Tabs

At the top of the ribbon are a series of tabs containing relevant tools in groups. Tabs are loaded when selecting from the workflows available in the Quick Access Toolbar.

File Tab and Backstage View

In the left most ribbon tab are a series of tools and settings dialogs typically associated with items found previously in the File, Workspace, and Help menus.

Groups

Within each tab are groups containing tools relevant to tasks implied by the tab.

Panels

Panels are containers for grouping buttons. For example, Mstn.View.Rotation2D.Panel and Mstn.View.Rotation3D.Panel in the delivered Drawing > View > Tools ribbon group. Panels can be stacked horizontally within a vertical panel so the buttons they contain are shown in rows. This is what is used in <Space> ribbon group pop-up.

Split Buttons

Split buttons contain a set of tools in a drop-down list. There is also an icon of the active tool on the left side of the drop-down arrow. Clicking the icon activates that particular tool. If you select any other tool from the drop-down list, the selected tool replaces the active tool.

Drop-down Button

Drop-down buttons just contain a set of tools in the drop-down list.

Dialog Flyouts

In the Primary ribbon group of the Home tab, you can choose to open certain dialogs in the Flyout mode. Next to the Models, References, Level Manager and Level Display icons when you click the drop-down arrow, you will see the option to open the dialog in flyout mode. A dialog flyout creates a temporary pop-up window which disappears automatically once you move your cursor off the dialog. Once you have selected a dialog's flyout mode, the next time you need to open the respective dialog you just have to click the icon to open the flyout. Only when you need to switch modes you will have to click the drop-down.

The Models Flyout

By default these tools open the dialog window when selected.

Tools or Buttons

Within each group are tool or button icons. Selecting one opens the associated tool settings window or dialog.

In-Ribbon Galleries

In-Ribbon galleries display a graphical collection of related items in the ribbon. For example, the Material gallery (Visualization > Materials > Apply) displays different materials. You can click the desired material in the gallery to select it. If there are many items in the gallery, you can also scroll through the gallery or expand the gallery to display the rest of the collection in the expanded pane.

Material ribbon gallery

Expanded Material ribbon gallery

Dialog Launchers

At the lower right side of certain groups are small buttons that open dialogs relevant to the tools in the group. These are typically settings dialogs. For instance, the Dimension Styles dialog can be opened with the dialog launcher in the Dimensioning group.

Enhanced Tooltips

Positioning the pointer over ribbon items like tools and dialog launchers displays the enhanced tooltips that display the item name along with a short description.

Resize Groups

The ribbon automatically resizes groups as the application window is resized.

Group Pop-up Menus

Right-clicking on a group lists the tools that are available in the group. The tools that are displayed in the group have a check mark. You can show/hide the tools by toggling the selection of the tool in the pop-up menu. If the group contains split buttons, the tools in the split buttons are listed as sub-menus in the pop-up menu. You can show/hide tools in these sub-menus as well. For further details, refer to the topic Pop-up Menus on Tabs and Groups.

Ribbon Search

Ribbon search is an easier way to find tools or dialogs across multiple tabs and workflows of the ribbon. For further details, see Ribbon Search.

Minimize the Ribbon

Clicking minimizes the ribbon. You can expand the ribbon by clicking the same icon again.

CONNECT Advisor

Clicking opens the CONNECT Advisor dialog.

Access Help

Clicking opens the MicroStation help.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are shortcuts to specific groups or tools in the ribbon. The product supports multi-level keyboard shortcuts. Depending on the key-ins assigned, the tools, ribbon group pop-ups, or pop-up menus are displayed. The keyboard shortcuts can be created, modified, or deleted in the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog ( File > Settings > User > Keyboard Shortcuts ).

The default keyboard shortcut for <Space> key contains tools as well as shortcuts for different ribbon groups.

As you can see above, the first row contains ribbon group shortcuts. These are shortcuts for frequently used ribbon groups in the Home tab. Clicking or activating any of them opens the respective ribbon group pop-up. The second row contains frequently used tools. The third row contains shortcuts to frequently used ribbon groups. Each of the icons in the ribbon group have a shortcut key. This shortcut key is displayed when you hover the pointer over the icon. With the ribbon group pop-up displayed, if you press the shortcut key, the respective tool or group activates. To customize the keyboard shortcuts for <Space>, refer to the section Customizing the Ribbon Group Pop-ups.

The keyboard shortcuts <Q> or <[> open the quick tools menu. This pop-up menu contains shortcuts to frequently used tools and ribbon group-pop-ups.

Left - Pop-up menu displayed when you press <Q> | Right - Pop-up menu displayed when you press <[>

For example, you can press <QW> to start the Move Element tool.

Another ribbon group pop-up is that of the View tools. It displays the frequently used tools from the View tab. It is displayed when you press <Shift> and right-click in the view window.

Keytips

If you want the keytips to resemble the position mapping keystrokes, turn on the Auto-generate KeyTips setting in the Preferences dialog, Ribbon category.

Keytips when position mapping is active