Product:	MicroStation
	Version:	V8i, CONNECT
	Environment:	N\A
	Area:	Custom Linestyles
	Subarea:	N\A

Recommendations

A custom line can be made up of a series of user-defined dashes (stroke pattern), a series of symbols at defined intervals (point symbols), or a combination of the two.

A stroke pattern component is made up of solid "DASHES" and blank "GAPS", all of which sizes (in master units) are defined by the user

A symbol is similar to a cell and again is defined and created by the user usually before the custom line style is created.

A simple line style could be a dashed line with an X symbol in the gap.

It is best to sketch a rough outline of what you want your line to look like.

Eg:
 

This is made up of a length 5-unit line, a 2-unit gap and an X symbol.

We only need one solid dash here, as it will repeat itself after the initial gap.

So we must define all of the above components.

To start we must call up the edit custom line style dialog from

ELEMENT>LINESTYLE>EDIT

 

Now that the Linestyle editor is open, lets create a new resource file to store our components, (this should be kept in the same directory as the other rsc files unless you point your configuration variable to find it)

From the fie menu on this dialog, choose NEW, to create a blank resource file, and call it newline.rsc

There are two main sections to this dialog – "Styles" and "components".
STYLES is the name you give your new line and is what you will see in the primary tools box when choosing your line.

COMPONENTS are the 'bits', which go to make up your new Linestyle.

Let's create some new components

the stroke pattern (dashes and gaps) and the points (symbols)

From the Edit menu on the Linestyle editor, choose

CREATE>STROKE PATTERN

 

This will insert a new blank stroke pattern, which we will give a name to by entering it in the field below the list of components. Call it mystroke,
then press enter.

 

Next we will define the gaps and dashes.

Click on the ADD button to add on two basic gaps. Then, to define their size and if they are gaps or dashes, click on the first one, then in the length field give it a size of five (then enter) then chose the stroke type option and chose "DASH" this will be our solid line.

Now to define the gap, select it from the graphic and give it a length value of 2 (and enter), this is now our gap of 2 units.

Now that the gaps and dashes of our line have been set, let's create some symbols to put in the line. This is done using MicroStation keyins and commands, so we can move the Linestyle editor to one side for now.

As ours is a simple X, place an X of height and width 1 in the design file with justification center center.

When using text as the point symbol, it is recommended to use the Drop Element tool or DROP TEXT key-in to drop the text to individual elements. This is protection against the possibility that the font used when creating the linestyle may not be present when the linestyle is used in the future.

Select it with the selection tool.

Keyin: CREATE SYMBOL MYSYMBOL

 (where mysymbol is the name of the new symbol),
then choose an origin for the symbol, you will see a message:
 
 

Next lets define where the symbol should go in our custom line.

From the linestyles editor, choose

EDIT>CREATE>POINT

This creates a new point component, which again you can rename to suit you (mypoint)

Now lets define where it goes, chose the BASE STROKE PATTERN button, as it needs to know which gaps and dashes to work with.

Select the one we created earlier (mystroke).

You will now see it appear in the dialog box.

We know the symbol goes in the gap so click on the GAP and choose the SELECT button at the bottom of the dialog box. Now choose the symbol we created earlier (mysymbol) and click OK.

It will now be inserted into the gap. (Don't worry if you do not see anything yet)

 

Now the last thing to do is to link these two components (symbol and lines) in to one and give it a name so that it can be selected from the primary tools.

Chose EDIT>CREATE>COMPOUND and again give this compound component a name (my new line)

A compound component can be made up of many stroke and symbol components (in our case – mypoint and mystroke)

Then click on the insert button and, one at a time, select and insert mypoint and mystroke

Now this is done let's give our new Linestyle a name and link it to the compound component. (The name is what you will see in the primary tool bar)

Choose EDIT>CREATE>NAME

and as before giving your new line a name and press return. Choose it in the Styles list, then choose the Compound>mynewline

from the components list, then choose EDIT>LINK.

Last thing to do is to

FILE>SAVE

Now your new line should appear in the list of custom linestyles ready to be placed.

Video

See Also

 

Other language sources

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Original Author:

Derval Canny