DGN and PRP Files

JetStream Roamer can read 3D .dgn and .prp files from Bentley's MicroStation, but does not support .cel files or 2D .dgn files. Reference files and instances of cells are respected and the selection tree reflects this file structure.

There is also an .nwc file exporter for MicroStation - see for more details.

Supported Entities

• All 2D and 3D geometry including shapes, complex shapes, meshes, cones, surfaces, B-spline boundaries, solids, SmartSolids and Feature Solids, lines, arcs and ellipses.

• Splines and B-spline curves.

• Lights.

• Levels.

• Cells and shared cells and their instancing.

• Colors and ambient, diffuse and shininess properties of materials from .pal and .mat palette and material files.

• Texture maps (requires a valid JetStream Presenter license).

• Reference files including aliases.

• Text will be converted into hyperlink tags (see for details on hyperlinks).

• Family, Part and Texture information from TriForma, and PDS object information from .drv files.

• DMRS and database linkage and association ID's.

Unsupported Entities

• Raster bitmaps.

• Dimensions and leaders.

DGN File Reader Options

Setting the .dgn file reader options

1. Go to Tools, Global Options, DGN

   The DGN dialog is displayed

   

2. Enter the Faceting Factor (the value must be greater than 0). The higher the value, the more JetStream will facet rounded entities and therefore the smoother they will appear. See for more information.

3. Enter the Max Facet Deviation . This will facet entities to within the specified tolerance. See for more information.

4. Check the Convert Hidden Items check box if you want to read hidden entities from the .dgn file. They will be converted but hidden in JetStream.

5. Check the Show Hidden Items check box if you want to show all entities in the .dgn file whether they are set as hidden or not. This option will only work if Convert Hidden Items is also checked.

6. Check the Convert Lines and Arcs check box if you want to read lines, splines, curves, arcs, circles or ellipses from the .dgn file.

7. Check the Merge Lines and Arcs check box if you want to reduce the complexity of the model as seen in the selection tree by interpreting adjoining lines etc. with the same color, level and parent as a single item. Leaving unchecked leaves these elements as separate items in JetStream.

8. Check the Convert Text check box if you want to read text from the .dgn file. Text will be converted into smart tags in JetStream.

9. Enter the Shape Merge Threshold into the box. See for more information on Shape Merge Threshold.

10. Check the Convert References check box if you want to read reference files from the .dgn file.

11. Check the Ignore Unres. References check box if you want to ignore unresolved reference files from the .dgn file. If this check box is unchecked, then you will be presented with a dialog to find any unresolved reference files at run time.

12. Check the Use Level Symbology check box if you want to use the level symbology from MicroStation so that items in JetStream take their color from level rather than the default element color in MicroStation.

13. MicroStation has the concept of a “global origin”, which is where (0, 0, 0) is located (assuming there are no active ACSs). Changing this global origin in MicroStation doesn't actually move anything; it simply changes the reporting of coordinates. However, when attaching references in MicroStation, you can tell it to align global origins.

    Check the Align Global Origins check box if you want to use this functionality when loading DGN files into JetStream. When two DGN files are appended together with this check box checked, their global origins will be in the same place.

14. Check the Use Materials check box if you want to use MicroStation's materials in place of its colors in JetStream. If you choose not to export materials, JetStream will assign the same colors as in the MicroStation scene. Assigning materials will assign the same textures, diffuse, ambient and specular colors to the elements as in the MicroStation scene.

    Note

    For MicroStation materials to be read into JetStream Roamer, a valid Presenter license is required.

15. Enter a semi-colon separated list of paths in Material Search Paths that the reader will search in for MicroStation palette (.pal) and material (.mat) files in order to convert its materials.

16. Check the Convert PDS Data check box if you want to read object information from Intergraph's Plant Design System while reading the .dgn files. PDS information is read from Intergraph's .drv files. JetStream looks for a .drv file with the same base name as the .dgn file in the same directory.

17. Check the Convert TriCAD Data check box if you want to read object information from Triplan's TriCAD while reading the .dgn files.

18. Check the Convert TriForma Data check box if you want to read object information from Bentley's TriForma while reading the .dgn files.

19. Enter a semi-colon separated list of paths in TriForma Dataset Search Paths that the reader will search for Triforma data set files. User defined datasets will need their directories adding to this list.

20. Enter a View Number if you want to use a specific view for loading. The loader will use the level visibility of this view when converting items. If you want to use the first active view, set this value to 0.

21. Click OK to set these options or Cancel to exit the dialog without setting them.