• Home
  • Training Books
  • Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter
  • About
    • Contributors
    • Feedback
    • Contact
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookie Policy

CADnotes

CAD Tutorials and Best Practices for professionals and students

  • Featured
  • AutoCAD
    • AutoLISP
  • Revit
    • Revit Architecture Basic
    • Revit MEP Basic Tutorial
  • Inventor
  • MicroStation
    • MicroStation Basic Tutorial
You are here: Home / MicroStation / More MicroStation Text Tools (1)

More MicroStation Text Tools (1)

December 16, 2009 by Edwin Prakoso 6 Comments

In this Article...

  • Place Note
  • Enter Data Fields and Text Node
  • Exercise

measure

We have discussed about using the text tools in MicroStation. There are more text tools we can use for annotation. We will discuss it in this section.

Place Note

Place note will place a text and a leader arrow. Similar to place text, activating this tool will open the word processor. Type the text in word processor, then place data points to define the leader arrow in your drawing.

MicroStation place note settings

Take a look in tool settings window. Since XM edition, we now have callout mode here. In the pre-XM version, callout has separate button in annotation tool.

Open place note.dgn, and try to add some callout and note like this. Just type any text you feel right as a practice.

 

place note and callout in MicroStation

 

Graphic Group

Notes leaders and texts are two objects in a graphic group. Check the ‘graphic group lock’ before you modify (moving or copying) the notes. Make sure it’s turned on or they will be treated as separate objects. You can turn on/off the lock by clicking the lock symbol

locks

Enter Data Fields and Text Node

Both of these two tools are used to reserve some space for text. When we want to define the text location and style for later input, we can use them. This is common to maintain a drawing standard. For example: placing text in titleblocks.

Enter Data Field

We use enter data field for texts that we already know how many characters will be used. It can be the date format dd/mm/yyyy or standard drawing numbering like A-xxx or similar use.

We can place ‘enter data field’ by using text tool. Just use underscore _ to reserve the space. If we want to reserve the space for dates, then type __/__/____.

We can change the value by using ‘fill in single data field’ and ‘auto fill in enter data field’.

data field tool

Both will open a text editor. Type the desired value and press [enter] to apply the value to the underscores.

data field text editor

Fill in single data field will ask you every data field you want to change. Auto fill in enter data field will automatically search for empty data field. When it find data field that already changed, it will skip the data field.

Text Node

place text node

We use text node if we want to reserve text space that we don’t know the text length yet. You can change the text node value using the edit text tool.

Notes: We can hide and show enter data field and text node from view attributes

Exercise

Download this file and put it in your tutorial project. This is a simple table, and we are going to reserve some space for our text. The first column will be the revision number, 2nd column the revision date, and the last one the revision description.

  1. Activate the place text tool, type ‘REV-___’ (without quote) in word processor window. Place it at the first empty row in the revision number column.
  2. Place text ‘__/__/____’ in the 2nd column, top row.
  3. Activate place text node tool. Place it in the 3rd column, top row.
  4. Activate modify tool, hold [ctrl] and click the 3 texts we added. This will select the 3 texts.
  5. Press [esc] once to move the focus to home, then press 3 then 1 sequentially. This will activate copy tool. Change in tool settings dialog, number of copies to 8.
  6. Click anywhere in your screen to define a datapoint, move your pointer down, indexed to Y axis. Type 400 then click datapoint. Your texts are copied to the empty cells.

data point and text node table

Try to use ‘fill in single data field’ to change the first row.

Then try what’s the difference when you use it to change the values in 2nd row.

Don’t forget to change the description using edit text!

About Edwin Prakoso

I work as a Sr. Consultant in PT Cipta Satria Informatika. I've been using AutoCAD since R14 and Revit since Revit Building 9. I occasionally write for AUGIWorld magazine and I am also active in Autodesk discussion forum. I'm a member of Autodesk Expert Elite, an appreciation for individuals who give contributions to the Autodesk community.
Connect with me on twitter or LinkedIn.

Filed Under: MicroStation Tagged With: MicroStation Basic

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Login
Notify of
guest

guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

6 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
eck0731
eck0731
11 years ago

Questions;

"3.Activate place text node tool. Place it in the 3rd column, top row." what is the 'it'?

Modify tool is modify element?

Where is graphic group lock?

I've been following the lessons in order, still confused.

0
Reply
JONAS
JONAS
Reply to  eck0731
11 years ago

just click the text node tool in the task navigation under text tools. Then add the data point on third column
first row. You will see there it appears a character with a cross.

I think you are right with the modify tool. Just follow the succeeding instruction that says hold ctrl and click the three texts you make.

Where is the graphic group lock? It is in the task bar (bottom) beside AccuSnap. Click it and check graphic group.
(This is discussed in the previous tutorial).

0
Reply
santhosh john
santhosh john
11 years ago

i am wrkng as dsgn engineer in k.s.a…i thnk ths nots will hlp me alot for imprvng ma profsnl skils…… thnk u

0
Reply
EdwinPrakoso
EdwinPrakoso
15 years ago

You're welcome Fernando! Keep following this blog for more updates!

0
Reply
Fernando
Fernando
15 years ago

Thank for the tips !!!

0
Reply
Ahmed Lilleberg
Ahmed Lilleberg
15 years ago

I just discovered your site on Bing. Good article. Thanks for taking the energy to share this.

0
Reply
wpdiscuz   wpDiscuz

Featured

running man

10 Features to Boost Your AutoCAD Productivity

AutoCAD is much more than just drawing lines and arcs. It has many features that can actually boost your productivity. Here, we list top 10 features that becomes our favorite.

Recent Articles

  • Autodesk Construction Cloud Activity Log
  • Exporting AutoCAD Plant 3D Model to Navisworks
  • Autodesk Data Connector for Power BI is Now Available

Advertisement

New on CADnotes

  • Autodesk Construction Cloud Activity Log
  • Exporting AutoCAD Plant 3D Model to Navisworks
  • Autodesk Data Connector for Power BI is Now Available
  • Autodesk Forma Design Contest
  • Revit 2025: Toposolid Enhancements

Meet the Authors

avatar for
avatar for
avatar for
avatar for
avatar for
avatar for

Get Connected

CADnotes on FacebookCADnotes on InstagramCADnotes on TwitterCADnotes on YouTube

© 2009 – 2025 CADnotes · Feedback · Privacy Policy · Become an affiliate

wpDiscuz