LA Solutions has developed a Quality Assurance process for Computer Aided Design (CAD-QA) for Bentley Systems' MicroStation®. It has evolved from a QA utility developed in about 1995 for MicroStation/J. Originally a stand-alone tool, it works with MicroStation V8i as a stand-alone utility or can be embedded in a ProjectWise workflow.
The process involves several components …
- A tool to extract QA rules from an Excel worksheet
- A plug-in application for MicroStation that checks DGN files against the set of rules. The result of the check is a QA report for each DGN file
- A report presentation facility
- A report consolidation utility
Q This article answers some common questions, such as …
- How does CAD-QA check a DGN file?
- What is a CAD-QA rule file?
- How can I tell that a file has passed QA?
- Can I see the results of QA for a batch of files?
The flowchart below (PDF file) illustrates the process …
CAD-QA FlowchartA Those questions are answered here …
- A rule file contains a list of tests to be performed on each DGN file
- CAD-QA is a plug-in for MicroStation that runs silently
- CAD-QA report
- CAD-QA summary of multiple reports
Rule File
A CAD-QA rule file is an XML file. It contains rules to check DGN global settings (e.g. units, global origin) and individual level settings.
CAD-QA Summary
CAD-QA provides assurance that an incoming DGN file, typically created by an external contractor, meets basic drawing standards. You need to know that a DGN model has been created using the right units, with its global origin correctly placed, and uses specified settings for reference attachments and cell placements. You probably have a defined set of MicroStation levels on which drawn objects must appear.
The CAD-QA rule file lets you specify your settings formally. The CAD-QA utility scans each DGN file and verifies its settings against your rules.
The result of the QA check is a report file. One report file is created for each DGN file checked.
Each report file provides detailed analysis of one design file. If you have a batch of DGN files there may be an overwhelming number of report files to browse: the report consolidator provides an overview of all reports.
QA Report File
Each DGN file checked results in a corresponding report file. The report file, in XML format, contains a list of passed and failed checks. There is a conversion utility that lets you view the XML in a web browser. That is, it transforms the report from XML to HTML for human consumption.
QA Report Consolidator
It's normal to batch-check hundreds of DGN files for QA analysis. Reading all those report files would be tedious. The report consolidator provides a summary of the reports. It's easy to pick out those reports where a DGN file has failed QA, and examine those reports in more detail.
Report Consolidator
