Setting the Active Element Attributes

When you place an element, the design plane locations of the data points used to draw the element are stored in the design file. In addition, a number of element attributes are stored.

Element symbology

These attributes compose what is called element symbology:

• color

• line weight

• line style

• fill color (for closed elements)

Color

MicroStation stores the Active Color and the color attribute of each element as a value in the 0-255 range. To display an element in color, MicroStation looks in the active color table for the color that corresponds to the element color value. You can modify colors in the active color table.

The active color table is depicted graphically in MicroStation as a 16 × 16 palette of colored tiles called a color palette.

You can also change the colors in the active design file by attaching a different color table to it. The attached color table is automatically activated each time the design file is reopened. Each seed design file supplied with MicroStation has a color table already attached.

Color tables are stored as independent files. The active color table can be saved to a file for future attachment to any design file.

Color can also be set ByCell or ByLevel. If ByCell is selected, when a cell is placed the active color is used in place of the color used when the cell was created. If ByLevel is selected, when an element is placed the color defined for the active level is used to display the element.

When working in DWG workmode, the DWG color palette is the only color table loaded; no other color tables can be loaded. The menu item Settings > Color Table is disabled. An exception to this is that you can still change the color palette by importing raster files. If you choose to use the color palette of the raster file — that is, you turn off Current Color Palette, the color palette changes.

ByCell is only enabled, by default, in DWG workmode. You can enable ByCell in DGN workmode by adding _USTN_CAPABILITY > —CAPABILITY_NO_BYCELL to the workmode.cfg configuration file.

To set the Active Color from the Attributes tool box

1. In the Attributes tool box, press on the colored tile, and drag across the color palette to select the desired color.
   see footnote 3

   Color Palette

Alternative Method — To set the Active Color

1. From the Attributes tool box, choose the Active Color icon.
   The Color Palette opens.


2. Select the desired color from the Color Palette.
   The new active color displays on the Attributes tool box.

Alternative Method — To set the Active Color

1. From the Settings menu, choose Design File.
   The DGN File Settings dialog box opens.


2. In the Category list box, select Element Attributes.


3. Select the desired color from the Color field pull-down menu.
   The new active color displays on the Attributes tool box.

To set the Active Color with a key-in

1. In the Key-in window, key in ACTIVE COLOR<color_name | color_number> or CO=<color_name | color_number> .

For information about setting the Active Fill Color, see Fill.

Line Weight

MicroStation stores the Active Line Weight and the line weight attribute of each element as a value in the 0-31 range.

Line Weight can also be set ByCell or ByLevel. If ByCell is selected, when a cell is placed the active line weight is used in place of the line weight used when the cell was created. If ByLevel is selected, when an element is placed the line weight defined for the active level is used to display the element.

ByCell is only enabled, by default, in DWG workmode. You can enable ByCell in DGN workmode by adding _USTN_CAPABILITY > —CAPABILITY_NO-BYCELL to the standards.cfg configuration file.

To set the Active Line Weight from the Attributes box

1. From the Attributes tool box's Line Weight option menu, choose the desired line weight value.

   Line Weight option menu

Alternative Method — To set the Active Line Weight

1. From the Settings menu, choose Design File.
   The Design File Settings dialog box opens.


2. In the Category list box, select Element Attributes.


3. Select the desired line weight from the Weight field's option menu.
   The new active line weight displays on the Attributes tool box.

To set the Active Line Weight with a key-in

1. In the Key-in window, key in ACTIVE WEIGHT <weight_number> or WT=<weight_number>.

Line Style

A line style definition can specify the following:

• A stroke pattern composed of dash strokes and gap strokes of varying lengths.

• Small drawings called point symbols at varying intervals.

Line style definitions are customizable. The default set of line styles in the Line Styles dialog box is intended as a sample. In most cases, line styles should be set up by a site or project manager.

Some of the sample line styles supplied in MicroStation's sample workspaces (not to scale)

Line style modifiers

Line style modifiers or overrides allow some characteristics of a line style to be modified as elements are placed without requiring separate line style definitions.

Modifiers are available for the following stroke pattern and stroke attributes:

• Origin and end widths. These modifiers are applied to each stroke and can be used to create wide or tapered elements.

• Stroke pattern shift.

In addition, a Scale Factor modifier is available. This modifier is applied to all length values in the line style definition.

Line Style can also be set ByCell or ByLevel. If ByCell is selected, when a cell is placed the active line style is used in place of the line style used when the cell was created. If ByLevel is selected, when an element is placed the line style defined for the active level is used to display the element.

ByCell is only enabled, by default, in DWG workmode. You can enable ByCell in DGN workmode by adding _USTN_CAPABILITY > —CAPABILITY_NO-BYCELL to the standards.cfg configuration file.

General Procedure — To use a custom line style

1. Set the Active Line Style. See To set the Active Line Style.


2. (Optional) Activate any desired line style modifiers. See Activating line style modifiers.


3. Place elements with the Active Line Style and any active modifiers.

To set the Active Line Style

1. From the Attributes tool box's Line Style option menu, choose the desired line style.
   see footnote 4

   Line Styles option menu

Alternative Method — To set the Active Line Style

1. From the Element menu's Line Style, choose Custom.
   The Line Styles dialog box opens.


2. In the Names list box on the Line Styles dialog box, double-click the name of the desired line style.
   or
   In the Names list box on the Line Styles dialog box, select the name of the desired line style, and click the large button at the bottom of the dialog box on which a sample of the selected line style is displayed. (To make the large button visible, you must first turn on the Show Details check box.)

Alternative Method — To set the Active Line Style with a key-in

1. In the Key-in window, key in ACTIVE STYLE <style_name |style_number> or LC=<style_name | style_number>.

Activating line style modifiers

Line style modifiers are activated in the Line Styles dialog box. The large button in the dialog box shows the line style selected in the list box with active modifiers applied. (To make the large button visible, you must first turn on the Show Details check box.)

The New User interface does not let you activate line style modifiers.

To override the starting or ending width for each dash stroke in elements placed with the Active Line Style

1. From the Element menu's Line Style, choose Custom.
   The Line Styles dialog box opens.


2. (Optional) To set the start width, turn on Origin, and key in the desired width in master units in the Origin field.


3. (Optional) To set the ending width, turn on End, and key in the desired width in master units in the End field.

   Line Styles setting box with Show Details on

To apply a scale factor to all displayable characteristics of the Active Line Style

1. From the Element menu's Line Style, choose Custom.
   The Line Styles dialog box opens.


2. Turn on Scale Factor, and key in the desired scale factor in the Scale Factor field.

To shift or adjust stroke patterns differently than specified in the Active Line Style definition

1. From the Element menu's Line Style, choose Custom.
   The Line Styles dialog box opens.


2. To shift stroke patterns relative to the beginning of elements or element segments, choose Distance from the Shift option menu, and key in the shift distance in master units in the Distance field.
   or
   To adjust stroke patterns such that a fraction of the first strokes in stroke patterns are displayed at the start and end of elements or element segments, choose Fraction from the Shift option menu, and key in the fraction in decimals in the Fraction field.

While the Change Element Attributes tool is used to adjust the line style modifiers of an existing element as a set, the Modify Line Style Attributes tool in the Change Attributes tool box can be used to adjust individual line style modifiers.

Standard line styles

Standard line styles (also known as line codes), numbered 0-7, are based on output device coordinates, and therefore are not truly WYSIWYG (“what-you-see-is-what-you-get”), as are custom line styles. Hence, it is recommended that you use custom line styles instead of standard line styles.

Line Styles 1–7 are disabled while DWG workmode is in effect. Only custom line styles are active in this mode.

Level symbology

Each element in a design file has its own symbology. To make it clearer which elements are on a particular level, you can define an alternative symbology for all elements on a level. You can then display the elements with their “normal” symbology or with the level symbology.

To copy a level from another design file

1. From the Settings menu's Level submenu, choose Manager.
   or
   Click the Active Level field on the Status bar.
   The Level Manager dialog box opens.


2. From the File menu, choose Import.
   The Import Level dialog box opens.


3. Select the design file from which you want to copy the level symbology definition.


4. Click the OK button.
   The list box in the Symbology tab page updates to show the copied definition.

To define level symbology “from scratch”

1. From the Settings menu's Level submenu, choose Manager.


2. For each attribute (color, [numbered] line style, or line weight) to be set, right-click in the attribute column.
   The appropriate selection dialog box opens.


3. Adjust the desired controls.
   The Color, Style, and Weight controls are similar to those in the Element Attributes dialog box. For information about using those controls, see To set the Active Color and To set the Active Line Weight.

To display elements using level symbology

1. From the Settings menu, choose View Attributes (or press <CTRL-B>).
   or
   From any view window's control menu, choose View Attributes.
   The View Attributes dialog box opens.


2. Turn on the Level Symbology attribute.


3. Click Apply or All.

Other element attributes

In addition to level, color, line weight, and line style, elements have these attributes:

• Fill (none, opaque, or outline)

• Class (primary or construction)

• The area attribute determines whether a closed element is a solid or a hole (see Putting Holes in Solid Elements)

Fill

The fill attribute applies only to closed elements such as circles, ellipses, and polygons. Closed elements completely enclose the area within their boundaries.

Top: Opaque fill; Bottom: Outline fill

By default, a closed element is displayed in a wireframe view by lines in the Active Color that outline the area occupied by the element. The area of the element inside the outline is transparent.

A closed element is filled when the area within its outline is displayed as a solid area of color. The color is determined by the Active Fill Color. When an element is opaque, it is displayed as a solid shape of the Active Color. In that case, the lines outlining the element are not discernible since the “fill” has the same color.

In any view, opaque and filled elements are displayed as outlines unless the Fill view attribute is on for that view. In other words, turning off Fill in a view hides the “fill.” The effects of the fill attribute and the Fill view attribute are summarized in this table:

Fill Type	Fill on	Fill off
None	No fill displayed	No fill displayed
Opaque	Element filled with color of the element	No fill displayed
Outline	Element filled with Active Fill Color	No fill displayed

A series of lines or a closed line string can also enclose an area. However, MicroStation treats neither as a shape. Therefore, neither can be assigned an area or fill attribute.

To set the Active Fill Type and Color

1. Select a tool in the Polygons tool box.


2. From the Fill Type option menu in the Tool Settings window, choose None, Opaque, or Outline.


3. Select the desired color from the Fill Color color palette.

To turn Fill on or off in a view

1. From the Settings menu, choose View Attributes (or press <CTRL-B>).
   or
   From any view window's control menu, choose View Attributes.
   The View Attributes dialog box opens.


2. From the View option menu in the settings box, choose the desired view.


3. Click the Fill check box.


4. Click Apply or All.

To change the fill type and color of an element, use the Change Element to Active Fill Type tool in the Change Attributes tool box.

Class

By convention, elements with the class attribute of Construction are used as drawing aids. For example, you might place a construction element in a particular location as an element to “snap” other elements to, but you would not plot the construction element when the design is complete. The elements that are actually part of the design usually have the class attribute of Primary.

To set the Active Class

1. From the Settings menu, choose Design File.
   The DGN File Settings dialog box opens.


2. In the Category list box, select Element Attributes.


3. From the Class option menu, choose Primary or Construction.


4. Click the OK button.