New Linkage Mode

Use New linkage mode when you require a unique row for each linkage, such as in the case of land parcels on a map. In New mode, the Active Entity is actually a "prototype row" that does not need to represent an existing row in the table.

Each time a linkage is created in New mode, a copy of the Active Entity is appended to the table as a new row. The element is then linked to the new row. If you operate exclusively in New mode when establishing linkages, you can be sure that each element you link has a corresponding unique row in the database.

Duplicate Linkage Mode

In Duplicate linkage mode, each designated element is linked to the same row as long as that row remains the Active Entity. This is useful when it is necessary only to associate elements with a generic "row type" rather than to a particular occurrence of that row type.

For example, in a circuit board design, it may not be desirable for electrical components like resistors and capacitors to be linked with unique rows. Accurate part counts are still possible even if resistors of the same type "share" rows using the MicroStation PowerDraft database reporting tools.

Information Linkage Mode

Information linkage mode is identical to Duplicate mode except that a special bit is set in each linkage. This distinction is important to application software that examines this bit when processing linkages. Information linkages cannot be reported, and they do not cause table rows to be added or deleted when the linked element is copied.