I need to convert several hundred drawings from DGN to DWG. I've been creating a remapping CSV to help with the conversion process. Many of the elements in the DGN files have colors that don't match the level that they are drawn on. The instructions in the CSV file say:
If the keyword “%bylevel” appears in the V8OutputColor or DwgOutputColor column, then every element that has the color indicated is changed to be ByLevel
This doesn't seem to work when converting to DWG. If I set the DWGOutputColor to "%bylevel" none of the colors are changed. If I set this to a value, 50ac for example, then it works fine.
To clarify, in the remapping csv this changes everything in the DWG to color 50:
Color,DWGOutputColor%unmapped,50ac
While this doesn't do anything:
Color,DWGOutputColor%unmapped,%bylevel
You can get the results that you want by using the remap table in the Save as DWG command. The same table can be used in the Batch Converted (not the Batch Processor). I suggest testing it with one file using the Save As DWG command before trying it in the Batch Converter.
When you access the Remap table in the Save As DWG command, you should see a nice multi-color Excel spreadsheet. If you are seeing the syntax that you posted, you may be in the CSV file. The Save As DWG command will create both a CSV file and an XLS File by the same name. It is easier to work in the XLS file directly through the Save as DWG command.
If you are in the XLS file and not seeing the multi-colors or if you can’t click on the box labeled “Show Optional Columns” and have the columns expand, then you have your Macro Security set too high in Excel. It needs to be set low for the remap table to work correctly.
By using the “%unmapped”, you are grabbing everything in the drawing that was not already mapped on a previous line. In your example you are grabbing all elements not just the white text.
You are also mapping the output to “bylevel” and the elements will take on the color assigned to the level they are located on. If your elements are on multiple levels with different colors assigned to them, then the elements would appear in multiple colors according to the color assigned to the level.
If the output is set to color 50ac, then all the elements would be mapped to the AutoCAD color 50.
If you want to change only the text and not all elements in the drawing, you need to use “optional qualifier columns” by checking on the box labeled “Show Optional Columns”. These columns are filters that can be used to narrow down what is going to be remapped in that row.
Try using these settings in the color tab of the remap table:
Color = %unmapped Element Type = 7 DWGOutputColor = %bylevel
The Element Type of 7 is the element number for Text. This line in the color remap table will only remap the text and no other element types. Remember the Element Type column is an Optional Column and is used similar to a filter.
To determine an element type, do the following in CONNECT:
Select the element that you want to know the element type of. Go to the Key-in browser and enter Analyze Element In the Element Information dialog box that appears, the number in brackets to the right of the element type is the Element Type number. Example: TEXT (7)
I've been using the remap table. I've tested it with the SaveAs drawing command as well as the batch convert command. As stated it does not work when using %bylevel. It will change it to a specific color (50ac for example) but will not switch it to by level. Adding the element type doesn't fix that issue.
I'm just going to use the 2-step workaround.