MicroStation Tools

 Batch DGN (V8i)           Download                   Buy Now 

About

This application offers quick and easy printing and converting of batches of MicroStation documents; an indispensable tool to every CAD manager and MicroStation user.
The application features several modes to select files to work with, notably: drag and drop, loading Excel lists, or searching for files in folders.
It can also convert batches of MicroStation documents to DWG, DXF, DGN V7 and DGN V8 file formats.
The user also has the option of zipping the selected files in case they have to be e-mailed. This feature helps users quickly prepare files to be sent to customers or suppliers and does not need the presence of MicroStation.
The application is designed to save time and money,  it is easy to use and preserves user's options between sessions.

Features and Benefits

1. drag and drop files from Windows Explorer,
2. load file list from Excel,
3. search for files in folders,
4. print active document only.

 Usage

 -MicroStation Files Selection; there are 4 modes to select files to be printed, converted or zipped. Select the tab corresponding to your needs:
1.Drag and Drop files from Windows Explorer to the program interface.
If you change your mind, you can double click to remove some of the files from the list.
Note that if you drag and drop files of incompatible format they will be skipped when the batch process starts.
The list can be sorted by clicking on the column tab.

2.Load File List from an Excel file. To use this mode you first need to have the MicroStation document list open in Excel, then to click Select Excel File button; a window will pop-up  showing all open Excel files. Select the appropriate Excel file. Next, enter the sheet number where the list is located in the Excel file (ex.: enter 1 if the list is in the first sheet). Specify the column to read from in the From Column field by entering the column letter or column number.
If the paths of the MicroStation documents are included in the list, select Document locations are specified in the selected Excel file option. This is an example of such list:

If the paths of the documents are not included in the list, select Use folder option and click Select Folder button to browse to the folder where MicroStation documents are located. This is an example of such list:

At the end of the batch process, the cells in the Excel file will be marked in green and red; files successfully printed will be marked in green, files not found in red and duplicates will be left unchanged.
Your Excel lists may contain duplicate file names. You can control whether to print duplicates or not by selecting  Yes or No in the Print Duplicates menu.

3.Search Folder mode. To use this mode, first decide if you need to check the Include SubFolders or not. Then, click Select folder button and browse to the folder where SolidWorks documents are located. The application will search for MicroStation documents. All documents found will be listed in the lower window. You can click Select folder button again and add other files to the list. If you wish, you can double click to remove some of the files from the list.
Files can be re-arranged in the list by dragging them, so that the prints come out in the desired order. The list can also be sorted by clicking on the column tab.

4.All Open Documents mode allows you to process all currently open MicroStation document files. You have the option to close all files when finished (without saving).

5.Active Document mode prints only the active MicroStation document.
-First, select batch Print, batch Convert or Zip mode by clinking the appropriate tab.

-Print Devices window lists the available printers and plotters. Click to select the desired item in the list.

-Media Sizes window lists the available paper sizes for the selected print device.  Click to select the desired item in the list. All selected documents will be printed with the same paper size. You can, however, check Use size saved in document check box to use the paper size setting last saved in each MicroStation document.

-In Convert mode you can select DWG, DXF, IGES, JPG, PDF, STL, STEP and TIF file formats.
You can convert to more than one file format in the same batch process, although if you convert you cannot print in the same time. You can, however, use the same file selection to convert and then to print or vice versa.
If the Use initial MicroStation file location option is selected, the newly created files will be saved in the same directory as the MicroStation files.  If the Use folder option is selected you must provide a valid folder. You can click on Select folder button to select an existing folder or to create a new folder where the converted files will be saved. The Use folder option is especially needed when the MicroStation files reside in ready only folder, or in a PLM system  like SAP PLM. Note that existing files with identical name and extension will be overwritten in the batch convert process.

-In Zip mode you can zip selected files to group them in a single file or zip them individually. Zipping files will minimize their size and prepare them to be sent by e-mail.
 -Next, select the Drawing Orientation. The Auto Select  option will automatically select portrait or landscape orientation according to each drawing format:

 -Enter the Number of copies.

-Print Model Options allows printing of the active model of each selected document, or specific types of models in each drawing, or all models of each drawing in the batch.

-Click Start Batch button to start the batch printing/converting. The options selected will be applied to all documents. You can click the Exit/Cancel button to stop a running batch process.

- Confirm each print serves for pausing the batch process before printing (or converting) and giving the user the chance to modify or skip  certain documents from the batch process. When this check box is on, after opening each drawing, the user can verify the document, change it, then decide to print (convert) it or skip it and go to the next document.

 Screenshots

Load File List mode

Search Folder mode

Convert mode

Zip mode

Batch Results

Note that in order to use Batch DGN you need to first start MicroStation. At start up Batch DGN will try to find a running instance of your MicroStation software.

* Speed varies depending on factors like file size, network and computer speed.

- Pad file location:
https://www.officeoptimum.com/MicroStation/BatchDGN/pad_file.xml

 System requirements