Element Templates

Mark, I am not sure that I follow you question, basically a template define properties of elements. this includes the level that the elements are placed on , color, style , weight etc. so when you pick your template this set that information for you so that when the element is placed it is placed with those attributes. does this help, if not can you provide more information on what you are trying to accomplish ?

Mark,
Maybe a brief description on what you are looking to do may help. We can certainly explain what templates are and the options they have, but a workflow/steps/etc... of what you need will be more beneficial in helping us get you an answer.

I'm hoping Tim can help you there. We have a programmer who sets our tools to select the proper template level, and I'm not sure how he does it.

You can add multiple instances of the same property to a template, each with a different setting. If there are multiple instances of the same property, the first one in the list will be the default that is used when the template is activated. If there are multiple instances of the same property and you do not want to use the default property, before drawing the element use the appropriate toolboxes to select “secondary” properties that match those in the template. If the Active Element Template icon is locked, the placed element will be associated with the template. The element will also pass the Standards Checker's tests of element templates.

When multiple instances of the same property exist in one template, they appear in the Properties pane under the property's name. Each instance of the property has a number next to it in parentheses. The first instance is the default. The default property value is visible if the list of “secondary” properties is collapsed below the property's name.

The orignal poster  Mark stated  and I quote "fill and shape all applied to different levels" 

I must not be understanding this  but as far as I can tell templates may offer you multiple options but it cannot create

 a shape or polygon that the fill and  out line are on different levels to eachother..

Unknown said:

If there are multiple instances of the same property and you do not want to use the default property, before drawing the element use the appropriate toolboxes to select “secondary” properties that match those in the template.

It would be noted that there is no any dependency or linkage between active template and a selection of parameters implemented, so if multiple properties are defined in the template definition, it's not indicated anywhere and user is not aware of it. In my opinion it makes the whole concept of multiple elements pretty ineffective and hardly usable. The only tool which accepts and works with multiple properties is Standard Checker.

With regards,

  Jan

Tim,
I don't quite understand your explanation of how to select a different property in the element template. I have a single template set up with multiple levels, colors, and line weights. Can you explain further of how to select one of the secondary properties?

Thanks.

Tim,
I don't quite understand your explanation of how to select a different property in the element template. I have a single template set up with multiple levels, colors, and line weights. Can you explain further of how to select one of the secondary properties?

Thanks.

Hi Rod,

Unknown said:

I don't quite understand your explanation of how to select a different property in the element template.

As far as I know there is no such option. If there are e.g. 4 color defined in a template, still full color table is available ... which consequently means it's easy to select a color that doesn't conform to the template. But I am also curious if some trick exists.

Regards,

  Jan

With OpenRoads transitioning to the use of Element Templates instead of xin file preferences I can see how this would be useful for specifying different display properties for plan view vs. profile view, etc. I'm just curious on how you can use this in standard MicroStation.

It is what Jan has stated. There is no "multiple choice". If a template is selected and you have only set one choice for all the settings, then it sets these as the "active" settings for the element placement. The user can still choose another setting, it does not stop them from doing this, it only gives them a "default" setting so they do not need to choose or remember what it is supposed to be. Templates do not keep users from picking different options, it only sets a default so the user does not HAVE to choose. Now - going forward if you want to check elements to see if they are "following" a template, then the element can be associated with the template and you can run standards checker to flag anything not following the template. They may be an instance where a template may fit several scenarios where more than one color will still work for the template. This is where you would add these additional settings. Although the template itself when selected can only set one color (its default) there are several others colors that will still fit into the requirements. So if the user chooses one of the other colors, when standards checker is run, these elements would pass because one of the colors selected is in the list. It doesn't limit the users choices of colors that they can pick, it only limits what will pass when the template is used by standards checker against the element.

An example would be if I created a template that had 3 colors in it (lets say green, blue and red). The default color is red. I choose the template and it sets my color to red. It does not prevent me from choosing another color and it does not limit my choices to only 3 colors. I can choose what I want, but it defaulted to red. Lets say I pick orange for the color. I run standards checker and it scans the element with the template provided. As long as the element is red, green or blue, it would pass, but since it is not, it would be flagged.

I hope this makes sense.
Let me know.

Thank you Jan and Tim, that explanation makes sense.

Tim
Thank you, yours and Jan explaination makes it clear and confirms it does not do what i was looking for.

Mark