Tool Properties
For each tool that you add to the open DGN file, you must decide which properties it will have and you must set those properties. You can add as many properties as needed to a tool. Once properties are added to a tool they appear in the Properties pane when the tool is selected. When you add a new tool it has the following default properties:
- Key–in — Set to "null"
- Balloon Text — Set to "New Tool"
- Associate Template — Set to "Use Current Setting"
- Template Path — Set to "None"
- Icon — Set to the New Tool icon
- Tool Presentation — Set to "Icon + Label"
- Tool Type — Set to "Standard"
- Dimension — Set to "Both"
If you copy an existing tool to add a new one, the new tool uses the properties of the copied tool. You can add, modify, and delete properties from the open DGN file's tool. When adding properties to a tool you can choose them from the following categories:
- Design File Settings — Includes tool settings for snaps, angles, grid locks, stream line strings and curves, and others.
- Lock Settings — Includes tool settings that turn on or off different types of locks.
- General Settings — Includes icon, tool presentation, tool type, and dimension settings.
- Command Data — Includes key-in, balloon text, and template settings.
- Dialog Item Settings — You can use these properties to define tool settings.
The following is a list of properties that can be added to a custom tool. The properties that are required to be set for a custom tool have an asterisk before their name. Not all properties are displayed by default.
Tool Properties | ||
---|---|---|
Design File Settings | Key Point Snap Divisor | |
Axis Increment | ||
Axis Start Angle | The Axis Lock's start angle. | |
Active Angle | ||
Snap Override | ||
Snap Mode | ||
Grid Unit | ||
Grid Reference | ||
Unit Lock Roundoff | Distance field related to unit locks. | |
Tag Increment | ||
Tab Size for INCLUDE command | ||
Stream Delta | ||
Stream Tolerance | ||
Stream Angle | ||
Stream Area | ||
Grid Configuration | Choices are Orthogonal or Offset. If you want the grid points aligned isometrically, choose Offset and set Grid Aspect to 0.2886751346. | |
Grid Aspect | ||
Grid Angle | The grid rotation angle; a value between 0 and 360 degrees. | |
Grid Orientation | ||
Surface Cap Mode | The type specified when placing slabs, spheres, cylinders, cones, tori, and wedges. If set to Cap, they are considered solids. If set to Uncapped, they are considered surfaces. | |
Cell Library | ||
Unit Lock Roundoff Ratio | Sets the Unit Lock Roundoff by multiplying this value times the Unit Lock Roundoff value. If this value is zero and Unit Lock is on, the Grid Aspect is used. | |
IGDS Compatible Dimension | ||
IGDS Compatible Multi-line | ||
Isometric Plane | ||
Locks | Association | |
Snap | ||
Grid | ||
Unit | ||
BoreSite | ||
Angle | ||
Text Node | ||
Axis | ||
Scale | ||
Graphic Group | ||
Level | ||
Fence Overlap | ||
Fence Clip | ||
Fence Void | ||
Stretch Cells | ||
ACS Plane | ||
Isometric | ||
Depth | ||
Annotation Scale | ||
Show Shared and Parametric Cell Definitions | ||
True Scale Cells | ||
General Settings | * Icon | When you add a new tool it uses
the New Tool icon by default. You can change that icon to a file in the open
DGN file, an imported bitmap file (BMP file), an imported icon file (ICO file),
or a
OpenPlant PID icon.
You can use
the
Import BMP dialog to import bitmap files in multiple sizes.
Imported ICO files change size automatically so you need to import only one ICO
file.
If you import an icon from the Import Selected Icons or Import Selected Bitmaps lists, it is copied into the open DGN file. Icons in the open DGN file can be selected in the Define Icon for Tool dialog. Icons chosen from the other lists are not copied into the open DGN file because they are already included in the software. If an icon is imported from the Application Tools, the name of its toolbox is appended to the beginning of its name so that it is unique from the Application Tool. |
Tool Presentation | Determines what is presented for the tool in the custom toolbox: Icon and Label (the default), Icon Only, or Label Only. | |
Tool Type | Determines the behavior of the tool. "Standard" (the default) makes the tool active until you select another tool. "Push Button" is used to adjust settings. For example, the key-in "co=3;lv=default;wt=2;as=1" would set the active color, level, line weight, and line style. | |
Dimension | Specifies whether the tool will
be active in 2D DGN models, 3D DGN models, or both (the default).
If you try to use a tool whose dimension is not the same as the active model's dimension, you will see an error message in the status bar and the tool will not become active. |
|
Show/Hide Test | Determines whether the tool is displayed in the toolbox based on the test selected in this drop-down menu. The tests are based on named expressions. | |
Help ID | Used in internal implementations to link a
custom tool to a help topic.
The syntax for
OpenPlant PID is
ustnhelp:MicroStation HelpStringName.
If a help ID is assigned, you can right-click a custom tool in the Tasks dialog and select Display Help. |
|
Command Data | * Key-in | Enter a key-in for the tool to
run. You also can set this to
NULL.
If a key-in is defined by an MDL application, it is preceded by the MDL application's task ID within brackets. When copying a tool to a DGN library, if you want to use the original key-in be sure to include the task ID within brackets and the key-in. If you want to activate a different key-in, replace the entire string. You can use the following syntax to make a customized tool run multiple MDL applications and key-ins: [taskID_1;taskID_2;] key-in_1;key-in_2;key-in_3. The number of MDL applications does not have to match the number of key-ins. First, each MDL application is loaded if it is not already loaded; second, each key-in is processed. This syntax applies only to DGN library-based tools. |
* Balloon Text | Tooltip that appears when you pass the pointer over the icon. | |
* Associate Template | Sets the status of the Active Element Template icon when the tool is used. "Always" turns on the icon. "Never" turns off the icon. "Use Current Setting" does not change the status of the icon when the tool is used. If the icon is turned on and the Template Path is defined, elements that you place with the tool will be associated with the template. | |
Template Path | Specifies the template with which the tool is associated and the template group in which the template is located. You can change the template and path or change it to "None." If Associate Template is set to "Never" but a template and path are specified, the elements that you place will use the template's properties but will not be associated with the template. | |
Default Template | You can assign a default template to a tool. If it is assigned, when you use the tool the default template's properties are activated. Then if Associate Template and Template Path are set, the associated template's properties are applied to the element. If a property is specified in the associated and default templates, the associated template's property takes precedence. If a property is specified only in the default template, it is applied to the element. Then if a key-in is specified it runs, and if dialog item settings are specified they are applied to the element. | |
Dialog Item Settings | Dialog Item Name | You can add tool settings to
custom tools. For example, you could create a customized tool that places lines
that are constrained to a certain length.
The Dialog Item Name is the technical name of the tool setting in the tool settings dialog. The first part of the dialog item name is always "ToolSettings," no matter which tool is currently selected. The dialog and item names are case-insensitive. |
Type | Type for the Dialog Item Name above. The supported types are Literal, Distance, Area, and Volume. These values are converted from the open DGN file's working units to meters and are stored in meters. | |
Value | Value for the Type above. For example, if your custom tool places a line that is constrained, one of the dialog items would be the line's length, which is a distance. The value is the pre-set length of the line. |