The unknown Tool, with which you meet (almost) every project.

The sidebar menu is unjustly little known. Although there has been for the existence of MicroStation. Once set up a project basis, you just produce the data required by the client. Element type and any number of element attributes are called with a single click from the screen menu and can be placed immediately.

Effective implementation a drawing provision in MicroStation

In surveying is very often the task of digital maps in 2D or 3D to produce. In MicroStation V8i can, for example, scanned paper maps are referenced as raster data to DGN files to digitize older analog data. In the photogrammetric analysis of aerial photographs, among others captured in 2D and 3D city base maps, land and green space landregister and sealed up surface area for wastewater fee-splitting. Also on laser scanning and by all other methods used raw data of the sign provision points, lines, symbols, and solids (3D) are a set of rules, drawn in DGN files.

A work environment for data production

Before the start of production data for a customer for all the targets are to be analyzed and for the staff who make the acquisition of data in MicroStation to create a work environment, so that the work can be effectively and qualitatively performed. Each element to be detected should at least be provided as a prototype in a pattern file from the client. This can be done also in the widespread AutoCAD DWG format, MicroStation can then import this format easily now. Line types and cells can be readily put in libraries.

Clarity and quality assurance

All of these often very numerous elements or objects should be put at the employee's disposal in a clear and well-structured manner. The explanation of a work environment, or better known as Workspace is very extensive and is beyond the scope of this article. Among the many options is presented here as an access interface, the sidebar menu:

The sidebar menu (highlighted in yellow) can be docked to a suitable place on the screen in MicroStation.

The sidebar menu is structured hierarchically

In Example 2 columns are set up. The top level is created in the left column. By clicking a button on the left opens a submenu only right. By clicking on "Gebäude/Baul. Anlag." have the right Geb_Umring Schraffuren Geb_Symbole Beschriftungen                  offered.

Until now done in one step only shortlisted: 'buildings drawn'. If the building is to be represented by its Umring, is in the second Step on 'Geb-Umring' clicked. It opens another (in the hierarchy lower levels) submenu: Umringe: Hauptgebäude Nebengebäude Geb. offen                etc. and the Ausgestaltungslinien. The next time you click, for example. to the main building all view attributes are already set by direct MicroStation commands that uniquely characterize the property of the main building. Now it just needs to be drawn.

In the workflow the employee focuses on the recognition of professional meaning from the referenced raster file or other documents, selects from the sidebar menu  the appropriate function and draws the object. Behind the commands of the sidebar menus is the exact implementation of the sign requirement of the client.

How do you make now as a sidebar menu from?

Behind the sidebar menu interface lies an ASCII file, in which formatting instructions define the appearance and command instructions to MicroStation create the functionality of the menu. The syntax is documented in older documents of MicroStation. In particular, the keyboard commands and user commands are required. In some cases, Views of MDL applications or macros are included.

The Sidebar Menu is appended with the KeyIn: am=<Path>/<filename>,sb   so for example:  am=D:/uswork/sbm/SBG.sbm,sb

This is an extract from the example:

;
; SCHENKENBERG.SBM Erfassung Topographie Stadtkarte-Beispiel
; © soFTpano / Frank Tokarski 11/2009-2014
;
MAIN_MENU title=SBG, color=(8,9), width=17, height=1, rows=33, column=2, border, vline

'Gebäude /Baul. Anlag.', 'B,geb', line /color=(10,7)
'', '', line
'Gewässer /Anlagen', 'B,gew', line /color=(10,2)
'', '', line
'Ver- /Entsorgung', 'B,vers', line /color=(8,9)
'', '', line
'Geländeformen', 'B,gel', line /color=(10,19)
'', '', line
'Bodennutzung /Veget.', 'B,bod', line /color=(10,3)
'', '', line
'Topographie allgm.', 'B,topa', line /color=(10,24)
'', '', line
'Topographie Grenzen', 'B,topg', line /color=(10,23)
'', '', line
'Strassen/Wege/Flä.', 'B,str', line /color=(10,5)
'', '', line
'', ''
'', '', line
'', '', line
'aa=pt2', 'p,actan2',line /color=(8,4)
'aa=0', 'aa=0', line /color=(8,4)
'aa=aa+180', 'uc=actan180',line /color=(8,4)
'U-Menü schließen', 'am=,sb7', line
'Menü schließen', 'am=,sb', line

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; Gebäude ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

SUB_MENU title=geb, color=(10,7), start=1,0, depth=0, border
'Geb_Umring', 'B,geb1', line /nosave /color=(7,0)
'Schraffuren', 'B,geb2', line /nosave /color=(7,0)
'Geb_Symbole ', 'B,geb3', line /nosave /color=(7,0)
'Beschriftungen', 'B,gebbes', line /color=(7,0)

SUB_MENU title=geb1, color=(10,7), start=1,4, depth=1, border
'', '', line /color=(8,1)
'Umringe:', '', line /color=(8,1)
'Hauptgebäude', 'lv=4;co=47;lc=0;wt=2', line
'Nebengebäude', 'lv=4;co=48;lc=0;wt=2', line
'Geb. offen', 'lv=4;co=49;lc=4;wt=2', line
'Überdachung', 'lv=4;co=17;lc=3;wt=2', line
'Ruine*', 'lv=4;co=152;lc=0;wt=2', line
'Shape', 'place shape constrained', line /color=(1,4)
'', ''
'Ausgest.linien:', '', line /color=(8,1)
'Ruine*','lv=4;co=152;lc=0;wt=2', line
'Balkon/Veranda', 'lv=4;co=100;lc=0;wt=1', line
'Überdachung', 'lv=4;co=17;lc=0;wt=2', line
'Überkragung', 'lv=4;co=102;lc=2;wt=1', line
'Durchfahrt Geb.', 'lv=4;co=102;lc=3;wt=1', line
'Linie', 'place line constrained', line /color=(1,4)
'Linestring', 'place lstring constrained', line /color=(1,4)

The modern form of surface design

Since there is the MicroStation V8, the library files were imported *. dgnlib. Thus, a custom control of MicroStation can be made in a modern form.

One example is generated an empty "My-Surface.dgnlib" and calls with workspace -> Customize the convenient editor to:

This dropout menu is inefficient but through the many options for data production. The user has to find new through from the beginning through the menu levels for each element. Unfortunately, the menu clicks shut after each action again complete. Thus, it is too cumbersome and takes too much time.

Summary

The old Sidebar Menu has advantages because of its full right to exist. It is convenient and very good for the data-production work. Especially on CAD ??workstations with 2 screens is enough space for the menu available. Who would not want to give up the comfortable editor, can build his menu interface with it and export the whole thing in an XML file at the end.

Here is an excerpt of a menu as an XML file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
<DgnData>
<ToolBoxes />
<Tasks />
<MainTasks />
<Menus>
<NodeData name="Ober1" allowChildren="true">
<ECXAttrData><Ustn_CustomTool xmlns="Ustn_CustomTool.01.00">
<UIType>UserMenu</UIType>
<UserMenu>
<Dimension>0</Dimension>
<ModificationData>
<RelativeLocation>1</RelativeLocation>
<MenuId>-522</MenuId>
<ItemSearchId>0</ItemSearchId>
</ModificationData>
</UserMenu>
</Ustn_CustomTool></ECXAttrData>
<NodeData name="Gebäude" allowChildren="true">
<ECXAttrData><Ustn_CustomTool xmlns="Ustn_CustomTool.01.00">
<UIType>UserMenu</UIType>
<UserMenu>
<Dimension>0</Dimension>
</UserMenu>
</Ustn_CustomTool></ECXAttrData>
<NodeData name="Umring" allowChildren="true">
<ECXAttrData><Ustn_CustomTool xmlns="Ustn_CustomTool.01.00">
<UIType>UserMenu</UIType>
<UserMenu>
<Dimension>0</Dimension>
</UserMenu>
</Ustn_CustomTool></ECXAttrData>
<NodeData name="Hauptgebäude" allowChildren="false">
<ECXAttrData><Ustn_CustomTool xmlns="Ustn_CustomTool.01.00">
<UIType>UserMenuItem</UIType>
<UserMenuItem>
<Dimension>0</Dimension>
<Type>3</Type>
<CmdMenuItem>
<ProcessingData>
<CmdString>lv=4;co=47;lc=0;wt=2;place line constrained</CmdString>
</ProcessingData>
</CmdMenuItem>
<Accelerator>0</Accelerator>
</UserMenuItem>
</Ustn_CustomTool></ECXAttrData>
</NodeData>
</NodeData>
</NodeData>
<NodeData name="Strassen/Wege" allowChildren="false">
<ECXAttrData><Ustn_CustomTool xmlns="Ustn_CustomTool.01.00">
<UIType>UserMenuItem</UIType>
<UserMenuItem>
<Dimension>0</Dimension>
<Type>3</Type>
<CmdMenuItem>
<ProcessingData>
<CmdString>null</CmdString>
</ProcessingData>
</CmdMenuItem>
<Accelerator>0</Accelerator>
</UserMenuItem>
</Ustn_CustomTool></ECXAttrData>
</NodeData>
</NodeData>
</Menus>
<ContextMenus />
<ViewPopupMenus />
<TentativePopupMenus />
</DgnData>

Whether that means such a great support for the construction of the ASCII file of the sidebar menu, I doubt. The best way to do it, if you using the example of an existing ASCII file of a sidebar menu and the MicroStation documents "Keyboard commands" and "User Commands" works.