Sheet Creation and Indexing with Named Boundaries.fm · Web viewExample-Building project. Click the...

Practice WorkbookThis workbook is designed for use in Live instructor-led training and for OnDemand selfstudy.The explanations and demonstrations are provided by the instructor in the classroom, or in the OnDemand eLectures of this course available on the Bentley LEARN Server (learn.bentley.com).

This practice workbook is formatted for on-screen viewing using a PDF reader. It is also available as a PDF document in the dataset for this course.

Sheet Creation and Indexing with Named Boundaries - Building WorkflowThis workbook contains exercises to illustrate MicroStation CONNECT’s sheet creation and indexing capabilities. They are meant to be worked either in order of exercises in each course or as individual standalone courses. You can start at any course. Within a subdirectory of the dataset is a folder called Mile Stones. Copy the contents of the desired Mile Stone sub-folder and paste into the dataset’s root folder to begin.

The exercises contained in this workbook are designed to follow a specific workflow called LEARNing CONNECT. The workflow is set via the Workflow toolbar shown below. The purpose of the LEARNing CONNECT workflow is to simplify the menu choices for the new learner. However, you may also use the standard Drawing workflow. The location of the Ribbon Tabs, Ribbon Groups and Tools are identical for both workflows.

TRNC01893-1/0002

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Description and Objectives

Course Description

Sheet creation is a time consuming process causing inconsistencies and delays in the delivery of projects. Tracking the number and the order of sheets is a tedious and error-prone manual process. With numerous Drawing Composition Innovations implemented within MicroStation CONNECT, your will improve the consistency and quality of sheet layouts and speed up the process of creating and delivering well-organized sheet sets. Discover capabilities like creating multiple sheets in a single operation and automated layout based on scale, location or along a path. Master simplified Sheet Indexing that enables the use of a central location to index sheets and control the number, order, properties of sheets and make publishing deliverables easier.

Skills Taught

Creating and Managing Sheet Models through the Sheet Index tab of the Explorer dialog

Placing a Named Boundaries using the By 2 Point method and rectangular array method

Adjusting the extents and positioning of a Named Boundary

Generating a new sheet model that contains the content of a Named Boundary

Working with Reports to create a custom-tailored index sheet

Formatting and Placing a drawing sheet index as a table

Printing Sheets in a Sheet Index


Sheet Indexing

In this section, we will create a drawing sheet index. A sheet index is a centralized and structured collection of sheets in your project. A sheet index can be useful in creating a construction document set (also called as sheet set or construction set) that contains all the sheets of your project. You may link any sheet model from any design file of your project into a sheet index. Sheet numbering rules enable you to define rules to generate sheet numbers for all sheets in the sheet index. Sheets can be organized hierarchically in folders, with the ability to override sheet numbering rules for sheets in each folder. Custom properties can be attached to sheets and placed as text fields in the sheet. Custom properties can also be attached to the folders and the sheet index. The sheet index is managed from the Explorer Dialog Sheet Index Tab.

Utilizing Explorer, create an organized hierarchical of folders

Link sheet models from design files of the project into their respective folders within the sheet index

Manage properties (sheet numbering, sheet numbering prefix) of the sheet models within the sheet index


1. Start MicroStation CONNECT. Upon opening, you’re presented with the Project Dashboard. From here, select the Example-Buildingproject.

2. Click the Browse icon. From the File Open dialog, ensure that your are in the /dgn folder of the Example-Building project. Select theBSI300-Sheets.dgn and then click Open.

Note: If you are opening this file for the first, a No Project Alert dialog is presented. Choose the option, Use active project “Example- Building” and then click Open.

3. To begin, we will create a drawing sheet index of our project. Along the Ribbon, select the Explorer from the Primary group of the Hometab.

The Explorer dialog builds upon the foundation of the Project Explorer found in earlier editions of MicroStation. In MicroStation CONNECT, you can manage the project data using Explorer dialog. It is a single interface that provides browsing function for files, links, items, resources, and sheet indexes.


4. On the Explorer dialog, click the Sheet Index tab.

A sheet index is a centralized and structured collection of sheets in your project. Sheet index can be useful in creating a construction document set (also called as sheet set or construction set) that contains all the sheets of your project. You may link any sheet model from any design file of your project into a sheet index. Sheets may also be organized hierarchically in folders, with the ability to override sheet numbering rules for sheets in each folder. You can then manage the properties of all the sheet models within the sheet index collectively. Sheet indexes may also be added to print organizer print sets for printing.

5. By default, the sheet index is read only. In the icon bank of the Sheet Index tab, click Open Sheet Index for Edit.

The sheet index can now be edited.

6. Click the Create Folder icon. From here, you can separate the sheets according to your organizational needs within the sheet index. Let’s rename the newly created folder, 000 - General.

Note: you may need to click the Refresh icon to see your changes from time to time.


7. Create five more folders, each time making sure that the Example-Building project name is selected, based off the names below:

100 - Plans

200 - Elevations

300 - Sections

400 - Enlarged Detail Plans

500 - Details

8. Now that we have the folder structure created, let’s click Manage Sheet Index icon.

9. Along the left-side of the Manage Sheet Index dialog, make sure to click the Index tab. Then click the Add Custom Property button.


10. From the Add Property dialog, type into the Name field, Project No.

11. In the Default Value field type, BSI300. Click OK when finished and then OK to the Manage Sheet Index.

12. Within the sheet index, right-click on the 000 - General folder. From the menu choose Properties.

13. In the Sheet Number Prefix field of the Properties dialog, type AE.

14. With both the Explorer and Properties dialogs still open, left-click on the 100 - Plans folder. Again, type in AE for the Sheet Number Prefix.


15. In the Start Number field type in 101.

16. Continue adding the properties to the remaining folders as per the table shown below:

Folder Name Prefix Start No.200 - Elevations AE 201300 - Sections AE 301400 - Enlarged Detail Plans AE 401500 - Details AE 501


17. Now that we built our drawing sheet index folder structure, let’s now add the project’s sheets to their respective folders. With the 000 - General folder selected, click the Add Sheet icon from the icon bank of the Sheet Index tab.

18. From the dgn\ folder of the Example-Building project, select the BSI300-Sheets.dgn and then click Open.

19. The Add Sheets dialog opens. From here, expand to view the available sheet models by clicking the arrow next to the file path/name. Select the Cover Sheet and then click OK.

20. Next, highlight the 100 - Plans folder. As before, click the Add Sheet icon, select the BSI300-Sheets.dgn. This time select the Plan Sheet.


21. Continue adding sheets from the BSI300-Sheets.dgn by selecting the appropriate folder then its respective sheet(s) as shown below:

Take note of the numbers within the sheet index. The number next to the project root folder indicates the total number of sheets for the set. Beside each folder name, the number shown represents the total number of sheets within that respective folder. And within each folder, there are two numbers in brackets next to each sheet. The first number represents the sheet sequence within that folder and the second number indicates the overall sequence relative the sheet set.


Creating a Named Boundary and placing the content onto a new sheet

A named boundary is any closed element that has a name associated with it. Previously, we could create named fences from fences, clip volumes, and clipped masks. Named fences have been renamed as named boundaries. You can place named boundaries using drawing boundaries. Named boundaries may also be grouped for processing sets of drawings onto sheets.

In this section, we will introduce you to, creating a Named Boundary and placing the content of the Named Boundary in a sheet model. The following features are covered:

Placing a Named Boundary using the By 2 Point method

Generating a new sheet model that contains the content of the Named Boundary


1. Begin by opening the BSI300-GroundFloorPlan.dgn and zoom into the upper-left corner of the floor plan.

2. Along the Ribbon, click the Home tab. From the Attributes group, make the A-Z017-G-DBnd level active via the Level Picker.

Hint: Use the search field and type draw to truncate the level list.

3. Next, click the View tab. From here, select the Place Named Boundary tool from the Named Boundary group.

4. In the tool settings window, set the method to By 2 Points. In the Name field, type Staircase A and enable the option, Create Drawing.


5. You are prompted to enter the first point. Issue a data point (left mouse click) above and to the left of the A4 column.

6. Move your mouse down and to the right, and issue a data point for the opposite corner as shown.

7. Next, you are prompted to enter the view orientation. Move your mouse so that it will index (bold white line) with the X-axis of theAccuDraw compass. Issue a data point to fix angle and then issue another data point to accept.

8. The Create Drawing dialog opens. Ensure that Staircase A is in the Name field. From the Drawing Seed drop-down menu, chooseDetail_2D_SheetOnly.

9. In the Create Sheet Model section of the dialog, enable the checkbox to the left of the Filename field. Click the Browse Sheet Model icon to the right. Select the BSI300-Sheets.dgn and then click the Open button.


10. Set the Detail Scale for 1:50 from the drop-down menu. Ensure that Open Model is enabled and then click OK.

The newly created sheet model opens with the Named Boundary referenced to the sheet.

11. Next, on the Ribbon, click Home > Primary > Models.


12. The Models dialog opens. From here, click once and then click twice onto Staircase A under the Name column. Let’s rename the model,Enlarged Detail Plans. Click into the white space below to commit the change. Do the same for the Description.

Take note the sheet number for this model. Next, we incorporate this sheet to our sheet index.

13. If the Explorer is not still open, click Home > Primary > Explorer. Click the Sheet Index tab to make it active and then icon, Open Sheet Index for Edit.

14. Highlight the 400 - Enlarged Detail Plans folder and then click the Add Sheet icon.

15. Select the BSI300-Sheets.dgn and click Open.

16. Click the arrow next to the file name in the Add Sheet dialog. Select the Enlarged Detail Plans sheet and click OK when finished.

By adding this sheet to index, the properties that we set for numbering for each folder was applied to this sheet. Take notice to the drawing title and the sheet number in the Models dialog. Furthermore, our title block has been updated with sheet number. If need be, the sheets can be rearranged in the Sheet Index. Thus the sheet numbers within the respective sheets will then update.


Another property that we set to our sheet index was a custom property for the project number.

17. Zoom into the title block. From the Text group of the Annotate tab, select the Edit Text tool.

18. Identify the text element, ####. In the Text Editor, click the Edit Field icon.

19. The Fields Editor opens. Expand the Index Properties tab and select the Project No. field. Click OK when finished.

20. Issue a data point into the view to commit the text changes.


Creating a Named Boundary and placing the content onto an existing sheet

In this section, we will begin by adjusting the named boundary around Staircase A to show more of an area. Then, we will create another named boundary for Staircase B, and place the contents of that onto our existing sheet. The following features are covered:

Adjusting the extents and positioning of a Named Boundary

Placing a Named Boundary using the By 2 Point method onto an existing sheet


1. Continuing in the BSI300-Sheets.dgn, Fit View.

2. Click Home > Primary > References. In the References dialog, enable the setting, Treat Attachment as Element for Manipulation for theStaircase A reference. Close the dialog when finished.

3. Select the Move tool from (Home > Manipulate). Issue a data point on the reference and move it to the upper-left corner.

When we initially created Named Boundary, we didn’t include enough floor plan. Next, we are going to adjust the boundary to show the appropriate amount of the floor plan.

4. Hover your cursor over the yellow marker that has a magnifying glass symbol. As you do this, a mini-toolbar will appear. Move your


cursor onto the toolbar and select the icon, Open Design Model.


5. The file where you placed the Named Boundary opens. Make the Element Selection tool active from (Home > Selection). Select the Named Boundary and then select either the lower-left or lower-right handle.

6. While indexing to the Y-axis of the AccuDraw compass, pull downward enough that the Named Boundary is extended into Office 116. Issue a data point place the handle at the new location.

7. From the View Group toolbar, select the Previous Model button.

This action returns you back to Enlarged Detail Plans sheet. You will notice that by change the boundary in the Ground Floor model, that has be propagated to the sheet. However, due to the fact that the boundary was extended downward, now we need to adjust the location of the detail bubble.


8. Select the Move tool, identify the detail bubble and move it downward enough that it is not covered by the detail.

9. When finished, click the Next Model icon to return back to the Ground Floor model.

10. Navigate the view to the upper-right corner of the floor plan where the opposite staircase is located. As we did with Staircase A, we are going to create another Named Boundary of this staircase and place it on the same sheet. Make the Place Named Boundary tool active (View > Named Boundary).

11. In the tool settings window, with the By 2 Points Method selected, type Staircase B into the Name field. The Create Drawing option should be enabled as well.

12. Following the prompts, issue a data point above and to the left of the F4 column. Move your mouse down and to the right, and issue a data point for the opposite corner.


13. Next, move your mouse so that it will index with the X-axis of the AccuDraw compass. Issue a data point to fix angle and then issue another data point to accept.

14. In the Create Drawing dialog, the Name should be set for Staircase B. From the Drawing Seed drop-down menu, chooseDetail_2D_SheetOnly. Enable Create Sheet Model. Enable Filename and browse to and select the BSI300-Sheets.dgn again.

Before, we created a new sheet model when placing Staircase A. This time we will be using that sheet to place Staircase B along side Staircase A.


15. That said, from the Sheets drop-down menu, select the Enlarged Detail Plans. Set the Detail Scale for 1:50, enable Open Model, and click OK when finished.

16. The Enlarged Detail Plans model opens and Staircase B centered on the sheet. Like before, in the References dialog, enable the setting,Treat Attachment as Element for Manipulation for the Staircase B reference.

17. Select the Move tool, issue a data point on the reference, and move it to the right of Staircase A.


18. Fit the View.


Creating a Drawing Boundary

Traditionally, sheet creation and layout has been a very manual and time consuming process. To overcome this, the drawing boundary feature is provided to allow you to quickly and easily define the location of a drawing on a sheet. A drawing boundary is a predefined area on a sheet model which may contain a drawing. A sheet may be subdivided into several drawing boundaries. The following features are covered:

Predefining an area in an existing sheet model for placement of Named Boundary

Placing a Named Boundary based on a predefined Drawing Boundary


1. Continuing in the BSI300-Sheets.dgn, set the active level to A-Z017-G-DBnd via the Level Picker (Home > Attributes).

Hint: Use the search field and type in, “draw” to truncate the level list.

2. Make the Place Drawing Boundary tool active from the Detailing group of the Annotate tab.

3. In the tool settings window, set the Detailing Symbol Style to Default, type in NB Detail-1 for the Name, and the Drawing Type will beDetail. The Method we will be using will be the By 2 Points.

4. You are prompted to enter the first point. Issue a data point just to the right of detail 2, Staircase B.

5. Move your mouse down and to the right, and issue a data point for the opposite corner.


6. And then the last step is to place the symbol.

7. Click File > Open > Browse. Select the BSI300-AtriumGroundFloorPlan.dgn.

8. Set the active level to A-Z017-G-DBnd (Drawing Boundaries) via the level picker (Home > Attributes).

9. Make the Place Named Boundary tool active (View > Named Boundary).

10. In the tool settings window, with the By 2 Points Method selected, type Restrooms into the Name field. The Create Drawing option should be enabled as well.


11. Following the prompts, issue a data point above and to the left of the restrooms. Move your mouse down and to the right, and issue a data point for the opposite corner.

12. Next, move your mouse so that it will index with the X-axis of the AccuDraw compass. Issue a data point to fix angle and then issue another data point to accept.

13. In the Saved View section of the Create Drawing dialog, set the Drawing Seed to Detail_2D_SheetOnly.

14. Enable the check box to the left of Filename. Then click the Browse Sheet File icon to the right. Browse to and select the BSI300- Sheets.dgn.

15. From the Sheets drop-down menu, select the Enlarged Detail Plans.

16. Set NB Detail-1 from the Drawing Boundary drop-down menu.

This is the drawing boundary that we just created.

17. Set the Detail Scale to 1:50.


18. Confirm your settings as shown below and then click OK when finished.

19. The BSI300-Sheets.dgn opens with Restroom enlarged detail referenced to area that we designated with the drawing boundary.


Note: The shape around each of these details is the Named Boundary. If you would like to turn the display of these off, you can turn off the respective level of the referenced model that you placed the named boundary onto.

20. Open the Level Display dialog (Home > Primary).

21. From here, in the list of files, expand the node for Staircase A. Now in the list of levels, turn off A-Z017-G-DBnd (Drawing Boundaries). Repeat this step for Staircase B, and for the Restrooms.

Note: As an alternative to turning off the level like we just did in the last step, you could open the model in which they were created and then toggle the display off via the Named Boundary dialog. The next several steps define how to turn off the display of the Named Boundaries.

22. Continuing in the BSI300-Sheets.dgn, hover over the marker for Staircase A. On the mini-toolbar that pops up, click the Open Design Model icon.


23. Along the Ribbon, click the View tab. In the lower-right corner of the Named Boundary ribbon group, there is a icon. These icons are called Dialog Launchers and by clicking this one in particular, it will open the Named Boundaries Management dialog.

24. In the Named Boundaries Management dialog, remove the check mark from the Show column for each of the staircases. The shapes representing the named boundaries are now turned off and will also be turned off in the referenced files.

25. Click the Previous Model button to return back to Enlarged Detail Plans sheet.

26. Repeat these steps by turning off the named boundary for the Restrooms.


Creating Drawing Boundaries in a Seed File

In the previous section, we placed a drawing boundary in the active sheet model. It is very advantageous to place drawing boundaries in a seed file. By doing so, this will only enhance the Dynamic Views workflow further. The following feature is covered:

Placing Named Boundaries based of the drawing boundaries in the sheet model seed


1. Open the Building_Drawingseeds.dgnlib from the Dgnlib\DrawComp\ folder.

2. Open the Models dialog (Home > Primary). Double-click the NB - Plan Sheet model to make it active.

3. Make the Place Drawing Boundary tool active from the Detailing group of the Annotate tab.

4. In the tool settings window, set the Detailing Symbol Style to Default, type in NB - FullSheet for the Name, and the Drawing Type will beDetail. The Method we will be using will be the By 2 Points.

5. You are prompted to enter the first point. Issue a data point in the upper-left corner of the border.


6. Move your mouse down and to the right, and issue a data point for the opposite corner.

7. And then the last step is to place the symbol as shown.

8. From the Models dialog, make the NB - DetailSheet model active. Here you will find the sheet divided into six sections for locations of potential details. Just like we placed a Drawing Boundary, for the plan sheet, here we will place a Drawing Boundary within each section.

9. Make the Place Drawing Boundary tool active and then in the tool settings window, set the set the Detailing Symbol Style to Default, type in NB Detail (3x2) - 1 for the Name, and the Drawing Type will be Detail. The Method we will be using will be the By 2 Points.

10. You are prompted to enter the first point. Issue a data point in the upper-left section.


11. Move your mouse down and to the right of this section, and issue a data point for the opposite corner, and then place the symbol as shown.

12. With the Place Drawing Boundary By 2 Points still active, you will notice that the name of the drawing boundary name has incremented by one in the tool settings. As you did in the first section, place five more drawing boundaries going from left-to-right, top-to-bottom motion across the detail sheet.


Populating a Drawing Boundary from a Seed File

In the previous section, within Dgn Library (dgnlib), we designated areas using the drawing boundary feature. A drawing boundary is a predefined area on a sheet model which may contain a drawing. As you saw, the sheet may be subdivided into several drawing boundaries.

In this section, we will create sheet model and add it to our drawing sheet index. This sheet model will be based upon the seed model that has the drawing boundaries we created. From there, we will use the Named Boundary tool to populate these drawing boundaries with details. The following features are covered:

Creating a sheet model that contains predefined drawing boundaries

Populating the drawing sheet index

Placing a named boundary based off the drawing boundaries delivered from the sheet model seed


1. Open the BSI300-Sheets.dgn.

2. From the Ribbon, open the Models dialog (Home > Primary).

3. In the icon bank of the Models dialog, click Create a New Model.4. In the Create Model dialog, set the Type to Sheet From Seed.

5. Next the Seed Model field, click the Change Seed Model icon. Navigate to the Dgnlib\DrawComp folder and select theBuilding_Drawingseeds.dgnlib and click Open.

Note: Make sure to set the files of type to All Files (*.*).

6. From the Select Models, highlight NB - DetailSheet and then click OK. This is the model where you placed the six drawing boundaries.

7. Type in Footing and Curtain Wall Details into the Name field.

8. Ensure the Annotation Scale is set to Full Size 1 = 1.

9. In the Sheet Properties section, enable the option Add To Sheet Index and then click the icon Select a folder from Sheet Index.

10. Highlight the 500 - Details folder and click OK.


11. Confirm all the settings as shown and then click OK when finished.

The newly created sheet model based off settings from the seed model in the Building_Drawingseeds.dgnlib opens. Along with it, the six drawing boundaries for potential details.

12. Next, let’s start to populate these drawing boundaries by opening the BSI300-GroundFloorPlan.dgn.


13. From the Primary group of the Home tab, click the drop-down gallery and then select the Saved Views.

14. In the Saved Views dialog, right-click the Column Enclosure saved view. From the pop-up menu, choose Create Drawing...

15. The Create Drawing dialog opens. From here, select the Detail_2D_SheetOnly from the Drawing Seed drop-down.

16. Enable the Create Sheet Model option.

17. Toggle on Filename and browse to and select the BSI300-Sheets.dgn.

18. Select the Footing and Curtain Wall Details from the Sheets drop-down menu.


19. From the Drawing Boundary drop-down menu, select the NB - Detail (3x2) - 1.

20. Set the Detail Scale to 1:25. Confirm your settings as shown below and then click OK when finished.


The Footing and Curtain Wall Details model in the BSI300-Sheets.dgn opens. The Column Enclosure saved view is referenced to the first drawing boundary as you designated from the pull-down menu of the Create Drawing dialog.


Populating the Drawing Boundaries with Footing Details

In this section, we will continue to populate our detail sheet adding footing details to second and third drawing boundaries that we designated. The following feature is covered:



1. Open the Design-Composition.dgn.

2. Open the Saved Views dialog (Home > Primary).

3. Right-click on Footing 1 and choose Create Drawing... from the pop-up menu.

4. Set the Drawing Seed to Detail_3D_SheetOnly, select the BSI300-Sheets.dgn, the Footing and Curtain Wall Details from Sheets, andDetail Scale set for 1:25.

5. From the Drawing Boundary pull-down menu, choose NB - Detail (3x2) - 2.

Note: NB - Detail (3x2) - 1 is no longer available since it is already occupied.


6. Disable to the option Open Model. Confirm all settings as shown below and when finished click OK.

7. Continuing in the Design-Composition.dgn, from Saved Views dialog, right-click on Footing 2 and choose Create Drawing...

8. Set the Drawing Seed to Detail_3D_SheetOnly, select the BSI300-Sheets.dgn, and the Footing and Curtain Wall Details from Sheets.

9. From the Drawing Boundary pull-down menu, choose NB - Detail (3x2) - 3.

10. On the Detail Scale pull-down menu, scroll to the bottom and choose Custom. From the pop-up window set the scale to 35:1 as shown and then click OK.


11. Enable the Open Model option. Confirm your settings as shown below and then click OK when finished.

The BSI300-Sheets.dgn opens. As you can see the two footing details are referenced to their respective drawing boundaries.


12. From here, zoom into the area of the Footing 2 detail. With the Edit Text tool (Annotate > Text), identify the scale of the detail title.

13. Type into the Text Editor, Not To Scale. Issue a data point into view to commit the change.


Populating the Drawing Boundaries with Curtain Wall Details

In this section, we will continue to populate our detail sheet adding Curtain Wall details to remaining boundaries that we designated. The following feature is covered:



1. Open the CW_Details.dgn. Here you will find three details for the Curtain Wall.

2. Set the active level to A-Z017-G-DBnd via the Level Picker (Home > Attributes).


4. In the tool settings window, set the Method to From Named Boundary (icon), Drawing Boundary to NB - Detail (3x2) - 4, type Curtain Wallinto the Name field, Full Size 1=1 for the Detail Scale, and enable the option Create Drawing.

5. As you move your cursor into the view, you will notice a shape representing the named boundary. Position this shape, centered, over the far left detail and issue a data point.

6. In the Create Drawing dialog, the Filename should be still set to set the BSI300-Sheets.dgn. Set the Foot and Curtain Wall Details from the Sheets drop-down, and Set Drawing Boundary to NB - Detail (3x2) - 4.

7. Disable the option Open Model.


8. Confirm all the settings as shown below and then click OK.

9. With the Place Named Boundary tool still active, set the Drawing Boundary to NB - Detail (3x2) - 5, and type Curtain Wall at Footing into the Name Field.


10. Center the named boundary shape over the detail in the middle and then issue a data point.

11. Select the Foot and Curtain Wall Details from the Sheets drop-down, set the Drawing Boundary to NB - Detail (3x2) - 5, and disable the option Open Model. Confirm all the settings as shown below and then click OK.

12. Then for the detail on the right, type Curtain Wall at Footing 2 into the Name field of the tool settings, center the shape and issue a data point into the view.


13. Similar to the previous details, set the Sheet and Drawing Boundary. However, this time enable the option to Open Model. Confirm the settings below and click OK when finished.

14. The Footing and Curtain Wall Details opens. Here you will see the result of placing the saved views and named boundaries to their respective drawing boundaries.


15. Right-click and hold to invoke the Reset Pop-up Menu. From the contextual menu, choose Level Off. Click on the boundaries for details 4, 5, and 6.


Placing the Named Boundaries using the array method

In this section, we will break up a large floor plan by creating a rectangular array using the Named Boundary tool. When creating a rectangular array, through the tool settings, you can determine how many rows and columns as well as the spacing between each of them. This is especially useful if an overlap of sheets is desired. The following features are covered:

Placing the Named Boundaries using the array method

Generating a new sheet model that contains the content of the Named Boundary

Populating the drawing sheet index


1. Open the BSI300-GroundFloorPlan - Quad.dgn.


3. In the tool settings window, set the Method to Drawing Boundary.

4. From the Drawing Boundary pull-down menu, select NB - Full Sheet. This was the first drawing boundary that we created in the Dgn Library.

5. Type Ground Floor - Quad into the Name field.

6. Click the icon for the mode, Place rectangular array of named boundaries.

7. Set the Rows at 2 and Columns at 2.

8. Set the spacing for both the Rows and Columns to be -1000 and ensure that Create Drawing is enabled.

9. Bring your cursor into the view. You will notice a rectangular shape. This is lower-sheet in the array and there will be dots for any additional sheets based upon the number of rows and columns you’ve entered.

10. Position your cursor so that the upper-right corner of the rectangle inside the center corridor. Issue a data point to accept.


11. The Create Drawing dialog opens. From the Drawing Seed drop-down, choose Top_SheetOnly.

12. Enable the check box to the left of Filename. Then click the Browse Sheet File icon to the right. Browse to and select the BSI300- Sheets.dgn.

13. Leave the option to (New) from the Sheets drop-down menu and leave the Detail Scale at 1:50.

14. In the Sheet Properties section, enable the option Add To Sheet Index and then click the icon Select a folder from Sheet Index.

15. Highlight the 100 - Plans folder and click OK.

16. Confirm all the settings as shown and then click OK when finished.


17. The four sheet models are added to the BSI300-Sheets.dgn as well as being included in our drawing sheet index. In our next section we will place a table representing the drawing sheet index.

Note: Since these Quads are Saved Views referenced to our sheets, you need to adjust settings in the source file and not here in the sheet. In this example, the BSI300-GroundFloorPlan - Quad.dgn. This could be anything from turning on/off levels to adjusting the extents and positioning of the named boundaries. If this is the case, the Saved View may need to updated so that those changes are propagated downstream where ever these are referenced.


Place the Sheet Index as Table

An index table for our cover sheet can be generated from the sheet index. By clicking the Place Table icon, this starts the Place Table tool to place the index sheet. An index sheet contains properties of all the sheets in the sheet index that is placed as a table. Once placed, a report definition of the index sheet is also created in the Reports dialog. The following features are covered:

Working with Reports to create a custom-tailored index sheet

Placing sheet index as a table in the Cover Sheet


1. Open the Explorer (Home > Primary).

2. From here, click the Sheet Index tab, expand the 000 - General folder, and then double-click the AE001 Cover Sheet.

3. Set the active level to A-Z013-G-Legn via the Level Picker (Home > Attributes).

Hint: Use the search field and type in, “leg” to truncate the level list.

4. In the Explorer, along the icon bank of the Sheet Index tab, click the Place As Table.


5. Bring your cursor into view but do not issue a data point to place the table. Rather, observe the resulting preview. Reset (right-click) to cancel the command.

We certainly could have placed the table. However, to get the desired result for our project, it would’ve taken many modifications to it. Let’s take another approach for creating our sheet index.

6. Along the Ribbon, select the Analyze tab. From here, click Reports.

7. The Reports dialog opens. From here, expand the Sheet Index Reports folder and then select the Sheet Index report definition.

Note: The said Sheet Index Reports will only exist after the Place Table icon is clicked from the Sheet Index tab and not before.


8. Next, along the icon bank, click the Copy to clipboard.

9. Select the Sheet Index Reports folder, click the Paste from clipboard icon

10. Then, rename this definition to Drawing Sheet Index.

11. Expand the newly copied Drawing Sheet Index report definition. In here, expand the Columns.

12. Delete all the columns except for Folder Name and Sheet Number.

13. Highlight Columns and then in the Properties section, click Add Columns.


14. In the Select Columns to Add dialog, expand Model Link, then General, and then select Model Name. Click OK when finished.

15. Right-click the Sheet Number column and choose Rename from the pop-up menu. Change the name to Sheet.

16. Right-click on Model Name and rename it to Title.

17. Expand the Sorting Rules and delete all of the existing rules.

18. Right-click on Folder Name and choose Sort on this column.

19. In the Properties section, for the Hide Repeated Values select Yes from the drop-down menu.


20. Right-click on the Sheet column and choose Sort on this column. We’ll leave the Sorting Options as-is.

Our Drawing Sheet Index report is now finished. Both the Reports dialog and Explorer can place this

table.

21. From the Reports dialog, click the Place as table icon.

22. In the tool settings window, set the Text Style to T5.0 mm, select Drawing Sheet Index from the Report drop-down, and toggle on Retain Association.

23. Position your cursor in the upper-left corner of the Cover sheet and issue a data point to place the table.


Formatting Operations on a Table

As you saw in the previous section, you can place tables in MicroStation using the Place Table tool. Once placed, you can perform formatting operations on a table. If you ever have worked with Microsoft Excel, then your experience will be very similar with tables in MicroStation CONNECT. The following features are covered:

Deleting a row

Setting text alignment

Adjusting width of columns

Changing Text Styles within a cell


1. Make the Edit Text tool (Annotate > Text) active and identify the text element, Drawing Sheet Index.

2. In the Text Editor, Change the text style to T7.0 mm and make sure the justification is set to middle center. Issue a data point into the view to commit the change.

3. Make the Element Selection tool (Home > Primary) active and then identify the table.

Take note of the table contextual tab along the Ribbon when you selected the table.

4. Row 3 is blank so let’s select it and then choose Delete Row (Table Tools > Layout > Rows/Columns).

5. Next, select cell A2, Folder Name, and make it Left Justified (Table Tools > Layout > Alignment).


6. Select Column B and make it Center Justified (Table Tools > Layout > Alignment).

7. With the Element Selection tool still active, select the vertical line to Resize Column C. Drag this to right to increase the width so that the right side of the table is aligned with Graphics Symbols legend below it.

8. In the Element Selection’s tool settings, click the mode Clear.


9. Next, position your cursor over the blue gradient shape that is the part of the title row of the Graphics Symbols legend. While holding down the Alt key on your keyboard, issue a data point (left-click).

This will match the element attributes of the shape. We will now place a shape into the title row of our Drawing Sheet Index. Color Fill is a formating option for tables, however, gradient fill is not an option.

10. Make the Place Block tool (Home > Placement) active.

11. Snap to the upper-left corner of the title row of the Drawing Sheet Index and issue a data point for the first corner of the shape.

12. Snap to the lower-right corner of the title row and issue a data point for the opposite corner.


Printing Sheets in a Sheet Index

Once sheets are added to a sheet index, you can print all or a subset of the sheets by clicking the Print Organizer icon in Explorer's Sheet Index tab. Explorer seamlessly integrates with Print Organizer in a variety of ways to make it easy for you to print your project data.

Printing sheet set via Print Organizer


1. Begin by clicking the Open Print Organizer icon from the icon bank of the Sheet Index tab.

2. The Select Print Style dialog then opens with available print styles. From here, select PDF (full Size) and then click OK.


3. The Print Organizer opens. As you can see here, the folder structure was preserved.

4. In the icon bank of the Print Organizer, click Print.

5. Confirm the settings below, making sure to enable Open print file after creation. Click OK to publish the PDF.


6. Your sheet set pdf document opens...

Sheet Creation and Indexing with Named Boundaries.fm · Web viewExample-Building project. Click the...

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