FlexiTable™ Model

Introduction

FlexiTable™ provides a flexible way of creating tables using MicroStation graphics. It can construct a table from a variety of data sources, and format those data using symbology stored in a settings file.

FlexiTable™ components include …

FlexiTable™ Engine

The FlexiTable™ engine uses a single model of the table from whatever data source.

For data other than Tag Set information, which is already stored in a DGN file, the engine persists an invisible copy of your table data in the DGN model. It is this invisible copy that provides the ability to edit an existing table.

Tag Set Interpreter

The Tag Set interpreter converts tag data stored in the current DGN model to the FlexiTable™ engine's internal format. Optionally, it can read tag data from referenced models.

If table cell editing is permitted, the Tag Set interpreter can convert from FlexiTable™'s internal format to tag data. That is, tag data in the active DGN model can be updated when a FlexiTable™ cell is modified.

External Data Interpreter

The external data interpreter translates between FlexiTable™'s internal format and external data. External data means files including CSV, HTML and XML formats, or an Excel spreadsheet.

If table cell editing is permitted, the external data interpreter can write back to the external source. This enables a MicroStation operator to create a CSV or XML file from a FlexiTable™, or update an Excel spreadsheet.

Table Renderer

The FlexiTable™ renderer is responsible for converting from FlexiTable™'s internal format to MicroStation graphic elements. Rendering is in two parts: the overall table structure and the individual cell presentation (where cell means the data displayed at given row & column, not a MicroStation cell).

Persistent Data

The FlexiTable™ engine persists data, from sources other than Tag Sets, as invisible data attached to the visible table.