User Guide
User Guide
User Guide
User Guide
User Guide
User Guide
|
Some groupings in MicroStation, such as the set of selected elements and the fence contents, are temporary. Other groupings are permanent. These groupings include:
levels (see Managing Levels).
complex chains and complex shapes (see Using complex chains and complex shapes).
groups (see Using groups).
graphic groups (see Using graphic groups).
named groups (see Using named groups).
hierarchies of named group (see Creating named group hierarchies).
A complex chain (sometimes called a “complex string”) is a series of connected open elements (lines, line strings, arcs, curves) grouped for manipulation as a single entity.
A complex shape, like a complex chain, is a series of connected open elements grouped for manipulation as a single object. The difference is that the first and last element in a complex shape are connected, thereby closing a shape.
 | |
Left: Complex shape created from arc and line string with Create Complex Shape tool. Center and right: Union and intersection of circle and block created with Create Region tool. | |
You can create complex chains and shapes, from existing elements, with tools in the Groups tool box. Also, you can use the Place SmartLine tool to create a complex shape or chain.
 | Complex chains and complex shapes are complex elements. A complex element is a grouping of two or more elements that is manipulated as a single entity. Cells also are complex elements. (If you develop application software for MicroStation, you should know that a “complex header” element is stored in the DGN file for each grouping.) To reverse the grouping, you can use the Drop Element tool in the Groups tool box to drop the status of a complex element. That is, to convert the complex element to its component elements so they can be manipulated individually. |
You can select a number of elements and group them so that you can manipulate them as a single element. A group is a complex element whose component elements need not be connected.
You manipulate and modify groups just as you do simple elements. For information about manipulation and modification of simple elements, see Using the Fence to Manipulate and Modify Elements.
| A group is actually an unnamed cell. Unlike named cells, groups are not defined in cell libraries. For this reason groups are sometimes called “orphan cells.” |
Graphic groups are a quick method for grouping elements in MicroStation. Without “breaking up” the grouping, you can add, remove, or manipulate individual member elements. Whether your actions change the whole graphic group or only part of it depends upon whether you turn Graphic Group Lock on or off. With Graphic Group Lock “on”, all elements in the graphic group are manipulated. With Graphic Group Lock “off” only the selected element is manipulated. For greater flexibility still, you can create named groups, which let you give a name to each grouping of elements.
The Groups tool box has tools for creating a graphic group and adding and removing elements to or from a graphic group.
 |
Named groups are the most flexible method for grouping elements in MicroStation. Named groups can include elements from the active file and those from directly attached references.
As well as individual named groups, you can create a hierarchy of them by adding “child” named groups to a “parent”. When you have a hierarchy, manipulating the “parent” named group will include any attached “child” named groups. You can add and drop elements from individual named groups (including those that are part of a hierarchy), as well as manipulate the elements within each named group (again, including those that are part of a hierarchy).
When you select elements from a reference, to be included in a named group, they are not copied into the master file. Elements from references are just referred to (pointed to) by the named group element in the master file. When you detach a reference that includes elements selected in a named group, the count of elements for the named group does not decrease in the Named Groups dialog box until you close and re-open it. The same happens when you delete elements that are part of a named group in the active file. Again, you must close and then re-open the Named Groups dialog box to see the corrected number of elements in the named group. If you inadvertently detach a reference having elements that are part of a named group, only “undoing” the detachment will return the members to the named group. They will, however, only reappear after you close and reopen the Named Groups dialog box. Simply re-attaching the reference will not return the members to the named group, as there is no way that MicroStation knows that the file once was attached.
When you attach members to a named group, the Member Type setting lets you define the way that other members of the named group are affected when a member is manipulated or selected. This is done via Change Propagation settings. These are set to defaults, automatically, when you select Member Type as either Active or Passive. Alternatively, you can define the settings manually by selecting Custom as the Member Type.
Each member has three Change Propagation settings that define when a member can propagate changes To other members, can have changes propagated From other members, and can propagate changes To other groups.
In each case, the Change Propagation options are:
Group Lock — only when Graphic Group Lock is on.
Never — propagation never occurs.
Always — propagation always occurs.
Another setting, Selectable, which can be toggled on/off in the Named Groups dialog box, overrides the above settings when Graphic Group lock is on and members are chosen with the Element Selection tool. If Selectable is on, then all members of the named group will be selected. If it is off, the change propagation settings apply.
From the Named Groups dialog box, you can create a hierarchy of named groups. This lets you nest other named groups in a hierarchical structure. Take a simple example of an office layout with named groups for Partitions, Shelving, Workstation, and Chairs. You could set up the following hierarchies (as shown in the following diagram):
Workstation (2) — with Visitor Chairs (A) and Workstation chair (B) as child groups.
Partitions (1) — with Shelving (3) and Workstation (2) as child groups.
 |
 | |
Named Groups dialog box displaying the example hierarchy. | |
With the above setup, for example, moving:
Partitions (1) — would move the entire layout
Workstation (2) — would move the chairs as well, but leave the partition and shelving.
When you are creating a hierarchy, you first drag a named group from the Named Groups list to the Hierarchy list. From here, you can use drag and drop, or the Add Named Group to Parent icon, to add Named Groups to the hierarchy.
You can select entries in the Named Groups dialog box individually, with data points. Additional entries can be selected with <Ctrl> data points or <Shift> data to include all entries in-between the previous selection and the current.
Working in conjunction with named groups, quicksets let you quickly save selected elements as named groups for later recall.
Groups of elements created as Quicksets, have the setting for Member Type set to passive. That is, they do not propagate changes to other members in the quickset. For example, if you turn on Group Lock on and then move a member of a quickset, it will have no effect on other members of the quickset group. To work with all members of a quickset, you first must recall the quickset.
You can create and recall up to ten named groups via the Quickset Save and Quickset Recall menus in the view pop-up menu, which is activated by pressing <Shift + Reset>. Alternatively, you can create or recall up to ten quicksets using the keyboard shortcuts <Ctrl-Shift-n> and <Ctrl-n>, respectively, where n is a value 0 – 9 inclusive.
By default, quicksets are given the names Quickset0 through to Quickset9, and appear as such in the Named Groups dialog box. Where necessary, you can use the Named Groups dialog box to rename them.
| When creating or recalling a quickset with key-ins, the numbers in the alpha-numeric section of th keyboard must be used, not those from the numeric keypad. |
Displaysets let you select a group of elements to display in selected views, with all other elements hidden. You can create displaysets from selection sets or named groups. Displaysets display is controlled from the View Attributes dialog box, where the Displayset control lets you turn their display on and off. With Displaysets active, you can use the Named Groups dialog box to select a named group and then display only the elements in the group, in the chosen view(s), by clicking the Put Elements into the Displayset icon. This lets you quickly switch between different named groups. Using the view pop-up menu, you can set selected elements as the displayset, or you can clear the displayset, so that all elements display.