Hello,
This is my first post here.
I wonder about few BIM model functionality things and how/if they are achievable in Microstation.
-Is there an option for hierarchical (tree-like) picklist?
For example you pick a value from picklist of order 1 and there is new picklist of order 2 showing up corresponding or associated with picklist of order 1. Imagine tree-llike classification of objects. If i pick "bridge" in the first picklist i will get options like "pier, abutment, ..." in the second picklist
-Is there a way to attach a set of attributes according to specific value in already defined atribute.
To explain. For example i pick "concrete object" as a value for object property attribute, this will trigger automatic assigning of a new set of attributes particular for concrete objects. This definately might require some programming, but is this possible? I have seen that there is a place to put formula into attribute value but this is not yet possible in my version of OpenBuilding
-Is there a way to obtain a property from an associative object into parent object attribute?
Lets say i have "associatively extracted face" on a smart solid object (concrete structure) and i assign attribute to that face "form work=true". In the parent object property there would be an attribute "formwork area" and there would be a rule set into the value to search for all child objects which are face-like and have attribute formwork=true and sum their areas.
-Is there a way to create arbitrary parent-child relations between any objects?
Associative extraction for edges and faces is a great tool how to assign metadata to parent objects (when solid is modelled as solid but you want to show its length so you just extract an edge and say this represents "meta length" of this solid. But what if i want to create relationship between any object and say this object with no apparent relation with another object, not even touching, is in relationship to embed some arbitrary hierarchy into model.
-GenerativeComponents for handling metadata and parametric cells ?
I have looked into generative components but have not found any nodes for assigning item types or similar functions for handling model metadata. Above mentioned functionality could be greatly automized via GC like with Revit/Dynamo. Another thing is how to load parametric cell into GC and change its parameters. I can only see a node to load basic static cell.
Thank to any of you for the informative answer :)
Ivan Galik said:For example you pick a value from picklist of order 1 and there is new picklist of order 2 showing up corresponding or associated with picklist of order 1. Imagine tree-llike classification of object
Vote for this Idea proposed by Mats Dahlberg.
Ivan Galik said:Is there a way to attach a set of attributes according to specific value in already defined atribute?
As you suppose, that kind of functionality requires an app. See our TagWorks product family.
Ivan Galik said:Is there a way to create arbitrary parent-child relations between any objects?
MicroStation does support relationships. However, those exposed by the user interface are limited in scope. The Bentley technology that helps to define relationships is EC Schemas.
EC Schemas are not exposed directly to users, although they inform much of what happens in MicroStation. For bed-time reading, look at the XML files you can find in ..\MicroStation\ECSchemas\Dgn. Do not change those files!
..\MicroStation\ECSchemas\Dgn
Regards, Jon Summers LA Solutions
Hi Ivan, GenerativeComponents still hasn't been upgraded to understand and drive either Parametric Cells or item types, this is something we are evaluating. MicroStation is not a BIM application, we have been working to keep reducing the gap with the BIM world but you will still find limitations when compared to our BIM design application for the different domains.
Thank you for your honest answer. I wonder how do you, people in Bentley, percieve newcomer to AEC Dassault systems? Their Catia AEC 3d experience seems like what we users have been looking for, something uncompromised, modern, complex design suite based on cloud. Other solutions from Bentley, Autodesk, Nemetschek seems to be a bit stuck in progress (microstation has got great features, but lacks other, which are important for automation, dynamo is great but revit is too constrained for buildings and not general purpose (cant even do fillets), allplan has no features to create road/rail alignment, tekla cant even do curves and is very specialized for one/two things). This is meant as no offense. I have no experience with Catia I can only judge by few presentation videos but i think that new player is neccessary to keep competition going. Complete transtition to BIM workflows are very dependent on the platform capabilities and I am personally dissapointed in 2020 there is still not one quite a complete platform. Even modelling kernel cores are still from 1980s.
As I mentioned we are evaluating on how to further progress our GC and make it a more modern and integrated solutions for our ecosystem of applications. We are working hard at introducing more and more property driven workflows and features into MicroStation CONNECT Edition: the evolution of Item Types with Expressions, their integration with parametric modeling, text favorites, lookups, etc are all steps we are taking to narrow as much as possible the gap between a traditional CAD software, like MicroStation was, and the present BIM world.
I can only speak for MicroStation and some of the features that are also leveraged other PowerPlatform applications and not for our BIM applications but a lot of the work we do is to also support the development of our Design applications.
Please add any specific suggestions for MicroStation to our ideas forum so that they can be voted and we can gauge appetite from the wider user base.
Are you - or were you - a Generative Components user in MicroStation V8i / OBD CONNECT Edition?
Thanks
I have some history with Dynamo but lately i have been playing with Grasshopper extensively, especially to create optimization loops with external FEA. I have noticed that VisualScripting is being introduced also for Allplan and other platforms, it is definately a good direction to go. Automation is a big next thing for our jobs I have only come to test Microstation recently because we use it in the company so i wanted to explore its capabilities. I think general purpose CAD like Microstation should always be prerequsite for a good BIM platform, but as you say it needs large portion of progress. I just wanna encourage you in that.