New in MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 16.1 — Parametric Modeling

Photo by Tianyi Ma on Unsplash

MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 16.1 is a minor release of MicroStation focusing more on bug fixes, performance, and stability. An extensive list of bugs is fixed in this update and minor but crucial enhancements, mostly driven by user requests, have been made in this release. You can view the comprehensive list of bugs fixed in Update 16 and update 16.1 here.

Update 16.1 is certified in the same versions of ProjectWise as Update 16.

Following are the enhancements you will see in Update 16.1.

Parametric Modeling Enhancements

Parametric modeling is evolving with every release of MicroStation to make it easier for you to create parametric models. User feedback and requests have been extremely critical in driving these enhancements, especially in the parametric modeling area.

Convert Smart Solids to Parametric solids

With Update 16.1 you will see the Parametric Solid option added to the Convert to Solid tool settings. Using this option, you can convert a Smart solid to a Parametric solid. Select the smart solid and choose this option to convert it to a Parametric solid. Simple!

After conversion, any feature operations performed on the solids will be stored in the element’s properties information.

Cut Solid with Curve tool

• You can now cut one or more solids with one or more profiles, in a single operation.
• You can cut a single solid with multiple cutting profiles, cut multiple solids with multiple profiles, and cut a single solid with multiple profiles.
• You can select both profiles and solids using a dragline, window, or data point selection method.
• If not manually set, the Cut Direction will adjust automatically based on the curve direction of the cutting profile.

• Cut Method setting is removed from the tool settings. You can use <Shift> to switch between inside and outside profiles to cut instead of setting it manually. This will make cutting more intuitive.
• The Orthogonal and Split Solid options are now available as checkboxes in the tool setting window.

Variables

Update all Variations

You will now see the option Update all variations in a variable’s right-click menu. Use this option to update the value of all its variations at once. All variations will be updated to reflect the new value. This will eliminate the need to manually update each variation for the new value.

You can also set this as the default behavior by enabling the File > Update all variations toggle.

Create New Variables and New Expressions while applying constraints

Because creating and using a new variable while applying a constraint was cumbersome, we have added the option to quickly create a new variable while placing or editing a constraint.

Likewise, you can also create a new expression to use while applying constraints. The New Expression option will open the Expression Builder dialog where you can create an expression to use.

Find out what else is new in this release in this Video.

Also read:

• New in MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 16.1 — Placement Points, Cells, and Text
• New in MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 16.1 — Technology Preview and General Availability features
• Performance Enhancements in MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 16.1

Feel free to share your feedback on these new enhancements on our community forums. If you have an idea or a suggestion, please reach out to us on the Ideas forum.