Displaying Shapefiles

Unknown said:

What is it about the shapefiles or the data, or the other files associated with the .shp file that makes it necessary for to have to activate Bentley Map to get them to display?

MicroStation is not a GIS app..  If the shapefile has attribute data in an associated database file, then Bentley Map is required to link those GIS attributes to DGN graphics.  If the shapefile has no attribute data, then plain old MicroStation can display the graphics.

If you don't care about the GIS attribute data, you could copy the shapefiles without the associated data files to a new folder, then attempt to get MicroStation to open those copies.  Let us know if that works for you.

Brian,

Do your "dgn basemap files" include an active geographic coordinate system? Does the folder that the Shapefiles are in contain a .prj file? If the answer to both are 'yes', and the systems are different, you should select the "Geographic- Reprojected" option when attaching a Shapefile as a reference. This should bring both sets of data into alignment.

In addition, if someone in your organization created a Custom Coordinate System using Bentley Map, then having that activated may bring the data into alignment while in Map.

Theoretically there is no difference in V8i between opening a DGN File using MicroStation vs. Bentley Map - all of the Coordinate system tools are contained in MicroStation - except the capability to create a Custom Coordinate System, which Map offers.

Look for that .prj file. If it is not present, find one for data in what should be the same coordinate system, copy & rename it to the Shapefile-name that is missing the .prj, and Reference-attach the .shp using the Geographic-Reprojected option. This may bring the data into alignment.

And if the .prj file is present, and none of the Reference Attachment orientation options bring the data into alignment, rename the .prj file and try again. Sometimes the details in the .prj weren't created properly, or the file is missing some spatial reference details. Renaming the file will cause MicroStation to ignore it and attach the data where it lays, without any sort of transformation or reprojection.

Brian, Besides the shape files (.shp) , you will need the corresponding .dbf and .prj files, otherwise they will not display.

Jon, Dan, Judy,  For all of my "shapefiles" I have .shp, .shx, .dbf & .prj files and nothing else.  Jon, if I separate any one of the other files from the .shp file then it will not reference file attach in MicroStation at all.  So you're solution does not work.  Dan, yes, I have a standard geographic coordinate system assigned to by basemap file.  It is not a custom coordinate system.  For the shapefile that I'm having issues with, when I select the shapefile on the "Attach Reference" dialog and select Geographic - Reprojected from the Attachment Method pulldown ... MicroStation is not "holding" that selection when it attaches the file.  The file comes in as "Coincident - World" without recognizing the coordinate system and with the ability to reproject the file grayed-out.

After I activate Bentley Map, the coordinate system is recognized and the ability to reproject the file is available.

Dan, I also think that it is something about the projection file, or the coordinate system itself.  But there must be some difference in what Bentley Map looks for in a projection file vs MicroStation. MicroStation must be expecting either more parameters or the parameters in a different order than Bentley Map?

Any more suggestions?

Thanks,

Brian L.

Limited functionality with shape files. This has always irked me. I keep a $400 GIS program just to get simple objects with simple attributes to CAD format. There are freeware GIS program, one is called QGIS, I should take the time to learn it. ESRI software, Bentley MAP are quite pricey for the limited functionality I require.
Some shape file data will load if the attributes are set a certain way, sometimes there are separate files for the attributes, but generally you just get shapes/points/lines. If you use Element Information on the objects you can see attribute data. If you're real good with MDL or Visual Basic you should be able to read it to elements.