[OR] Can the Excel/Element Template XML Utility developed for ORD be used with earlier versions?

I just watched some of the videos in the series OpenRoads Designer Workspace Setup Learning Path on the Learn Server. I was encouraged to see the capabilities of bulk editing of Feature Definitions, Symbologies and Element Templates. Tools like this are real huge time savers for CADD Management.

While we are pretty far away from migrating to ORD, I was wondering is the format of the Element Template XML file that the Element Template <-> Excel tool uses is compatible with Ss2/Ss3/Ss4?

I eagerly await a response.

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  • Hey Chuck....cool name! So I can say maybe....these little apps we post out there are designed for a particular use. Here is how you can tell for sure, in CONNECT make an element template and export to an XML....do the same thing in SS4. Then compare those two files in XML Notepad (Free Microsoft App.) and see if they are the same. My guess is likely they will be. I know we originally developed it for SS4 but have been focusing its use in CONNECT. If they are the same then you should be good to go.

    Thanks,
    Chuck


    This is a test

    Answer Verified By: Nico Roman 

  • It has served me well, Chuck.

    So, I did a quick test using an already exported Ss4 XML element template and it seemed to run OK.

    What surprised me was that the spreadsheet did not contain the full XML information for Terrain Element Templates.

    Interestingly, If you use Excel to Get External Data from XML, the result does contain the extended terrain settings. Also, the result is very similar, but with more columns and less informative column headers. It is a capability I have explored in the past with XIN files (which has too many nodes, so only sub-areas can be explored)

    I have not tried to re-import - I need to review the steps.

    This process screams for a PDF handout and a nice PPT,  BTW.

    P.S. Not to hijack my own thread, but where does the variable $(_DGNLIB) come from? In one of the examples I tried, the Material Type contained the following:

    $(_DGNLIB)|Materials_Imperial.dgnlib|Bentley-Civil.pal


    Charles (Chuck) Rheault
    CADD Manager

    MDOT State Highway Administration

    • MicroStation user since IGDS, InRoads user since TDP.
    • AutoCAD, Land Desktop and Civil 3D, off and on since 1996
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  • It has served me well, Chuck.

    So, I did a quick test using an already exported Ss4 XML element template and it seemed to run OK.

    What surprised me was that the spreadsheet did not contain the full XML information for Terrain Element Templates.

    Interestingly, If you use Excel to Get External Data from XML, the result does contain the extended terrain settings. Also, the result is very similar, but with more columns and less informative column headers. It is a capability I have explored in the past with XIN files (which has too many nodes, so only sub-areas can be explored)

    I have not tried to re-import - I need to review the steps.

    This process screams for a PDF handout and a nice PPT,  BTW.

    P.S. Not to hijack my own thread, but where does the variable $(_DGNLIB) come from? In one of the examples I tried, the Material Type contained the following:

    $(_DGNLIB)|Materials_Imperial.dgnlib|Bentley-Civil.pal


    Charles (Chuck) Rheault
    CADD Manager

    MDOT State Highway Administration

    • MicroStation user since IGDS, InRoads user since TDP.
    • AutoCAD, Land Desktop and Civil 3D, off and on since 1996
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