CE 453 Lab #6 Page 1 of 9

MicroStation V8Lab Instructions

NOTE: Before starting to do this lab you may want to put your Word window
with this document on the right screen, so you can later put Microstation on the left
screen. Note that this is an individual lab.
MicroStation provides over 400 drawing and analysis tools. The application
packages, such as GeoPak, add significantly more tools to aid the designer. This
document summarizes several key points for a quick background in MicroStation so the
first-time user can begin basic drawings and use GeoPak applications for the CE 453
design class. The summary presents many basic tools, but assumes the user is familiar
with basic Windows system file structure, keyboard and mouse operations, special keys
such as the CTRL and Shift keys that may change the effect of commands, and more. In
addition, this summary assumes that users have familiarity with other graphics packages,
such as AutoCAD, and are familiar with terms such as models, layers, grids, snaps, and
more. The drawing tools can typically be accessed either by graphically finding the tool
from a screen icon, or by typing in a direct command. This tutorial will identify some
alternative means of accessing the tools using the different strategies, so new users can
begin to learn the power of the graphic and analysis programs.
MicroStation is the current CADD package used by the Iowa Department of
Transportation as well as a number of consulting firms and other agencies. It differs
somewhat from the AutoCAD that many of you may have used in the past. One
difference is in the term used to refer to elements of the drawing. Where AutoCAD uses
“Layers” MicroStation uses the term “Levels.” There is no limitation on the number of
levels that can be used in MicroStation, although one should not go overboard.
MicroStation allows the use of up to 8 views of a model (your design). These can be
from different directions such as above, below, isometric, or front (for 3-d models), at
different scales (2-d or 3-d models), or of different parts of the model (2-d or 3-d).
Getting started
A tutorial has been prepared to assist you. Start here:
Creating your first blank document
1) Create a folder (e.g. MS_training) to store the tutorial files. Put the folder in a
location you are comfortable with, such as your personal folder on your team’s P drive.
2) Go to the class web site (lab folder) and download Lab 6.zip file to your personal
folder MS Training. Extract the following files.
• Blank drawing.dgn
• TrainExRef.dgn
• Ref int.dgn
3) Open MicroStation.
Locate MicroStation in the Program Files section of Windows. The MicroStation
Manager will open so you may select the desired directory and file. See Figure 1 for
partial view (throughout this document a portion of views are “clipped out” to show only
critical areas in order to reduce file size and printer supplies). In Figure 1 the directory in
which the stored files are located has already been identified (C:\temp\Lab 06\). Note that
you should ALWAYS open MicroStation first; then access the drawing.
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MicroStation V8Lab Instructions

Figure 1 MicroStation Manager view

4) Choose the file “blank drawing.dgn” by navigating to the directory of your files
Navigating through the menus
After selecting the drawing you will see a window similar to the one below,
which shows some of the familiar Windows icons and additional drawing controls. One
major difference in the look of the screen in the tutorial and your computer screen is the
background color. This user preference can be set in the Workspace setting on the menu
bar.

Figure 2 Main Tools

In this tutorial, screen views will not always be provided, but multiple clicks may
be needed to get to the desired command. A system to assist tracking the steps will be
used. To “inverse” the background between black and white you can find the appropriate
toggle switch by clicking on the following sequence as the screen changes:
Workspace>Preferences>View Options>. Select Black Background -> White,
then select OK to close the dialog.
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MicroStation V8Lab Instructions
Basic page tool frames, tool boxes, and tools
MicroStation uses the terms drawing tool frames, tool boxes and tools to
distinguish among these elements, but the Help file, which you should use frequently, is
not always consistent in its naming. The following is a general description of the
elements.

Tool frame (or tool bar)

Four major tool frames are identified in the TOOLS section of the menu line. The tool
frames are
1. Standard - contains the Windows operations such as file open, print, and spell
check
2. Attributes - settings for line styles and width, and color
3. Primary - this tool frame provides quick access to major drawing features such as
levels, model and reference cells, element information, and the accudraw drawing
system
4. Main – tools for selecting and manipulating elements in your drawing
5. Task Navigation – provides tools for drawing, labeling, dimensioning, and text

These tool frames are usually turned on (from Tools on the menu line in the above
screen display, Figure 2). The first three are docked on the top of the page, but the Main
tool frame may be docked on any side or left floating on the screen as the user chooses.
Movement around the screen is accomplished with the familiar click and drag operation
of Windows.

Tool Boxes
The second layer of Tools makes up the Tool frames that contain many individual
drawing tools. Figure 3 below is a screen display obtained from
Tools>Main >
In the “blank drawing.dgn” file of the tutorial, the Main tool frame is already
available to the user on the screen because it was docked earlier. Its default position is
docked on the upper left side of the drawing area.
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MicroStation V8Lab Instructions

Main tool frame

From top to bottom the tool boxes are as follows:
• Element selection tools
• Fence tools
• Manipulation tools
• View control tools
• Attribute control tools
• Group tools
• Modification tools
• Delete tool

Task navigation tool frame

This tool frame will usually be docked at the upper right side of your drawing (see
Figure 3). Starting from the top the tool boxes are:
• Task list – provides access to other tool frames, the default one is shown and is
the drawing frame
• Linear element tools
• Polygon tools
• Circular element tools
• Patterns tools, for hatching areas
• Tag tools
• Text tools
• Cell tools
• Measuring tools
• Dimensioning tools

Figure 3 drawing tools

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MicroStation V8Lab Instructions

What happens if you click on one of the Tool boxes under Task Management?
Try the “Measure” button. Within the “Measure” tool box, separate tools are available to
measure distances, angles, areas, and volumes. Clicking on the “Open as ToolBox” will
give you a tool box you can leave open. Close it by clicking on the small “X”.

Figure 4 Measuring Tools

This tutorial only shows a small fraction of the tools available. As you use
MicroStation, the Help section can be your friend. Even if the terminology is not always
consistent, the assistance is valuable.

Key-in dialog box

A dialog “key-in” box is also shown at the top of the screen, just below the box
that has the word “Default” in it. The dialog key-in is used for entering commands. If you
want to add it to your drawing use:
Utilities>Key-in

Figure 5 Key-in Box

Dock the resulting bar where you want it.
View control
At the top of the screen you will find the view control tool bar. From left to right
the tools are:
• View attributes
• Update (refresh) view
• Zoom in
• Zoom out
• Zoom window
• Fit view
• Rotate view
• Pan
• Previous view
• Next view
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MicroStation V8Lab Instructions
• Copy view
• View display mode
• Clip volume
• Clip mask

Figure 6 View Controls

The Fit View icon will zoom out (or in) to maximize the display of your entire
drawing. This can be useful if you have panned to away from your drawing or have
zoomed way into a drawing. If your drawing includes a point that is a long way from the
main part of your drawing, when you Fit View you may have what looks like a blank
screen. The main part of your drawing may be quite small and hard to find. Once you
find the main part you can use the fence tool to fence off everything outside your main
drawing and delete it. This will remove the extraneous points and enable you to see the
whole drawing when you Fit View.

Snaps Buttons
To activate Snaps use Setting>Snaps>Button Bar
You can change which buttons in the tool bar are available by right-clicking in the
snap button bar and selecting the snaps you expect to use. The button bar can be docked
on an edge or floated as a vertical or horizontal bar.
If the Snap Bar isn’t open on the screen you can quickly access it from the snap

icon in the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen..

Right (or left) click , identify the snap mode you want, press Shift
while using the left button to select the desired snap mode. Note that the icon in the status
bar changes to reflect your current selection.

The default snap mode is the key point snap. Using this lets you snap to the key
points on an element. For a line the key points are the two ends and the mid-point.

All of the snaps can be useful, depending on what you need to do. The default
tentative snap is activated by simultaneously clicking the left and right mouse buttons.
Some users find it more convenient to use the center roller button as the tentative key,
although this means giving up the pan feature of the roller button. If you do want set it to
tentative, click on Workspace>Button Assignments. Then select “Tentative” and move
the cursor to the Button Definition Area. Click the wheel button and then click “Ok”.
The key actions should now be:
Left button: select and set points (called the DATA button),
Center button select tentative point or element,
Right button reset, or escape from current action

The wheel button, when rolled, can zoom in and out in a drawing.
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MicroStation V8Lab Instructions

Exercise: Basic drawing/editing

This is the fun time. Use the various tools, making sure to use or at least try all of
them. Be sure to:
• Place lines, circles, arcs, and so on.
• Try selecting different levels, line styles, and weights.
• Use both the Place Smart Line tool and the Place Line tool. Note that if you
delete a smart line you delete all of the elements, while if you delete an ordinary
line it just deletes the line, not all of the connecting lines.
• Use the tentative snap to select the end of an element, even when you are not at
the end. Change the snap mode to the midpoint (of a line) and snap to it. Change
the snap mode to center snap and draw a line from the center of a circle.
• Now click on the element selector of the main toolbar. Select the block mode and
use it to select a number of your elements. Then click on the delete button to
delete everything within the block. You can click on the Undo button at the top
of the screen to restore the elements you deleted. When you have selected a block
of elements for an operation be sure to unselect them when you are finished. Do
this by clicking on the Modify Shape button near the bottom of the main tool bar.
• Click on the Groups: drop element button on the main tool bar and check the line
strings box, then click on one of the line strings you placed using the Smart Line
tool. Note that the entire string is highlighted. When you drop elements on it you
now have just a bunch of lines, so you can modify one element without impacting
the others. To restore the remaining lines of an object to a single object select the
Groups: create complex chain or Groups: create complex shape.

On both the Main and Task Management tool bars note that each of the tools has a
letter or number designator. You can use these to access the tools by entering one or two
key strokes. For example, keying in Q, followed by 1, gives you the Smart Line tool.

When you have a drawing set the way you want it as far as active elements,
levels, colors, etc., you should save the settings so it will look the same the next time you
open it. Do this by “Control + F”.

Reference files
A very powerful tool in MicroStation is the reference file. This allows you to
attach another drawing to your drawing which may be used as a background or template.
An attached reference is visible on the screen and you can snap to its elements; you just
can’t modify it. Try it with the Reference file for this tutorial (TrainEx Ref.dgn). (Be
sure you are in a blank drawing).
Go to File > Reference to get the reference window.
Click on Tools > Attach to bring up the window for selecting the reference file.
Select TrainEx Ref.dgn and accept the defaults.
You should see the following figure. If you don’t see it, click on the Fit View button at
the bottom left of the screen.
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MicroStation V8Lab Instructions

Figure 7 TrainEx Ref.dgn

You can try to modify it but you will find that you can’t. Now draw a line
between two points inside of the figure. Try using the perpendicular snap to draw lines
from the inside vertices to lines in the figure. Now go back to File > Reference and see
the line with the reference file in the dialog part of the window. Click off the check mark
under “show” and close the window (or minimize it). You should just see the lines you
added in the drawing, without the background figure. An example of how this feature
would be used is in the design of modifications to an intersection, where you would have
the existing layout as a reference file that you could see and connect to but could not
modify.

Lab Deliverable Assignment

Work with the MicroStation tools to develop the design of some intersection
improvements. This assignment is to be done individually.

The Procedure
1. Import the file “ref int.dgn” as a reference file into a new blank drawing that you
set up. This project is for a mid-size city in Iowa.
2. Refer to the Statewide Urban Design Standards (www.iowasudas.org ) for various
criteria. Some guidance is provided by section 06a-01 of the Iowa DOT’s Design
Manual, although this section is for 2-lane roads. As always, document the
specifics of your design criteria.
3. Assume a design speed of 30 mph and minimum lengths for turn bays, etc. The
existing streets are 2 lanes wide and are both minor arterials. Assume a turn bay
length of 150 feet.
4. Your task is to modify the curb radii to 30 feet, widen the east-west street to 4
lanes, and provide a right-turn lane meeting the minimum SUDAS criteria for the
westbound to northbound traffic. Be sure to note these and any other assumptions
you make.
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MicroStation V8Lab Instructions
5. Do all of your work in a new drawing that you set up in the English system. You
will want to use the following tools:
• Line drawing
• Parallel copy
• Fillet
• Dimensioning
• Fencing
• Change attributes
6. Once you have completed your design be sure to turn off the reference file and
check that you still have all the needed lines
7. Label all of the new dimensions using the dimensioning tools. You can set the
style of the dimensions by going to the Element>dimension styles and set them as
you like.
8. If you haven’t already changed your background to white do so now. Use the
method described above or go to Settings > Color Table. One advantage of the
white background is that you can see what you are going to get on your print.
Double click on the “B” at the bottom right corner of the table. Select “white”
from the named color list, then click “Ok” and finally click “Attach.” Save your
settings (Ctrl + F). This will let you print black lines on a white background.
9. To print your drawing first put a fence around it, then go to File>print and change
settings as appropriate. Set the “Print Scale” to an even value that fits on the
sheet. This will help you with your graphical scale (item 10 below)
10. Print your drawing on 11 X 17 paper; attach a summary of your assumptions and
a listing of your criteria to the drawing. Include a north arrow, a graphical
scale, and your name
11. Turn the reference file back on and make a second print, showing the existing
features as well as your new design. You may want to change the line weights for
your new work, so they show up better. Be sure that your scales are the same on
both printouts (see 9 above)

Deliverables and Grading Considerations

Drawings – 80%
• Dimensions on all changes, pavement edge, lanes, etc. (readable)
• Include pavement markings (use appropriate line styles and weights, remember
that the center line is a double line and that the main lane lines are dashed)
Summary of assumptions and criteria (a brief report attached to your drawing) – 20%
• Lane width
• Curb radii
• Taper length(s)
• Documentation of source(s)

You should be able to complete this lab fairly easily. I STRONGLY encourage you to
begin the Geopak lab as soon as you finish this one as it will take you considerably more
time.