MicroStation Wiki Insert Longitude and Latitude Coordinates in a DGN file with Geographic Coordinates Systems in meters

Insert Longitude and Latitude Coordinates in a DGN file with Geographic Coordinates Systems in meters


	Applies To

	Product(s):	MicroStation
	Version(s):	08.11.09.459
	Environment:	N/A
	Area:	Coordinate Systems
	Subarea:	Geographic
	Original Author:	Maria Munoz, Bentley Technical Support Group

Insert Longitude and Latitude Coordinates in a DGN file with Geographic Coordinates Systems in meters.

To be able of entering data in Longitude and Latitude format you need to have a Geographical Coordinates Systems assigned to the file.

Once the GCS is applied to dgn file we need to make it the active auxiliary coordinates systems

The Auxiliary Coordinate Dialog might look like this:

Double clicking on the Geographic Coordinate System makes it the active ACS.

To get coordinate readout in Longitude, Latitude key in "set tpmode acslocate"

Select place active point

Enter data points using key in: point acsabsolute -06d25m20.58,36d46m16.72

Where -06d25m20.58,36d46m16.72 indicates the point as Longitude 6⁰25’20.58’’ W and Latitude 36⁰46’16.72’’ N

Negative values for longitude indicate western hemisphere, and negative values for latitude indicate the southern hemisphere

Important Note: Using format degrees, minutes, seconds (example 06d25m20.58s) will cause problems as the s in the latitude will be interpreted as ‘South’ instead of seconds, so remove the S.

When we need to insert more than just a couple of points we can use a .txt file with the coordinates in decimal degrees and use a key in to call the .txt file instead of using the key in: point acsabsolute Longitude,Latitude

If we have some data like this, we need to use an application to convert this data to decimal degrees

Example http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/DDDMMSS-decimal.html

This application will allow you to type your points and convert them

and create the text file

Once this is done use the key in: @c:\BentleyDownloads\Longitudlatitud.txt

Where in your case should be @ followed by the directory where the text document is saved.

It is recommended to change active line weight from 0 to something like 8 for example and also modify the active color to something convenient to make the data more visible.

Note: you can use now Export to Google Earth to verify the data is in the right place

See video