Cells

Typically, a cell is a small 2D drawing, or a 3D object? usually of a frequently-used or complex symbol, notation, detail, or part. Cells are defined as models in a DGN file called a cell library. A cell library can contain many cell definitions each of which is stored in its own model. A cell library is a DGN file. Any DGN file can be attached as a cell library and any cell library can be opened as a DGN file.

Figure 1. Sample building cells


Figure 2. Sample cells for civil engineering


Figure 3. Some sample cells for geospatial


Figure 4. Some sample cells for plant


Why Use Cells?

Cells are used for these reasons:

  • To save time drawing patterns and repeated details
  • To make it easy to update details throughout a DGN file
  • To provide uniformity

You can create your own cell libraries.

Cell Origin

Each cell has a cell origin, defined when the cell is created, that can be thought of as the cell's “handle.” When you enter a data point to place the cell, the origin is placed at that point.