Change Level Symbology in Hundreds of MicroStation Files at a Time

Design file elements can be changed in thousands of different ways. Production demands often require that elements be changed in hundreds of MicroStation files at time. For example, the symbology (color, level, weight and style), font, text, size or rotation of certain elements may need to be changed in all the design files of a particular project. The same goes for file settings like level symbology, working units, dimensioning parameters, etc. How then, can a MicroStation department keep up with such demands for changes yet remain productive and on-schedule?

Axiom has just the solution to this problem — Global File Changer. Global File Changer lets you make almost unlimited changes to multiple design files quickly and easily! The changes you can accomplish with Global File Changer are only limited by your imagination. As an example of its power, Global File Changer can automatically attach a new cell library to 150 design files in as little as one minute and 15 seconds!

In this issue of MicroStation Today, we show you how to accomplish a task for which Global File Changer is frequently used - copying the level symbology settings of one design file to hundreds of design files. This is just one of a myriad of functions that Global File Changer can execute. See the end of this article to find out about other Global File Changer functions that can ease and speed up your MicroStation work.

Copying level symbology settings from one design file to hundreds of others

1. 1. Start Global File Changer from the Axiom menu.
   
   
   
   
2. On the main Global File Changer interface, click the <Edit List…> button next to the “Which design files do you want to process?” field.
   
   
   
   
3. 3. After selecting all the files you want to change, you’ll notice that the “Which design files do you want to process?” field will have “(edited file list)” in it. This means that all the files you selected are included in a file list.
   
   
   
   
4. 4. Next, on the main interface, click on the “Custom” pull-down menu and select “Copy level symbology from another design file…”.
   
   
   
   
5. 5. The screen below appears. Click on the <Select> button to select the design file from which you want to copy level symbology. To get back to the main screen, click on <OK>.
   
   
   
   
6. 6. You’ll notice on the main interface that the field labeled “Which file contains the keyin commands you want to execute?” now contains “#Axiom Copy Level Symbology c:\civil-projects\settings.dgn”. This means that the copy level symbology settings command will be executed using the level symbology settings of the design file you selected, in this case c:\civil-projects\settings.dgn.
   
   
   
   
7. 7. Next, you tell Global File Changer where to place its report file. Click the <Select> button next to the “What should we call the output report file?” field to place the report file in the directory of your choice. The report file informs you of the actions that were taken on each design file, such as opening the file and copying the level symbology settings as in this example. It also reports any problems Global File Changer encounters during processing, such as a file being open by another user.
   
   
   
   
8. 8. Once this is done, all you have to do is click on <Start>. That’s all there is to it.
   
   

You’ll notice that Global File Changer starts to process the files. After a few minutes, all your selected MicroStation files will have had their level symbology changed.
Click <OK> on the Progress Report dialog box to finish.

Other Global File Changer functions
As previously stated, Global File Changer is capable of executing many other functions besides copying level symbology from one design file to many others. Just about any change you can accomplish with a series of MicroStation key-ins on a single file, Global File Changer can accomplish on all your design files. Any change you can accomplish with a non-interactive user command or macro on one design file, Global File Changer can carry out on all your design files. Some of Global File Changer’s most popular functions allow you to:

• Copy dimensioning parameters from one design file to many others.
• Modify the symbology, scale, rotation, level, the text content, font, etc. of elements in hundreds of design files.
• Replace and scale hundreds of cells in as many files as needed.
• Copy design file settings (like active angle, active scale, color, etc.) from one design files to hundreds of others.
• And much, much more!

Click here to find out more about Global File Changer.

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