Not sure where to start - Editing Access database linked to model

Need some direction here...

I inherited a Microstation 2D model at work. It is littered with pipelines (in the form of lines), all on the appropriate levels (gas, oil, sewer, drain, etc).

There is some intelligence to the lines, with the use of an .mdb Access database.

Once I connect to the .mdb, (and using Review Database Attributes) I click on the line and it tells me what project the pipeline is associated with.

However, most of the lines have no such intelligence. That's fine.

The issue is no one (and I mean NO ONE) here knows how to add intelligence to those lines by editing the database.

I can draw the line on the correct level, but I don't know how to associate the line to the database, to add the project #, line service, line size, etc.

I honestly don't even know where the database is or how to find it.

Can anyone help me get started? How do I locate the database? How do I associate new lines I draw to the database?

Thanks.

Edit: I'm using Microstation Connect Update 14, Ver. 10.314.02.01

Parents
  • I use OpenCities Map Advanced for my connection to an access database with elements within a dgn linked to a record. Previous versions were named Bentley Map.

    This has a tool that allows me to edit the record from the database as i am in the dgn with a tool called VSQL Review. This tool is not available anywhere else that i know of.

    The setup is a learning curve but once it is, it is set. My dgn and database have been thru several version upgrades - Office and Map - and it still works as i need it too.

Reply
  • I use OpenCities Map Advanced for my connection to an access database with elements within a dgn linked to a record. Previous versions were named Bentley Map.

    This has a tool that allows me to edit the record from the database as i am in the dgn with a tool called VSQL Review. This tool is not available anywhere else that i know of.

    The setup is a learning curve but once it is, it is set. My dgn and database have been thru several version upgrades - Office and Map - and it still works as i need it too.

Children
  • I stand corrected. This seems to be a new feature in 2023 because I usually check each version to see if it has been included. I failed to do that on this one and only reason I can think of is I always got disappointed. I will do some testing with it and see if it does what little i need it to. This will allow me to have one less application installed if it works out. Thanks.

    Previous versions only had the tool to review the data attached to the element, but it would not allow any edits within the dialog as this one does - 

    BUT, checking to see if the tool to redisplay the lines of text within the file is available, i do not find it like VSQL Review was not available before - Text Manager Update - 

    This is also how i add new records to my database and at the same time establish the link to the design text element.

    So I will be keeping both applications after all.

  • This [VSQL] seems to be a new feature in 2023

    The database tools, VSQL included, have been part of MicroStation for decades.  You can connect to most relational databases using the built-in connectors, OLE-DB or ODBC.

    I'm rusty with Access, and there seem to be a lot of tables linked to one another that I'm not familiar with yet
    It would probably be a lot easier to create and use Item Types and forget databases all together

    I agree with Lorys.  If your knowledge of databases is imprecise and the structure of the existing Access database is a mystery, then a move to something simpler may be to your advantage.  If you have to learn something new, then focus on one product.  Item Types are part of MicroStation: you don't need to maintain an external database.  MicroStation Reports let you export DGN data, including Item instance data, for external analysis.

     
    Regards, Jon Summers
    LA Solutions

  • the tool itself did not appear to be available before now, i have previously looked and searched using the same tool name. there was/is something similar but does not allow editing the field and then clicking update to save it in the database.

  • Thanks Jon. Item Types seems to be the way to go. It does seem simpler to use. I am curious why the previous owner of this database chose to go with a database at all, and not Item Types.

    If I reference in the dgn that has the item types, am I still able to see those Item Types in Properties? We reference the dgn with the database for our drawings, and can Connect to the database in the new drawing just fine. It would be a shame to lose that  functionality.