Number of Tools/Commands in Microstation

Hello everyone, I am a college student at Columbus State Community
College in Columbus, OH. As a part of my education in Civil
Engineering and Construction Management I am learning both AutoCad and
Microstations V8. I am doing a report comparing the two programs and I
would like to know a rough estimate of how many commands/tools each
program contains. Also I would like some feedback from those who have
used both programs so that I may get a feel for how difficult it was
for them to learn both programs. Thanks for any feedback.

DPoole

 

For starters, you can count these:
http://www.askinga.com/article.asp?ArticleID=91

;-)

 

I don't think a comparison of the commands really tells you that much
about the software.
What actually constitutes a command can be quite vague - one program
might implement things as separate tools / commands, whereas the other
might choose to make them options of another tool. There are many
instances of this occuring in both ways in both programs. For instance
should you have a separate command for trim & extend, or can they be
combined into the same command & the program works out which you want to
do from the context - furthermore, should there only be one type of trim
/ extend, or are there multiple ways in such a command can work.
The book Microstation for AutoCAD users
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0766806561/104-5330731-6991164
examines the way in which the two programs work & the differences
between them & they way they approach different problems (Although it is
somewhat out of date now comparedto the latest versions of each program)

IMHO you need to take a different approach between the two programs -
trying to just use one in the same way as you would use the other will
leed to problems & you will not benefit much from the features of the
other program.

I yse both Microstation & AutoCAD on a regular basis & have things that
I like & dislike between both programs (I have tended to use
Microstation more for 3D & AutoCAd for 2D though, so this skews my
perception of it in some respects).

Here is a very quick lst of some differences that instantly come to mind.
What I like about AutoCAD
The modal properties bar - you select the objects & then adust the
properties of them or whichever subset of them you want to - the options
available depend on what object you have selected.
The refedit command - easily change blocks in place.
The way the align comand works - allowing you to rotate & scale an
object in 3D with the minimum number of clicks.
Autolisp - I find it relatively easy to create custom commands out of
grouping other commands together to perform specific tasks.
The range of selection modes available from the command line -
particularly trimming or extending multiple objects by fence.
The range of addon software available (Microstation has a lot, but
nowhere near the amount of custom applications as AutoCAD)
The tabbed paperspace arrangement.
Fast panning & zooming (microstation is improving - but it is still not
matching the flexibility of pan & zoom in AutoCAD)
Double click editing - brings up different options depending on the
object that you have double clicked on.
The DWG format is pretty much ubiquitous as an export option in other
programs - Microstation does handle it well, bu there are still glitches
from time to time.
The fact that the command line is always activeso that you can type in &
what you type goes to the command line.
Design centre - easily copy blocks etc between drawings.


Thinks I don't like
Units - Everything is at 1:1 & it deoesn't really nderstanddifferent
units without you scaling the drawing to suit - if I am given a drawing
in inches & want to convert it to mm I should not at any stage have to
select all & scale by 25.4 - it should just be a tickbox that alters the
mode of operation to the new units.
Editing polylines - Pedit is an awkward comand for many things -
inserting a vertex into a line should be a simple thing - but often it
easier to redraw that portion of the line, trim the old to the new &
then reconnect the separate lines.
Xclip doesn't allow objects with holes in the middle
Tools for creating curves are limited - particularly in 3D
3D generaly is clunky compared to Microstation - particularly in terms
of: creating & manipulating complex curved surfaces, Assigning &
creating materials, setting up viewpoints (surely there is no command
less intuitive than dview). The reliance on the UCS in 3D.
Prefix notation rather than infix - I know it is due to the nature of
Lisp, but I would liek to be able to enter 1+5 on the command line when
it asks for a distance, rather than (+ 1 5)


Things I like about Microstation
Coping with large files - It does not have the sudden slowdown / memory
overload that AutoCAD seems to hit with large files, but seems to slow
down more constantly as file size increases.
3D - both in the tools & the rendering facilities.
Saving 3D as a 2D hidden line.
2D work mode - there is no chance of a file accidentaly being 3D (never
assume that an AutoCAD file is 2D even when it looks like it is.
Persistence in tools - nearly all tools retain the same options untill
you change them rather than asking for them each time - tools also seem
generally to be more consistent in their operation.
Handling of xrefs - ability to select nest depth - the fact that xref
layers don't have to show up on the layers list (I know they can be
hidden in AutoCAD, but it is not as flexible & it always defaults to
showing all when you reopen a file.)
Xrefing drawings in different formats.
Accudraw - for this reason alone 3D is many times faster.
Entering calculations within any numeric entry field - I can enter 1+5
in accudraw if I want rather thanhaving to caculate separately before
entering.

Things I don't like about Microstation.
Cells - I like the concept of creting libraries of cells, but generally
I find their implementation a bit awkward, particularly the reliance on
using the corect viewpoint when they are created etc.
Customising it never seems as simple to me as it is in AutoCAD.
The inability to read AutoCAD files containing custom objects - such as
those from Architectural desktop etc.
Difficulty of using the command line - Although there is a command line
it is not used often & has not got the simplicity of the AutoCAD command
abreviations, although it does have the benefit of command completion
once you have typed the first few letters, as well as the key in brower
to let you find all the available commands.

There are many other advantages & disadvantages of both systems, but
these are just a few that cometo mind at the moment.