I attempt to enter an angle in bearing or azimuth form as the Active Angle, either in the Design File Settings dialog box or by using the 'AA=' key-in. The AA changes, not to the angle requested, but to 0 degrees. What is happening??
The Active Angle feature was created to be referenced from the positive x-axis, with the positive direction being counter-clockwise. There is no way to change this, as the Active Angle feature is hardcoded MicroStation. Of course, this means that the only way for MicroStation to understand input for the Active Angle feature is for it to be in degrees. It does not understand bearing or azimuth, and you must convert to degrees before entering in your angle as Active Angle.
I want to enter N45^30E as my Active Angle. I can key-in either: 'aa=45^30' or 'aa=45.5'. MicroStation accepts both of these options as the Active Angle because they are both in degree form.