MicroStation CONNECT Edition Help

Parametric Modeling Workflow - Designing Parametric Doors and Generating Doors Schedule

In this scenario, let us go through a simple parametric modeling workflow, where you will first create a parametric door with variations based on door size. Then, multiple instances of this door will be placed as a cell, that too at different sizes, based on their variations. Let us then attach business properties in the form of item types to these doors. These properties will be then used to generate data-rich reports containing information such as door type and door number.

Creating a Door and Applying Basic Constraints

  1. In a design model, place a block in the Top view.
  2. Apply 2D constraints to the block.

Creating Variables and Variations and Applying Dimension Constraints

  1. Create variables for door height, width, and thickness. As shown in the image below, the variables are D_height, D_width, and D_thickness for height, width and thickness of the door respectively.
  2. Add variations for different door sizes. In this example, following are the variations and their variable values:
    Variation Name D_height D_width D_thickness
    Door_1 75 24 0.5
    Door_2 84 30 1
    Door_3 90 36 1.5
  3. Apply the D_width constraint to the width of the block.
  4. Extrude the block. Apply D_height constraint while extruding the block.

Try applying different variations. You will observe that the door size changes with variations.

Placing the Parametric Door

Once you create the parametric door, attach it as a cell library to your design file.

  1. In your design file, start the Place Parametric Cell tool, select the desired variation, and place instance of the door cell.
  2. Repeat the above step to place more instances of the cell in your design.

Creating and Attaching Item Types

  1. Open the Item Types dialog.
  2. Create an Item Type called Door_Details.
  3. Add the following item definitions:
    • Door_Type - Set Type property to Text and Default Value property as Small.
    • Door_Number - Set Type property to Integer and Default Value property as 1.
  4. Save the item type.
  5. Start the Attach Item Type tool.
  6. In the Attach Item tool settings window:
    • Select Door_Details from the Item Types drop-down list.
    • In the Properties section, if required, change the Default Value property to Medium or Large.
    • Select the door cell.
  7. Before selecting the next door, change the Door_Number and Default Value properties and select the next door.
  8. Repeat step 7 for all the doors in the model.

Creating a Report Definition of Doors

  1. Open the Reports dialog.
  2. In the Reports dialog, create a Report definition, called Door Details.
  3. In the Included Items section, click the drop-down next to the Item Types field and select the following:
    • a. From the Include These Item Types drop-down list, select Parametric Cells.
    • b. From the Add these related Items drop-down list, select Element has attached item > Door_Details.
    • Click OK.
  4. Add the following columns:
    • Door_Number
    • Door_Type

Viewing and Generating Reports

  1. Once you are done with adding columns, click the Preview results icon in the Reports dialog.
  2. To know the number of doors of each size, just drag the Door_Type column to the Grouped by section.
  3. To place the report as a table, click the Place Table icon in the Reports dialog and enter a data point to place the table.
Parent topic: Parametric Modeling