I've been looking at getting the best way to manage our title blocks within a plan set (page numbers, initials, etc) as well as some miscellaneous project data that appears thought the plan set (project numbers, client name, etc.). I'm curious as to what others are using and what kind of success they are having. I've looked at setting some WorkSet properties for some information and have also looked briefly at Item Types, but can't quite land on the best route.
Any recommendations?
MicroStation CONNECT and OpenRoads Designer
Hi Ken,
We're recently started using the new(ish) Workset Sheet Index and Cell-based Item Type Titleblock fields linked to an Excel lookup spreadsheet.
Because we are using multi-Sheet DGNs in drawing production, using ProjectWise document attributes for titleblock automation is insufficient as data is attached at file (DGN) level and not model level so data for multi-models can't be managed at this point of time.
This process uses Item Type expressions to use the Sheet Number (assigned by the Sheet Index) to then refer to the Lookup to get all the data we need in the Sheets. Works well in ProjectWise as well.
My only criticism is that the Sheet Index still needs some polish and can do some weird things when Sheets are deleted and recreated regularly - but it is being improved on with every new release.
Regards,
Mark
OpenRoads Designer 2023 | Microstation 2023.1 | ProjectWise 2023
Mark,
It sounds like the way your setup is similar to what I had in mind, albeit a very general picture in my mind. I didn't think the Sheet Index would get us all the way there and could benefit from the Item Types. Did you have any documentation that helped you along the way? I'm trying to figure out how to implement something of that sort, but can't quite put my finger on how to lay it out as a template for all future projects.
Andrew,
I've seen a lot of interesting things being done when working with PW, but we are not in PW unless our client dictates its use.
These links should help:
Item Types - Using Item Types and Text Fields in Title Blocks - Part 1 - Looking under the bonnet... - Peer Blogs - Bentley Communities
Creating Title block with Item type + EC Expression +Texts - MicroStation Blog - MicroStation - Bentley Communities
Naturally, best to tailor the process to how you want to work - more lookup table automation based or dgn property based, etc. but some versatility there. Unfortunately not as much documentation on this as we would like.
Thanks, Mark. I will give those a read through and see what I can come up with.