I am trying to export a dgn file to dwg and for some reason every instance of identical cells get exported as separate blocks in the dwg file (i.e. 10 instances of cell 327W get exported as 327W_1, 327W_2, etc.). The cells are normal cells in the dgn file (not shared). In the export tool I have it selected to create single block for duplicated cells but for some reason it always turns out the same. Any ideas or tips would be appreciated.
Update: When I open the dwg file MS the cells are now showing as shared cells all with individual definitions. No clue why the dwg version of this file is showing as shared cells but maybe that's a clue for someone with more experience than me.
Mike Galley said:No clue why the dwg version of this file is showing as shared cells but maybe that's a clue for someone with more experience than me
MicroStation has several types of cell, including normal and shared cells. AutoCAD blocks are equivalent to MicroStation shared cells. When you export a DGN file as DWG, normal cells are converted to blocks. See this help article.
Regards, Jon Summers LA Solutions
Thanks Jon, that makes sense. Any idea why MicroStation takes multiple instances of a normal cell, call it CellA, and creates individual Autocad blocks ,or shared cells, on export (CellA_1, CellA_2, etc.)? Is this simply a limitation of the export command? I've tested importing the dgn directly to Autocad and the results are the same so maybe it's the only way Autocad can interpret normal cells.
I think MicroStation is seeing a slight variation in the cell and this why it is creating a new block. I blocked out all the other cell elements except for two cells and found the only difference was the rotation angle of the circle that was part of the cell. I made a copy of the cell and there was no duplicate block created as the rotation angle is the same but in the cell where there was slight rotation difference (2 degrees) a new block was created.
Cell Sample_V8.dwg
I am confirming with development to see if this would be considered defect or by design which would require a change request in functionality.
Regards,
Regie
Disregard previous post. I tested the original file in MicroStation V8i SS10 and this does not occur.
I filed Defect 1132030 for this issue against MicroStation CONNECT Edition.
Does data cleanup has same issue with these cells?
Hi Oto,
I am not sure about that. One thing I did notice that circle in cell 327W, become an arc in the translated DWG. This might have something to do with issue.
I would suggest starting a new forum post to address the data cleanup issue you are describing.
Thanks again for looking into this Regie, it is much appreciated.