This started in a thread in the annotation forum and someone suggested this topic, so as one who likes trowing rocks at bee hives, I took up the baton and am going to kick this off.
Later, after others have added to this list, I will post AutoCAD features that I like that MicroStation does not offer...
Who's next?
Two words: Workspace Configuration.
(-:
Bingo! I just thought about this issue. This week, I was swamped with production work. But our AutoCAD license server kept turning itself off, and then, one of the guys from one of our other offices was platooned to our office for an AutoCAD project. So on three different days, he was on three different PC's. So on day 1, I had to run my special programs to configure Civil 3D to see our customizations. Had he been working in MicroStation, he would have simply launched from the standard icon.
Day 2 he gets moved to a new PC. Repeat process. Day 3 new PC - but deadlines were at this point at critical mass - so he was forced to work with OTB software.
Charles (Chuck) Rheault CADD Manager
MDOT State Highway Administration
Just to note that many AutoCad keyin commands can be used in the MicroStation keyin dialog just by typing in DWG before the command.
eg. DWG CIRCLE starts up the Place Circle tool in MicroStation
docs.bentley.com/.../ustnhelp1075.html
RegardsAndrew BellTechnical SupportBentley Systems
Mstn also has keyins both new and old ones ..and the old ones still work especially the ones on page 3 place xxx
to make them work in v8i you need to keyin p, then the command eg place a 50 mu circle by radius
the keyin is P,PCIRR;50
the first P is for primative (I think) the , p for place, cir for circle , r for by radius , and ;50 is what value radius
take a look at the pdf page for more place commands these also work very well in F keys or waiting for values by using the unterminated commands
see action strings in help file
There are also more keyins in the latest version see help but they are very long you can add custom short keys to accudraw too...
But I dont bother much nowdays as the icons are so quick where as in old days graphics slowed the pc down alot...
also look inside mstn for search ?menu*.dgn with explorer there is the old ver 5 one which has the keyins for the old digitiser tablet and a lot of these still work like place circle tangent to 3 points if pasted into Fkeys menu
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
Years ago, when I was in production, and our bonus pay was calculated on then number of error-free drawings we got out. So, yes, there is such a thing a production when it comes to CAD. Especially in the services industry. :-)
OK, here comes the inverse...
I really like the labeling tools of Civil 3D. It is similar to the Custom Codes portion of InRoads Survey, except it is 100% dynamic. And I like the Profile and Cross Section View objects. After they are placed, you can change the settings (think preferences) and they update. And if the alignment changes, they update to reflect the changes.
For a downside, you must be in the product to edit these either in a live project or a DWT template. Making changes to XIN files saves me many hours and keeps licenses free for production. I pray they do not change this anytime soon. Plus I use XML reports with the results saved to Excel to help analyze many settings in the XML files. I could only dream of having that capability for Civil 3D.
doesn't matter what drawing board you use. what matters is how you use it ...
/pt
We support both platforms. There are pros and cons for each in their functionality (or lack thereof). But, when it comes to CAD management it's not even close, MicroStation wins by a landslide. Two of the biggest reasons are dgnlibs and workspaces.
Have you ever had to tweak the color or line style of one of your standard levels? MicroStation is no problem, just update the dgnlib, and put it on the server. In AutoCAD you update the template file, but there is no automatic sync option. when you do apply updates from a template, any layer being used in the dwg file does not get updated. Same goes for Civil 3D styles.
What about changing/adding a workspace variable? In MicroStation you push out the updated config file. AutoCAD has profiles which you can update but the profile includes the MicroStation site,project,user, and interface settings in one package. Pushing out a new profile blows away any individual user preference type settings.
Rod WingSenior Systems Analyst
Plus, even if you have a shortcut that tries to load a full path profile, it will do nothing unless the profile within the program with the same name has been deleted.
IMHO, AutoCAD seems to be setup to run as a one man band. And when you post on the various forums out there, many of the responses seem to suggest someone who does not work in large workgroups. MicroStation's roots in IGDS have supported networks and large workgroups from day 1 and that pedigree is apparent to this day.
Unknown said: IMHO, AutoCAD seems to be setup to run as a one man band. And when you post on the various forums out there, many of the responses seem to suggest someone who does not work in large workgroups. MicroStation's roots in IGDS have supported networks and large workgroups from day 1 and that pedigree is apparent to this day.
I agree completely.
Not sure that fully explains why MS people are almost incapable of conversing legibly with solo/learners - very different on Acad forums and the various other kinds of forum where beginners want to learn, in my experience.
My experience on the "CAD" forums, has been that when I post a question, there is a better than 50% chance that I will get a response that is in direct opposition to what I asked, or will ask why I want to do something that in my question, I have already explained my constraints in detail.
Also, as one who came to the private sector after 18 years at a DOT, I see that too many large clients, like the DOT's, have blinders on when it comes to not just what everyone else is doing, but often when it comes to what the software is capable of.
Years ago, when we were still using IGDS and were only beginning to dabble in MicroStation, a project manager came to me because a consultant firm was asked to do something that for us, was simple. They had not only been unable to complete the task in more than a week, were not able to explain why they could not. I was asked as the CAD Manager to talk to them and find out what the problem was.
So it turns out, they were using AutoCAD and this was pre-xref and paper space days. So a number of design changes were proposed long after they had chopped up their designs to fit on sheets. For us, we had no such workflow, since clipped reference files were how we made sheets from day one and the overall design always existed intact in one file.
Someone had asked them to plot the overall design on a single long plot for a meeting. They were pulling ram from PC's every night, trying to reconstitute the overall plan, only to have AutoCAD crash without them ever being able to save the drawing. And by the next morning, they had to restore the PC's they had borrowed the RAM from for production.
Once they explained that because they were using AutoCAD, there no longer was a file that contained the overall design, and their efforts to reassemble the design was proving impossible, I had a simple sollution. I told them to go old school (although back then, no one used that phrase) and get out tape and scissors. Once I told them that I would run interference for them so that no one would question the solution, they were back on schedule.
I guess I've always been willing to think outside the box, long before it was the "thing to do!"