Fence Stretch Rotate

I may be showing my age...

I recall years ago that we used to have the option of Fence Stretch with Rotate or Scale. Although I didn't use them often, I found them very useful for certain types of manipulation. Since I didn't use them every day, I wasn't particularly bothered when that option seemed to disappear. I figured it had just been written into the software some other way, and besides, I had moved on to a slightly different type of project.

Time passes, and I find myself today working on exactly the sort of tasks where I would love to use Stretch Rotate and I can't find it!

Does this tool still exist in some form that I must have missed?

Does anyone know a tool that would accomplish this?

Parents
  • I see you may have asked this question previously in this discussion where the suggestion of using the Manipulation Fence Contents tool was given. This tool also includes the capability to stretch cells.

    communities.bentley.com/.../64590

    Regards
    Andrew Bell
    Technical Support
    Bentley Systems

  • Indeed. Well, I needed the functionality then, and I need it today. Plain old Fence Stretch does not do what I need. Plain old Fence Rotate does not do what I need. The suggestions offered then were no more applicable than they were today - they do not accomplish what I would like to do. I want to be able to rotate one end of a group of elements while the other end stays intact, in place. I don't want to rotate the whole thing. I don't want to have to drop all my complex elements to single elements. I don't want to do any more work than I already have to do.

    We used to have this as an option, and it was great for what it did. Bentley never gets rid of functionality (it seems!) so where did this go?

    MaryB

    Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918
    Power InRoads 08.11.09.918
    OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2

        

  • I think what you have is a Place Note w/ Text, that after it was placed, the view was rotated. If this is the case you have 2 options.
    1.) You can also rotate the note (assuming the Dimension has not been dropped) and modify the location of the text after. The Rotate w/ or without Fence can rotate By Element Center but it doesn't use the point it is pointing too as the center.
    2.) To correct the Note rotation, Set the Dimension Style to the Horizontal text or match the existing Note, using the Match Dimension Style. Then use Selection tool and double click on the note Text. This will place the text in the Text Editor, and after it is there, go to Place Note, and place a New Note with the same text. You can then delete the original.
    The Update Dimension will not correct the Note text rotation to being Horizontal again, after the view is rotated. Wish it did, using the Update Dimension! HEY A chance for an enhancement!
    I have a series of OLD menus (i.e. 1986+) and I have never seen a command you described.

    I Hope This Helps Someone Reading This!  (Intergraph>PseudoStation>MicroStation user since 1980's)

  • And now we're back to the fact I CAN do this with a number of other tools and steps (as I mentioned previously).
    These LOOK like notes, but they are not - they are elements placed with another software. Since they are not really notes, Dimension settings will have no effect. And this is just one basic example of the functionality I am looking for - not the only items I will ever need to manipulate. Sometimes it may be text similar to this. Other times it may be a collection that includes other elements (which may or may not have text).

    The Fence Stretch/Rotate was available in Microstation XM, possibly early V8, if I remember correctly.

    Here is one online article to reference the capability:
    http://microstationconnections.com/print_article.php?cpfeatureid=3705

    Here is another:
    http://www.mdlapps.com/microstation/ustnhelp189.html

    And another that references the Scale/Stretch functionality from the same era:
    http://envisioncad.com/pdfs/TEG-Tip22_Stretch.pdf

    If it's really not there anymore, it's not there...But for what it is, it is missed. I'd prefer not to duplicate work that has already been done, and I'd prefer not to use three or four tools if there is the option of using only one.

    MaryB

    Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918
    Power InRoads 08.11.09.918
    OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2

        

  • YEP that full function has been lost due to splitting out the tool into two separate tools  I didnt notice it as I would do it in two steps the long way...

    I played around with some action strings... but didn't go far enough ..too much effort for something I would rarely use,,, perhaps you should make a vba tool as its never going to be fixed or updated for  v8i and unlikely to be done for  CE either....

    so either custom action string or vba  sorry Mary  I  tried for an hour with a few v8 action strings from the v8.dgn  (still available inside ustn the old menu palette has all keyin strings for just about everything)....

    Lorys

    Started msnt work 1990 - Retired  Nov 2022 ( oh boy am I old )

    But was long time user V8iss10 (8.11.09.919) dabbler CE  update 16 (10.16.00.80) 

    MicroStation user since 1990 Melbourne Australia.
    click link to PM me 

  • Thanks, Lorys. I suspected as much, but I'd hoped I was wrong. Thanks for looking!

    MaryB

    Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918
    Power InRoads 08.11.09.918
    OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2

        

  • Fence Stretch Rotate (and Scale) were casualties of tool streamlining. The main issue, if I remember correctly (it's been at least 8 years), was that "Stretch" was presented on the GUI as a Fence Mode. Stretch is not a Fence Mode, stretch is the operation to be applied to elements that satisfy a fence whose Fence Mode is Overlap.

    To sort this out during the big V8 tool upgrade, Fence Stretch was made its own stand-alone tool instead of being a "Mode" on all other manipulate tools. Since the Rotate option was infrequently used (and Scale even less so), this "new" Fence Stretch tool was created to support the most commonly used translate behavior only; mostly to keep the tool settings more friendly.

    Fast forward to present day. Fence Stretch Rotate/Scale never made a return because it's removal largely went unnoticed. That said, the published C++ api in Connect would still support rotate and scale as FenceManager::StretchElement just takes a transform to apply to vertices inside the fence. So, it would be possible for some enterprising chap to create such a tool.

    HTH

    -B



    Answer Verified By: MaryB 

Reply
  • Fence Stretch Rotate (and Scale) were casualties of tool streamlining. The main issue, if I remember correctly (it's been at least 8 years), was that "Stretch" was presented on the GUI as a Fence Mode. Stretch is not a Fence Mode, stretch is the operation to be applied to elements that satisfy a fence whose Fence Mode is Overlap.

    To sort this out during the big V8 tool upgrade, Fence Stretch was made its own stand-alone tool instead of being a "Mode" on all other manipulate tools. Since the Rotate option was infrequently used (and Scale even less so), this "new" Fence Stretch tool was created to support the most commonly used translate behavior only; mostly to keep the tool settings more friendly.

    Fast forward to present day. Fence Stretch Rotate/Scale never made a return because it's removal largely went unnoticed. That said, the published C++ api in Connect would still support rotate and scale as FenceManager::StretchElement just takes a transform to apply to vertices inside the fence. So, it would be possible for some enterprising chap to create such a tool.

    HTH

    -B



    Answer Verified By: MaryB 

Children
No Data