POP UPS

Hi Anthony,

As was already suggested, docking the desired pop-ups/dialogs to the MicroStation interface would be the best consistent option available. Once you dock them, you must Save Settings (CTRL+f) so they are in the same location for future sessions. Here is a Wiki article on this topic:
https://communities.bentley.com/products/microstation/w/microstation__wiki/38082/docking-a-dockable-dialog-in-microstation-connect-edition

-Jayson P.

Sadly not all pop-ups/dialogues are dockable. Will this change in the future? Would be suuuuuper helpful to those of us whom regularly change screen layouts; usually not by choice.

I guess I can't picture why you would need some of the dialogs you mention open all the time. You talk about button assignments, function key settings, keyboard shortcuts...how often are you actually changing those? Those are driven by settings files that can be mapped through configuration variables so that the correct file is read every time. open the dialogs to set them up the way you want them, save the file, set your configuration to find it, and you never have to touch them again. I've been using the same function key menu for probably a decade. Occasionally I will revise it to add a command I am using more frequently, or to remove something I never use, but I'm not editing it multiple times a day.  The same with button assignments - I set that up to my preference, and I never touch it. I don't understand why you would need those open and docked all the time.

mlm said:

what are the criteria to discern them

Modal dialog is one that mandates the user to enter information before the application can proceed. It does not work simultaneously with other dialogs, including the parent dialog. Example: Confirmation dialog box.

No no, I don't leave them constantly open, but docking them stabilises their position somewhat. Sadly not all dialoges dock, so the struggle continues.

I'm less than a year into my Microstation journey, but I am loving every second of it and streamlining the interface is my main interaction with it at this time.

My primary goal is being able to navigate the tools and dialogues with little mouse movement and zero keyboard interaction other than text, to liberate myself from the ghastly ribbon interface.

I have a 3D Connexion SpaceMouse and CadMouse, and a Huion Keydial for heaps of macros that require near-zero hand movement.


This is my current primary popup menu assigned to Shift+Ctrl+Alt+Data which I trigger with a mouse macro. I'm still populating it as I learn which tools I need access to most frequently and I am constantly assigning new tools and reordering it. I have a few other popups, but most commands will go into this menu and into sub-sub-sub menus as needed.

I feel there is too much of a culture of just learning how to use a system as it is handed to you instead of changing it so it makes sense to you. Which is why so many users are reluctant to try new technology, because they get locked into one way of working and not realising that they can 90% of the time bring their flow with them, if they bothered to learn how to customise.

This is my workspace. I use a secondary window as my canvas and dock what I can to the right screen. Docked dialogues will return to their position in an app window if they have been closed, whereas if they are floating they can go haywire with position if screen layout changes, which can be often for people who ae forced to hot desk. References, Level manager and level display are in constant use when I am drafting.

As long as we are sharing screen shots...  Yes, we use MIcrostation a lot more efficiently via customizations.  We have a lot of vba tools and use the toolbox interface--it's small and has direct access to a lot of the tools we use.  I also have ribbon customizations to give us access to tools we need and the vba routines.

--Robert

Nice setup!

I have a version of the old Main Classic toolbox to cover the bulk of my drafting tools, and I'm toying with something similar for my OpenRoads tools. Get as many tools in front of me so that I don't have to go back and forth between workflows and ribbon tabs and toolbars.

Nice setup!

I have a version of the old Main Classic toolbox to cover the bulk of my drafting tools, and I'm toying with something similar for my OpenRoads tools. Get as many tools in front of me so that I don't have to go back and forth between workflows and ribbon tabs and toolbars.