You use the options on Project Explorer’s Create Link list, opened by clicking the first icon in the dialog, to create the links. There are six types of links.
Using Link From File you can link to a DGN file or to models, saved views, or references in a file. You can link to individual sheets in an Excel document, or even to a heading in a Word document.
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Using Project Explorer to Organize Data
The rest of the options let you create other types. You can create links to folders on your system or network, to MicroStation key‐ins, to Web sites and e‐mail addresses, or to other link sets.
Another way to populate a link set’s folders is to use a configuration variable that identifies each part of the project directory structure. This is a configuration variable link. Any configuration variable that locates files or directories can be used to define a configuration variable link. Each link and specifies the type of resource to harvest from the files.
Creating links to find designs, references, and cell libraries using predefined variables
Exercise: Where were the models found?
1 Set the following in the File Open dialog:
Project: General
2 Open \dgnlib\general.dgnlib.
3 Click the Project Explorer tab at the bottom of the Tasks dialog.
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4 In Project Explorer, click the Manage Link Sets magnifying glass and, in the Link Sets dialog, select Active File (general.dgnlib) from the option list at the top.
This gives you access so you can edit the link sets in the file. You cannot edit link sets unless you are in the file that contains them. As a best practice, the file in which you create link sets should be a DGNLIB.
5 In Project Explorer, with the Examples link set active, right click the Designs node and select Properties.
This dialog shows you that design models (indicated by the string
Model:Design) were harvested using a configuration variable link. In this case, from the folder identified by the MS_DEF configuration variable. By default, this variable points to a project’s \dgn folder.
6 Click Cancel.
Next you will create a simple folder structure to hold your project’s links.
Exercise: Create a folder structure
1 Continuing in general.dgnlib, in the Link Sets dialog, click New Link Set, and name it Town.
2 With the new link set “Town”, active in Project Explorer, click the New Folder icon and name the folder Seed files.
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Using Project Explorer to Organize Data
3 Create another new top level folder named Designs.
The next step is to populate the folders with links to the items you want to include.
Exercise: Create links
1 In Project Explorer, highlight the Designs folder, click the Create Link icon and select Folder Link.
2 In the Browse For Folder dialog, navigate to
\ProgramData\Bentley\MicroStation\WorkSpace\Projects\Examples\Gen eral\dgn, and then click OK.
This link accesses just the files in this folder. To find your seed files you will create a configuration variable link using an existing MicroStation
configuration variable.
3 Highlight the Seed files folder, click the Create Link icon, and select Configuration Variable Link.
4 Type the name Seed models, set Variable to Custom (User Defined), type the following in the Variable name field, and then click OK:
{Models}$(MS_SEEDFILES)
Specifying just {Models} locates all types of models. MS_SEEDFILES is the path to the folder containing seed files that is defined for this project.
5 in the Link Sets dialog, select Configured Libraries (MS_DGNLIBLIST) from the option list at the top and close the dialog.
This makes the link sets read‐only again and also lets them be seen throughout the project.
Now you will see how Project Explorer lets you easily access project data.
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Using Project Explorer to Organize Data
Exercise: Use the links to start your project
1 In Project Explorer, make Town the active link set.
2 Expand the Designs node, and then the dgn/ node.
3 Right click on the link to Reference.dgn and select Open.
You are redirected to the file. You will create your design composition in this file.
4 In Project Explorer expand the Seed files node, then the Seed models node, and then the seed/ node.
5 Open the Models dialog.
6 In Project Explorer, expand the ExampleSeed.dgn link, drag the Exampletown model into the Models dialog, and drop it.
The new model opens. A road is already placed to help you get started.
7 Fit View.
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