Introduction
FlexiTable™ is versatile: it accepts data from one of many sources and creates a formatted table for you in MicroStation graphics. First of all, of course, you should install FlexiTable. There are one or two preparations you should make to get up-and-running quickly with FlexiTable.
Here's an itemised list to consider …
- Where does your data come from? A
CSVorXMLfile, an Excel spreadsheet, or a MicroStation tag set? - What level symbology will you use to draw the table row and column separators?
- What text styles do you want for the text and numbers in the table?
- How big should the table be?
Starting FlexiTable™
First, start MicroStation 2004 Edition using one of the shortcuts you will find in the Windows' Start|Programs|LA Solutions menu …
These sample configurations are an easy way to get started because they automatically load settings configured for one of several types of data source. These shortcuts also open a MicroStation DGN file that shows examples of tables built with FlexiTable from different data sources.
Once MicroStation is open, you can start FlexiTable manually or automatically. To start FlexiTable manually, first open MicroStation's keyin menu (Utilities|Keyin). Then use this MicroStation keyin to load FlexiTable …
mdl load FlexiTable
You can optionally provide a CSV or XML file name, using the MicroStation keyin …
mdl load FlexiTable <file-spec>
FlexiTable deduces the file type from the extension and loads the data ready for use.
Start FlexiTable™ Automatically
You can start FlexiTable automatically when you start MicroStation. Specify FlexiTable
as a design file startup application by adding it to the MS_DGNAPPS application list
in your user or project MicroStation configuration file …
MS_DGNAPPS > FlexiTable
Data Source
Depending on the source of your data, you may need to use FlexiTable's settings dialog to specify the details.
If your data are file based (i.e. CSV or XML), then you simply open the file from the data dialog's File|Open menu.
If your data are in an Excel workbook, then you should use the Excel settings tab to specify the Workbook, Worksheet, and data Range names.
If you want to create a table from a MicroStation tag set, the you should use the Tag Sets settings tab to specify the name of the tag set.
Line Symbology
FlexiTable™ derives the symbology used for table grid lines from MicroStation levels. You should create a set of levels, using MicroStation's Level Manager dialog. Use names that state clearly your intention: FlexiTable Grid Lines might be a good example.
One of FlexiTable's many abilities is to fill table rows with colour. Unfortunately, you can't assign a fill colour to a level with MicroStation. Fortunately, FlexiTable can help you with this, because its Symbology settings tab provides a method to set the fill colour.
Text Styles
FlexiTable™ uses MicroStation text styles to draw text in a table. You should create a set of text styles for use with FlexiTable that are distinct from text styles used in drawings. The reason is that text in drawings is likely to be a different size to text in your table. You may choose to use a font or colour in a table that looks good when it's printed.
Use names for text styles that state clearly your intention: FlexiTable Cell might be a good example for the text that appears in a grid cell, or FlexiTable Header for the caption that appears in the header or footer component.
You can specify a unique text style for several table components: the header, footer, and row text can be distinct. You can even define different text styles for odd and even rows!
Use the Symbology settings tab to define text styles.
Table Dimensions
By table dimensions we mean the header height, footer height and row height; and column widths of your table. The dimensions work in conjunction with your chosen text styles to create a well-proportioned table that is easy to read. Typically you will specify a row height that is slightly larger than your preferred text style. That way, text fill fit neatly into a grid cell.
The cell padding determines the separation of text from the table grid lines. If cell padding is zero, then text will touch the cell walls. You probably want to set the cell padding to some fraction of the row height. For example, if the row height is 10, make the cell padding 2.
There are three ways to specify table column widths …
- Automatic: the width of each column is calculated according to the longest text in the table
- Independent: each column has the same width, specified in the Width box
- Table Width: each column has the same width, obtained by dividing the value specified in the Width box by the number of columns in the table
Use the Dimensions settings tab to define table dimensions.
