Relationship between: File Settings > Working Units: (a) Linear Units vs (b) Advanced Settings Resolution vs (c) GCS defined units (Geographic Coordinate System)

What version (e.g. v10.x.y.z) of MicroStation are you using?

Neil Usefara said:

File Settings > Working Units

Be aware that units apply to a DGN model, not a DGN file.   A DGN file is a container; it contains DGN models.  A model may be 2D or 3D.  Models in a DGN file are independent of one another.  That is, a DGN file can contain a mix of 2D and 3D models, and each model may have different unit settings.

MicroStation help tells us about Working Units and Advanced Unit Settings.

Hi Neil,

well, you opened quite complex question ;-)

Neil Usefara said:

the 3 types of units of measure

They are not "units of measure" to be precise. In fact, it's about mixing different concepts and to compare apples and oranges.

Neil Usefara said:

that are displayed in Design File Settings and GCS.

It would be nice to follow, as Jon asked, the best practices, and to specify used product, its version, and also to provide more precise information what setting do you mean. To share e.g. a picture of dialog or a link to documentation, where the setting is described, makes the discussion simpler and more efficient.

Neil Usefara said:

Advanced Settings Resolution Units

General recommendation is "do not touch them", because when you will change them, you will (A) probably corrupt existing model (because its size will change) and (B) there are some consequences when DGN V8 is exported e.g to V7.

These settings describes how values (coordinates) are stored internally in DGN V8 and also provide some basic information what they mean. Default values fit (I guess) 99,9% of scenarios. To change the setting is possible, but it's recommended to know very well how DGN V8 format is designed and what consequences are.

Neil Usefara said:

Linear Units

They are units you choose to work with. They do not tell anything more than when a value is used to express a coordinate, what it means for the user (which, typically, is equal what it means in real world).

Working units have no relation to how coordinates are stored, because they are converted into UOR (units of resolution) at background. In other words, when one model uses meters and another millimeters, internal value can be the same.

Neil Usefara said:

GCS

GCS system is built on top of working units, and as you wrote, it adds extra information about used geographic coordinate system.

With regards,

  Jan

However you set them, it is important to start off with the correct settings in your seed file. Trying to update any of the units in files that have data in them can be a real headache. We went through that with a lot of companies in the upgrade from MicroStation V7 to V8. 

Jan Šlegr said:

Neil Usefara said:

Advanced Settings Resolution Units

General recommendation is "do not touch them", because when you will change them, you will (A) probably corrupt existing model (because its size will change) and (B) there are some consequences when DGN V8 is exported e.g to V7.

These settings describes how values (coordinates) are stored internally in DGN V8 and also provide some basic information what they mean. Default values fit (I guess) 99,9% of scenarios. To change the setting is possible, but it's recommended to know very well how DGN V8 format is designed and what consequences are.

I always make sure the advanced units definition matches the master unit definition (Meters - Meter, US Survey Feet - US Survey Feet, etc.).

This setting us used by the GSC definition. If you're attaching a GCS defined in Meters to a model whose Advanced resolution is set to Feet you will get the following

Any time you're attaching a GCS whose units do not match your advanced resolution definition you will get a similar dialog.

To build on this question/concept of Working Units, Resolution Units, Global Origin, Geographic Coordinate System, 2D/3D
As suggested in this thread, these are the settings that are typically set in the seed file(s)/models for a client/workspace/project (workset)

There many more seed files available/that need to be configured/utilized in the new CONNECT versions:
          MicroStation, OpenRoads Designer, OpenBridge Modeler, OpenSite Designer, etc.
                       Design Models (2D/3D), Drawing Models (2D/3D), Sheet Models (2D) - to name a few

We have several projects where users did not select the correct seed file(s) when creating DGN files using MicroStation, OpenRoads and OpenBridge. This project has started to spiral out of control - DGNs not referencing correctly to each other, text and dimension styles not matching the units of the file(s), programs crashing, etc.

Is there some type of script/batch file available that could be run against a project that would "report" on the Working Units, Resolution Units, Global Origin, Geographic Coordinate System, 2D/3D for each file/each model - in every DGN file in the project selected?

I am not looking for the script to change anything... just generate a report. Otherwise, would have to open/record this information on each/every DGN file in the project to determine which files need to be "fixed" - to conform to/match the correct settings 

David Allen said:

generate a report

Assuming that you're using MicroStation CONNECT, then a Report can probably provide what you ask.  To get you started, here's a step-by-step guide to writing a report about references.