MS CE 10.16: dynamic block as with autocad

No, MicroStation does not have this functionality with Cells. It has been discussed & requested many, many times, and there probably is a service request in existence for the functionality to be added, but I wouldn't expect it to come to fruition, any time soon.

yes don't  hold your breath waiting.for that... but at least we can edit text in cells with the text editor.. never used  be able in the old days... and you can use the fence stretch tool to modify most cells that I wished were dynamic block types... but I agree it would be  welcome addition .. possibly  CE50 or more ....

Laurent Marseille said:

that is to say that this cell could stick to a line which becomes its reference

This should be possible with Mstn using Constraints. Mstn's Constraints have more options compared with what is available with ACAD Dynamic Blocks, which are 2d only.

OBD U8/ Mstn 15.2. The problems start when the user saves the contrained geometry as a Cell (Parametric) so that you can re-use the constrained Cell elsewhere without having to re-apply the Constraints. Once the Cell is placed, you will find it difficult to grab and modify the LIne which is nested in the Cell. Modifiying nested elements seems to be possible in Parametric Solids saved as Parametric Cells, but not when regular geometry is constrained and saved as Parametric Cells. Hopefully something that will be fixed in future.

The other bummer is that when the Cell is dropped, the Constraints are lost. Apparently this WAD, which I can't see being very helpful. If the user saves the constrained geometry AND inserts the Cells as Parametric Cell then you would expect the parametrics to be available. It might be helpful to help save space by stripping the constraints info but this can be easily accommodated by providing the option to place Parametric Cells as dumb Graphic Cells in the Place Cell tool.

These obvious gaps have been pointed out years ago now. Hopefully to be resolved soon.

Mstn constraints: so much power yet so unusable.

Constraints Cell to Line.dgn

I'm an architect who used MicroStation from 1993 until 2000 then, for the past 22 years, AutoCAD. I preferred MicroStation however and kept my own personal purchase of it up-to-date and renewed all these years. I'm now recently retired and do a little architectural consulting work and have access to all of my past work which is mostly in .dwg format. There is a lot about AutoCAD that I don't like BUT, dynamic blocks are an extremely useful feature. I used them extensively for things like, in plans, different configurations of stud walls, and wall components, multiple column types and sizes available in one block controlled by visibility settings, different types of plumbing fixtures, furniture and so on. In sections for things like suspended ceiling ties, ceiling elements, wood sections, masonry courses, etc., etc., etc.

I remember years ago when MicroStation first started having the ability to open, read and write .dwg files directly, Bentley stated, unequivocally, that any incompatibilities with AutoCAD files would be treated as bugs and would be solved so that we could work seamlessly with .dwg. That however certainly appears to have been forgotten by Bentley. As I'm now getting back into MicroStation again and attempting to work with some of my many .dwg files I find it very disappointing, after all these years since AutoCAD developed dynamic blocks, that none of them function when I open them with Connect. And, what is more frustrating, is that from comments in this thread, it seems that this functionality has been requested many times by users and has fallen on deaf ears at Bentley. When I started using MicroStation in the early 90's,  Bentley was active and responsive to its users and that set it apart from AutoDesk back in the day.

From what I can tell by studying the use of constraints and parametric cells, my opinion is that these don't compare at all to the tremendous functionality I and my employees gained via the many dynamic blocks I created and used in my office.

All I can say is, come on Bentley, respond to your users like you did years ago, live up to the promise you made that incompatibilities with AutoCAD would be treated as bugs and fixed and give us this extremely useful functionality so we may work seamlessly with .dwg files.

Alan Roberts said:

Bentley was active and responsive to its users and that set it apart from AutoDesk back in the day.

Those days are long ago, it is a very different situation now. Personally, I wouldn't hold out any hope of ever finding your Dynamic blocks to be functional within MicroStation. I guess you have a choice to either stick with AutoCAD, or live without them and make use of whatever offerings CE provides.