Displaying Shapefiles

MicroStation V8i SS4, 08.11.09.829

Power Geopak V8i SS4, 08.11.09.878

I routinely reference file attach shapefiles to my dgn basemap files.  Some shapefiles I can simply reference file attach in MicroStation and the graphics will display just fine, other shapefiles, after attaching, I then have to active Bentley Map to get them to display.

Why is this?  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?

Thanks,

Brian L.

Parents
  • Brian,

     

    Through discussions here and with our Development staff we can answer your question of …”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 activate Bentley Map to get them to display?” by saying that it works with Bentley Map because Map relies on a set of common coordinate system libraries from GDAL, and GDAL has a tendency to reformat ESRI .prj files to their liking prior to providing it to 3rd-party developers.

     

    Now for the second part of, “Why is this? The answer is a bit more complicated, because The PRJ fragment causing the problem within the .prj file is (in red):

    PROJCS["WGS_1984_Web_Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere",

    GEOGCS["GCS_WGS_1984",

    DATUM["D_WGS_1984",

    SPHEROID["WGS_1984",6378137.0,298.257223563]],

    PRIMEM["Greenwich",0.0],UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]],

    PROJECTION["Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",0.0],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0.0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",0.0],PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_1",0.0],PARAMETER["Auxiliary_Sphere_Type",0.0],UNIT["Meter",1.0],AUTHORITY["EPSG",3857]]

     

    This is the way ESRI now appears to represent the WebMercator projection, by introducing a Projection they invented based on the measurements of a sphere. In contrast, Bentley assumes that all models require high-accuracy cartography, and use the Spheroid in projection and coordinate system calculations. When converting to other datums it must be considered a spheroid (The ordinary GRS1980 or WSG1984 spheroid) – your DGN file contains a GCS & datum based on a spheroid. In the cases where this Mercator Auxiliary Sphere is in use, MicroStation cannot correctly perform the reprojection; and-so does not offer the “Geographic-Reprojected” orientation option.

     

    This is how Bentley chose to represent this coordinate system:

    PROJCS["EPSG:3857",

    GEOGCS["GCS_Sphere_WGS84",

    DATUM["SphereWGS84",

    SPHEROID["SphereWGS84",6378137.0,0.0],TOWGS84[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]],

    PRIMEM["Greenwich",0.0],UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]],

    PROJECTION["Mercator"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",0.0],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0.0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",0.0],PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_1",0.0],UNIT["Meter",1.0]]

     

    You can replicate this in the .prj file used with your file by adjusting the SphereWGS84 datum. MicroStation and other Bentley products will automatically recognize it. For other products, the SPHEROID clearly indicates it is a Sphere and the TOWGS84 parameter indicates that it is a spherical datum conversion to an ellipsoidal WGS84 datum, through a null transformation (e.g. Google Earth may still not recognize the transformation). We’ve made the adjustment in the attached .prj file.

     

    So, because it seems that this ESRI .prj file is becoming more popular and freely available from GIS data distribution sites, we plan to correct the issue in a future release of MicroStation. In the meantime, you can do one of these things:

     

    – Activate Bentley Map in GEOPAK prior to attaching the reference file

    – Use the attached .prj file as a replacement

    – Manually set the MicroStation coordinate system to EPSG:3857, which is included in our dictionary.

         (some prefer to do this in a secondary DGN File --import the Shapefile and save the DGN file. Then reference that DGN file to your active file)

     

    Filter_by_Graphic_Results.prj

     



    Answer Verified By: Brian L. 

  • Unknown said:

    Brian,

     

    Through discussions here and with our Development staff we can answer your question of …”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 activate Bentley Map to get them to display?” by saying that it works with Bentley Map because Map relies on a set of common coordinate system libraries from GDAL, and GDAL has a tendency to reformat ESRI .prj files to their liking prior to providing it to 3rd-party developers.

     

    Now for the second part of, “Why is this? The answer is a bit more complicated, because The PRJ fragment causing the problem within the .prj file is (in red):

    PROJCS["WGS_1984_Web_Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere",

    GEOGCS["GCS_WGS_1984",

    DATUM["D_WGS_1984",

    SPHEROID["WGS_1984",6378137.0,298.257223563]],

    PRIMEM["Greenwich",0.0],UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]],

    PROJECTION["Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",0.0],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0.0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",0.0],PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_1",0.0],PARAMETER["Auxiliary_Sphere_Type",0.0],UNIT["Meter",1.0],AUTHORITY["EPSG",3857]]

     

    This is the way ESRI now appears to represent the WebMercator projection, by introducing a Projection they invented based on the measurements of a sphere. In contrast, Bentley assumes that all models require high-accuracy cartography, and use the Spheroid in projection and coordinate system calculations. When converting to other datums it must be considered a spheroid (The ordinary GRS1980 or WSG1984 spheroid) – your DGN file contains a GCS & datum based on a spheroid. In the cases where this Mercator Auxiliary Sphere is in use, MicroStation cannot correctly perform the reprojection; and-so does not offer the “Geographic-Reprojected” orientation option.

     

    This is how Bentley chose to represent this coordinate system:

    PROJCS["EPSG:3857",

    GEOGCS["GCS_Sphere_WGS84",

    DATUM["SphereWGS84",

    SPHEROID["SphereWGS84",6378137.0,0.0],TOWGS84[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]],

    PRIMEM["Greenwich",0.0],UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]],

    PROJECTION["Mercator"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",0.0],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0.0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",0.0],PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_1",0.0],UNIT["Meter",1.0]]

     

    You can replicate this in the .prj file used with your file by adjusting the SphereWGS84 datum. MicroStation and other Bentley products will automatically recognize it. For other products, the SPHEROID clearly indicates it is a Sphere and the TOWGS84 parameter indicates that it is a spherical datum conversion to an ellipsoidal WGS84 datum, through a null transformation (e.g. Google Earth may still not recognize the transformation). We’ve made the adjustment in the attached .prj file.

     

    So, because it seems that this ESRI .prj file is becoming more popular and freely available from GIS data distribution sites, we plan to correct the issue in a future release of MicroStation. In the meantime, you can do one of these things:

     

    – Activate Bentley Map in GEOPAK prior to attaching the reference file

    – Use the attached .prj file as a replacement

    – Manually set the MicroStation coordinate system to EPSG:3857, which is included in our dictionary.

         (some prefer to do this in a secondary DGN File --import the Shapefile and save the DGN file. Then reference that DGN file to your active file)

     

    Filter_by_Graphic_Results.prj

     

    Unknown said:

    Brian,

     

    Through discussions here and with our Development staff we can answer your question of …”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 activate Bentley Map to get them to display?” by saying that it works with Bentley Map because Map relies on a set of common coordinate system libraries from GDAL, and GDAL has a tendency to reformat ESRI .prj files to their liking prior to providing it to 3rd-party developers.

     

    Now for the second part of, “Why is this? The answer is a bit more complicated, because The PRJ fragment causing the problem within the .prj file is (in red):

    PROJCS["WGS_1984_Web_Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere",

    GEOGCS["GCS_WGS_1984",

    DATUM["D_WGS_1984",

    SPHEROID["WGS_1984",6378137.0,298.257223563]],

    PRIMEM["Greenwich",0.0],UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]],

    PROJECTION["Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",0.0],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0.0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",0.0],PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_1",0.0],PARAMETER["Auxiliary_Sphere_Type",0.0],UNIT["Meter",1.0],AUTHORITY["EPSG",3857]]

     

    This is the way ESRI now appears to represent the WebMercator projection, by introducing a Projection they invented based on the measurements of a sphere. In contrast, Bentley assumes that all models require high-accuracy cartography, and use the Spheroid in projection and coordinate system calculations. When converting to other datums it must be considered a spheroid (The ordinary GRS1980 or WSG1984 spheroid) – your DGN file contains a GCS & datum based on a spheroid. In the cases where this Mercator Auxiliary Sphere is in use, MicroStation cannot correctly perform the reprojection; and-so does not offer the “Geographic-Reprojected” orientation option.

     

    This is how Bentley chose to represent this coordinate system:

    PROJCS["EPSG:3857",

    GEOGCS["GCS_Sphere_WGS84",

    DATUM["SphereWGS84",

    SPHEROID["SphereWGS84",6378137.0,0.0],TOWGS84[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]],

    PRIMEM["Greenwich",0.0],UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]],

    PROJECTION["Mercator"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",0.0],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0.0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",0.0],PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_1",0.0],UNIT["Meter",1.0]]

     

    You can replicate this in the .prj file used with your file by adjusting the SphereWGS84 datum. MicroStation and other Bentley products will automatically recognize it. For other products, the SPHEROID clearly indicates it is a Sphere and the TOWGS84 parameter indicates that it is a spherical datum conversion to an ellipsoidal WGS84 datum, through a null transformation (e.g. Google Earth may still not recognize the transformation). We’ve made the adjustment in the attached .prj file.

     

    So, because it seems that this ESRI .prj file is becoming more popular and freely available from GIS data distribution sites, we plan to correct the issue in a future release of MicroStation. In the meantime, you can do one of these things:

     

    – Activate Bentley Map in GEOPAK prior to attaching the reference file

    – Use the attached .prj file as a replacement

    – Manually set the MicroStation coordinate system to EPSG:3857, which is included in our dictionary.

         (some prefer to do this in a secondary DGN File --import the Shapefile and save the DGN file. Then reference that DGN file to your active file)

     

    Filter_by_Graphic_Results.prj

    So the short answer if it doesn't work then  open the prj file and if you see Web Mercator  then scroll further and find the EPSG number and search the library for the EPSG number..and 

    apply that manually .... and try to remember that  popular Web mapping  tends to use this  projection  ie google and bing...

    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 

Reply
  • Unknown said:

    Brian,

     

    Through discussions here and with our Development staff we can answer your question of …”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 activate Bentley Map to get them to display?” by saying that it works with Bentley Map because Map relies on a set of common coordinate system libraries from GDAL, and GDAL has a tendency to reformat ESRI .prj files to their liking prior to providing it to 3rd-party developers.

     

    Now for the second part of, “Why is this? The answer is a bit more complicated, because The PRJ fragment causing the problem within the .prj file is (in red):

    PROJCS["WGS_1984_Web_Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere",

    GEOGCS["GCS_WGS_1984",

    DATUM["D_WGS_1984",

    SPHEROID["WGS_1984",6378137.0,298.257223563]],

    PRIMEM["Greenwich",0.0],UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]],

    PROJECTION["Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",0.0],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0.0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",0.0],PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_1",0.0],PARAMETER["Auxiliary_Sphere_Type",0.0],UNIT["Meter",1.0],AUTHORITY["EPSG",3857]]

     

    This is the way ESRI now appears to represent the WebMercator projection, by introducing a Projection they invented based on the measurements of a sphere. In contrast, Bentley assumes that all models require high-accuracy cartography, and use the Spheroid in projection and coordinate system calculations. When converting to other datums it must be considered a spheroid (The ordinary GRS1980 or WSG1984 spheroid) – your DGN file contains a GCS & datum based on a spheroid. In the cases where this Mercator Auxiliary Sphere is in use, MicroStation cannot correctly perform the reprojection; and-so does not offer the “Geographic-Reprojected” orientation option.

     

    This is how Bentley chose to represent this coordinate system:

    PROJCS["EPSG:3857",

    GEOGCS["GCS_Sphere_WGS84",

    DATUM["SphereWGS84",

    SPHEROID["SphereWGS84",6378137.0,0.0],TOWGS84[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]],

    PRIMEM["Greenwich",0.0],UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]],

    PROJECTION["Mercator"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",0.0],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0.0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",0.0],PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_1",0.0],UNIT["Meter",1.0]]

     

    You can replicate this in the .prj file used with your file by adjusting the SphereWGS84 datum. MicroStation and other Bentley products will automatically recognize it. For other products, the SPHEROID clearly indicates it is a Sphere and the TOWGS84 parameter indicates that it is a spherical datum conversion to an ellipsoidal WGS84 datum, through a null transformation (e.g. Google Earth may still not recognize the transformation). We’ve made the adjustment in the attached .prj file.

     

    So, because it seems that this ESRI .prj file is becoming more popular and freely available from GIS data distribution sites, we plan to correct the issue in a future release of MicroStation. In the meantime, you can do one of these things:

     

    – Activate Bentley Map in GEOPAK prior to attaching the reference file

    – Use the attached .prj file as a replacement

    – Manually set the MicroStation coordinate system to EPSG:3857, which is included in our dictionary.

         (some prefer to do this in a secondary DGN File --import the Shapefile and save the DGN file. Then reference that DGN file to your active file)

     

    Filter_by_Graphic_Results.prj

     

    Unknown said:

    Brian,

     

    Through discussions here and with our Development staff we can answer your question of …”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 activate Bentley Map to get them to display?” by saying that it works with Bentley Map because Map relies on a set of common coordinate system libraries from GDAL, and GDAL has a tendency to reformat ESRI .prj files to their liking prior to providing it to 3rd-party developers.

     

    Now for the second part of, “Why is this? The answer is a bit more complicated, because The PRJ fragment causing the problem within the .prj file is (in red):

    PROJCS["WGS_1984_Web_Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere",

    GEOGCS["GCS_WGS_1984",

    DATUM["D_WGS_1984",

    SPHEROID["WGS_1984",6378137.0,298.257223563]],

    PRIMEM["Greenwich",0.0],UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]],

    PROJECTION["Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",0.0],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0.0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",0.0],PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_1",0.0],PARAMETER["Auxiliary_Sphere_Type",0.0],UNIT["Meter",1.0],AUTHORITY["EPSG",3857]]

     

    This is the way ESRI now appears to represent the WebMercator projection, by introducing a Projection they invented based on the measurements of a sphere. In contrast, Bentley assumes that all models require high-accuracy cartography, and use the Spheroid in projection and coordinate system calculations. When converting to other datums it must be considered a spheroid (The ordinary GRS1980 or WSG1984 spheroid) – your DGN file contains a GCS & datum based on a spheroid. In the cases where this Mercator Auxiliary Sphere is in use, MicroStation cannot correctly perform the reprojection; and-so does not offer the “Geographic-Reprojected” orientation option.

     

    This is how Bentley chose to represent this coordinate system:

    PROJCS["EPSG:3857",

    GEOGCS["GCS_Sphere_WGS84",

    DATUM["SphereWGS84",

    SPHEROID["SphereWGS84",6378137.0,0.0],TOWGS84[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]],

    PRIMEM["Greenwich",0.0],UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]],

    PROJECTION["Mercator"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",0.0],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0.0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",0.0],PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_1",0.0],UNIT["Meter",1.0]]

     

    You can replicate this in the .prj file used with your file by adjusting the SphereWGS84 datum. MicroStation and other Bentley products will automatically recognize it. For other products, the SPHEROID clearly indicates it is a Sphere and the TOWGS84 parameter indicates that it is a spherical datum conversion to an ellipsoidal WGS84 datum, through a null transformation (e.g. Google Earth may still not recognize the transformation). We’ve made the adjustment in the attached .prj file.

     

    So, because it seems that this ESRI .prj file is becoming more popular and freely available from GIS data distribution sites, we plan to correct the issue in a future release of MicroStation. In the meantime, you can do one of these things:

     

    – Activate Bentley Map in GEOPAK prior to attaching the reference file

    – Use the attached .prj file as a replacement

    – Manually set the MicroStation coordinate system to EPSG:3857, which is included in our dictionary.

         (some prefer to do this in a secondary DGN File --import the Shapefile and save the DGN file. Then reference that DGN file to your active file)

     

    Filter_by_Graphic_Results.prj

    So the short answer if it doesn't work then  open the prj file and if you see Web Mercator  then scroll further and find the EPSG number and search the library for the EPSG number..and 

    apply that manually .... and try to remember that  popular Web mapping  tends to use this  projection  ie google and bing...

    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 

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