Bentley Descartes V7

Index:

1. What is MicroStation Descartes?
2. Where can I find documentation for MicroStation Descartes v7.1?
3. What hardware platforms and operating systems does MicroStation Descartes v7.1 support?
4. Is Bentley SELECT available for MicroStation Descartes?
5. How much does MicroStation Descartes cost?
6. Will my MicroStation Descartes v7.0 license work in MicroStation Descartes v7.1?
7. Does MicroStation Descartes support traditional license pooling or SELECTserver-style license pooling?
8. Does MicroStation Descartes v7.1 support a network installation configuration?
9. What types of images can be used in MicroStation Descartes v7.1?
10. What image formats does MicroStation Descartes v7.1 support?
11. What is the function of the 24-bit check box in the Color Distribution dialog box?
12. How is the display of images managed with MicroStation Descartes?
13. What tools are provided to prepare images or create mosaics and montages?
14. What is the dynamic warping capability of MicroStation Descartes?
15. What plotting capability is included with MicroStation Descartes?
16. What integration capabilities are provided with MicroStation Descartes v7.1?
17. What raster editing capabilities does MicroStation Descartes have?
18. Can MicroStation Descartes be used for heads-up-digitizing and automated vectorization of images?
19. When I load images using MicroStation Descartes my MicroStation Color Table changes, and some of the design file element colors change as well. Why?
20. How do I use World Files in MicroStation Descartes v7.1?
21. What does the "Maximum Area Overflow" error message mean, and how can I resolve it?
22. Can I access images served by ModelServer Imager?
23. I would like to drape multiple images on a 3D surface, do I need to create a new material for each image?
24. I am draping an image. After creating the material and rendering the view, the image appears to have been applied to each and every shape rather than draping continuously across the model. Why is this?
25. After opening my HMR images in an earlier version of Image Manager, MicroStation Descartes or MicroStation Reprographics, the rotation is lost. How can I prevent this?
26. What issues should I expect when using MicroStation Descartes in conjunction with MicroStation's Raster Manager?
27. Where can I find the "Rasterizer" tool within the MicroStation Descartes interface?
28. What OCR capabilities does MicroStation Descartes v7.1 include?
29. When opened in an ASCII editor, my registration file (*.rgr) appears to be corrupted, why is this?

Answer: MicroStation Descartes adds high-performance image display, plotting, transformation, enhancement, editing, mosaicing, and georeferencing (warping) capabilities to MicroStation. MicroStation Descartes supports engineering, mapping, and conversion projects that require the use of large images, and may be used to create hybrid maps, plan sheets, and other documents. Image scenes or mosaics created in MicroStation Descartes may be distributed to users of MicroStation Image Manager (included in MicroStation SE) or MicroStation GeoGraphics, where they may be viewed and plotted.

Question 2: Where can I find documentation for MicroStation Descartes v7.1?

Answer: MicroStation Descartes v7.1 documentation is now delivered in the .../dcartes/docs/ directory. Included in PDF format are the:

• Setup Guide
• Key-ins Document
• User's Guide
• Tutorial Guide

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Question 3: What hardware platforms and operating systems does MicroStation Descartes v7.1 support?

Answer: MicroStation Descartes v7.1 is currently available for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 on Intel platforms. It is available for MicroStation/J (v07.01.01.36 or later) and MicroStation SE (v05.07.01.22 or later). Note: MicroStation/J is required for support on Windows 2000.

Question 4: Is Bentley SELECT available for MicroStation Descartes?

Answer: Yes. Bentley SELECT, Bentley's comprehensive support program, is available for MicroStation Descartes. As a SELECT subscriber, you get the latest in product development and support. You receive all product updates and upgrades as soon as they are released, top priority telephone technical support, productivity utilities and enhancements, training materials, The Client Server newsletter, and much more.

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Question 5: How much does MicroStation Descartes cost?

Answer: Contact your local MVAR or call our toll-free Sales phone line at 1-800-778-4274 for pricing. To find an MVAR in your area, check the listings at: www.bentley.com/sales/mvar.htm.

Question 6: Will my MicroStation Descartes v7.0 license work in MicroStation Descartes v7.1?

Answer: No. You must obtain a new license for MicroStation Descartes v7.1. Call 1­800­BENTLEY to be issued a new license or E-mail registration@bentley.com with registration questions.

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Question 7: Does MicroStation Descartes support traditional license pooling or SELECTserver-style license pooling?

Answer: MicroStation Descartes v7.1 for MicroStation/J has been upgraded to take advantage of SELECTserver Licensing for license pooling purposes.

Question 8: Does MicroStation Descartes v7.1 support a network installation configuration?

Answer: Yes, MicroStation Descartes can be installed and run on a network server. This allows sharing of one copy over a network. To use MicroStation Descartes on a server, you must already have a shared MicroStation version installed, properly configured, and running. Versions prior to 7.0 are not supported for network installation or operation. For more details on the network installation operation, see chapter 20 (page 20-384) of the MicroStation Descartes v7.1 User's Guide. Note that the file mentioned as "Relnknet.exe" should instead be listed as "Dclnknet.exe".

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Question 9: What types of images can be used in MicroStation Descartes v7.1?

Answer: One of the key advantages of MicroStation Descartes is its ability to mix image types. You can simultaneously use black-and-white or two-color (1-bit) images with grey-scale and color (8-bit) images, and the images can have different scales and resolutions. Typical image types are scanned drawings, black-and-white maps, color maps, aerial photographs and satellite images. MicroStation Descartes has the ability to import Raster Reference images from MicroStation into a project while keeping the DGN reference intact. You may also export images utilized in Image Manager to MicroStation's Raster Reference and MicroStation's Raster Manager, which can incorporate both Raster Reference and Image Manager .PRJ files.

Question 10: What image formats does MicroStation Descartes v7.1 support?

Answer: MicroStation Descartes supports the following image file formats. Formats listed in bold are supported in their native format and incur no overhead when opening and saving the imagery.

The initial step of importing the image file into HMR format and then the corresponding export to the native file format is no longer necessary.

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Question 11: What is the function of the 24-bit check box in the Color Distribution dialog box?

Answer: This check box allows for the 24-bit display of the attached images in MicroStation Descartes. In versions of MicroStation Descartes prior to 6.0, the display of multiple images on the screen would depend on which image was in focus. The color table of the image in focus would be applied to the other images on the screen for display purposes only. When the 24­bit check box is turned on in MicroStation Descartes all images attached to a design file will display with their respective color tables.

Question 12: How is the display of images managed with MicroStation Descartes?

Answer: MicroStation Descartes displays images in all eight views. Since images are not restricted to placement by layer, the number of images that can be loaded into each view is unlimited. Images are added or removed from a view and this information is tracked in a project file. You can then use the MicroStation Image Manager interface to turn on or off specific images in a view and to calibrate contrast and brightness. Support is provided for the MicroStation Dynamic Pan and Update View, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Window Area, Window Center, and Fit Active Design view controls. Additional display controls are provided to fit one image or all images to a view, send an image to back or bring an image to front, display an image at its actual resolution, or apply an image to one or all views.

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Question 13: What tools are provided to prepare images or create mosaics and montages?

Answer: MicroStation Descartes includes a full suite of warping, editing, enhancement and transformation tools to support the preparation of images and the creation of mosaics. Images can be warped to fit a geometric space defined by a DGN file or a list of known points. Images can be moved, scaled, rotated, mirrored and merged. Areas of an image can be rasterized to a target color, made transparent, or copied to a DGN element. Grey-scale images can be enhanced with contrast stretch, grey-scale standardization, and other tools to create a consistent look across a mosaic.

Question 14: What is the dynamic warping capability of MicroStation Descartes?

Answer: MicroStation Descartes' WYSIWYG warping is a tremendous interface advantage resulting in higher productivity. The dynamic warping superimposes vectors over images to give visual rather than statistical feedback, providing an intuitive interface that relaxes traditional photogrammetric rules. You gather points until you get a general fit and move them to get an exact fit. You can see the results before you resample, eliminating unnecessary iterations.

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Question 15: What plotting capability is included with MicroStation Descartes?

Answer: MicroStation Descartes includes integrated HP-RTL and PostScript plotting support optimized for raster output. MicroStation Descartes comes enabled for additional third-party network plotting solutions and utilizes all standard MicroStation plotter and printer drivers, including direct interfaces for Windows drivers.

Question 16: What integration capabilities are provided with MicroStation Descartes v7.1?

Answer: MicroStation Descartes 7.1 offers full integration into MicroStation as a customizable workspace. All MicroStation Descartes-specific tools can be accessed directly from the MicroStation menus to offer a more efficient work environment. MicroStation Descartes also seamlessly integrates with any MDL application to provide it with imaging capabilities. To provide further flexibility, all MicroStation Descartes interface items may be accessed through key-ins. Additionally, some functionality not offered through the interfaces is only available as key-ins. Developers or users may utilize this capability to integrate MicroStation Descartes functionality into their applications more directly.

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Question 17: What raster editing capabilities does MicroStation Descartes have?

Answer: MicroStation Descartes now includes a robust feature set for editing raster images. With these tools, images can be cleaned up interactively with custom pixel paint brushes and filtered color palettes. Additional cleanup tools are used to rid a scanned image of unwanted noise, blemishes and speckles. Intuitive options allow for user-definable despeckling as well as automatic hole fill and line smoothing. In addition, backgrounds of images can be made transparent or translucent to aid in working with multiple overlaid images.

Question 18: Can MicroStation Descartes be used for heads-up-digitizing and automated vectorization of images?

Answer: Yes. MicroStation Descartes 7.0 supports automated raster-to-vector conversion. Raster lines that match user-definable filter sets can be automatically vectorized with minimal input from the user to greatly enhance any conversion project. In addition to these tightly integrated raster drawing tools, users can snap to individual pixels of an image while using standard MicroStation geometry creation methods. For areas that are difficult to view, one key selection invokes the "Spy Window" which magnifies the area encompassing the cursor to aid in proper alignment and location.

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Question 19: When I load images using MicroStation Descartes my MicroStation Color Table changes, and some of the design file element colors change as well. Why?

Answer: MicroStation stores colors to an element in the 0 to 255 range. When an element is displayed it grabs the color closest to this RGB value from the attached color table. Most of the time the color is exact because the element was originally drawn with that color table. MicroStation does not automatically "lock" these colors in the color table. This means that any application (for example, MicroStation Descartes) has access to all unlocked colors in the attached color table, allowing MicroStation Descartes to display images according to their color table rather than MicroStation's. Any element that is drawn with an unlocked color is subject to change when an image is loaded with MicroStation Descartes.

To correct this, choose Settings > Color Table to open the attached color table, and then choose Edit > Exact Colors. Set the Maximum Selection Count to 225 (the recommended setting). You may also set this under Workspace > Preferences > Drawing > Exact MicroStation Colors. You will notice that certain colors are "X"ed in the color table. These are locked colors. If elements are changing color with MicroStation Descartes, they were not drawn with one of these colors. Click on the appropriate colors to lock.

Keep in mind that this is a compromising situation. The more colors that are locked, the less colors are available to MicroStation Descartes to display the image with the proper, assigned pixel colors. MicroStation Descartes will then choose the closest color available to display the image. This happens for the same reason elements change color when an image is loaded­­that exact RGB value or color is taken. Again, by X­ing the colors in the dialog described above, you are telling MicroStation to keep that color and not give it to any other application.

Question 20: How do I use World Files in MicroStation Descartes v7.1?

Answer: When using World Files in MicroStation Descartes make sure the World File is located in the same directory as the image file. When an image accompanied by a World File is opened, MicroStation Descartes will automatically read the World File and place the image at the proper location in the design file.

In order for the image to be placed accurately, MicroStation Descartes needs to know what unit of measurement is used in the World File. Usually the units are in meters or feet, depending on the project. The key-in "img worldfileunit set = unit", where unit equals the unit of measurement (for example, ft or m), is used to inform MicroStation Descartes of the units used. This information is stored in the Dcartes.ini file located in the ..\ustation\dcartes\ directory. Look for the line "WorldFileUnit=m" in the Dcartes.ini file (you may edit the WorldFileUnit here as opposed to using the key-in). Make sure the units you specify are among those defined in the .INI file. Feet (ft) and meters (m) have already been defined, so you should not need to add them. See pages 7-9 of the MicroStation Descartes v7.1 Setup Guide for instructions on adding new unit definitions to the .INI file.

Georeferencing information is now read and stored in World File format for all file formats that do not support an embedded header and/or transformation matrix. The file extension of the world file will be determined as follows:

tif=tfw
jpg=jgw
bmp=bpw
cal=clw
rgb=rbw
rs=rsw
a=aw
p=pw
tga=taw
pcx=pxw

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Question 21: What does the "Maximum Area Overflow" error message mean, and how can I resolve it?

Answer: The Maximum Area Overflow error is caused by the HMR image going off the design plane. The image will not display when a 'fit image' is performed because it is extending off the display area (as defined by your MicroStation working units). There are a few ways to solve this problem:

• Increase your design plane size by changing your Working Units resolution (Settings > Design File, Working Units)
• Shift the global origin in the design file
• Scale or change the pixel size of the image to decrease the image's display size (from Image Manager, choose File > Properties > Location, Pixel Size)
• Move this image to a new location on the design plane

Question 22: Can I access images served by ModelServer Imager?

Answer: Yes, the ModelServer Imager Enabling Layer has been included with the MicroStation Descartes v7.1 Image Manager. The ModelServer Imager Enabling Layer lets MicroStation Descartes function as an ModelServer Imager client, providing access to files served over the Internet or LAN by ModelServer Imager. Though these images open in read-only mode, they can be modified and saved locally. For more information on configuring MicroStation Descartes as an ModelServer Imager client, see Chapter 21 of the MicroStation Descartes v7.1 User's Guide.

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Question 23: I would like to drape multiple images on a 3D surface, do I need to create a new material for each image?

Answer: No, once the DcDrape material is applied to a surface, any images that lie directly above that surface in a top view will be projected and trimmed to that surface when rendered. Be sure to open the images within the view being rendered for this to work. For more draping information, see Chapter 10 of the MicroStation Descartes v7.1 Tutorial Workbook, and Chapter 17 of the MicroStation Descartes v7.1 User's Guide.

Question 24: I am draping an image. After creating the material and rendering the view, the image appears to have been applied to each and every shape rather than draping continuously across the model. Why is this?

Answer: You have created a material defined by a particular image. In this case, MicroStation is behaving properly and MicroStation Descartes is not being consulted. To take advantage of MicroStation Descartes' draping ability, you need to include the DCDRAPE procedural material in the material definition. This is most easily accomplished by 'stealing' the material from the delivered DCDRAPE.PAL file and adding it to your own palette. For detailed steps on this process, please refer to the MicroStation Descartes Tutorial Workbook pages 10-138 through 10-141.

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Question 25: After opening my HMR images in an earlier version of Image Manager, MicroStation Descartes or MicroStation Reprographics, the rotation is lost. How can I prevent this?

Answer: All Image Manager product releases since MicroStation/J utilize the HMR file's matrix to store image rotation information. Prior releases such as MicroStation Descartes v6.0, MicroStation ReproGraphics v6.1 and the MicroStation SE Image Manager do not recognize this information and attempt to rewrite the matrix when the image is opened. To prevent this, the image must be made read-only prior to being opened in one of these products.

Question 26: What issues should I expect when using MicroStation Descartes in conjunction with MicroStation's Raster Manager?

Answer: While Raster Manager can read and store information within the appropriate PRJ format for use with Image Manager products, important steps are listed within the Raster Manager Readme file. Please refer to this document and the Raster Manager General FAQ for additional details.

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Question 27: Where can I find the "Rasterizer" tool within the MicroStation Descartes interface?

Answer: The Rasterizer tool is not part of the Descartes interface at this time, but is a fully functional tool. Users can access the Rasterizer tool by opening a MicroStation key-in window (choose Utilities > Key-in) and entering "MDL LOAD RASTERIZER" followed by a carriage return. This will initialize the tool.

Question 28: What OCR capabilities does MicroStation Descartes v7.1 include?

Answer: Included with the version 7.1 release of MicroStation Descartes Vectorization tools is Optical Character Recognition (OCR) which provides the ability to quickly and efficiently recognize and convert raster text to vector text elements.

The Convert Text tool lets you select areas, filter colors and angles to assist in the OCR process. This enhances the accuracy of the OCR tools when "locking on" to elements within the image which may be text items. Once detected, the raster shape is processed by the OCR engine for the most likely match, which is presented to the user for final check. Text size and placement is automatic (depending on settings) after the text is approved.

For more detailed information on the OCR abilities of MicroStation Descartes, see pages 15-319 through 15-326 of the MicroStation Descartes User's Guide. For demonstration, follow the examples in chapter 9 of the MicroStation Descartes Tutorial Workbook.

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Question 29: When opened in an ASCII editor, my registration file (*.rgr) appears to be corrupted, why is this?

Answer: Prior to Descartes V8, registration files were written in editable ASCII text. Subsequent to the release of Descartes 8.x however, the .rgr file now contains binary code. Therefore this is normal and not an indication of corruption, or cause for concern