into our file. We do not like to have mis-matched files.
I would suggest you request corrected files.
Microstation CONNECT - 10.17.2.61
ORD - 2021 R1 10.10.1.3
ORD 2022 R1.1 - 10.11.3.2
ORD 2022 R3 - 10.12.2.4
Microstation v8i SS 10 - 08.11.09.919
Power InRoads v8i - 08.11.09.615
ProjectWise - 10.0.3.453
When V8 first came out, the fact that it was unit aware forced everyone to re-evaluate their units. Some offices were very far into their V8 usage before it was realized. At my previous position, they remained using files set to international feet that were drawn using that measurement as though it were actually a US Survey Foot. If we were sent a file from someone using Survey Feet, we turned off True Scale and set the scale to 1:1 to align the coordinates in the two files.
I also assisted a local DOT in setting up their V8 workspace and we eliminated their V7 practice of having Feet and inches files for some offices and Feet and tenth files for others. Now, all of their files are setup using Feet and Inches (using US Survey Feet, and the offices that want decimal feet set their readout to decimal as well as their dimension styles while the others set them to feet and inches for readout and dimensions and everyone is happy.
That DOT actually has a VBA macro that checks the units of files and can correct them and still preserve all coordinate values.