IGES Import Settings Dialog

Setting	Description
Translation Units	Sets how IGES file units are equated to MicroStation working units, as follows: Master — Equates IGES file units to the master units of the active DGN file. Sub — Equates IGES file units to the sub-units of the active DGN file. Calculate — Sets the working units in the DGN file so that one positional unit is equal to the minimum resolution parameter in the IGES file's Global data section. The master units name is set to the units parameter (also in the Global data section) and the number of sub-units per master unit is 1. This option should be used with care as it is likely to produce DGN files with non-standard working units.
Subfigure Output	Sets how subfigures are translated, as follows: Library Cells — Added to the attached cell library as graphic cells and added to the DGN file as unshared cells. If a cell library is not attached, Library Cells is dimmed (not available). Shared Cells — Added to the DGN file as shared cell definitions and instances. Components — Added to the DGN file as individual elements; in other words, the cells are dropped. Note: In IGES, subfigure (type 308) or network subfigure (type 320) entities are used to store a group of entities that occur repetitively within a file, performing about the same function as MicroStation cells.
Drawings	Sets how IGES drawing entities and entities with views visible attributes are translated: Ignore — IGES drawing entities and associated annotation entities are omitted. Sheet-View Visibility — A separate sheet DGN file is created for each IGES drawing entity. Entities whose view visibility varies in different views are omitted from the model DGN file and are instead placed in the sheet DGN file with the correct orientation and view symbology. Sheet-No Visibility — A separate sheet DGN file is created for each IGES drawing entity. Entities with view visibility and view symbology attributes are placed in the model DGN file and display with the same symbology in every view. Merge — IGES drawing entities are merged into the DGN file by transforming the model geometry for each view and placing it in the DGN file. The elements in the DGN file represent the drawing sheet(s) rather than the model itself. Merging drawing information is usually less efficient since entities are repeated for each view rather than being created just once and referenced in sheet DGN files. Merged drawing entities are omitted from a view(s) based on their view visibility, and their symbology is set to the appropriate symbology for each view. Note: Sheet DGN files are created with the same filename as the model DGN file with the extension ".Sxx," where "xx" is the drawing sheet number. For example, the first sheet DGN file for "test.dgn" would be "test.s01," the second "test.s02," and so on. If the MS_SHEETSEED configuration variable is set, the sheet DGN file is created from the seed file it points to. Otherwise, the sheet DGN file is created by copying the header data from the model DGN file. Note: See Drawing sheets and view visibility for general information about drawing sheets and view visibility.
Scale Factor	Sets the scale factor that is applied to imported IGES entities; can be used to tailor the translation to accept geometry from systems that generate data at a different scale or in a different coordinate system. By default, the scale factor is set to 1.0 (no scaling is performed).
Stroke Tolerance	Sets the maximum deviation, in Translation Units, between the actual curve and the approximating line segments used to represent excluded arc, curve, B-spline curve, or B-spline surface entities in the DGN file. If any of these IGES entities are excluded in the Exclude IGES Entities dialog (opened by choosing Settings > Exclude IGES Entities in the Import IGES File dialog), they are approximated by line segments, referred to as strokes, in line string or shape elements. If stroke tolerance is decreased, the number of segments and the size of the DGN file is increased and the approximation quality is finer. If stroke tolerance is increased, the number of segments and the size of the DGN file is reduced and the approximation quality is coarser. Note: See Excluding IGES entities for more information about excluding IGES entities.
Maximum Line Width	Sets the IGES line weight (thickness) in millimeters (mm) that is assigned to line weight 31. The other MicroStation line weights are assigned thicknesses that are proportional to this value. An inverse relationship exists between the Maximum Line Width and the MicroStation line weight that is assigned to a line from the IGES file. Consider a line in an IGES file that has a thickness of 2.5 mm: If Maximum Line Width is set to 5 mm (the default, about 0.2"), the line is assigned to MicroStation line weight 15. If Maximum Line Width is set to 10 mm, the line is assigned to MicroStation line weight 7. Thus, increasing the Maximum Line Width setting decreases the MicroStation line weight assigned to a given line. Note: IGES line weights are associated by the actual line thickness. MicroStation Line Weight is not associated with a specific thickness, but instead determines the relative line weight of a line with respect to other line weight values.
Force VDAIS Processing	If on, the IGES file is assumed to be VDAIS-compliant. VDAIS is a set of guidelines for using IGES established by the German automobile industry.
Import construction/blanked entities	If on, imports IGES entities which are marked as construction or blanked entities.

Translation Units

Sets how IGES file units are equated to MicroStation working units, as follows:

Master — Equates IGES file units to the master units of the active DGN file.
Sub — Equates IGES file units to the sub-units of the active DGN file.
Calculate — Sets the working units in the DGN file so that one positional unit is equal to the minimum resolution parameter in the IGES file's Global data section. The master units name is set to the units parameter (also in the Global data section) and the number of sub-units per master unit is 1. This option should be used with care as it is likely to produce DGN files with non-standard working units.

Subfigure Output

Sets how subfigures are translated, as follows:

Library Cells — Added to the attached cell library as graphic cells and added to the DGN file as unshared cells. If a cell library is not attached, Library Cells is dimmed (not available).
Shared Cells — Added to the DGN file as shared cell definitions and instances.
Components — Added to the DGN file as individual elements; in other words, the cells are dropped.

Note: In IGES, subfigure (type 308) or network subfigure (type 320) entities are used to store a group of entities that occur repetitively within a file, performing about the same function as MicroStation cells.

Drawings

Sets how IGES drawing entities and entities with views visible attributes are translated:

Ignore — IGES drawing entities and associated annotation entities are omitted.
Sheet-View Visibility — A separate sheet DGN file is created for each IGES drawing entity. Entities whose view visibility varies in different views are omitted from the model DGN file and are instead placed in the sheet DGN file with the correct orientation and view symbology.
Sheet-No Visibility — A separate sheet DGN file is created for each IGES drawing entity. Entities with view visibility and view symbology attributes are placed in the model DGN file and display with the same symbology in every view.
Merge — IGES drawing entities are merged into the DGN file by transforming the model geometry for each view and placing it in the DGN file. The elements in the DGN file represent the drawing sheet(s) rather than the model itself. Merging drawing information is usually less efficient since entities are repeated for each view rather than being created just once and referenced in sheet DGN files. Merged drawing entities are omitted from a view(s) based on their view visibility, and their symbology is set to the appropriate symbology for each view.

Note: Sheet DGN files are created with the same filename as the model DGN file with the extension ".Sxx," where "xx" is the drawing sheet number. For example, the first sheet DGN file for "test.dgn" would be "test.s01," the second "test.s02," and so on. If the MS_SHEETSEED configuration variable is set, the sheet DGN file is created from the seed file it points to. Otherwise, the sheet DGN file is created by copying the header data from the model DGN file.

Note: See Drawing sheets and view visibility for general information about drawing sheets and view visibility.

Scale Factor

Sets the scale factor that is applied to imported IGES entities; can be used to tailor the translation to accept geometry from systems that generate data at a different scale or in a different coordinate system.

By default, the scale factor is set to 1.0 (no scaling is performed).

Stroke Tolerance

Sets the maximum deviation, in Translation Units, between the actual curve and the approximating line segments used to represent excluded arc, curve, B-spline curve, or B-spline surface entities in the DGN file.

If any of these IGES entities are excluded in the Exclude IGES Entities dialog (opened by choosing Settings > Exclude IGES Entities in the Import IGES File dialog), they are approximated by line segments, referred to as strokes, in line string or shape elements.

If stroke tolerance is decreased, the number of segments and the size of the DGN file is increased and the approximation quality is finer. If stroke tolerance is increased, the number of segments and the size of the DGN file is reduced and the approximation quality is coarser.

Note: See Excluding IGES entities for more information about excluding IGES entities.

Maximum Line Width

Sets the IGES line weight (thickness) in millimeters (mm) that is assigned to line weight 31. The other MicroStation line weights are assigned thicknesses that are proportional to this value.

An inverse relationship exists between the Maximum Line Width and the MicroStation line weight that is assigned to a line from the IGES file. Consider a line in an IGES file that has a thickness of 2.5 mm:

If Maximum Line Width is set to 5 mm (the default, about 0.2"), the line is assigned to MicroStation line weight 15.
If Maximum Line Width is set to 10 mm, the line is assigned to MicroStation line weight 7.

Thus, increasing the Maximum Line Width setting decreases the MicroStation line weight assigned to a given line.

Note: IGES line weights are associated by the actual line thickness. MicroStation Line Weight is not associated with a specific thickness, but instead determines the relative line weight of a line with respect to other line weight values.

Force VDAIS Processing

If on, the IGES file is assumed to be VDAIS-compliant. VDAIS is a set of guidelines for using IGES established by the German automobile industry.

Import construction/blanked entities

If on, imports IGES entities which are marked as construction or blanked entities.