Hi Experts,
I am trying to figure out if there is a way in MicroStation or OpenBuildings to measure distance along a curve using the Itemtype expression. As shown in the picture below, I have a B-spline curve and some Circles along the path but not on the curve, I am trying to project the centroid of the circle on a curve and then find the distance along the curve for the projected reference point. What would be the best way to achieve this task? I know with Generative components this can be done but for this exercise, I can not include GC in my workflow. Item type expression will be very helpful.
Thanks in Advance.
Jaimin Patel
Hi Jaimin
I am curious. Yes relatively easy to do in GenerativeComponents, but whats the ItemType Expression for? Are you trying to drive a recalculation of the DistanceAlong value and store that as a property on the object?
Stuart
Hi Stuart,
You are right, the ultimate goal is to short the elements along the path based on the distance along the path. If I could project the centre of the object on the path and then find the distance along the path and right it back to the element then I can create a list of circles and short them by distance along the path. There are some suggestions here, I haven't used VBA before, looks like I'll have to explore that path. Alternatively, I can explore GC workflow to do this but I will have to re-think my workflow and try to achieve the final product. I'll give it a try and if I have any issues, I'll post them on the GC Community page.
Regards,
Because it is kept as secret and offtopic - communities.bentley.com/.../generativecomponents---forum
is gc an extra addon or vertical product.that you have to pay extra for.? It doesnt seem to be part of microstation Vanilla out of the box right?
Lorys
Started msnt work 1990 - Retired Nov 2022 ( oh boy am I old )
But was long time user V8iss10 (8.11.09.919) dabbler CE update 16 (10.16.00.80)
MicroStation user since 1990 Melbourne Australia.click link to PM me
Lorys said:is gc an extra addon or vertical product.that you have to pay extra for.?
Generative Components (GC) was invented by Robert Aish many years ago (he was made an offer he couldn't refuse by AutoDesk shortly thereafter).
It's a separate product with its own installation. It may be delivered with OBD. It used to be delivered, in the early days, with MicroStation. It was originally cost free, but I don't know the current licensing offer.
What makes GC work is .NET technology. If you're unfamiliar with programming languages in general, or a dialect of C#, then it's probably not for you. I'm sure that someone like Stuart Milne could tell us more.
Regards, Jon Summers LA Solutions
It is now also included as an optional install with the Civil products (OpenRoads, OpenRail, OpenBridge). Don't understand why it's not included with Microstation, but that's a separate issue.
Mark
OpenRoads Designer 2022 R3 (10.12) | Microstation 2023.1 | ProjectWise CE 3.4
Jon Summers said:It's a separate product with its own installation. It may be delivered with OBD. It used to be delivered, in the early days, with MicroStation. It was originally cost free, but I don't know the current licensing offer.
Hi Jon. Its a technology included in the products OpenBuildings, OpenRoads, OpenRail, OpenBridge and OpenSite at no cost and is an optional install at installation time, or post installation if its been installed without it. There is no separate installation these days.
https://communities.bentley.com/products/products_generativecomponents/w/generative_components_community_wiki/56967/how-to-install-generative-components-as-companion-feature
Jon Summers said:What makes GC work is .NET technology. If you're unfamiliar with programming languages in general, or a dialect of C#, then it's probably not for you. I'm sure that someone like Stuart Milne could tell us more.
The initial concept way back in the day was born out of the idea of giving those who don't code, the ability to customise or automate workflows that was only ever reserved for code. The circles script above uses no code via the front end, its purely using the node and wire arrangement (visual scripting as some call it) to:
1. Identify the bspline and circles
2 Project the centre points of the circles to the bspline
3 Collect the points and re-arrange their order by distance along curve
4. Replace the circles by the relationship between the reordered points.
That said, while the most important concept is to give those the ability to customise or automate workflows without the need for code, there are some who can't wait to dive into the code side in GC, if they are that way inclined. Therefore a function node is available which uses a language called GCScript - very similar to C#. In addition, for those who are inclined, custom node creation is available via the usual channels - visual studio. But for most, they either can't or don't need to venture into the code side of things.