Entering and Editing Text

Unless it is already open, the Text Editor window opens when you select a text placement or editing tool. Input from the letter keys and arrow keys on the keyboard is treated as text input until you press the <Esc> key, select another tool, or click the Key-in window.

The Text Editor can also be opened by placing the focus on the Element Selection tool and clicking on the text in the design file.

Basic text editing functions

You can edit text in the Text Editor window (and in text fields in MicroStation dialog boxes) using these functions:

• New text is placed at the insertion point, which is indicated by a vertical bar. You can click within the text to place the insertion point, and then you can use any available method for Moving the insertion point.

• In the default insert mode, new characters are inserted at the insertion point. Also, overwrite mode, in which each new character overwrites an existing character, is available.

• Enter data fields are used as placeholders into which text can be is inserted later (see To create an enter data field).

Also, you can place text without using the Text Editor window. See Importing Text.

The key names shown here and in MicroStation's menus are logical key names. MicroStation uses logical key names because different systems have different keyboards.

Moving the insertion point

You can move the insertion point in the following ways:

To move	Press this key
Right one character	<→>
Left one character	<← >
Up one line	<↑>
Down one line	<↓>
To the beginning of the line	<Home>
To the end of the line	<End>
Up to the previous window	<Page Up>
Down to the next window	<PageDown>
To the next word	<CTRL-→>
To the previous word	<CTRL-←>
To the beginning of the text	<CTRL-Home>
To the end of the text	<CTRL-End>

Selecting text

You can select text in the following ways:

To	Do this
Select a range of text	Drag through the desired text
Select a word	Double-click before the first character of the word Double-click after the last character of the word Double-click within the word
Select all text	Press <CTRL-A>
Increase a selection	Shift-click a point beyond the selected text
Increase selection by one character	Press <SHIFT-→>
Decrease selection by one character	Press <SHIFT-←>
Increase selection by one word	Press <CTRL-SHIFT-→>
Decrease selection by one word	Press <CTRL-SHIFT-←>
Deselect text	Click anywhere in the Text Editor window Press <→> Press <←>

Using Tabs and Schemes

The Text Ediror window allows you to set line indents, paragraph indents and tab stops. Multiple tab stops can be placed. You can use tab stops for creating tables or aligning text. Tab stops and indents are only available in Word Wrap mode.

First line indentation is used to specify how far the first line is indented by setting its working units. Paragraph indent specifies how far the entire paragraph is indented.

To set a tab stop

1. Click on the Tab ruler.
   A tab stop is placed. You can have multiple tab stops.

Alternative Method — To set a tab stop

1. Right-click on the Tab ruler and choose Indents and Tabs.
   The Indents and Tabs dialog box.


2. Define the tab stops and click Set.

To move a tab stop

1. Place your cursor on a tab stop and drag the tab stop markerto the right or left on the Tab ruler.

To clear tab stops

1. Click on the Tab stop marker in the Tab ruler.
   The tab stop is removed.

Alternative Method — To clear a tab stop

1. Right-click on the Tab ruler and choose Indents and Tabs.
   The Indents and Tabs dialog box.


2. Select a tab setting from the Tab Settings list and click Clear.
   The tab is removed.

To set a first line indent

1. Select the paragraph you want to indent.


2. Right-click on the Tab ruler and choose Indents and Tabs.
   The Indents and Tabs dialog box.


3. Set the First Line Indentation and clickOK.

Alternative Method — To set a first line indent

1. On the Tab ruler, drag the First Line Indent marker to the position where you want the text to start.

To set a paragraph indent

1. Select the paragraph you want to indent.


2. Right-click on the Tab ruler and choose Indents and Tabs.
   The Indents and Tabs dialog box opens.


3. Set the Paragraph Indentation and click OK.

Alternative Method — To set a paragraph indent

1. On the Tab ruler, drag the Paragraph Indent marker to the position where you want the text to start.

To save a scheme

1. Right-click on the Tab ruler.


2. Choose Save Scheme from the pop-up menu.The Save Scheme dialog box opens.


3. Enter a name for the new scheme and click OK.

To retrieve a scheme

1. Right-click on the Tab ruler.


2. Choose Tab Schemes from the pop-up menu.
   The Tab Schemes dialog box opens.


3. Choose a scheme and click Select.

To delete a scheme

1. Right-click on the Tab ruler.


2. Choose Tab Schemes from the pop-up menu.
   The Tab Schemes dialog box opens.


3. Choose a scheme and click Delete.
   The scheme is removed.

Editing text

The available text editing functionality is as follows:

To	Do this
Delete previous character or selected text	<Back Space>
Delete next character or selected text	<Delete>
Delete previous word	<CTRL-Back Space>
Delete next word	<CTRL-Delete>
Cut selected text	<SHIFT-Delete> or <CTRL-X>
Copy selected text	<CTRL-Insert> or <CTRL-C>
Paste selected text	<SHIFT-Insert> or <CTRL-V>
Toggle between insert mode and overwrite mode	<Insert>

To replace text in the Text Editor window

1. Select the text.


2. Type the new text.
   The typed text replaces the selected text.

To switch between insert mode and overwrite mode, you can press the <Insert> key. In overwrite mode, it is usually more efficient to select text and then type the new text rather than to edit text.

To move text in the Text Editor window

1. Select the text.
   See Selecting text.


2. Right-click and choose Cut from the pop-up menu .
   or
   Press <CTRL-X>


3. Place the insertion point at the desired location for the moved text.
   If you want to replace text, you can select the text to be replaced.


4. Right-click and choose Paste from the pop-up menu .
   or
   Press <CTRL-V>

To copy text in the Text Editor window

1. Select the text.


2. Right-click and choose Copy from the pop-up menu .
   or
   Press <CTRL-C>


3. Place the insertion point at the desired location for the copy of the text.
   If you want to replace text, you can select the text to be replaced.


4. Right-click and choose Paste from the pop-up menu .
   or
   Press <CTRL-V>

To insert a new line in the Text Editor window

1. From the Text tool box, select the Place Text tool.


2. In the Text Editor window, press <Enter>.
   Multi-line text is automatically placed as a text node. Text elements are converted to text nodes if lines are added, and text nodes are converted to text elements if the text is reduced to one line.

To create an enter data field in the Text Editor window

1. From the Text tool box, select the Place Text tool.


2. In the Text Editor window, type the enter data field character once for each character in the enter data field. By default, “_” is the enter data field character.
   or
   Key in a matched pair of field delimiters. To leave an empty enter data field with a certain number of enter data field characters, you can type that number of spaces within the delimiters or you can type text between the delimiters.


3. (Optional) Use the JUSTIFY (Justify Enter Data Field) key-in to change the justification.
   When created, MicroStation left justifies all enter data fields.



The enter data field character is set in the Preferences dialog box (Workspace > Preferences, Text category, ED Character field).

To edit text that contains enter data fields

1. From the Text tool box, select the Edit Text tool.


2. Identify the text.


3. To accept the text, enter another data point.
   The Text Editor window opens.


4. Edit the text.
   Text in an enter data field is surrounded by delimiters, such as <<example>>. If there are any enter data field characters in the text, the delimiters enclose the spaces representing the empty placeholders, such as <<123 abc 456 >>.
   To remove an enter data field, you can delete either the left or right delimiter, and the matching delimiter is automatically deleted. Although the text between the delimiters remains in the text element, it is no longer part of an enter data field.

The easiet way to open the Text Editor window is to double-click on an existing text element with the Element Selection tool. Double-clicking opens the Text Editor window.

Searching for and replacing text

You can search all text in a model for a sequence of letters and numbers, and you can specify a text search for single character fractions. Also, you can replace some or all instances of text with other text. Also, you can append and prepend text while retaining an original string.

To search for text in a model

1. (Optional) To search for text only in a certain part of the model, place a fence and set the appropriate fence search criteria.


2. From the Edit menu, choose Find/Replace Text
   The Find/Replace dialog box opens.


3. In the Find field, type the text for which you want to search.


4. (Optional) To search for text with special characteristics, perform one of the following:
   To find only text with the same capitalization as the text in the Find field (case-sensitive), turn on Match Case.
   To find only complete words that match the text in the Find field, turn on Whole Words.
   To use special characters in the Find field, turn on Reg. Expr.
   To search for text in cells, turn on In Cells.
   To search for text with fractions, turn on Fractions.


5. Click Find.
   The first placement in the model of the specified text in the Find field is displayed in the view in which you entered the last data point.


6. To find the desired text, continue clicking the Find button.
   An information box confirms that all text in the model has been searched. If text matching the specified text is not found, the search resumes at the beginning of the model.

To find and replace text in a model

1. (Optional) To search for text only in a certain part of the model, place a fence and set the appropriate fence search criteria.


2. From the Edit menu, choose Find/Replace Text.
   The Replace Text settings window opens.


3. In the Find field, key in the text to replace.


4. From the Change option menu, choose Replace.


5. In the With field, key in the replacement text.
   To delete text that matches the text in the Find field, you can leave the With field blank.


6. (Optional) To search for text with special characteristics, turn on one of the following check boxes:
   — Match Case
   — Whole Words
   — Reg. Expr.
   — In Cells
   — Fractions
   (See To search for text in a model.)


7. To execute a search, perform one of the following:
   — To examine the first instance of text that matches the specified text, click Find.
   — To replace text, click Change.
   — To replace all text that matches the specified text, click Change All.
   — To replace all text elements that match the current Fence search criteria, click Change Fence.
   — To examine additional instances of matching text, continue clicking Find.

To replace text in a known location in the model

1. (Optional) To search for text only in a certain part of the model, place a fence and set the appropriate fence search criteria.


2. From the Edit menu, choose Find/Replace Text.
   The Replace Text settings window opens.


3. In the Find field, key in the text to replace.


4. From the Change option menu, choose Replace.


5. In the With field, key in the replacement text.


6. (Optional) To search for text with special characteristics, turn on one of the following check boxes:
   — Match Case
   — Whole Words
   — Reg. Expr
   — In Cells
   — Fractions
   (See To search for text in a model.)


7. Click Change Single.


8. Identify a text element.
   Any matching text found in the text element is replaced.