Welcome to the world of MicroStation Python! This wiki will walk you through the process of creating a cell element. A MicroStation cell is a reusable graphic element or group of elements that can be placed into a design file. Cells are like blocks in other CAD software.

Create Cell Element

To get started, refer to the Python Manager wiki for instructions on creating and loading a new Python project. Name your project "CreateNCell.py" and save it in a convenient location. Once created, open the project in your preferred code editor to begin writing your Python script.

To construct a cell element, you start with a cell header element, then add components, tell MicroStation when done, and finally add the completed cell element to a DGN model.

Make a NormalCellHeaderHandler
Add components with AddChildElement
Cell AddChildComplete

Here is the complete script.

from MSPyBentley import *
from MSPyBentleyGeom import *
from MSPyECObjects import *
from MSPyDgnPlatform import *
from MSPyDgnView import *
from MSPyMstnPlatform import *


# Create Normal Cell Element
def CreateNormalCellElm():
    global dgn_model
    m_eeh= EditElementHandle ()

    NormalCellHeaderHandler.CreateOrphanCellElement (m_eeh, "test", dgn_model.Is3d(), dgn_model)
    
    NUM_LINES = 3
    
    segmentList = [DSegment3d() for _ in range(NUM_LINES)]
            
    for i in range( 0 ,NUM_LINES):
        start = i * 1000.0
        end   = (i+1) * 1000.0
        segmentList[i].point = [(start,start,start),(end,end,end)]

    m_eehLines = EditElementHandle ()
        
    for j in range(0,NUM_LINES):
        LineHandler.CreateLineElement (m_eehLines, None, segmentList[j], dgn_model.Is3d(), dgn_model)
        if (BentleyStatus.eSUCCESS != NormalCellHeaderHandler.AddChildElement (m_eeh, m_eehLines)):
            return False
        

    if (BentleyStatus.eSUCCESS != NormalCellHeaderHandler.AddChildComplete (m_eeh)):
        return False

    if (BentleyStatus.eSUCCESS != m_eeh.AddToModel ()):
        return False

    return True


# Main Function
def main():
    global ACTIVEMODEL
    global dgn_model
    global dgn_file
    global uor

    # Globals
    ACTIVEMODEL = ISessionMgr.ActiveDgnModelRef
    dgn_model = ACTIVEMODEL.GetDgnModel()
    dgn_file = dgn_model.GetDgnFile()
    model_info = dgn_model.GetModelInfo()
    uor = model_info.GetUorPerStorage()

    if True != CreateNormalCellElm():
        print("Normal Cell not created...")


# Main
if __name__ == "__main__":
    print ("***** Create Normal Cell *****")
    main()

Run/Execute project

Load the project “CreateNCell.py” from the Python Manager dialog and Run/Execute the python script.

The Python script above creates a cell element named "test" and is added to the active model of the design file.

Happy coding!

MicroStation Python: Create Cell Element

Run/Execute project