Figure-1

AUTOCOMPLETEMODE is the system variable that control this. The setting is stored as a bitcode using the sum of the following values:

0          Turns off all automated keyboard features when typing at the Command prompt

1          Turns on any automated keyboard features when typing at the Command prompt

2          Automatically appends suggestions as each keystroke is entered after the third keystroke

4          Displays a list of suggestions as keystrokes are entered

8          Displays the icon of the command or system variable, if available

16        Excludes the display of system variables

Figure-2

Now, for those of us that are sometimes bitmode challenged and prefer a simple text prompt interface, you can use the AUTOCOMPLETE.  As you can see when you type this at the command line (Figure 3) you get a friendly textual prompt and when using Dynamic input you get a Listbox. (Figure 4)

Figure-3

Figure-4

A good practice when typing mostly commands, especially when using dynamic input is to turn Off the List option (Figure 5-6) and the System Variable options (Figure 7-8), which will set the “Autocompletemode” to 27.

Figure-5

Figure-6

Figure-7

Figure-8

The example below calculates a target date 180 days prior to the current date then finds all files in the specified folder that were last modified prior to the target date.

Sub Test()
    ArchiveFiles ActiveDesignFile.Path, 180
End Sub

Sub ArchiveFiles(strPath As String, numDays As Long)
    Dim dateTarget As Date
    Dim iDays As Long
    Dim strFile As String

    ' Target date is numDays before today
    dateTarget = DateAdd("d", numDays * -1, Date)

    ' find all files in current folder
    strFile = Dir(strPath & "\*")

    Do While Len(strFile) > 0

        ' get the number of days since the file was created or last modified
        iDays = DateDiff("d", FileDateTime(strFile), dateTarget)

        ' If older than numDays send to archive

        If iDays > numDays Then

            ' Archive file

        End If

        strFile = Dir

    Loop

End Sub

When, Opening, Saving or creating a New drawing in AutoCAD, do you find yourself constantly maneuver through the explorer dialog clicking your way to the drive and folder you need, because the last folder you selected, or the default location is just not the folder you need?  This simple tip may save you a lot of clicking and search time.

Use the Places List in the AutoCAD New, Open and Save dialogs to make navigating to where you need to go a snap.

Figure-1

On each of the Open, New and Save dialogs you can take advantage of the left pane called the Places list (Shaded area in Figure-1) by adding your own favorites to create a custom shortcut list. The handy thing is you only need to add a “place” in the list of any one of these three dialogs and it will show up in the others.

It is really as easy as SELECT, DRAG and DROP.

Figure-2

Step 1: Launch the Open Dialog box and navigate to the drive and folder you want to be able to access with one click.

Step 2: Select the folder, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the folder into the Place list panel, then let go of the left mouse button. Your shortcut is created.

For this example the “J:\EnvisionCAD\Project” folder has been selected, now notice in Figure-3 the Project shortcut shows up in the places panel on the New and Save dialog.

Figure-3

Have fun with this. You just need to navigate to a location once, and you want to save it as a short cut, merely click, drag and drop.  The Objects in the Places list can also be reorganized by selecting and dragging either up or down within the panel.

To remove any unwanted or old shortcuts, right click in the panel area to reveal the menu shown in Figure-4 below.

Figure-4

With the release of MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 3) we now have the ability to preview MicroStation design files in Windows Explorer and other Windows Applications.  Options include panning and rotating DGN files right from the preview pane in Windows Explorer.  Searching text inside the MicroStation DGN document can also be accomplished using the Windows Explorer search box.

Preview Pane – Windows Explorer

1. From the Window Explorer dialog toggle ON the Preview Pane.
2.  Select a MicroStation DGN file.  The Preview Pane will show the view navigation tools along with any additional models that exist as tabs.

Search Box – Text Search inside DGN files

1. In the Windows Explorer dialog path to the directory to be searched
2. From the Window Explorer dialog type the keyword in the Search Box.
3. In the list of search results select a file to locate the text within the MicroStation file.

If you are a Subscription member you can download your 2013 products and give it a test drive, meanwhile you can download  from here our What is new in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013.

What new tool or enhancement would you like to see first?

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Instead of using commands such as Copy, Trim, Pedit with Join to create a closed polyline around multiple entities try using the BPOLY command.

The BPOLY command will open the Boundary Creation Dialog box.

To create a closed polyline around the outside of the objects simply create a rectangle polyline enclosing the objects before running the BPOLY command.  This will ensure you can use the Island detection option.  Make your pick point between the rectangle polyline and the objects.

Finally delete the polyline rectangle once the closed polyline has been created.

Addendum example:

Objects that formed multiple closed spaces.  The idea behind using the rectangle is to shrinkwrap the largest combined closed space that the objects made.

With the release of MicroStation V8i SELECTseries 3 we now have the ability to import a LandXML surface file into a DGN file. A Civil Application such as InRoads or GEOPAK is not required.  This new Terrain Model element type resides inside the DGN file and allows users to view the data a number ways.

Import LandXML file

1. From the Task Navigation menu select the icon to
   Import LandXML. The Import LandXML dialog will appear.
2. Or from the pull down menu select:
   Tools > Terrain Model > Open as Toolbox
3. Navigate to the LandXML file, once selected the file will be imported into the MicroStation DGN file and displayed in the view.

View Terrain Model

1. Using the Element Selection tool identify the displayed Terrain Model.
2. From the Primary toolbar open the Element Information dialog.  The Terrain Model will be selected.

• Use the Calculated Features Display to toggle the display of the features OFF and ON.

1. Expand the Terrain: (name) at the top of the Element Information dialog to change the display settings of the features.

• The image above is displaying the contours, flow arrows, low and high points.  This display makes for easy evaluation of surface drainage.

Thematic Display of Terrain Models

In addition to the common surface display features additional Thematic Display Styles have been added to help view and evaluate a Terrain.

Thematic Display – Height

Thematic Display – Slope

Thematic Display – Hill Shade

Increased performance for AutoCAD Civil 3D can be achieved by controlling how surface graphics display.  This can be useful when working in a drawing with large surfaces.

At the Command line type;
LEVELOFDETAIL to turn it on
LEVELOFDETAILOFF to turn it off

Or

From the ribbon go to View Tab > View Panel > Level of Detail to access toggle settings.

The level of surface detail in the drawing decreases as you zoom out and the displayed amount of surface data increases as you zoom in.

Zoomed Out

Zoomed In

The level of detail mode has no effect on the detail of any object when plotting.  Surfaces are the only objects that are affected by the level of detail view.

The code below shows how this can be accomplished. The click event of the Cancel button will set a public Boolean variable (IsCancelled) to true, which is then picked up by the main processing loop and stops the execution.The key is to include calls to the DoEvents function inside your code. DoEvents temporarily suspends operation of the current module so Windows can receive and process other events. In this case we want Windows to update the label on our status form and process any click event on the Cancel button.

Main Module

Public IsCancelledAs Boolean

Sub TestCancel()

Dim i As Long
Dim iStart As Long
Dim iEnd As Long

iStart = 0

iEnd = 2147483647   ' largest possible Long value

With frmStatus

.lblStatus.Caption = "Initializing"

.Show False' Status form is non-modal

End With

IsCancelled = False

For i = iStartToiEnd

DoEvents

If IsCancelled Then

MsgBox "User cancelled at "&CStr(i), vbInformation

Exit Sub

End If

frmStatus.lblStatus.Caption = "Counting: " &CStr(i) & " of " &CStr(iEnd)

Next

Unload frmStatus

MsgBox "Processing Complete", vbInformation

End Sub

Forms - frmStatus

Private Sub cmdCancel_Click()

IsCancelled = True

Unload Me

End Sub

Calling DoEvents and updating the status label every time through the loop is a big performance drain on the application. Modifying the main processing loop so that the DoEvents and status update happen at only regular intervals will greatly speed up the processing of your application. In the modified snippet below DoEvents and the status update are done every 1000 times through the loop.

iStatus = 1000

For i = iStartToiEnd

If i Mod iStatus = 0 Then

DoEvents

If IsCancelled Then

MsgBox "User cancelled at "&CStr(i), vbInformation

Exit Sub

End If

frmStatus.lblStatus.Caption = "Counting: " &CStr(i) & " of " &CStr(iEnd)

End If

Next

It’s all about productivity and profitability right? To stay competitive, stay in business, and reward hard work we need both. Not that luck hurts – or is luck the same as knowledge, hard work and being ready when the opportunity arises…. Well, anyway, there are many tools, commands, and functions in MicroStation that may not be required in daily operations but when necessary they sure come in handy. We have developed a ‘Top 12′ list of our favorites. The list was developed through personal experience and from questions we hear such as “how long has that been in MicroStation”. It’s not uncommon for the answer to be; for years and years. Here is our first entry on the list.

Images – more and more the interaction we expect is visual. After all CAD is a visual communication method. Sometimes we need to convey ideas and information that cannot be viewed by others in the CAD environment. This information may be as simple as a screen capture or as an elaborate animation. Did you know that this, and more, can be accomplished from MicroStation as it comes straight-out-of-the-box? If not, try choosing Utilities>Image> and start poking around. Image Capture, Display, and Conversion are favorites.

Have your own favorites? Comment below or send them our way and we’ll share them with the CAD community.

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