Guide to Generating Drawings
Guide to Generating Drawings
Guide to Generating Drawings

Text Styles

MicroStation supports text styles and provides an interface for constructing text using available system fonts and a wide variety of text attributes. A text style comprises a group of text attributes, such as font type, width, height, and color. Text styles enable you to place text within a model in a consistent and automated manner.

The following fonts are supported natively in MicroStation:

The Text Style setting for the Place Text, Place Note, and Edit Text tools sets the Active Text Style. You can also set the Active Text Style by keying in TEXTSTYLE ACTIVE <style_name>.

Fonts are not embedded in the DGN file.

If a specific font is not found on the system, MicroStation substitutes font #127, Fast Font.

If a Text Style changes in a Text Style library, Text Styles placed in DGN files prior to the change are not automatically updated in the DGN files. To update a DGN file to reflect the changes in the Text Style library, use the dgnlib update textstyles.

Text using third party TrueType fonts that were not designed using the generally accepted TrueType definition may display differently than in previous releases. Although the current presentation is more accurate, you can make the text using these fonts appear as it did previously by setting the configuration variable MS_80TRUETYPESCALE=1.

To remove unused text styles from a DGN file that are locked because they were once referenced in a V8 DGN library, use the key-in TEXTSTYLE UNLOCK <TextStyleName>. (<TextStyleName> is the name of your locked text style.)

General Procedure — To create a text style
  1. From the Element menu, choose Text Styles.
    The Text Styles dialog box opens.

  2. From the menu bar of the Text Styles dialog box, choose Style > New.
    A new “Untitled” style appears in the Text Styles hierarchy tree.

  3. Key in the desired name for the new text style.

  4. Click <Enter>.
    The new text style name appears in the Text Styles hiearchy tree.

  5. (Optional) From the Advanced tab, modify the values of text attributes as desired.
    The Advanced Tab contains all the settings from the Spacing, Under/Overline and Background tabs.

  6. From the menu bar of the Text Styles dialog box, choose Styles > Save.
    The new text style is saved as the Active Text Style.

Child text styles

A child text style inherits all attributes of its parent text style except for those text attributes explicitly set as different. For example, a parent text style can use Helvetica font and center justification, but the child style can be left center justified. This indicates that both the parent and child styles use the Helvetica font, but the parent is center justified and the child is left center justified. The child text style inherits all other characteristics from the parent text style.

MicroStation's ability to utilize hierarchical text styles is very powerful. Because all text within a DGN file conforms to a specific text style, you can identify parts of the model by a specific text attribute. Therefore, you can easily apply text and ensure that all attribute characteristics are uniform.

To create a child text style
  1. From the Element menu, choose Text Styles.
    The Text Styles dialog box opens.

  2. From the menu bar of the Text Styles dialog box, choose Style > New.
    A new “Untitled” text style appears.

  3. Click the Advanced tab.

  4. Click the value for the Parent Style attribute.
    An option menu opens.

  5. Choose a value for the Parent Style attribute.

  6. Click the value for Style Name and then type a name for the child text style.
    The newly named child appears in the Hierarchy Tree under the selected Text Style.

  7. (Optional) Modify other attributes on the General or Advanced tabs.

  8. From the menu bar of the Text Styles dialog box, choose Style > Save.
    The new child text style is saved.

Alternative Method — To create a child text style
  1. From the Element menu, choose Text Styles.
    The Text Styles dialog box opens.

  2. Select the Text Style to receive the child text style in the Hierarchy Tree.

  3. Right click in the Hierarchy Tree.

  4. Click on New Child.
    A new “Untitled” child text style appears.

  5. Type the name of the new child text style and press Enter.
    The child text style takes the attributes of the parent text style

  6. (Optional) Modify attributes on the Advanced tabs.

  7. From the menu bar of the Text Styles dialog box, choose Style > Save.
    The new child text style is saved.

Instance-specific style overrides

An instance-specific style override enables you to change text attributes for a single placement of text or a text node. Text style changes made in this manner are not a permanent part of the text style.

You can create instance-specific overrides in either of the following ways:

To create instance-specific style overrides using the default word processor Text Editor
  1. To confirm that the word processor Text Editor is selected, use the following steps:
    — Choose Workspace > Preferences.
    — Select the Text category.
    — Select the Text Editor Style option menu.
    — Choose Word Processor.
    — Click OK.

  2. From the Text tool box, select the Place Text tool.
    The     Place Text settings window and the word processor Text Editor open.

  3. Using the tools in the Text Editor, modify the active text attributes as desired.

  4. In the word processor Text Editor window, type the desired text.

  5. To place the text in the model, enter a data point.

To create instance-specific style overrides using the Place Text settings window and the default word processor Text Editor
  1. To confirm that the word processor Text Editor is selected, use the following steps:
    — Choose Workspace > Preferences.
    — Select the Text category.
    — Select the Text Editor Style option menu.
    — Choose Word Processor.
    — Click OK.

  2. From the Text tool box, select the Place Text tool.
    The Place Text settings window and the default word processor Text Editor open.

  3. (Optional) In the Place Text settings window, choose the desired text style from the Text Style option menu.

  4. (Optional) In the expanded Place Text settings window, modify the values for Height, Width, Font, and Justification.

  5. (Optional) Using the tools in the Text Editor, modify the active text attributes as desired.

  6. In the word processor Text Editor window, type the desired text.

  7. To place the text in the model, enter a data point.

To create instance-specific style overrides using the Place Text settings window and the dialog box Text Editor
  1. To confirm that the dialog box Text Editor is selected, use the following steps:
    — Choose Workspace > Preferences.
    — Select the Text category.
    — Select the Text Editor Style option menu.
    — Choose Dialog Box.
    — Click OK.

  2. From the Text tool box, select the Place Text tool.
    The Place Text settings window and the dialog box Text Editor open.

  3. (Optional) In the Place Text settings window, choose the desired text style from the Text Style option menu.

  4. (Optional) In the expanded Place Text settings window, modify the values for Height, Width, Font, and Justification.

  5. In the dialog box Text Editor window, type the desired text.

  6. To place the text in the model, enter a data point.

Setting other text attributes

The Text Styles dialog box (Element > Text Styles) provides an interface for setting active text attributes. The attributes available on the General tab page are a subset of the total attributes on the Advanced tab page.

General Procedure — To set active text attributes
  1. From the Element menu, choose Text Styles.
    The Text Styles dialog box opens.

  2. (Optional) To set the Active Font, click the Value field for the Font attribute on either the General or Advanced tab pages and then choose the desired font from the option menu.

  3. (Optional) To set the Active Text Size, click the Value fields for the Height and Width attributes on either the General or Advanced tab page and then type the desired Active Text Height and the Active Text Width in working units.

  4. To set the Active Line Spacing, click the Value field for the Line Spacing attribute on the Advanced tab page and then key in the desired distance in working units.

  5. To set the Active Line Length, click the Value field for the Line Length attribute on the Spacing or Advanced tab page and then key in the desired length in characters.

  6. (Optional) To set the distance between the characters in the text, click the Value field for the Inter Character Spacing attribute on the Spacing or Advanced tab page and then key in the desired distance in working units.

  7. (Optional) To set the Active Text Justification, click the Value field for the Single-Line or Multi-Line Justification attribute on the General tab or the Justification attribute on the Advanced tab page and then select the type of justification from the list box.

  8. (Optional) To cause numeric characters separated by a slash (/) to be placed as single characters (numerator over denominator), click the Value field for the Fractions attribute on the General or Advanced tab page.
    A check appears in the selected Value field.

  9. (Optional) To underline the text, click the Value field of the Underline attribute on either the Advanced tab page or the Underline check box on the Underline/Overline tab page.
    A check appears in the selected Value field.

  10. (Optional) To overline the text, click the Value field of the Overline attribute on either the Advanced tab page or the Overline check box on the Underline/Overline tab page.
    A check appears in the selected Value field.

  11. (Optional) To place each letter in the text below the previous letter, rather than to the right of it, click the Value field of the Vertical attribute on either the General or Advanced tab page.
    A check appears in the selected Value field.

  12. (Optional) To set the degree to which the text is slanted from vertical (90°), click the Value field of the Slant attribute on either the General tab page or Slant Angle on the Advanced tab page and then key in the desired angle in degrees.
    Positive values cause text to slant to the right; negative values cause text to slant to the left. Most text is set to a value of 0 so that the vertical components are at an angle of 90° from the x-axis.

  13. (Optional) To bold the text, click the Value field of the Bold attribute on either the General or Advanced tab page.
    A check appears in the selected Value field.

    14. To align text vertically in columns, set the Active Font to a monospaced font. Traditional MicroStation fonts 3, 41, 50, and 127 are monospaced.

    Traditional MicroStation fonts usually look best when the Active Text Width is about three-quarters of the Active Text Height.

    Bold and Italics text attributes are not enabled for MicroStation fonts.

To browse fonts
  1. From the Element menu, choose Text Styles.
    The Text Styles dialog box opens.

  2. Select the General or Advanced tab page.

  3. Click the Value field of the Font attribute.
    Sample text in the selected font is displayed below the list box.

For information about changing the selection of fonts, see Font Libraries.

If text dynamically displays in the proper font, but changes to a generic font after it is placed, you should check the Fast Font setting (Settings > View Attributes). When the appearance of the text is not important, you can turn on Fast Font to save time.
To change the Active Text Size by a factor
  1. From the Element menu, choose Text Styles.
    The Text Styles dialog box opens.

  2. In the Value field of the Height attribute in either the General or Advanced tab page, key in *<factor> or /<factor>.

  3. In the Value field of the Width attribute, key in *<factor> or /<factor>.

For example, to double the Active Text Size, you can key in *2 in the Height and the Weight fields. To decrease the Active Text Size by half, you can key in /2 or *.5 in both fields.
To match the active text settings to the attributes of a text element
  1. In the Text tool box, select the Match Text Attributes tool.

  2. Identify the previously placed text element.

  3. Accept the match.

  4. Identify a previously placed text element with a data point.

  5. To accept the match, enter another data point.

To place empty text nodes as placeholders for text to be added later
  1. In the Text tool box, select the Place Text Node tool.

  2. (Optional) To make the text node view independent, such that is it readable in every view regardless of the rotation of the view, turn on the tool setting View Independent.

  3. To position the origin of the first text node, enter a data point.

  4. To place the text node at the Active Angle, click the reset button.
    To define the angle at which the text node is positioned, you can enter a data point.

  5. To place more text nodes, repeat steps 2 through 4.

    6. To add text to an empty text node, you can use the Place Text tool .

Controlling the display of text

Using the View Attributes dialog box (Settings > View Attributes), you can turn off the display of the text itself or of text node numbers and symbols. Turning off the display of the symbols prevents them from interfering with your reading the text in the text nodes.

To turn on or turn off the display of text in a view
  1. From the Settings menu, choose View Attributes (or press <CTRL-B>).
    or
    From any view window's control menu, choose View Attributes.
    The View Attributes dialog box opens.

  2. From the View Number option menu, choose the number of the desired view.

  3. Turn on or turn off the Text attribute.

  4. Click Apply.

  5. (Optional) Repeat steps 2 - 4 for additional views.

To turn on or turn off the display of text in all views
  1. From the Settings menu, choose View Attributes (or press <CTRL-B>).
    or
    From any view window's control menu, choose View Attributes.
    The View Attributes dialog box opens.

  2. Turn on or turn off the Text attribute.

  3. Click All.

To turn on or turn off the display of text node numbers and symbols in a view
  1. From the Settings menu, choose View Attributes (or press <CTRL-B>) .
    or
    From any view window's control menu, choose View Attributes.
    The View Attributes dialog box opens.

  2. From the View Number option menu, choose the number of the desired view.

  3. Turn on or turn off the Text Nodes attributes.

  4. Click Apply.

  5. (Optional) Repeat steps 2– 4 for additional views.

To turn on or turn off the display of text node numbers and symbols in all views
  1. From the Settings menu, choose View Attributes (or press <CTRL-B>) .
    or
    From any view window's control menu, choose View Attributes.
    The View Attributes dialog box opens.

  2. Turn on or turn off the Text Nodes attributes.

  3. Click All.

Filled Fonts

A filled font consists of characters that are displayed as outlines or filled. A filled font is a shape that can be displayed as filled. (See Fill.) The only filled font delivered with MicroStation is font 43. It is displayed as filled only when the Fill view attribute is turned on.

To turn on or turn off the display of filled fonts in a view
  1. From the Settings menu, choose View Attributes (or press <CTRL-B>).
    or
    From any view window's control menu, choose View Attributes.
    The View Attributes dialog box opens.

  2. From the View Number option menu, choose the number of the desired view.

  3. Turn on or turn off Fill.

  4. Click Apply.

  5. (Optional) Repeat steps 2-4 for additional views.

To turn on or turn off the display of fill fonts in all views
  1. From the Settings menu, choose View Attributes (or press <CTRL-B>) .
    or
    From any view window's control menu, choose View Attributes.
    The View Attributes dialog box opens.

  2. Turn on or turn off Fill.

  3. Click All.

View independent text

A view independent text element displays at the same orientation regardless of the rotation of the view. The Method setting of the Place Text tool determines whether or not view independent text is placed.

Enter data fields

An enter data field is a one-or-more-character placeholder for future text input. You can insert empty enter data fields in a text element and fill in the actual text later. Enter data fields are particularly useful for variable text such as part numbers or detail numbers. The Text tool box has special tools for copying and filling in enter data fields. Enter data fields are useful for variable text, such as part numbers or detail numbers. The Text tool box contains special tools for copying and filling in enter data fields.

An enter data field is a placeholder for future text input. You can insert empty enter data fields for one or more characters in a text element and fill in the actual text later.

Enter data fields

  

The Fill in Single Enter Data Field tool and the Auto Fill In Enter Data Fields tool are subject to all the preferences set for the Text Editor Style (Workspace>Preference>Text). These commands should always take input from the key-in field for compatibility with scripts, settings groups, and command menus.

Text in 3D

Normally, you should not place text in a 3D design model, but instead you should place it in the related sheet model). However, sometimes text is required in a 3D model.

Like other 2D elements, text is placed planar to the view in which it is placed. When viewed edge is turned on, individual characters appear as dashes.

If you want text to be visible, regardless of the view orientation, you should use View independent text, which is visible in all views, regardless of the orientation of the view in which it is placed. This is useful for placing base information, such as survey markers.