removerv8

Users Guide

Duplicate ElementRemoverRemove duplicate and near-duplicate MicroStationelements automatically!Version 8.2

Axiom1805 Drew StreetClearwater, Florida 337651-727-442-7774 voice1-727-442-8344 [email protected]

Duplicate Element Remover

Copyright 19972009 Axiom.All rights reserved.

This document was last modified on 24 September 2009 2:48 PM.

Limited Warranty (Excerpted from the Axiom End User Software LicenseAgreement, see the full text of your Axiom End User Software License Agreement for

complete details.) LICENSEE is advised to test the SOFTWARE thoroughly beforerelying on it. The SOFTWARE is provided as is without warranty of any kind, either

expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties ofmerchantability and fitness for a particular purpose and the entire risk as to the quality

and performance of the SOFTWARE is with LICENSEE.

Governing Law This Agreement (Axiom End User Software License Agreement)shall be governed by the laws of the State of Florida, United States of America. Venuefor the resolution of any dispute arising out of this Agreement shall be Pinellas County,

Florida, USA or, if that is not possible, the nearest court of competent jurisdiction thereto.

MicroStation is a registered trademark of Bentley Systems, Incorporated. Duplicate Elements Remover is a trademark of Axiom.

Table of Contents Page 3

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------------- 9The problem-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9The solution -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9Precision control--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9Elements that are identical except for level, color, weight or style----------------------------9Near-duplicates ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10Powerful and convenient reporting -------------------------------------------------------------- 10Graphical, design report files --------------------------------------------------------------------- 10Text report files ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10Batch mode versus interactive mode ------------------------------------------------------------ 10How do I control the removal process? --------------------------------------------------------- 11What types of elements can be compared and removed? ------------------------------------- 11

Chapter 2 Installation----------------------------------------------------------------------13Before You Install ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13Typical Installation from CD --------------------------------------------------------------------- 13Congratulations------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19

Chapter 3 Uninstalling --------------------------------------------------------------------20Uninstalling Axiom products --------------------------------------------------------------------- 20

Chapter 4 Quick Start ---------------------------------------------------------------------21Quick Start Objectives----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21Demonstration Version ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21Quick Start Step 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21Quick Start Step 2 Removing duplicate elements------------------------------------------ 23Quick Start Step 3 Remove near duplicate elements with slightly different vertices - 27Quick Start Step 4 Remove overlapped elements ------------------------------------------ 30Whats Next?---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 32

Chapter 5 Running Duplicate Element Remover---------------------------------33Main dialog box ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 33File | Exit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 33The Settings menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 33Load Settings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 34Save Settings---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34Save Settings As--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34Reset to Factory Defaults ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 34Settings file:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34Change Settings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 35Help Menu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 35

Help | Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35Help | About----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35

Which files?----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 36Models: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36

Model type selection ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36Model name filter:---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36

Report file ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 38---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 38

Chapter 6 Settings -------------------------------------------------------------------------39Settings | General----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 39

Backup design file. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 39Reference files: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 39Store file position and element ID in text report file? ----------------------------------- 40General report only. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40Interactive processing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 40Only consider fenced area. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 40

Settings | Characteristics to be ignored---------------------------------------------------------- 40Settings | Design report file symbology --------------------------------------------------------- 41Settings | Primary selection criteria -------------------------------------------------------------- 41

Remove all duplicate elements. ------------------------------------------------------------ 42Remove selected duplicate elements ------------------------------------------------------ 42Remove selected elements (duplicate or not)--------------------------------------------- 42-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 42

Settings | Restrictions on elements removed --------------------------------------------------- 42Keep the element with heaviest weight.--------------------------------------------------- 43Keep the element with line style 0 if one exists. ----------------------------------------- 43

Settings | Restrictions on elements compared -------------------------------------------------- 44Settings | Tolerances ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 45

Consider elements with slightly different vertices as matching? ---------------------- 45Consider elements with slightly different rotations as matching? --------------------- 46Consider linear elements with reversed vertices as matching?------------------------- 46Remove linear elements overlapped by longer elements.------------------------------- 46

Chapter 7 Report file options-----------------------------------------------------------48Report File ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 48

Text file ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48Design file ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 49

Chapter 8 Interactive Mode--------------------------------------------------------------51Interactive mode dialog box. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 51----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 51 & buttons --------------------------------------------------------------------- 51 or ----------------------------------------------------------- 52 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 52 and --------------------------------------------------------------------- 52 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 52---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 53


Chapter 9 Cautions ------------------------------------------------------------------------54Run Duplicate Element Remover the first few times in Generate report only. mode -- 54Speed of processing-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 54Reducing file size ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 54

Chapter 10 How elements are processed ------------------------------------------55Element Processing -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 55

Chapter 11 Element Selection ----------------------------------------------------------56Element Selection Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------- 56Element Selection A simple example -------------------------------------------------------- 56Element Selection Main Dialog Box --------------------------------------------------------- 58

The File menu--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 59The Help Menu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 60Focus Item Descriptions--------------------------------------------------------------------- 60Element types --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61Symbology options--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61Selection Sets --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 62 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 62 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 62

Element Selection Element Types------------------------------------------------------------ 63Arcs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 64B-Spline Curves ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 66B-Spline Surfaces ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 68Cells -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 68Complex Shapes------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 71Complex String ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 72Cones------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 73Curves------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 75Dimension ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 76Ellipses----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 79Lines ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 81Line Strings ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 82Multilines-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 83Point Strings----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 84Raster ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 86Shapes------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 86Shared Cells ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 88Solid-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 90Surface ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 90Tag---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 90Text--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 93Text Nodes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 96

Element Selection Symbology Options ----------------------------------------------------- 99Colors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 99Weights ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------101Line styles ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------102Linkages User data ----------------------------------------------------------------------103Database linkages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------105Levels -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------107V8 level selection ---------------------------------------------------------------------------109


Selection region -----------------------------------------------------------------------------109Graphic groups ------------------------------------------------------------------------------110Properties -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------110Class------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 111

Saving Element Selection Sets ------------------------------------------------------------------ 111Selection Set Name ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 111-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------112 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------112------------------------------------------------------------------------------------112-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------112-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------112Selection Set list -----------------------------------------------------------------------------113

Chapter 12 Choose Files to Process----------------------------------------------- 114Using Axioms Choose Files to Process box------------------------------------------------114Adding files to the list ----------------------------------------------------------------------------115File and Edit menus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------115

Browse for files -----------------------------------------------------------------------------115

Search for files ------------------------------------------------------------------------------116Search in: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------116Include subfolders. --------------------------------------------------------------------------116Search for files using:-----------------------------------------------------------------------116Search for files by date: --------------------------------------------------------------------117 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------117 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------117---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------117Search for Files: Advanced tab ------------------------------------------------------------117

Drag-and-drop files from Windows Explorer ------------------------------------------118Dragging folders (not files) into the list --------------------------------------------------118

Remove selected files ---------------------------------------------------------------------118

Remove all files ----------------------------------------------------------------------------118Remove Missing Files ----------------------------------------------------------------------------118

Save list to file ------------------------------------------------------------------------------119Files to Process ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------119

Right-clicking on the list -------------------------------------------------------------------119Selecting files in the list --------------------------------------------------------------------119Removing files from the list ---------------------------------------------------------------120

Version----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------120 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------120 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------120Advanced Commands ----------------------------------------------------------------------------120

Chapter 13 Well Make (Almost) Any Enhancements You Want-----------122We welcome your suggestions ------------------------------------------------------------------122


Chapter 14 New Features and Fixes------------------------------------------------123Version 8.2a 24 September 2009 ------------------------------------------------------------123Version 8.1a 30 June 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------123Version 8.0a 10 February 2006 --------------------------------------------------------------123

Chapter 1 Introduction Page 9

Chapter 1 Introduction

The problemDuplicate MicroStation elements can be a bigger problem than most MicroStation usersrealize. Why?

Time is wasted when you have to stop and figure out why elements arent movedor deleted when they should have been.

Duplicate elements make MicroStation screen updates take longer. Plotter output can be compromised when the same element is written multiple

times.

The solutionDuplicate Element Remover solves these problems for MicroStation users automatically!Furthermore, Duplicate Element Remover gives you pinpoint control over exactly whichelements get deleted and which dont.

Precision controlDuplicate Element Remover gives you exact control over:

Which design files get processed. (Any set of design files for example, *.dgn can be processed with a single command.)

Whether or not to compare against elements in reference files. Which levels to remove duplicates from. Which element types, colors, weights and styles should be considered for

removal.

Many other processing options.

Elements that are identical except for level, color, weight orstyle

Duplicate Element Remover puts you in control over how closely elements have to matchbefore they are considered duplicates. For example, what if two elements have identical


geometry but are on different levels? Or have different color? Or weight? DuplicateElement Remover gives you precise control over such criteria.

Near-duplicatesWhat about two lines which almost exactly overlap except that they have slightlydifferent vertices? Once again, Duplicate Element Remover gives you control over howfar apart the vertices can be and still be considered duplicates.

Powerful and convenient reportingDeleting duplicate elements automatically is a very powerful process. Before doing so,you should always verify that you wont be deleting elements you actually need.Duplicate Element Remover gives you several powerful ways to accomplish thisverification.

Graphical, design report filesFor each design file processed, Duplicate Element Remover can generate a graphical,design report file showing the unwanted, duplicate elements. The report design file hasthe same name as the original design file with a .drf extension by default.

Text report filesDuplicate Element Remover can also generate a text report file that lists each design fileprocessed and the element ID number and file position of each duplicate element. Youcan generate one text report file for the entire job or a separate text report file for eachdesign file processed.

Batch mode versus interactive modeAs a further convenience, Duplicate Element Remover gives you a choice of using eitherbatch mode or interactive mode.

In batch mode, you tell Duplicate Element Remover the set of design files you want toprocess and Duplicate Element Remover removes or reports all the duplicates from thosedesign files with no further human intervention.

In interactive mode, Duplicate Element Remover zooms in on each duplicate element,letting you decide to delete (or not) each duplicate one at a time.

Chapter 1 Introduction Page 11

How do I control the removal process?Duplicate Element Remover lets you select elements and comparison elements using awide range of criteria. Nearly any MicroStation element characteristic can be used toestablish which elements are candidates for removal.

What types of elements can be compared and removed?When using some non-default options in the Tolerances category to delete more thansimply elements that are exact duplicates, Duplicate Element Remover uses the followingtable to match elements for comparison.

Each element type to be removed is compared to every element type in the same rowmarked with an X. For example, a type 17 (Text) element is only compared to anothertype 17 element.

A line string element will naturally be compared against other line-string elements, but itcan also be compared against lines, shapes, curves, etc. as well.

2 3 4 6 7 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 22 24 27 33 35 36

2 X

3 X X X X X X X X X X


6 X X X X X X

7 X

11 X X X X X X X X X


13 X X X X X

14 X X X X X X

15 X


17 X

18 X X X

19 X X X

22 X X X X X X

24 X X X


33 X

35 X

36 X

Listing of element types used by number and name

2 - Cell 3 - Line 4 - Line string6 - Shape 7 - Text node 11 - Curve


12 - Complex string 13 - Conic 14 - Complex shape15 - Ellipse 16 - Arc 17 - Text18 - Surface 19 - Solid 22 - Point string24 - B-spline surface 27 - B-spline curve 33 - Dimension35 - Shared cell 36 - Multi-line

Chapter 2 Installation Page 13

Chapter 2 Installation

Before You InstallThis chapter will walk you through a typical Axiom product installation. Theseinstructions apply to both MicroStation V7 and V8. V7 products are used in theexamples.

To install one or more Axiom products, you need:

The latest Axiom product CD; and A license file on floppy disk for the product(s) you are about to install.

Please shut down all MicroStation sessions on your computer before continuing.

Typical Installation from CD1. Insert the Axiom product CD into your CD drive.

2. The dialog box below should come up automatically. This may take a few momentsdepending on computer and CD drive speed.

CONDITIONAL: In some cases Windows is set to suppress auto-running executables.If the installation process does not begin automatically when you insert the CD, you willneed to start the process manually. From the Windows Start Menu, choose Run andtype in the following:D:\Setup.exewhere D is your CD drive letter.


3. Click the button and the first installation dialog box (below) will appear.

4. Select MicroStation V7 or MicroStation V8 and click .

5. Choose which type of installation you want to perform. The Typical installation isbest for most situations and asks the user to make very few decisions.

6. These instructions will describe only the Typical installation path. ChooseTypical and click .


7. Choose the license file for this installation. Toggle on I have a license filesomewhere else. And press .

8. Browse to the axiom.lic file on the CD and click . The licenses in thespecified license file will display in the next dialog box. Press .

Although you have already selected the MicroStation family (V7 or V8) for whichyou want to install Axiom tools, it is common for one computer to have more thanone instance of MicroStation installed on it. For example, you might have twoversions of MicroStation/J installed (07.01.04.16 and 07.02.04.20). You must choosewhich of the two you want to associate your Axiom tools with.


9. Highlight the version of MicroStation you want to associate the Axiom tools with andclick .

Since this is a Typical installation, all programs for which an Axiom license wasfound will already be checked-on to be installed. Other items that are alsoautomatically checked-on for installation are the product Users Guides, individualproduct sample files and Axioms MicroStation pull-down menu.


10. To proceed with default selections click .

Youve now completed the Pre-Setup.

11. Click to proceed with the installation.


12. The button is grayed-out unless you accept the agreement.

If you accept the license and click , the installation will begin. You can click at any time to abort the installation.


13. This is the final dialog box. It shows that the installation is complete. By default theView Readme.pdf option is toggled on and will display the Readme.pdf documentwhen you click .

CongratulationsThats it! You have successfully completed the installation of your Axiom tools.


Chapter 3 Uninstalling

Uninstalling Axiom productsAxiom products can be uninstalled easily through the Windows Start Menu.

1. Go to , Programs | Axiom.

2. Select Uninstall V7 products or Uninstall V8 products depending on the productsyou want to uninstall.

3. Choose Select all. or Select components to uninstall. If you choose Selectcomponents to uninstall. then each product in the list can be manually checked orunchecked. This allows for any combination of products to be uninstalled. Onlyinstalled products will be shown in the list.

Note: At the bottom of the list of products you also have the option to uninstall sampledesign files, users guides and even the Axiom pull-down menu.

4. Once youve made your selections, click the button to complete theuninstall process.

5.

Chapter 4 Quick Start Page 21

Chapter 4 Quick Start

Quick Start ObjectivesThe purpose of this Quick Start is to introduce you to the basic features of DuplicateElement Remover so that you can quickly learn to utilize the program.

Steps 1 and 2 show you how to use Duplicate Element Remover to remove exactduplicates from your files. You can do these steps in a few minutes and end off there ifthat is all you want to do with the program.

Do the remaining steps if you want to practice removing overlapped elements or elementsthat are near duplicates or limit the process to certain elements in the file.

Demonstration VersionThe demonstration version of Duplicate Element Remover only runs in Generate reportonly mode. This means it will not remove any duplicate elements from your design files.It only reports them.

Needless to say, your permanent version of Duplicate Element Remover will not have thisrestriction.

Quick Start Step 11. Load the sample file, remover.dgn. This file is delivered with Duplicate Element

Remover. After a default installation it will be located in the following directory.

...\program files\Axiom\V8\Remover\sample\remover.dgnNow save this file to the same directory with another name like Remover1.dgn.

Note: If Remover.dgn was used previously, all duplicate elements may be deletedfrom the file. You can restore this file from its backup (.bak) located in the samedirectory.


2. Open Duplicate Element Remover by selecting it from the Axiom pull-down menu.

3. Click Duplicate Element Removers Settings menu, and then select RestoreFactory Defaults

A confirmation dialog box will display:

4. Click . This restores the factory default values for all settings.

To save these settings into the active INI file click Duplicate Element RemoversSettings pull down menu again and then select Save Settings:


Quick Start Step 2 Removing duplicate elementsThe following example shows how to use Duplicate Element Remover interactively tolocate and remove duplicate elements.

In the open design file, note the box on the bottom left side of the view. It contains exactduplicate elements that will be identified and can be removed using default settings.

1. Delete the entry in the Which files? field and tab out of the field. This is a fast wayto specify the currently active design file as the file to be processed.


Note: The demonstration version of Duplicate Element Remover is set up so that it willonly generate reports. You will be able to view reports of duplicate elements, but notremove them.

If you do not have the demonstration version, you can run Duplicate Element Remover tojust generate reports, remove elements or both. The option to control this is Generatereport only. You can turn this option ON if you will not want to delete duplicate elementsduring processing.

2. Now click . You will be running in interactive mode, which is the defaultmode of processing. You will have the option to see each duplicate element foundand select whether or not to delete it. The Interactive Mode dialog box displays theelement number and symbology in the text at the bottom.

3. Try clicking the and buttons to further identify the element.

4. If you are not in demonstration mode, click the button.

5. After deleting, the button will change to an button that allows youto undo the deletion. Click the button if you deleted the element.

6. Go ahead and click to delete the element again and go to the nextelement.

7. Click on the remaining three duplicates found until you get theProcessing complete. message.

8. Select to see a text report of the duplicate elements that werefound.


Note: Each of the four graphic elements in the box had a duplicate. All eight of theelements will appear on the report if you ran in Report only mode and did not deleteelements. If you run in non-interactive mode, only four elements will appear.

The report should look something like the image below.

9. Duplicate Element Remover will also create a new design file calledRemover1.drf. Select to open this design file and seegraphically all the duplicate elements that were identified.


In the section of the design report file shown above, duplicate elements arecolored green and non-duplicates are color 0.

10. When the design report file opens, the button name changesto After viewing the .drf file, click on the button.

You have now demonstrated the ability to remove elements that are true duplicates. Thenext quick start steps show how to use a few optional settings to remove duplicate andnear duplicate elements.

Note: If you have the full program (not the demo) and you do not plan to do the nextstep at this time, restore remover.bak. It is the backup that was made before elementswere removed, and is in the same directory with remover.dgn.


Quick Start Step 3 Remove near duplicate elements withslightly different vertices

In your sample design file note the box in the bottom center of the view. It containselements that are almost duplicates. They have slightly different vertices or have the samevertices but are different element types. In this step we will modify settings so these nearduplicate elements are considered duplicate elements.

1. On the Settings pull down menu, select Change Settings

2. In the Settings dialog, select the category Tolerances. Turn on, Considerelements with slightly different vertices as matching? For this demonstration use the


tolerance of 1.0 M (Meter). The tolerance label in this dialog box will display usingthe master unit label setting of the active model.

3. After making your change, click .

4. On the main dialog box be sure that interactive mode is still selected.

5. Click .

6. You will see the two elements in the center box presented as duplicates. Delete them.

7. At the end of processing, select to see a report of the duplicateelements that were found.

8. Then select and you will graphically see the duplicateelements that were identified.


9. Select Return to Original File

You have now demonstrated handling elements that are almost duplicates, but haveslightly different vertices or are different element types.

The next step shows how to remove overlapped elements.


Quick Start Step 4 Remove overlapped elementsDuplicate Element Remover will let you remove small elements overlapped by otherelements. In you sample design file note the box on the top right of the view. It containssmaller elements that are overlapped by the visible elements. Because they are smaller,they are not true duplicates, but are often undesirable. In this step we will modify settingsto treat these small overlapped elements as duplicates and remove them.

1. On the Settings pull down menu, select Change Settings

2. In the Settings dialog, select the category Tolerances and turn on the Removelinear elements overlapped by longer elements. checkbox. This action willautomatically turn on Consider elements with different vertices as matching? and


Consider linear elements with reversed vertices as matching? Ensure theTolerance value for this exercise is no smaller than 0.1 M as shown below.

3. After making your selection, click .

4. On the main dialog box be sure that interactive mode is still selected.

5. Click .

6. Duplicate Element Remover will present you with the smaller overlapped elementsfound inside the box. Use the button if needed to see the elements found.

7. Use or to process all the elements that come up.

8. At the end of processing, select to see a report of the elementsthat were found.

9. Then select and you will see the small overlapped elementsthat were identified.


10. Select Return to Original File

You have now demonstrated handling overlapped elements.

Whats Next?Go ahead and work with your own files. By default, Duplicate Element Remover createsa backup of your master files before processing them.

Remember that the full User Guide is always available to you from Duplicate ElementRemovers Help menu (select Help | Contents).

E-mail links to Axiom Support and your Axiom MicroStation Consultant are alsoavailable through the Help menu (select Help | About). Contact us any time.

If you prefer to call, the phone number is 727-442-7774.

We are also interested in requests or suggestions about Duplicate Element Remover. Welook forward to hearing from you.

Chapter 5 Running Duplicate Element Remover Page 33

Chapter 5 Running Duplicate ElementRemover

Main dialog box

After launching Duplicate Element Remover from your Axiom menu, the main dialogbox (pictured above) displays. The following sections cover the different interfacemenus, fields and buttons in detail.

File | Exit

This option unloads the application.

The Settings menu

There are various settings you can make in Duplicate Element Remover to control theexact duplicate elements you want to eliminate.


You can change settings, save them under various file names and reload them as needed.Settings are saved as .ini files. INI stands for initialization.

When you save settings without specifying a settings file name, the settings are saved inREMOVER.INI. This file is loaded when Duplicate Element Remover first starts up.

Load SettingsWhen Duplicate Element Remover is started, the settings from the REMOVER.INI fileare loaded. Use the Load Settings... option to load settings from other .ini files thathave been previously saved.

Use the REMOVER.INI file to hold your default settings.

Save SettingsUse Save Settings to save all changes made to your settings into the active settings file.

Save Settings AsUse Save Settings As to save your current settings with a filename of your choice.

Reset to Factory DefaultsThis reverts all settings to their default state. You should then use Save Settings tocommit those changes to the active settings file.

Settings file:This field displays the name of the currently loaded .ini file.


Change SettingsChange settings opens up the following options dialog box. The settings file is a .inifile, and all of the options described below may also be updated with a text editor. Theoptions for all categories are described in detail later in this user guide in the Settingssection.

Help Menu

The Help menu gives you access to the Duplicate Element Remover help file andinformation about Duplicate Element Remover.

Help | ContentsSelect Contents to view the Windows help file for Duplicate Element Remover.

Help | AboutHelp | About opens up an HTML page in your default web browser that displaysDuplicate Element Removers version and licensing information, as well as Axiomcontact information and helpful links for Axiom technical support, licensing and sales.

Which files?

The Which files? field is where you tell Duplicate Element Remover which design filesyou want to process. You can enter the name of a single design file or you can use the button to choose any number of design files.


When you load Duplicate Element Remover, the Which files? field contains the path tothe active design file.

The button brings up the Choose Files to Process dialog box that allowsyou create a list of design files to process.

See the chapter called Choose Files to Process for complete information about thisadvanced file selection function.

Models:

Model type selectionThe Models: type button has 5 possible choices. The default is .

Model name filter:This field is used to limit the model names that are processed. The use of wildcards ispermitted. Leaving this field blank is the same as accepting all model names. If any valueexists in this field it will be checked against all models in the design files being processedregardless of the model type setting.

Report file

Duplicate Element Remover creates various reports. The Report file: buttonopens a dialog box that allows you to specify report options. The Report file options aredescribed in detail in a later section of this User Guide.


The button opens the Report file options dialog box. This dialog allowsyou to change settings regarding text and design report files.

The button opens the text report in Notepad by default.

The button opens the design report file that shows all theduplicate elements in green by default. After using this button to open the design reportfile, the button name changes to .


Click the to return to the previous design file.

Press the button to have Duplicate Element Remover start processing.

The button closes Duplicate Element Remover.

Chapter 6 Settings Page 39

Chapter 6 Set tings

Settings | GeneralDuplicate Element Remover creates a backup file by default. Reference files will not bemodified, but you can compare master file elements against elements in reference files.

Backup design file.Backup design file. creates a backup of each design file before processing. Theresulting backup is created with the same name and a .BAK extension. This setting ison by default

Reference files:

By default Duplicate Element Remover ignores reference file elements when checking forduplicates, however it offers several options for considering them if desired. When thereference file options are used, all elements in the matching reference files are tested forduplicate elements in the master model being processed. When a duplicate is found it willalways be deleted from the master model.


Store file position and element ID in text report file?Turn this on if you want to add the duplicate elements file position and element ID to thetext report file.

General report only.When Generate report only. is turned On (checked), Duplicate Element Removergenerates reports of the duplicate elements found in the design files you process, howeverit will not remove the duplicate elements. This gives you the ability to check your resultsbefore actually removing duplicate elements.

Interactive processing.When Interactive processing. is turned On (checked), Duplicate Element Removerruns in interactive mode. In this mode it zooms into each duplicate elements encounteredgiving you the opportunity to delete or skip the element.

Only consider fenced area.Turn on this option if you want to only test elements in a fenced area of the currentlyactive model.

Note: This option can only be used on the currently active model with the active fenceplaced. You must set the model button to Active model and clear the Model namefilter. Ensure the active design file is loaded in the Which files? field beforeprocessing.

Settings | Characteristics to be ignored

When comparing elements, you have the option to disregard any of the above criteriaduring the comparison. These options are all unselected by default.


For example, if you choose to ignore Level as in the image above, a red line on level 6can be found to match a red line on level 32. To select which line would be deleted, seethe next category, Restrictions on those removed.

When no selections are made, only exact matches are allowed.

Settings | Design report file symbology

Use Design report file symbology to set the symbology of Duplicate, Non-Duplicates and Selected elements that are output by Duplicate Element Remover to itsdesign report file.

Settings | Primary selection criteria

The category "Primary selection criteria" allows the user to restrict the types of elementsprocessed by Duplicate Element Remover. It also contains an option that allows the userto delete or report a specified selection set of elements from the file whether they areduplicate elements or not.


Remove all duplicate elements.This is the default setting for Duplicate Element Remover. With this option ON, allelements in the design file will be tested.

Remove selected duplicate elementsRemoves only those duplicate elements matching the element selection criteria you set.For example you can limit the elements checked for duplicates to only lines on Level 3or lines, line strings and shapes on any level.

Selecting this option actives the button which allows you to create veryprecise selection sets. Creating the selection sets is explained in more detail, in thechapter titled Element Selection, later in this guide.

Remove selected elements (duplicate or not)This option deletes all elements, duplicate or not, matching the element selection criteriayou designate. This is useful when a user wants to delete specific elements from a largenumber of design files automatically.

Selecting this option actives the button which allows you to create veryprecise selection sets. Creating the selection sets is explained in more detail, in thechapter titled Element Selection, later in this guide.

The button opens the Element Selection dialog box allowing you to choosethe criteria for selecting elements to process. Please see the Element Selection chapterlater in this guide for more details.

Settings | Restrictions on elements removed

Restrictions on elements removed specifies which element of a duplicate set is to beremoved.


In the case of true duplicates, this choice is meaningless, however it gains relevance whenelements have some non-duplicate feature. For this reason, always use these options withthe Characteristics to be ignored category.

For example, you have elements on levels 44 and 53 to 56. You want to check forduplicates on level 9. When found, you want the duplicates on levels 44 and 53 to 56 tobe the ones removed. To do this, you must ignore levels when testing for duplicates andselect 44,53-56 in this dialog box in the Level section.

Keep the element with heaviest weight.This option only applies when two elements have been found to be duplicates based onother settings including the setting to ignore Weight.

When comparing elements, if you ignore weight (see the category Characteristics tobe ignored) you can instruct Duplicate Element Remover to always keep the elementwith the highest line weight and delete the matching element with lesser weight.

If elements have equal weights, this option is ignored.

Note: If Weight is also selected on this dialog box, only elements that match thespecified weight and are not the heaviest element can be deleted.

Keep the element with line style 0 if one exists.This option only applies when two elements have been found to be duplicates based onother settings including the setting to ignore Style.

When comparing elements, if you ignore Style (see the category Characteristics to beignored) you can instruct Duplicate Element Remover to always keep the element withthe solid line style if it exists and delete matching elements with other styles.


If none of the matching elements have line style, zero, this option is ignored.

Note: Any conflict arising when both heaviest weight and line style 0 options areselected will be resolved by keeping both elements.

Additionally, in case of overlap, the longest element is always kept regardless ofsymbology.

Settings | Restrictions on elements compared

This setting works by first examining each element to see if it meets the element removalcriteria, if so, the program looks for comparison elements based on the Restrictions onthose compared category (for example, all elements on level 3). Then if the elementmeeting the removal criteria (being examined) is found to be a duplicate of an element tobe compared against, the duplicate will be deleted.

Like the previous category, the Restrictions on those compared category only becomesmeaningful when used with the Characteristics to be ignored options.

Any range given in the above dialog box must be a subset of the ranges given in theIgnore dialog box.

For example, suppose that you want to compare red lines to white lines and ignore greenlines, all else being equal, and you want to delete the white lines only. You would set upthe choices this way:

Ignore = colorRestrictions on those removed = color white (only white elements will be removed.)Restrictions on those compared = color red (Only compare to red elements.)


Settings | Tolerances

Even after removing all duplicate elements, you may find that your design still containsunnecessary elements.

These could be elements that are so close to being duplicates that a slight difference intolerance would make them to match. Another situation could be a line drawn from left toright that will not be an exact duplicate of a line drawn from right to left. Your files mayalso contain elements that are completely overlapped by larger elements that you mightwant removed.

The options in this category offer solutions for these situations.

Consider elements with slightly different vertices as matching?

The Consider elements with slightly different vertices as matching? option allows youto set a tolerance, in master units, for defining the allowed offset for any vertex ororigin point of an element. For example, treat all lines whose vertices match, within atolerance of 0.1 master units, as duplicates. Element types that are not linear but containorigin point information (cells, text, etc.) interpret tolerance as applied to their originpoints.

When this option is turned on Duplicate Element Remover also test for matches betweenelements of different types that may have similar geometry and appear as duplicates. Forexample lines, linestrings, curves, complex strings, shapes and complex shapes may allbe considered as potential duplicates of each other, if all their defining vertices are withinthe tolerance specified.

See the table in the introductory section of this guide called What types of elements canbe compared and removed? for a list of types which can be tested against each otherwhen this option is activated.

Tip: Dont make the tolerance any larger than necessary. If you set the tolerance toohigh, Duplicate Element Remover might delete more elements than you intended.


Consider elements with slightly different rotations as matching?

The Consider elements with slightly different rotations as matching? option allows youto set a tolerance, in degrees, for defining determining a matching duplicate element.

This option is valid only for elements that have a rotation as part of their elementdefinition, such as text, arcs, cells, cones, and ellipses.

Tip: Dont make the tolerance any larger than necessary. If you set the tolerance toohigh, Duplicate Element Remover might delete more elements than you intended.

Consider linear elements with reversed vertices as matching?The Consider linear elements with reversed vertices as matching? option is Off bydefault.

Select this option to cause Duplicate Element Remover to evaluate lines and line stringswithout regard for the order of their vertices. Duplicate Element Remover will thenrecognize (and remove) lines whose vertices are reversed but otherwise identical. That is,a line string drawn 1-2-3-4 would be considered a duplicate of a line string drawn 4-3-2-1.

A number of add-on MicroStation applications rewrite linear elements in reverse orderwhen processing a file. When Duplicate Element Remover processes the file, usingdefault settings, it would see these two elements as different, even though the graphicrepresentation is identical.

When you select this option, Duplicate Element Remover will ignore placement sequenceif the graphic is identical.

Remove linear elements overlapped by longer elements.This option is Off by default.

The option handles the situation where a linear element fully overlaps another linearelement, but the smaller element does not necessarily have the same (or even close)starting or ending vertices.

The overlapping element would be the same size or longer than the underlappedelement. The underlapped element must be fully overlapped by another element andthe weight must be the same in order to be evaluated as a duplicate element and removed.

Note: When you select Remove linear elements overlapped by longer elements. youalso turn on Consider elements with slightly different vertices as matching? as thissetting must also be active for proper results even though the tolerance can be zero.


Example:Consider lines lying along the Y-axis.

Line A goes from (0, 2) to (0, 9)

Line B goes from (0, 2) to (0, 9)

Line C goes from (0, 2.1) to (0, 8.8)

Line D goes from (0.1, 2) to (0.1, 9)

Line E goes from (0, 5) to (0, 6)

Line F goes from (0, 7) to (0, 19)

With default settings Duplicate Element Remover will only drop line B, as it is a perfectduplicate of line A.

With the tolerance set to 0.2 Duplicate Element Remover will drop lines B, C and D.

With the under lap option set and the tolerance set to zero, Duplicate Element Removerwill drop lines B, C and E.

With the under lap option set and the tolerance set to 0.2 remover will also drop lines B,C, D and E.

Line F overlaps line A but will not be deleted (unless the tolerance is increased to theunrealistically large value of 10).


Chapter 7 Report file options

Report File

Duplicate Element Remover creates various reports. The Report file: buttonopens the dialog box shown below, which allows you to control report file output.

Reports inform you of what was deleted from a design file. The report can be ASCII textand/or a design file. The dialog box above shows the defaults.

Text fileThis section of the dialog box contains the options that control Duplicate ElementRemovers text report file output.

Chapter 7 Report file options Page 49

Create a text report.Select Create a text report if you want a text report file containing a listing of allduplicate elements found during processing. This option is ON by default.

Text report file extensionYou can specify a file extension or accept the default .trf.

The output file extension can include the special character ? (question mark). Whenused at the end of the extension value it will be converted into a digit when the report fileis created. This digit increments when other reports of the same name exist. For examplewith the report extension specified as tr? the first report file would be namedremover.tr0 and the next time you ran the program you would create remover.tr1.Once the file remover.tr9 was created, you would get an error message telling you thatno more valid report extensions are available.

You can use up to two question marks in the extension t??. This would allow up to 100separate report files.

Everything in one text report file or One report file per MicroStation fileYou can choose to generate one report for all files processed or a separate report for each.

Choosing One report file per MicroStation file offers additional options for report filenaming and directory location. When using this option the report files name will alwaysbe based on the root name of the design file being processed.

Text Report ViewerThis option allows you to select the text editor you wish to use for viewing the text reportfiles created by Duplicate Element Remover. The default editor is Notepad.exe.

Design fileThis section of the dialog box contains the options that control Duplicate ElementRemovers design report file output.

Create a design reportSelect Create a design report if you want an output design report file containing agraphic representation of all duplicate elements found during processing. This option isON by default.


Design report file extensionYou can specify a file extension for the design report file or accept the default, .drf.

The output file extension can include the special character ? (question mark). Whenused at the end of the extension value it will be converted into a digit when the report fileis created. This digit increments when other reports of the same name exist. For exampleif a single design file, axiom.dgn, were processed several times, with the reportextension specified as dr?, the report files would be named axiom.dr0 andaxiom.dr1, etc. Once the file axiom.dr9 was created, you would get an error messagetelling you that no more valid report extensions are available.

You can use up to two question marks in the extension d??. This would allow up to 100report files for each design file name.

Append extension to full name (ex: file.dgn.drf)This option outputs the design report file with its complete file name (base name plusextension) followed by the extension set in Design report file extension.

Put reports in same directory with design filesThis tells Duplicate Element Remover to put the design report files that are generated inthe same directory as the files processed.

Put reports in specified directoryWhen this option is turned On (checked), you can select an alternate directory for youroutput design report files. Click the button to navigate to the directory youwish to use.

Chapter 8 Interactive Mode Page 51

Chapter 8 Inte ractive Mode

Interactive mode dialog box.Interactive mode allows you to decide, one element at a time, if that element should bedeleted. After clicking on the main dialog box, you will see the Interactive modedialog box.

One by one each element is centered in the view and blinks. At the same time, theinteractive processing dialog box gives you information to locate the element and variousoptions to handle it.

Note: When you run in Interactive mode, both elements of a duplicate pair will bereported if you do not delete the first one presented, whereas non-interactive processingreports only the first element in a duplicate pair.

Moves to the next available duplicate element for review.

You can choose not to delete a duplicate element by clicking this button. If you do so, thesecond element of the duplicate pair will be the next element displayed.

& buttons

Press the button to delete the element currently being shown by DuplicateElement Remover. The button will then become an button, which will


allow you to reverse the deletion if you wish. Using the or buttonrequires that you use the button to move to the next duplicate element.

or

The button deletes the current element and moves to the next duplicateelement.

The button restores (undeletes) the previously deleted element andmoves to the next duplicate element.

This causes the current element to blink so you can identify it more easily in a crowdeddesign file.

and

Press these buttons to zoom in or out on the current element.

The button opens the Interactive skip options dialog box.

Chapter 8 Interactive Mode Page 53

These options exist to make it possible to skip through a file in interactive mode withouthaving to visit every duplicate element along the way. They are most often used after afile or model has already been processed in Generate report only mode and the user hasa text report file containing file position information about a duplicate element he wantsto visit in interactive mode.

These options only apply to the current model being run interactively. They will reset totheir default values after each model is processed and the next model or file is openedduring interactive processing.

The Only show elements after file position field accepts a value that represents agraphic elements file position number. In MicroStation V8 all graphic elements in amodel have a file position greater than or equal to 4,000,000 so this is the default value.You can change this to a larger value if you want to eliminate visiting every duplicatebefore a specific element during processing. Only duplicate elements after this numberwill be shown.

Dont show the first ______ duplicate elements field allows you to skip the designatednumber of duplicates. For example if a value of 200 is given, the program will skip thefirst 200 duplicate elements and only display for consideration duplicates found after thefirst 200.

Press the button to finish processing the current file in Non-interactive mode.No further elements will be deleted, but all duplicates found will be reported.


Chapter 9 Cautions

Run Duplicate Element Remover the first few times inGenerate report only. mode

The Generate report only options can be set on the main dialog or you can set it byclicking Settings | Change Settings and selecting the General category. Turningthis option On tells Duplicate Element Remover to only generate a report of theduplicate elements found in the files you process. In this mode Duplicate ElementRemover will not remove any of the duplicate elements. This gives you the ability tocheck your settings prior to actually removing any elements.

Speed of processingNormally, Duplicate Element Remover processes files quite quickly. If a file containsmany almost equal complex elements, such as multiple type 12 (complex string)elements, and you use the options to remove near-duplicate elements, it can increaseprocessing time. Using a large tolerance can also increase run time.

On large files, turning off the option to create a design file report will also increaseprocessing speed.

Reducing file sizeNote that the deleted elements will no longer be displayed after running DuplicateElement Remover, but will still take up space in the file until it is compressed.

Chapter 10 How elements are processed Page 55

Chapter 10 How elements are processed

Element ProcessingThe following describes how Duplicate Element Remover processes a design file.

Text elements that contain no characters or only spaces (provided they are not part of acomplex element) are logged in the report file whether deleted or not.

A duplicate element is an element that is identical to another element except forpossibly different graphic group numbers or other non-geometry and non-display relateddata like user and database linkages.

When comparing elements, level, color, line weight and line style are considered (theexact behavior can be modified using the characteristics to be ignored option. Class,locked status, view dependence and solid/hole properties are also considered.

Elements of different types can never be considered duplicate when zero tolerance isused. (Text elements are always considered different from shape elements. Line elementsare also different from two vertex line string elements.) Each different element type hasits own set of additional properties that must also match. (Arc elements must also matchprimary and secondary axes, start angle, sweep angle and rotation; text elements mustalso match origin, font, style, justification, height, width, etc. to mention a few.

A simple element is deleted if it is a duplicate of another simple element and is a graphicelement. Such deletions are logged in the report file.

A complex string or complex shape element is deleted if all of its components are equalto those of another complex element. Such deletions are logged in the report file.

Cell names are considered when checking for duplicates.

Duplicate elements within text nodes or cells are noted in the report file but not deleted.

Unless the user has specified one of the additional restrictions options theelement appearing first in the design file will be deleted.

Interactive mode reports both elements of a duplicate pair whereas non-interactive reportsonly the first.


Chapter 11 Element Selection

Element Selection IntroductionAxiom Element Selection is a very powerful utility by Axiom International that is builtinto Global File Changer, DgnCompare and Duplicate Element Remover for definingand creating advanced selection sets. With it you will be able to create any number ofnamed selection sets comprised of specific element types such as Lines, Line Strings,Ellipses, Text, Text Nodes, Complex Strings, etc. You can further fine tune your namedselection sets by including element specific attributes such as Line length, Sweep of anArc, Fill Color, Cell Name, Number of Vertices, text string values, etc. Other optionsexist to further limit element selection by level, color, weight, style, database linkages,user data linkages, even location within a specified design plane area.

In Global File Changer, Axiom Element Selection makes it easy to isolate elements formaking batch changes that would not be appropriate for all the elements in a set of designfiles. As a quick example lets say that in a particular project containing 100 design filesall the shapes representing structures were placed on level 10 throughout the designprocess. After the design work was done it was discovered that the customers standardrequired all structures to be placed on level 20, not on level 10. Using Axiom ElementSelection you could quickly create a selection set for all shapes on level 10 and thenwith Global File Changer you could automatically activate that selection set and thenapply simple MicroStation key-in commands to change only those elements to level 20.This could be run on all 100 files in about 10 minutes total.

In DgnCompare and Duplicate Element Remover, Axiom Element Selection is used tolimit the elements you want to compare between the original and modified file or the setof elements you want to consider when searching for duplicates.

Element Selection A simple exampleIn the following very simple example we create a named selection set that causes theprogram to only select ellipses, leaving all other element types excluded.

Chapter 11 Element Selection Page 57

1. To create the selection set click the Ellipse button in the Element types section ofthe main dialog box and then type a name for it into the Selection Set Name fieldas shown in the image below.

2. Click and your ELLIPSE_ONLY selection set will be added to the list ofnamed Selection Sets. After you click the button it will gray out and yourselection set will be added to the list box as shown below.


3. After modifying or creating selection sets you must save them to a file. Use File |Save As to open a standard file creation dialog box. Give the Selection file aname and location that you will remember.

4. At this point, the selection set is saved and ready for use with any of the Axiomprograms that utilize it.

5. Close the Element Selection dialog box by clicking the button.

Element Selection Main Dialog BoxThere are several things that are common to most element types. These include color,weight, line style, level, graphic group numbers, properties and classes. In additiondatabase and user data linkages might be attached to any graphic element. In thefollowing sections we will take each aspect of the Element Selection dialog box andexplain how to use it to select the elements you want.


The File menu

The File menu includes five options, New, Open, Save, Save As andExit. The currently loaded selection files name will appear on the title bar.

File | NewSelecting New from the File menu unloads the currently loaded .sel file and restoresthe dialog box to its default state allowing a whole new series of selection sets to becreated. After creating new selection sets you must use File|Save or File|Save Asto save your selection sets to a .sel file

File | OpenThe Open option displays a standard file selection dialog box that will allow you to selecta previously saved file. Once a valid file has been selected, the Selection Sets list willbe populated with all the named selection sets found in the file. When a file issuccessfully opened, the file name will appear in the title bar of the dialog box.

File | SaveThe Save option lets you save changes made to the opened Selection file. If there is noopened file, a Save As dialog box will prompt you for the new file name.

File | Save AsThis menu option displays a Save As dialog box that will prompt you for the newfile name.

File | ExitThe exit option closes the Axiom Element Selection dialog box.


The Help Menu

Help | AboutSelecting this option opens your default web browser and displays information aboutAxiom Element Selection including the current version of the utility

Help | Help on element selection...Selecting this option opens the Element Selection help file where you can search forhelp by contents, index or find capabilities.

Focus Item Descriptions

At the very bottom of the Element Selection dialog box and many other dialog boxes inElement Selection you will see a description of the item that currently has the focus. Thisdescription gives more information about the use or purpose of that item or section of thedialog box.


Element types

Your first step in Axiom Element Selection will be to choose the element types you wantto select. These element type selections are described in detail in the next sections.

Symbology options

After choosing the element types, your next step will be to set any limiting symbology orproperty criteria for the selected element types. If no values are entered in this section


then all colors, weights, styles, etc. for each selected type will be utilized. These optionsare described in detail in the Symbology Options section of this guide.

Selection Sets

When you have finished specifying element types and all parameters the selection mustbe saved and added to the list with a name. To do this type a meaningful name for theselection set in the Selection Set Name field of the dialog box, then click the button to save it to the list.

Note: Each individual selection set must have a unique name.

When you are done creating or editing all your named selection sets, choose File | Saveto save them to the currently loaded Selection file or File | Save As to create a newfile for them.

Click the button to accept all of your selections and return to the parent program.


Click the button to cancel all of the selections you may have made and returnto the parent program.

Element Selection Element Types

There are 22 element types that you can include in a selection set. To include an elementtype in the search criteria, select the appropriate type name from the list. This sectionuses the Microsoft Windows style selection mode which means you may select multipleelement types by holding down the key and clicking additional types or use the key and the mouse to select a range of types.

Most element types have additional element specific attributes. To set element specificattributes, click the arrow to the right of the element type name. This will call up a newdialog box with element specific properties.


Once you have set element specific attributes, the right arrow will change color to black.Also, when an element type is selected which has additional element specific datadefined, the element type button will display in blue.

Note: When creating a selection set it is necessary to choose at least one element type inorder for the Selection set to select any elements.

| buttonThe | button below the list of Element Typeschanges function depending on the displayed label. When the button displays , clicking it will deselect all element types, allowing you to start with a blankslate. When the button displays , clicking the button willautomatically select all listed element types.

Arcs

Arcs have three parameters that may be specified sweep angle, primary axis andsecondary axis.

Sweep angleThe sweep angle is the number of degrees from one end point of the arc to the other endas calculated from the arcs center point.

Primary axisFor circular arcs, the primary axis will be equal to the radius of the arc. For non-circulararcs, MicroStation considers the first axis defined during placement of the arc as the


primary axis. Since it is not possible to visually tell which axis was defined first, thelarger of the two axes will be considered to be the primary axis.

Secondary axisFor circular arcs, the secondary axis will be equal to the radius of the arc. For non-circular arcs, MicroStation considers the second axis defined during placement of the arcas the secondary axis. Since it is not possible to visually tell which axis was definedsecond, the smaller of the two axes will be considered to be the secondary axis.

The Condition option buttonThis option button has five possible choices: less than, less than or equal, equal, notequal, greater than or equal and greater than. The selected option is applied to the numberin the data entry field to the right of the option button. If no value is present in the dataentry field, the option button is ignored. You can define a range of values by using the= operator and setting the range with a : colon between the two values. Example:0:90 for sweep angle would select arcs whose sweep angle is any value from 0 to 90degrees.

Set arc propertiesThe sweep angle has a valid range of 0 to 360 degrees. Partial degrees are allowed indecimal form, such as 44.45 or 95.625.

The primary and secondary axis values are expressed in master units. Partial master unitsare allowed in decimal form such as 10.5 or 1.25.

You may leave any properties blank that do not apply. For arcs, you may only care aboutthe primary axis, in which case, you could leave the other two parameters blank.

The button adds the sweep angle, primary axis and secondary axis to the list boxcontents. The list will be used to determine when an arc is to be added to the selection setor rejected. If the arc meets all the criteria represented on any row in the list, the arc willbe accepted and added to the selection set.

The button removes the highlighted row from the list.

The button saves the list of arc parameters in memory and closes the Arcs dialogbox.

The button rejects any changes made to the list of arc parameters and closes theArcs dialog box.

Note: MicroStation seems to use six decimal places of accuracy when calculatingelement values while Analyze only uses four decimal places. This could cause problemsif you are relying on the output of Analyze to determine a value such as the sweep angle


or primary axis of an arc. You may wish to allow some rounding tolerance, particularlywhen dealing with curved elements such as arcs, ellipses, curves and b-splines.

B-Spline Curves

MicroStation V8 and V8 XM

MicroStation V8 and V8 XM handling B-Spline Curves differently from earlier versionsof MicroStation (like MicroStation/J). As a result, there are no additional parameters forthe b-spline curves in the Axiom Element Selection dialog box for MicroStation V8 andhigher versions.

MicroStation V7 (MicroStation/J and earlier versions)

B-spline curves have five parameters that may be specified: type, filled, fill color, lengthand number of poles.

Type

The Type option button allows you to specify between closed and open b-spline curvesor to accept both types.

Filled

The Filled option button is used to determine which type of closed b-spline curves toselect. The Both option will allow either filled or not filled b-spline curves to beselected. The Filled option will only allow filled b-spline curves to be selected. The


Not filled option will allow only non-filled b-spline curves to be selected. This optiononly makes sense when the Type option is set to Closed.

Fill color

The Fill Color option allows you to define the fill colors of b-spline curves. This optiononly makes sense when the Type option is set to Closed and the Filled option is setto Filled.

You may also select colors by using the right arrow button. This will call up the SelectColors dialog box that will allow you to select the desired colors graphically. If anycolor numbers are already in the Fill Colors data entry field, they will automatically beselected when the Select Colors dialog box displays.

Tip: The fill color of a closed element may be different from the elements color.

Length

The length of a b-spline curve is measured along the element from one endpoint to theother. Length is based on master units. You may enter either a decimal number such as1.5 or working unit values like 1:50:0.

Number of poles

The number of poles is essentially the number of vertices used to create the b-splinecurve.

The Condition option button

The condition option button is described in the The Condition option button sectionunder Arcs dialog box.

Properties

To set the b-spline curve properties, set the length parameter and the associated conditionoption button and then set the number of poles and its associated condition option button.

You may leave any properties blank that do not apply. For b-spline curve, you may onlycare about the length, in which case, you could leave the other parameters blank.

The button adds the length and number of poles to the list box contents. The listwill be used to determine when a b-spline curve is to be added to the selection set orrejected. If the b-spline curve meets all the criteria represented on any row in the list, theb-spline curve will be accepted and added to the selection set.



The button saves the list of b-spline curve parameters in memory and closes theB-Spline Curves dialog box.

The button rejects any changes made to the list of b-spline curve parametersand closes the B-Spline Curves dialog box.

B-Spline Surfaces

There are no additional parameters for b-spline surfaces.

Cells

Cells have six parameters that may be specified: Cell type, Cell name, Stringformat, Rotation, X Scale and Y Scale. Selection of cells by the levels of theircomponent elements may also be controlled. By turning on the All components must beon selected levels option you can insist that all the component elements be on the levelsselected in the main Select dialog box or, if Off, then only one component exists on thelevels selected in the main Select dialog box.

Cell typeThe Cell type option button is used to determine which type of cells to select. TheBoth option will select both graphic and point cells. The Graphic cell option willonly allow graphic cells to be selected. The Point cell option will allow only point cellsto be selected.


Cell nameThe Cell name field allows you to specify which cells you want to select. It allows youto use a series of wildcards or to use regular expressions, based on the String formatsetting to specify cell names you wish to select. For wildcards, the * character means,match any string of characters. The ? character means, match any single character.Following are some examples:

* Match any cell.B* Match any cell that starts with the letter B.*F Match any cell that ends with the letter F.H*E Match any cell that starts with H and ends with E.H?E Match any 3 letter cell that starts with H and ends with E.A* Any cell that starts with A.?? Any cell that has exactly 2 characters

For help using regular expressions, see the section titled Understanding RegularExpressions.

Cell name by default will contain an *, with the String format set to Wildcard. Thissetting will select all cells, both named and unnamed.

String formatThis option button allows you to choose between wildcard or regular expressionmatching for the cell name. See the previous section Cell name for examples using theWildcard option. For help using regular expressions, see the section titledUnderstanding Regular Expressions.

Blank cell nameTo select cells with no name (orphan cells), click the button with the name fieldblank.

RotationThe Rotation option allows you to isolate cells based on their rotation angle which willbe a value between 0 and 360 degrees. You can define a range of values by using the =


operator and setting the range with a colon between the two values. Example: 0:90 wouldselect cells whose rotation is any value from 0 to 90 degrees.

X ScaleThe X Scale allows you to isolate cells based on the X scale of a cell. You can definea range of values by using the = operator and setting the range with a colon betweenthe two values. Example: 1.0:5.0 would select cells whose X scale is any value from 1 to5.

Y ScaleThe Y Scale allows you to isolate cells based on the Y scale of a cell. You can define arange of values by using the = operator and setting the range with a colon between thetwo values. Example: 1.0:5.0 would select cells whose Y scale is any value from 1 to 5.

The button adds the cell type and cell name to the list box contents. The list willbe used to determine when a cell is to be added to the selection set or rejected. If the cellmeets all the criteria represented on any row in the list, the cell will be accepted andadded to the selection set.


All components must be on selected levelsWhen this is checked all the component elements that make up a cell must be on one ofthe selected levels from the main Axiom Element Selection dialog boxs level field forthat cell to be selected. If it is not checked at least one component element must be onone of the selected levels for the cell to be considered. If there are no levels specified onthe main Axiom Element Selection dialog box then this option is ignored.

The button saves the list of cell parameters in memory and closes the Cellsdialog box.

The button rejects any changes made to the list of cell parameters and closesthe Cells dialog box.

Cell ParametersSet the Cell type option and then fill in the appropriate parameters for the specific cellsyou wish to select. Any field with the exception of Cell name, which is left blank willhave no effect on the cells selected.


Complex Shapes

Complex shapes have three parameters that may be specified: filled, fill color andperimeter.

FilledClosed elements such as shapes, complex shapes and ellipses may be displayed as filledelements or not filled.

Filled option buttonThe Filled option button is used to determine which type of closed complex shapes toselect. The Both option will allow either filled or not filled complex shapes to beselected. The Filled option will only allow filled complex shapes to be selected. TheNot filled option will allow only non-filled complex shapes to be selected.

Fill color option buttonThe Fill color option button allows you to define the fill colors of complex shapes. Thisoption only makes sense when the Filled option is set to Filled.

You may also select colors by using the right arrow button. This will call up the SelectColors dialog box that will allow you to select the desired colors graphically. If anycolor numbers are already in the Fill colors data entry field, they will automatically beselected when the Select Colors dialog box displays.

Tip: The fill color of a closed element may be different from the elements color.

PerimeterThe perimeter is the distance measured along the entire element.


The Condition option buttonThe Condition option button is described in the section The Condition option buttonunder Arcs dialog box.

PropertiesTo set the complex shape properties, set the filled option button to the desired option(Ignore will normally be the desired mode), and set the perimeter parameter with itsassociated condition option button.

You may leave perimeter parameter blank if it does not apply.

The button adds the fill type and perimeter to the list box contents. The list willbe used to determine when a complex shape is to be added to the selection set or rejected.If the complex shape meets all the criteria represented on any row in the list, the complexshape will be accepted and added to the selection set.


The button saves the list of complex shape parameters in memory and closes theComplex Shapes dialog box.

The button rejects any changes made to the list of complex shape parametersand closes the Complex Shapes dialog box.

Complex String

Complex strings have only one parameter that may be specified length.


LengthThe length is the distance measured along the entire element from one end point to theother end point. Length is based on master units. You may enter either a decimal numbersuch as 1.5 or working unit values like 1:50:0.

PropertiesTo set the complex string properties, set the length parameter with its associatedcondition option button.

The button adds the length to the list box contents. The list will be used todetermine when a complex string is to be added to the selection set or rejected. If thecomplex string meets all the criteria represented on any row in the list, the complex stringwill be accepted and added to the selection set.


The button saves the list of complex string parameters in memory and closes theComplex Strings dialog box.

The button rejects any changes made to the list of complex string parametersand closes the Complex Strings dialog box.

Cones

Cones have three parameters that may be specified height, top radius and bottomradius.

HeightThe height is measured from the center of the top to the center of the bottom.


Top radiusThe top radius is radius of the top of the cone.

Bottom radiusThe bottom radius is radius of the bottom of the cone.

Note: When placing a cone in MicroStation, the bottom radius is defined first.

The Condition option buttonsThe Condition option button is described in the section The Condition option buttonunder Arcs dialog box.

PropertiesTo set the cone properties, set the height parameter with its associated conditi

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