SVG Export

Unknown said:

SVG can contain more than the graphic elements. It is good to know that SVG could be used as a container for information.

You don't have to be a programmer to understand SVG or XML — they are plain text files, albeit with lots of angle brackets, the same as HTML. You can see the content of an SVG file using a simple text editor. However, something that interprets XML can present the structure of the data: for example XML Notepad or Internet Explorer.

Unknown said:

Is the accuracy of SVG similar to CAD or to illustration graphics software?

The coordinates passed in SVG are decimal numbers. They are as accurate as the creating software wants them to be.

Unknown said:

I am looking for ways to transport information from CAD to other applications, such as facility management or quantity take off.

SVG conveys vectors, including shapes and Bezier curves. It includes symbology such as line weight, style, and fills for closed shapes. In other words, it's a close match to MicroStation 2D graphics.

Additional data would not be useful to an SVG viewer, but equally the viewer should simply ignore additional data. But an FM application might be designed to accept SVG with additional markup, such as room type or door code, if the source application could export such data.

John,

having no knowledge and experience in programming I am restricted to talking from a user's point of view.

What you point out concerning the benefits of XML is very interesting. I was not aware of the fact, that SVG can contain more than the graphic elements. It is good to know that SVG could be used as a container for information. Is the accuracy of SVG similar to CAD or to illustration graphics software?

Actually I am looking for ways to transport information from CAD to other applications, such as facility management or quantity take off. A standard format like SVG would be great to simplify import and export from and to these applications.

Recently my research for an FM application led to a product called Morada (http://www.smbag.de/), which uses SVG to represent the graphics in the FM application. Thus they can make the graphics accessible without the need of a CAD viewer. With your information I can have a talk with them, wether SVG could be a way to get information into the system (now they have a own AutoCAD plugin to get the data from DWG to Morada).

Thank you for sharing your insights.

Regards

Gunnar

Unknown said:

SVG is intended and useful for creating web content.

SVG is a vendor-neutral public format for describing 2D illustrations. Because it's an XML grammar, it has other benefits. For example, it's possible to pass other data with the drawing, including hyperlinks. It would be straightforward to add attributes, such as level names, to the SVG vectors.

PostScript and PDF both depend on the goodwill of a single a vendor. While I have nothing but admiration for Adobe, ultimately one company owns & controls those data formats.

There is value in Bentley supporting SVG. But, the present SVG Export option seems unworkable. As you suggest, PostScript provides a useful workaround.

Jon Summers:

posted the topic because I had suggested using SVG in reponse to the question, "How do I export DGN vectors to Illustrator?"

John,

Using Postscript is the traditional way. In the V7 days there has been an excellent Bentley Technote or MicroStation Manager article by Frank Conforti about achieving good results in producing postcript for illustration purposes. PDF is a good alternative to Postscript. Results of imported PDF to Illustrator are as expected. Both are great if you do not want to edit the imported graphics in Illustrator, but just place it in your illustrator illustration.

However, I didn´t manage to import a pdf with levels to an illustrator file with levels yet. (MicroStation V8i V08.11.05.17 German and Illustrator CS3 V13.02 German) Importing the level structure IMO is crucial if you want to edit the graphics in Illustrator effectively to improve its appeareance. In this case IMO the best way to get DGN to Illustrator is DWG. Illustrator recreates the whole level structure so that for programmers it should be easy to apply Illustrator level styles to the imported DWG levels using VBA. Even if you do this manually, you can give your DGN files a stylish look in Illustrator very quickly.

In some cases I had issues with text, but this can be solved if you drop the text to conturs before you save to DWG. Compared to PDF import the imported graphics from DWG the lines may have different weights. But for the workflow I mentioned above this isn´t an issue, because you will change this anyway.

Adobe is a member of the Open Design Alliance, so I expect them to use the alliances OpenDWG libraries. In any case the DWG import to Illustrator is excellent. 

IMO SVG is intended and useful for creating web content.

HTH

Gunnar 

Unknown said:

I don't think they have worked it all out yet ...

Unknown said:

I tried to open my sample file in Inkscape (Version 0.46). The result for this file was very close to perfect.

Thanks for your comments — it's useful to know that I'm not alone in having trouble. I posted the topic because I had suggested using SVG in reponse to the question, "How do I export DGN vectors to Illustrator?" I had assumed that the SVG export option in MicroStation was added for just that purpose, but I made the wrong assumption. Jared's comment seems to summarise the state of play.