File Management and handling design options

I am working on an interchange/urban expressway project that has around 20 alignments that all have some sort of connection to each other. We have separated them all into their own files, along with plan element and corridor files for each alignment. We are at a stage in the project where we are looking at different design options for many of the alignments, and are starting to need to switch out our current design with our new options. Does Bentley have a "Best practices" workflow or document on the best way to switch files that have already had relationships assigned to them in your design?

  • For corridor you can swap alignements by using the corridor re-attach tools, for plan geometry you can sometime change the reference element, for profile there is nothing you can do

  • Hi Blake,

    If you have already set of files where you need to switch elements between files try key-in: geometry element replace. It should work for most elements and relationships. For example if you have many elements depending on a geometry such as corridors (incl. associated corridors), superelevation lanes and sections, point controls, offset strings etc., this function will swap the geometry to a new geometry located in active file or in attachment.

    However it seems best to avoid having to re-attach which is possible if you don't change file name and keep element ID unchanged. Outside ProjectWise, you could split your data by "model" name e.g. mainline, sideroad etc. and keep all files related to that particular "model" in one folder. For optioneering / managing revisions you could include option name in the folder name (not in file name) and have as many folders as options for given "model", with file names unchanged between options. For this however, you need to use relative paths when attaching other files. Also, if you get a model automatically self-attached by ORD, you would need to manually change to relative path.

    Regards,

    Mariusz

    Regards,

    Mariusz


    OpenRoads Designer 2022 R1