-
Users Guide
Microsoft OfficeImporterImport spreadsheet and word processing
data intoMicroStation with perfect formatting!
Version 4.1
Axiom1805 Drew StreetClearwater, Florida 337651-727-442-7774
voice1-727-442-8344 [email protected]
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Page 2 Microsoft Office Importer
Copyright 19962008 Axiom.All rights reserved.
This document was last modified on 16 October 2008 3:19 PM.
This software and manual are provided as is without warranty of
any kind, eitherexpressed or implied, including, but not limited to
the implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire
risk as to the quality andperformance of this program is with you.
You are advised to test the program thoroughly
before you rely on it. Should the program prove defective, you
(and not the seller normanufacturer) assume the entire cost of all
necessary servicing, repair or correction. Anyliability of seller
or manufacturer of this software will be limited exclusively to
product
replacement or refund of the purchase price. Venue for the
resolution of any disputerelated to the software described herein
shall be Pinellas County, Florida, USA.
MicroStation is a registered trademark of Bentley Systems,
Incorporated.Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft
Corporation.TrueType is a registered trademark of Apple Computer,
Inc.
Office Importer is a trademark of Axiom.
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Table of Contents Page 3
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Overview-------------------------------------------------------------------------
9Features of Microsoft Office
Importer-------------------------------------------------------------9Users
Guide setup
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10
Definition of the word clipboard
-------------------------------------------------------- 10
Chapter 2
Installation----------------------------------------------------------------------11Before
You Install
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11Typical Installation from CD
---------------------------------------------------------------------
11Congratulations-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17
Chapter 3 Uninstalling
--------------------------------------------------------------------18Uninstalling
Axiom products
---------------------------------------------------------------------
18
Chapter 4 Quick Start
---------------------------------------------------------------------19Quick
Start
Objectives-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
19Prerequisites
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19Demonstration Version
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
19Tutorial #1 Basics
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20Tutorial #2 Paste a spreadsheet using default options
------------------------------------- 21Tutorial #3 Adding or
eliminating grid
lines------------------------------------------------ 22Tutorial #4
Pasting Word documents
-------------------------------------------------------- 24
Pasting with TrueType fonts
----------------------------------------------------------------
24Pasting Word paragraphs as text
nodes----------------------------------------------------
28Changing the width of the
paste------------------------------------------------------------
29
Tutorial #5 Importing with links
-------------------------------------------------------------
30Tutorial #6 Pasting Excel charts into
MicroStation---------------------------------------- 32
Chapter 5 Using Microsoft Office Importer
----------------------------------------34Starting Microsoft Office
Importer---------------------------------------------------------------
34Main tool box
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
34Paste Excel data into MicroStation
--------------------------------------------------------------
35Paste Excel charts into MicroStation
------------------------------------------------------------
35Manage import links
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
36Display import link
information------------------------------------------------------------------
37Microsoft Office Importer
Settings---------------------------------------------------------------
37
Chapter 6 Pasting clipboard data and Excel charts into
MicroStation----38The
tool-------------------------------------------- 38The Paste Excel
data into MicroStation box
------------------------------------------------- 38
Page width:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
39Width defined by text size on clipboard (Excel and
Word)----------------------- 39Define width while placing text
(Word only)--------------------------------------- 40Scale
proportional to Excel (or Word) data
----------------------------------------- 40
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Page 4 Microsoft Office Importer
Text height and
width------------------------------------------------------------------------
41Text
height:------------------------------------------------------------------------------
41Text width:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
41
Import with a link to the original document.
--------------------------------------------- 41Update
automatically when design file opens.
------------------------------------------- 41Import paragraphs as
text nodes. (Some formatting may be lost.)---------------------
42
The Paste Excel charts into MicroStation
tool----------------------------------------------- 42The Paste
Excel charts into MicroStation dialog
-------------------------------------- 42
Scale--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
43
Chapter 7 Managing Imported Links
-------------------------------------------------44The button
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
44The Manage Import Link
box------------------------------------------------------------------
45
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
45---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
45----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
45
The Link
tab--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
46Source:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
46Update automatically when design file opens.
------------------------------------------- 46
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
46Excel
Attributes-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
46
Top Left Cell/Bottom Right Cell
----------------------------------------------------- 47Sheet
Name------------------------------------------------------------------------------
47
The Symbology
tab------------------------------------------------------------------------------
47Text---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
47
Color:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
47Weight------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
47Style:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
48Level:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
48
When you do not select color, weight or level
---------------------------------------- 48Take unselected settings
from source document ----------------------------------- 48Take
unselected settings from active symbology
---------------------------------- 48
Borders-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
48Additional information on working with linked
data------------------------------------------ 49
Rotating or moving linked
data-------------------------------------------------------------
49
Chapter 8 Import Link
Information----------------------------------------------------50The
Info button
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
50
Chapter 9 Microsoft Office Importer Settings
-------------------------------------51The button
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
51Microsoft Office Importer Settings box
--------------------------------------------------------- 51File
menu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
52
Saving your own
settings--------------------------------------------------------------------
52Load Settings...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
53Save
Settings----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
53Save Settings
As...----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
53Restore Factory Defaults
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
53Help
menu-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
53
Help | Contents...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
54
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Table of Contents Page 5
Help |
About...---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
54Category
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
54Currently active settings file
name---------------------------------------------------------------
54Match
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
55Information field
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
55
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
55
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
56
Chapter 10 Text Settings Category
---------------------------------------------------57The Text
settings box
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
57The Font
tab-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
58
Use same fonts as source
document.-------------------------------------------------------
58Set default
font--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
58Use active font
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
58Advanced font mapping
---------------------------------------------------------------------
58---------------------------------------------------------------------------
59
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
59
Installing additional fonts
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
60The Formatting tab
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
61
Import text nodes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
62Examples:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
62
Import stacked fractions from Excel.
------------------------------------------------------ 62Spaces
between tab
stops:-------------------------------------------------------------------
63Height of a single line will be nnn% of text height.
------------------------------------- 63Symbology
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
63
Color:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
63Weight:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
63Style:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
63Level:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
63Handling unselected Symbology settings
---------------------------------------- 64Take unselected settings
from source document ----------------------------------- 64Take
unselected settings from active symbology
---------------------------------- 64
Attributes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
64Bold Weight
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
64Italic
slant--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
64
The Size tab
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
64Name
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
65Text
height:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
65Text width:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
66
Text ratio
lock---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
67Add
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
67Remove
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
67Update
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
68Move Up and Move
Down------------------------------------------------------------------
68
Non-text area height: and Non-text area
width:------------------------------------------------ 68Word
wrap-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
68How to compute cell height when pasting from Excel
---------------------------------- 69How to compute cell height
when pasting Microsoft Word tables -------------------- 70
The default
case-------------------------------------------------------------------------
71When cell height is defined exactly in the source document
--------------------- 72When a minimum height is defined in the
source document-------------------- 73
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Page 6 Microsoft Office Importer
Chapter 11 Borders Settings
Category----------------------------------------------74The Borders
settings
box--------------------------------------------------------------------------
74Border lines:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
74
As in source
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
75Always
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
75Never-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
75
Import diagonal border lines defined in source.
----------------------------------------------- 75Shift Text in
cells by nn% of the current line
height---------------------------------------- 75
Import filled cells from Excel
--------------------------------------------------------------
75Symbology
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
75
Color:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
76Weight
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
76Style
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
76Level
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
76When you do not select color, weight or line style
-------------------------------------- 76
Take un-selected settings from source document.
--------------------------------- 76Take un-selected settings from
active symbology --------------------------------- 76
Chapter 12 Import Link Settings Category
-----------------------------------------77The Import Link Settings
box
--------------------------------------------------------------------
77Create a link to the original
document.----------------------------------------------------------
78Update automatically when design file
opens-------------------------------------------------- 78
Set up for automatic updating
--------------------------------------------------------------
79Unload Microsoft Office Importer when automatic updates are
completed. --------------- 79Highlight color, Highlight line weight
and highlight line style: ----------------------------- 79
Chapter 13 Troubleshooting
------------------------------------------------------------80Formatting
Options
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
80Tables
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
80
In Microsoft Excel, text overlaps cell
border--------------------------------------------- 80In Microsoft
Excel, cell contents print on top of each
other---------------------------- 81Microsoft Excel produces other
anomalies ----------------------------------------------- 81Grid
lines or borders do not display
------------------------------------------------------- 81Height of
grid lines or text is not
exact---------------------------------------------------- 82
Microsoft Word documents
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
82Pasting of highly formatted document or document containing
numbered lists is not
perfect.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
82Numbered lists have no space after the
numbers.---------------------------------------- 83Bullets are
imported as fractions
-----------------------------------------------------------
84Bullets or list numbers
lost------------------------------------------------------------------
85Hanging indents
overlap---------------------------------------------------------------------
86Text size is inconsistent with original document.
---------------------------------------- 86Each imported word is a
separate element. -----------------------------------------------
87Tables in Word documents import with cell height too
narrow.------------------------ 87Paragraph
Indenting--------------------------------------------------------------------------
87Tabs in Word documents not lining up
---------------------------------------------------- 88Linking
Options
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
88Pasted text is one column of characters
--------------------------------------------------- 88Deleted text
keeps re-appearing
------------------------------------------------------------
89Moved text keeps reverting to previous location
---------------------------------------- 89The paste does not
update after editing the
source--------------------------------------- 89
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Table of Contents Page 7
Linked data contains a visible element at the
start--------------------------------------- 90MicroStation hangs
up during the
paste--------------------------------------------------- 90Field
Codes------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
90Special characters print incorrectly
--------------------------------------------------------
90Clipboard is tied up
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
90Other errors/problems not covered
here--------------------------------------------------- 90
Chapter 14 Well Make (Almost) Any Enhancements You
Want-------------92We welcome your suggestions
-------------------------------------------------------------------
92
Chapter 15 New Features and
Fixes--------------------------------------------------93Version
4.2a 16 October 2008
----------------------------------------------------------------
93Version 4.1b 18 April
2008--------------------------------------------------------------------
93Version 4.1a 15 June 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------
94Version 4.0b 12 January 2007
----------------------------------------------------------------
94Version 4.0a 13 October 2006
----------------------------------------------------------------
94Version 3.9c 22 September 2006
-------------------------------------------------------------
94Version 3.9b 4 August
2006-------------------------------------------------------------------
94Version 3.9a 16 September 2005
-------------------------------------------------------------
95Version 3.8a 10 June 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------
95Version 3.7a 17 March 2005
------------------------------------------------------------------
95Version 3.6b 31 December 2004
-------------------------------------------------------------
95Version 3.6a 23 December
2004--------------------------------------------------------------
95Version 3.5a 30 September 2004
-------------------------------------------------------------
96Version 3.4b 6 January 2004
------------------------------------------------------------------
96Version 3.4a 23 October 2003
----------------------------------------------------------------
96Version 3.3b 17 January 2003
----------------------------------------------------------------
97Version 3.3a 25 October 2002
----------------------------------------------------------------
97Version 3.2a 22 February 2002
---------------------------------------------------------------
98Version 3.1c 28 November 2001
-------------------------------------------------------------
98Version 3.1b 31 October 2001
----------------------------------------------------------------
99Version 3.1a 9 October
2001------------------------------------------------------------------
99Version 3.0a 17 July 2001
---------------------------------------------------------------------
99Version 2.0b 22 March 2001
-----------------------------------------------------------------100Version
2.0a 19 January
2001----------------------------------------------------------------100
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Chapter 1 Overview Page 9
Chapter 1 Overview
Features of Microsoft Office ImporterMicrosoft Office Importer
is a MicroStation productivity tool that can paste largeamounts of
spreadsheet data and text from Microsoft Excel, Access and
Wordapplications into MicroStation design files with exceptional
formatting.
There are many benefits, which include:
Eliminating the need for manual entry or manipulation of text in
MicroStation thatexists in Microsoft Office documents.
Import and link Excel charts into your MicroStation design
files. Maintaining links to source documents with ability to update
imported data
automatically or on demand.
Maintaining formats like italics, bold and underline with
superior appearance. Obtain clean, predictable, presentation
quality output. Importing large blocks of information with a single
paste. Automatic mapping of Microsoft fonts to MicroStation fonts
Stacked fraction support. Support for Unicode fonts in Excel,
allowing you to import text with fonts such as
Greek, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic into your design files.
Exact mapping of Microsoft point size to MicroStation text size.
Allowing pasting of paragraphs as easily editable text nodes. While
MicroStation
import tools convert to single characters and line segments,
Microsoft OfficeImporter converts to text and text nodes.
Options to use symbology of the source document, MicroStation
active symbology,or individual selection of color, weight and level
for the pasted text with separateoptions including line style for
pasted borders.
Microsoft Office Importer uses 92% less disk space than trying
to use nativeMicroStation commands to import the same text.
Ability to use the button to locate a missing source file and
change a linkto point to the source file at a new location.
Option to unlink with the ability to restore the link later if
needed. Providing many settings and pasting options that allow you
the freedom to make a
paste look exactly as you want.Microsoft Office Importer uses
RTF (Rich Text Formatdata from the clipboard. Anyword processor or
spreadsheet software that copies information to the clipboard in
RTF
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Page 10 Microsoft Office Importer
format can theoretically work with Microsoft Office Importer
although it was specificallybuilt and optimized for Microsofts
Excel, Access and Word applications.
Microsoft Office Importer can be used with all kinds of data
such as EquipmentSchedules, Bill of Materials, Tabular Data, Room
Finish, Conduit/Panel/Motor Schedulesto name just a few.
Microsoft Office Importer is compatible with MicroStation SE and
J in 2000 and XP. Itsupports Microsoft Office 97, 2000 and
2003..
Users Guide setupWhen pasting data from Word or Excel files, the
title bar of the paste box will changeto clearly show which type of
data you are pasting into MicroStation. For Word, this titlebar
will read Paste Word data into MicroStation and, for Excel, this
title bar will readPaste Excel data into MicroStation.
Additionally, when referring to the paste box, itwill always be
referred to as the Paste Excel data into MicroStation box unless we
arespecifically dealing with Word data.
There is a Page width: option when pasting that refers Word or
Excel depending onwhich you are pasting into MicroStation. This
option will read and appear as Scaleproportional to Excel data
throughout the document unless Word data is specificallybeing
referred to.
Definition of the word clipboardThe word clipboard when used in
the Microsoft Office Importer interface or in thisUsers Guide, is
defined as follows:
A temporary memory area, used to transfer information within a
document being editedor between documents or between programs. The
fundamental operations are cut whichmoves data from a document to
the clipboard, copy which copies it to the clipboardand paste which
inserts the clipboard contents into the current document in place
of thecurrent selection.
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Chapter 2 Installation Page 11
Chapter 2 Installation
Before You InstallThis chapter will walk you through a typical
Axiom product installation. Theseinstructions apply to both
MicroStation V7 and V8. V7 products are used in theexamples.
To install one or more Axiom products, you need:
The latest Axiom product CD; and A license file on floppy disk
for the product(s) you are about to install.Please shut down all
MicroStation sessions on your computer before continuing.
Typical Installation from CD1. Insert the Axiom product CD into
your CD drive.
2. The dialog box below should come up automatically. This may
take a few momentsdepending on computer and CD drive speed.
CONDITIONAL: In some cases Windows is set to suppress
auto-running executables.If the installation process does not begin
automatically when you insert the CD, you willneed to start the
process manually. From the Windows Start Menu, choose Run andtype
in the following:D:\Setup.exewhere D is your CD drive letter.
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Page 12 Microsoft Office Importer
3. Click the button and the first installation dialog box
(below) will appear.
4. Select MicroStation V7 or MicroStation V8 and click .
5. Choose which type of installation you want to perform. The
Typical installation isbest for most situations and asks the user
to make very few decisions.
6. These instructions will describe only the Typical
installation path. ChooseTypical and click .
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Chapter 2 Installation Page 13
7. Choose the license file for this installation. Place the
floppy disk that came with thisinstallation CD into your floppy
drive now.
8. Choose I have a floppy disk from Axiom. and click .
Although you have already selected the MicroStation family (V7
or V8) for whichyou want to install Axiom tools, it is common for
one computer to have more thanone instance of MicroStation
installed on it. For example, you might have twoversions of
MicroStation/J installed (07.01.04.16 and 07.02.04.20). You must
choosewhich of the two you want to associate your Axiom tools
with.
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Page 14 Microsoft Office Importer
9. Highlight the version of MicroStation you want to associate
the Axiom tools with andclick .
Since this is a Typical installation, all programs for which an
Axiom license wasfound will already be checked-on to be installed.
Other items that are alsoautomatically checked-on for installation
are the product Users Guides, individualproduct sample files and
Axioms MicroStation pull-down menu.
-
Chapter 2 Installation Page 15
10. To proceed with default selections click .
Youve now completed the Pre-Setup.
11. Click to proceed with the installation.
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Page 16 Microsoft Office Importer
12. The button is grayed-out unless you accept the
agreement.
If you accept the license and click , the installation will
begin. You can click at any time to abort the installation.
-
Chapter 2 Installation Page 17
13. This is the final dialog box. It shows that the installation
is complete. By default theView Readme.pdf option is toggled on and
will display the Readme.pdf documentwhen you click .
CongratulationsThats it! You have successfully completed the
installation of your Axiom tools.
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Page 18 Microsoft Office Importer
Chapter 3 Uninstalling
Uninstalling Axiom productsAxiom products can be uninstalled
easily through the Windows Start Menu.
1. Go to , Programs | Axiom.
2. Select Uninstall V7 products or Uninstall V8 products
depending on the productsyou want to uninstall.
3. Choose Select all. or Select components to uninstall. If you
choose Selectcomponents to uninstall. then each product in the list
can be manually checked orunchecked. This allows for any
combination of products to be uninstalled. Onlyinstalled products
will be shown in the list.
Note: At the bottom of the list of products you also have the
option to uninstall sampledesign files, users guides and even the
Axiom pull-down menu.
4. Once youve made your selections, click the button to complete
theuninstall process.
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Chapter 4 Quick Start Page 19
Chapter 4 Quick Start
Quick Start ObjectivesThe purpose of this Quick Start is to
introduce you to the basic features of MicrosoftOffice Importer so
that you can immediately use the program.
This Quick Start should take less than 1 hour for all steps,
however, you can do thetutorials that apply to your specific needs
in less time.
Prerequisites1. MicroStation SE or J.
2. Microsoft Office Importer must be installed on your computer.
You can verify this byselecting the Axiom menu from MicroStations
main menu bar, then selectMicrosoft Office Importer. If Microsoft
Office Importer does not load, follow theinstructions in the
Installation section of your Microsoft Office Importer
UsersGuide.
3. You will need the sample files that are delivered with
Microsoft Office Importer.These sample files will be found in a
samples folder in the Microsoft OfficeImporter installation folder.
By default, it is located here:
c:\Program Files\Axiom\V7\office\sample\
Demonstration VersionThe demonstration version of Microsoft
Office Importer will work with design files up to100 kilobytes and
expires on a specific date. Until the time of expiration, you can
useMicrosoft Office Importer to become fully familiar with its
features.
The demonstration version also has an accumulated paste limit of
50 lines. To reset thelimit, unload Microsoft Office Importer
through Utilities | MDL Applications, chooseOFFICE and click the
button. Then, restart Microsoft Office Importer fromthe Axiom
menu.
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Page 20 Microsoft Office Importer
Tutorial #1 Basics1. Select Microsoft Office Importer from the
Axiom menu. You will see the Microsoft
Office Importer toolbar.
2. Click the button, located on the far right of the Microsoft
Office Importertoolbar, to open the Settings dialog box.
3. Just in case someone worked with Microsoft Office Importer
before you began thisQuick Start, lets restore factory defaults. In
the upper left hand corner of the settingsdialog box, you will see
a File drop down menu. Select the option, Reset to
FactoryDefaults.
4. Answer Yes to the Alert message that appears.
5. If you have any questions about Microsoft Office Importers
features, the full UserGuide is always available from Microsoft
Office Importers Help menu:
6. In the next tutorials, we will look at pasting a spreadsheet
with the default settingsand then changing settings and pasting
again to see how the appearance of the pastecan be altered.
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Chapter 4 Quick Start Page 21
Tutorial #2 Paste a spreadsheet using default options1. To
begin, open MicroStation and open a new blank design file or the
sample test file
that comes with Microsoft Office Importer. It is called
office.dgn and will befound in the installation sample directory
which, by default is:
c:\program files\axiom\office\V7\sample\office.dgn2. Select
Microsoft Office Importer from the Axiom menu on the MicroStation
menu
bar. Or you can load Microsoft Office Importer by keying in an
mdl load commandon the MicroStation command line. You need to add
the path to the Officeapplication for your installation, for
example:
mdl load c:\axiom\office\office.ma
3. The Microsoft Office Importer toolbar displays. From left to
right, you see the, , and buttons. We will start with a simplepaste
using the default settings.
4. Load Microsoft Excel and open the sample file provided with
Microsoft OfficeImporter called project.xls. It will be found in
the installation directory. Forexample:
c:\program files\axiom\v7\office\sample\project.xls5. Copy all
or part of the spreadsheet to the clipboard by using highlight and
Edit |
Copy or .
6. Now go back to MicroStation and press Microsoft Office
Importers button:
7. Move your mouse/cursor and notice that a box is hanging off
of your cursor point.Move the cursor over to a blank place in the
design file.
8. Click to accept the placement. Microsoft Office Importer will
drop the contentsof the clipboard from the Excel file onto your
MicroStation design file.
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Page 22 Microsoft Office Importer
9. By default, your paste will contain a link to the Excel
spreadsheet. You will see thefollowing information box that you can
close by clicking the button.
10. Use the Window Area tool to zoom in on that newly placed box
to see the text. Theimage below shows part of what you should see
on your screen:
The text, which is a ten point Arial font in the Excel table, is
pasted with a text height of10 master units in the design file.
This is the result of using the default settings.
Tutorial #3 Adding or eliminating grid linesThe display of
borderlines are determined with the Format | Cells options
inMicrosoft Excel. In the previous tutorial, no borders were
specified.
You can add or eliminate all cell outlines in your paste by
using an option in the TableLines category of the settings menu. In
this example, we turn on all grid lines in thepaste.
1. Select Category Borders from the Microsoft Office Importer
Settings dialog box.
-
Chapter 4 Quick Start Page 23
2. From the Borders: pull down menu, select Always, and click
the button.
3. Your text from the last tutorial should still be on the
clipboard. If it is not, copy theselected spreadsheet information
to the clipboard again.
4. In MicroStation, click the paste button and place the new
spreadsheet in a blank partof the design file.
5. Part of your pasted data should look like the image
below.
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Page 24 Microsoft Office Importer
Tutorial #4 Pasting Word documentsWhen you are pasting Word
data, the Paste Word data into MicroStation dialog boxappears once
Microsoft Office Importer has finished analyzing the clipboard
contents.These tutorials will show how the options on this dialog
box allow you to change theappearance of your pasted Word data.
The image below shows factory defaults, pasting Word data:
When you paste Word documents using the factory default
settings, you should get agood quality paste that is acceptable in
most cases. There are a couple of conditions youmay have to care
for to maximize the quality of your pastes and these are:
All text will paste with the factory default font, which is font
0, Standard. Words thatare italicized or bolded within sentences
will be italicized or bolded by default in thepaste. To modify the
bold weight or italic slant, modify the Attributes section underthe
Formatting tab within Microsoft Office Importers settings.
You can, however, easily change a single option at paste time to
paste with fullformatting including indenting, numbered lists,
italics and bold text. This option willalso give the best result
when pasting numbered lists or documents with tabs. See thesection
in this Quick Start titled Pasting with TrueType fonts.
The width of text may or may not be acceptable for your use. You
can easily changethe width. See the section in this tutorial
titled, Changing the width of the paste.
See later sections in this guide for other options to change
size, color of text, and lineheight.
Pasting with TrueType fontsIn this tutorial we will set up a
TrueType font family. The advantage of using a TrueTypefont is that
the pasted text size and appearance will be more like the original.
Inspreadsheets, it will be more likely to fit within cell borders
using default border settings.
A font family, as created and defined by Microsoft Corporation,
consists of related fontsthat differ in normal, bold and italic
styles. For example, the Times Roman font familyhas many fonts
including times, timesi, timesbd and timesbi.
The text in our sample Microsoft Word file uses the Times New
Roman TrueType font.
If you do not currently have Times New Roman TrueType fonts
available inMicroStation, see the section in this guide called,
Installing additional fonts. There youwill find instructions on how
to get your Windows TrueType fonts into MicroStation. For
-
Chapter 4 Quick Start Page 25
this tutorial, you should import into MicroStation the four
TrueType fonts of the Timesfamily mentioned above.
Now you are ready to begin.
1. Open the Microsoft Office Importer Settings dialog box and
select the Text as inthe image below.
2. Select the Font tab. Then, select the Advanced font mapping:
option. The imagebelow shows the default settings for Roman (Times)
text.
3. Ensure that the Roman (Times) font is highlighted in the font
list on the left.
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Page 26 Microsoft Office Importer
4. The four text boxes on the right allow you to select a
different font for normal, bold,italic, and bold-italic Roman
(Times) text. Select a font for Normal text (not boldor italicized)
by opening the pull-down menu and highlighting your Times font(font
number 62 in our example below).
5. Now set up your four fonts as in the image below.
Tip: If you have no separate fonts for bold and italic, you can
select the same font for allfour options and select the Weight and
Slant checkboxes. Define the bold weight anditalic slant in the
Formatting tab options.
6. You have now set up the automatic conversion of Times New
Roman text to a Timesfont. You may want to take a minute to save
these settings by choosing File | SaveSettings. They will
automatically be saved to your default settings in theoffice.ini
file.
7. Close the Settings dialog box by clicking the button.
8. In Word, open the sample file named OfficeSample.doc that is
delivered withMicrosoft Office Importer. This file is located in
the Microsoft Office Importersample folder which, by default, it is
located here:
-
Chapter 4 Quick Start Page 27
C:\Program Files\Axiom\V7\office\sample\9. Select all the text
in the OfficeSample.doc file and copy it to the Windows
Clipboard (Edit | Copy...).
10. In MicroStation, click Microsoft Office Importers button.
You will see thePaste Word data into MicroStation dialog box.
11. Choose Define width while placing text. from the Page width:
pull down menu,shown in the screen shot below:
12. Place two data points to define the width of the paste in
the design file.
13. The resulting paste will use the Times New Roman fonts and
show good formattingfor italics, bold and underlined text.
Note: If your paste only shows an outline of the letters (the
letters are not filled in), yousimply need to turn on the fill view
attribute in MicroStation (Settings | ViewAttributes | Fill).
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Page 28 Microsoft Office Importer
Pasting Word paragraphs as text nodes1. In Word, open the sample
file named OfficeSample.doc that is delivered with
Microsoft Office Importer. This file is located in the Microsoft
Office Importersample folder which, by default, it is located
here:
C:\Program Files\Axiom\V7\office\sample\2. Copy the text of that
file to the clipboard with Edit | Copy or .
3. Reset the settings to the defaults by clicking the button and
then selectFile | Reset to Factory Defaults. Finally, click the
button when theAlert message box displays.
4. Click the button, then set the Page width: to Width defined
by text sizeon clipboard. Locate and check (turn On) the Import
paragraphs as text nodesoption.
5. Paste the contents of the clipboard into your sample design
file using the defaultoptions. It will have no special formatting
and may look something like the imagebelow, which shows the
leftmost part of the paste. Each paragraph is a text node.
-
Chapter 4 Quick Start Page 29
Changing the width of the paste1. In Microsoft Word, copy the
text of OfficeSample.doc to the clipboard with
Edit | Copy or .
2. In MicroStation, open Microsoft Office Importer if it is not
already open.
3. Click the button. You will see the Paste word data into
MicroStationdialog box.
4. Select the option Define width while placing text from the
Page Width: dropdown menu as in the image below:
5. Now you are prompted to enter two points to define the width.
Your result could looklike the image below.
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Page 30 Microsoft Office Importer
Tutorial #5 Importing with linksImporting with links to the
original document enables you to update the paste from thesource
document at a later time. Updates can be set up to occur
automatically when thedesign file is opened or manually by clicking
an update button. This tutorial demonstratesmanual update.
Microsoft Office Importer gives you an easy method to create
links in your design file.We will demonstrate how to paste a
spreadsheet with a link and update that link.
1. Use Microsoft Excel to open the sample file provided with
Microsoft Office Importercalled project.xls. By default, this file
will be found in the Microsoft OfficeImporter installation folder,
shown below:
C:\Program Files\Axiom\v7\office\sample\project.xls2. Copy all
or part of the spreadsheet to the clipboard by using highlight and
Edit |
Copy or .
3. Open office.dgn in MicroStation if it is not already
opened.
4. Click the button.
5. The Paste Excel data into MicroStation dialog box appears.
Set the Page width:to Width defined by text size on clipboard. Note
that the Import with link tooriginal document and Update
automatically when design file opens options areon by default.
6. Use a data point to place your clipboard information into the
design file.
7. Now click the button Microsoft Office Importer toolbar.
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Chapter 4 Quick Start Page 31
8. You will see a highlighted display of link information that
includes the path to thesource document and the type of link. The
highlighted border shows the exact extentof the pasted table.
Note: The text size of the link information is set in your
MicroStation active text size.The size of the link information text
may be different than the default size used for theimported
text.
9. Next, click the button.
10. In MicroStations status bar (lower left of your MicroStation
window) you will beprompted to Identify element in the pasted data.
Actual text will state ManageImport Link > Identify element. Put
a data point somewhere on the pasted elementsand then click another
data point to accept. The Manage Import Link dialog boxthen opens
(shown below).
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Page 32 Microsoft Office Importer
11. Click the button and make some changes into the spreadsheet.
Be sure tosave the changes in Excel because the update function
only picks up saved changes.
12. Back in MicroStation, click the button. The pasted text will
update withyour saved changes.
Note: By default Microsoft Office Importer, installs in the
MS_DGNAPPS configurationvariable. The result of this is that if you
update the source document later and then openthe design file,
Microsoft Office Importer triggers an automatic update of pasted
text.
Tutorial #6 Pasting Excel charts into MicroStation1. To begin,
open MicroStation and open a new design file or the sample file
that comes
with Microsoft Office Importer for V8. It is called office.dgn
and will be foundin the sample folder where Microsoft Office
Importer for V8 is installed. Thedefault location for the sample
folder is shown below:
c:\program files\axiom\v7\office\sample\office.dgn2. Select
Microsoft Office Importer for V8 from the Axiom menu on the
MicroStation
Menu Bar. Or you can load Microsoft Office Importer for V8 by
keying in an mdlload in the MicroStation key-in window (Utilities |
Key-in). You need to add thefull path and file name for the
Microsoft Office Importer for V8 application. For adefault
installation of Microsoft Office Importer for V8, you would use the
followingmdl load key-in command:
mdl load "c:\program files\axiom\v7\office\office.ma"
3. When Microsoft Office Importer loads, you will see the
Microsoft Office Importerdialog.
4. Open the sample spreadsheet the Microsoft Office Importer
sample folder calledProject.xls.
5. Select the chart Microsoft Office Importers sample chart
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Chapter 4 Quick Start Page 33
Microsoft Office importer's sample chart
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
SW parcel 1 SW parcel 1a SW parcel 1b SW parcel 1c SW parcel 2
SW parcel 2a
6. Right-click and select the Copy option from the right-click
menu.
7. Now, inside MicroStation, click the button.
8. Accept the location of your paste by inside the design
file.
Congratulations!
You have completed the Quick Start for Microsoft Office
Importer.
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Page 34 Microsoft Office Importer
Chapter 5 Using Microsoft OfficeImporter
Starting Microsoft Office ImporterYou can select Microsoft
Office Importer from the Axiom menu in the MicroStationmenu bar (V8
picture shown).
or
You can load Microsoft Office Importer by keying in an mdl load
command on theMicroStation command line. You need to add the path
to office.ma for your installation.For example:
mdl load c:\program files\axiom\v7\office\office.ma
Main tool box
The main toolbox of Microsoft Office Importer has five
selections:
1. Paste Excel data into MicroStation
2. Paste Excel charts into MicroStation
3. Manage import links
4. Display import link information
5. Microsoft Office Importer settings
Definition: An import link is an active link to a Microsoft Word
document or Excelspreadsheet. Microsoft Office Importer creates an
active link if the Import with link
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Chapter 5 Using Microsoft Office Importer Page 35
option is selected at the time of the Paste. See the chapter on
Managing Import Links inthis guide for more information.
Paste Excel data into MicroStation
When you press the button on the main toolbar, Microsoft Office
Importer will open the Paste Excel data into MicroStation boxand
allow you to paste the contents of your computers clipboard onto
your design.
Note: The title bar will indicate if you are pasting Excel data
Paste Excel data intoMicroStation or Word data Paste Word data into
MicroStation to clearly show whattype of data you are pasting.
When this box appears and there is Microsoft Word or Excel data
on the clipboard, youcan paste with a single data point in the
design file.
See the Paste clipboard data into MicroStation section of this
guide for a detaileddescription of the options available in this
box.
Paste Excel charts into MicroStation
The button will allow you to paste Excel chartsinto your design
file. These charts are linked to the source chart so that any
modificationto the chart can be automatically updated inside the
design file.
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Page 36 Microsoft Office Importer
Manage import links
When you press the button on the main tool bar, Microsoft Office
Importerwill ask you to Identify element. Click on an element in
the pasted information youwant to work with. Then you will see the
Manage Import Link box with options to edit,update or unlink the
linked document that you chose to manage. This box and its
optionsare described in detail later in this guide.
Manage Import Link box showing Link tab.
Manage Import Link box showing Symbology tab.
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Chapter 5 Using Microsoft Office Importer Page 37
Display import link information
When you press the button, Microsoft Office Importer will
highlight any of itslinked data in your file. As you can see in the
sample below, the path to the sourcedocument displays as well as
the link type.
Definitions: Link type can be Automatic, Manual or Not
Linked.
With Automatic links, the pasted text updates automatically when
the design file isopened as long as Microsoft Office Importer is
running.
With Manual links, updates occur only when you click the button
on theManage Import Link dialog box.
Microsoft Office Importer Settings
The icon will bring up the Microsoft Office Importer Settings
box, which isdescribed in a later section of this guide. Microsoft
Office Importer has many options thatallow you to place documents
with the settings and symbology that you want.
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Page 38 Microsoft Office Importer
Chapter 6 Pas ting clipboard data andExcel charts into
MicroStation
The toolBefore pasting, copy your selected Microsoft Word, Excel
or Access content to theclipboard.
When you click the Microsoft Office Importer button,, you are
ready to import the contents of the clipboard into yourdesign file.
You can then place the clipboard contents on your design file with
a datapoint.
The Microsoft Office Importer default settings have been
designed to give great results inmost cases. However, you may need
to modify some settings to achieve the best resultswith your
data.
The Paste Excel data into MicroStation boxThe Paste Excel data
into MicroStation box appears after you click the clipboardcontents
into MicroStation> button and becomes active after the program
analyzes thecontents of the clipboard. It allows you to make some
last minute selections beforeplacing the text.
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Chapter 6 Pasting clipboard data and Excel charts into
MicroStation Page 39
Page width:The Page width: drop down menu gives you two options
for pasting Excel data intoMicroStation. For pasting Word data into
MicroStation, you have three Page width:options. Each option
produces very different results and are described in the
followingsections.
Excel Page width: options.
Word Page width: options.
Width defined by text size on clipboard (Excel and Word)This
option is available for pasting Excel and Word data into
MicroStation.
Width defined by text size on clipboard is the default option.
When you use this option,the width of the line will be taken from
the clipboard. You will see an outline showingthe width. You can
paste it with a single data point on the design file.
Note: Using the Paste clipboard contents. option from the Axiom
pull-down menu willpaste Excel or Word data using this method
also.
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Page 40 Microsoft Office Importer
Define width while placing text (Word only)This option is
available only for pasting Word data into MicroStation.
When you select Define width while placing text, you place the
clipboard contents witha single data point that defines the top
left corner of the text and move your cursor to theright. An
outline will follow the cursor. Click the mouse when you have
reached thedesired width.
Note: Using the Paste User defined width (Word only) option from
the Axiom pull-down menu will paste Word data using this method
also.
Note: This option, Define width while placing text does not
function when importingtables in Word documents. In these cases
when Define width while placing text is usedthe import width will
be the same as if the Define width from clipboard text size
optionwas used. This is because the Scale proportional to Word data
(or Excel data) optionshould be used to maintain the same cell
width to height ratio as in the spreadsheet whenimporting. Another
option is to use MicroStations Graphic Group lock and the
ScaleElement tool after the import to resize the imported area as
needed.
Scale proportional to Excel (or Word) dataThis option is
available for pasting Excel and Word data into MicroStation.
When you use Scale proportional to Excel data, you can define
the width of the pastewith two data points as in the previous
option. The difference is that the size of text, boththe text
height and width, will be increased or decreased proportionally to
fit the definedwidth.
If you select the same data point when specifying the width you
will get this message inthe message area The user defined page
width is too small. You must specify adifferent data point than the
first data point when using the Scale proportional to Exceldata
width option.
Note: Using the Paste User defined size option from the Axiom
pull-down menu willpaste Word data using this method also.
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Chapter 6 Pasting clipboard data and Excel charts into
MicroStation Page 41
Text height and width
Using the default settings as in the image above, 10-point text
will paste with a height of10 master units and a width of 8 master
units.
Text height:The Text Height field displays the text height scale
of master units to points that iscurrently active and gives you a
chance to change it if you want.
Text width:The Text Width: field allows you to make a last
minute change to the width of astandard character.
Import with a link to the original document.One of the benefits
of Microsoft Office Importer is its ability to keep
importedinformation in MicroStation linked to its source document
(Word doc or Excelspreadsheet). Unless you have a good reason not
to want any kind of link, we recommendyou leave this setting turned
on.
Important note: After pasting with Microsoft Office Importer,
the source documentmust be saved in order to establish a valid
link.
Tip: Even if you do not select the Import with link the linkage
information is savedwith the paste. This allows you to establish
the link to the source document later. See the function in The
Manage Import Link box section below.
Update automatically when design file opens.When you select
Import with link, you also have an option to select
automaticupdating for the imported document. With automatic
updating, the pasted text will update
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Page 42 Microsoft Office Importer
from the source document automatically when you open the design
file. However, thiscan happen only when Microsoft Office Importer
is loaded and running.
To set up for automatic updating, see the section called
Installation for automaticupdate in the installation section of
this guide.
Tip: If you want to turn Automatic update on or off for a
selection that has alreadybeen imported, you can do so in the
Manage Import Linkbox, accessed via theManage button on the
Microsoft Office Importer toolbar.
Import paragraphs as text nodes. (Some formatting may be
lost.)By default, paragraphs are imported as text nodes and
formatting is preserved. You alsohave an option to import
paragraphs as text nodes by turn this setting on. When youselect
this, you may lose some formatting. Words that are italicized or
bolded withinsentences will not be italicized or bolded in the
paste. Each paragraph will take the formatof the first word in the
paragraph.
A full description of this option can be found later in this
guide in the section on TextSettings.
The Paste Excel charts into MicroStation tool
The will allow you to paste Excel charts into yourdesign file.
These charts are linked to the source chart for future automatic
update byMicrosoft Office Importer.
The Paste Excel charts into MicroStation box appears after you
have copied an Excelchart to your clipboard and clicked the
button.
The Paste Excel charts into MicroStation dialog
The Paste Excel charts into MicroStation dialog allows you to
increase or decrease thesize of your chart beforeit is pasted into
your design file.
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Chapter 6 Pasting clipboard data and Excel charts into
MicroStation Page 43
ScaleThe Scale field is used to adjust the size of your chart as
it will appear in your designfile. A Scale of 1.0 (the default) is
recommended. This will result in the placement of achart that is
comparable in size to other Excel data (cells) that youd paste in
that samedesign file.
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Page 44 Microsoft Office Importer
Chapter 7 Managing Imported Links
The buttonThe button on the main toolbar allows you to change
certain aspects of thelinked information, update the linked
information from its source document and quicklyedit the source
document.
Click the button and you will be prompted:
Manage Import Link > Identify element
Click on some part of the linked data that you want to manage
and then data point toaccept your choice. The Manage Import Link
box will open.
Note: The Manage function can also be accessed from the Axiom
pull-down menu usingthe Manage an existing Microsoft Office
Importer link. option. This is the same aspressing the button.
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Chapter 7 Managing Imported Links Page 45
The Manage Import Link box
The button will only be enabled if a valid change to the Excel
Range orSymbology is made. Click the button to apply any changes
made to ExcelRange or Symbology.
Click the button to open the source document for editing. Be
sure to save yourmodified source document.
Click the button to update the linked information from the
source document.Also use the button to confirm any changes made in
the Source field.
If you originally imported the pasted information without
selecting the link option or youhave unlinked an area, you can
establish the link by just clicking .
The function works only with saved files and it is always
necessary to save thechanged source file before the update in order
for the update to be successful.
Tip: Use the key-in command OFFICE UPDATEALL to update all of
the MicrosoftOffice Importer links in your active model.
Click to close the Manage Import Link box.
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Page 46 Microsoft Office Importer
The Link tab
Manage Import Link box showing Link tab.
Source:When you move or rename a source file that is linked to a
design file, the link isgenerally broken. With the button you can
locate the source document in itsnew location and Microsoft Office
Importer will repair the link. After locating the newsource
document, click the button to save the full file specification as
the newSource: field value.
Update automatically when design file opens.You can change the
link type of the paste from Automatic to Manual or from Manual
toAutomatic with this toggle. If the link type is Not Linked,
setting this toggle to on willreestablish a link to the source
document. After changing this toggle, click tosave the change.
Click to delete the active link information. After doing this,
you will not beable to update automatically from the source
document. However, you can establish thelink again as described in
the previous paragraph.
Excel AttributesThis section of the box gives you options for
adjusting the cell range and the Excel sheetname the information
was pasted from.
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Chapter 7 Managing Imported Links Page 47
Top Left Cell/Bottom Right CellEdit the range of your linked
Excel information. If a column or row is added modify therange in
the Top Left/Bottom Right fields so that Microsoft Office Importer
knows theexact area of your spreadsheet you wish to link into
MicroStation. Click the button to apply your cell range
changes.
Sheet NameEdit the name of the Excel sheet tab from which your
spreadsheet was pasted. If the nameof the Excel sheet was changed,
click the button to apply the name change.
The Symbology tab
Manage Import Link box showing Symbology tab.
TextThese are options for setting the symbology for all of the
text in an existing MicrosoftOffice Importer paste.
Color:Color overrides the present text color within your
imported text, check this option anduse the color picker to select
any color for your pasted text.
WeightWeight overrides the present text weight within your
imported text, check this optionand use the weight picker to select
any weight for your pasted text.
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Page 48 Microsoft Office Importer
Style:Style overrides the present text style of your imported
text, check this option and usethe style picker to select any style
for your pasted text.
Level:Level overrides the present text level of your imported
text, check this option and usethe level picker to select any level
for your pasted text.
When you do not select color, weight or level
Options for handling unselected settings.
Take unselected settings from source documentWhen you do not
select exact color, weight, or level in the options above, choose
thisoption to always take these settings from your source
document.
Take unselected settings from active symbologyWhen you do not
select exact color, weight or level in the options above, choose
thisoption to always take these settings from MicroStation active
symbology.
Borders
The Borders category allows a user to modify color, weight,
style and level attributesfor any previously pasted spreadsheet or
word document. Take unselected settings
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Chapter 7 Managing Imported Links Page 49
options are also available for Borders as well. Remember,
changes here will be appliedto all of the border lines.
Additional information on working with linked dataWhen you paste
text or spreadsheets with Microsoft Office Importer, the program
createsa small point cell containing a zero length line that is a
construction element. This pointcell contains the link information.
You can see this cell just above the left side of thepaste if you
set view attributes to view constructions.
The point cells, containing link information, together with the
other elements of the paste,form a Graphic Group.
Rotating or moving linked dataTo successfully rotate or move
linked information, you should have Graphic Group lockOn (checked).
Then you will be able to update from the source while maintaining
therotation angle and new location. If you rotate or move linked
data without graphic grouplock turned on, your link may be
un-rotated and un-moved when you update it.
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Page 50 Microsoft Office Importer
Chapter 8 Import Link Information
The Info button
Use the button to highlight all linked data in the active design
file and display thename of the source document and the link type
(Automatic, Manual or Not Linked). Linktype will be Not Linked if
you did not use the option to link the text. However, you canstill
use the button to open the source document and update the file.
Note: This functionality is also available from the Axiom
pull-down menu. Select theHighlight existing Microsoft Office
Importer links option to display the linkinformation.
You can choose the color, line weight and line style of the
display in the Settings |Import Link box.
The text size of the link information is the active text size
and is not related to the size ofthe pasted text.
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Chapter 9 Microsoft Office Importer Settings Page 51
Chapter 9 Microsoft Office ImporterSettings
The buttonThe button opens Microsoft Office Importers Settings
box. Here you cantailor the appearance of your paste by selecting
various options.
Note: you can also access Microsoft Office Importers settings
from the Axiom pull-down menu by selecting the Change Microsoft
Office Importer settings. option.
Microsoft Office Importer Settings boxYou can find descriptions
of the options in the Text, Borders and Import Linksections of this
Users Guide.
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Page 52 Microsoft Office Importer
File menuThe File menu on the top bar of the Settings box allows
you to save several sets ofoptions and recall options that were
previously saved.
Options are saved in initialization files also known as .ini
files. The .ini files can beedited with a text editor.
When you first install and run Microsoft Office Importer, the
program creates anoffice.ini file in the same directory with
office.ma. This file contains the factorydefault settings and loads
by default when Microsoft Office Importer starts up.
The default settings file office.ini will initially contain the
factory default settingsvalues but you can change these settings
and save your preferences to any location.
Saving your own settingsYou can tailor your settings and save
them in different locations and with differentnames.
You can use a configuration variable, OFFICE_INI to point to
your saved settings.OFFICE_INI can contain simply a directory path
pointing to a directory containingoffice.ini or it can contain the
full file spec of your settings file.
Examples:c:\myOfficeSettings\c:\settings\office\project123.ini
Tip: Users running office.ma from a server may find it useful to
set up OFFICE_INI, tosave personal settings on a local drive.
If you do not define the OFFICE_INI configuration variable,
Microsoft Office Importerwill look for the last settings file that
was used and load it if it can find it. When it findsno settings
file, it loads the factory default settings.
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Chapter 9 Microsoft Office Importer Settings Page 53
Load Settings...When Microsoft Office Importer is started up, it
searches for a valid settings file andloads the first one it finds.
It looks in the following places:
1. The .ini file defined in the $(OFFICE_INI) MicroStation
configuration variable.
2. The office.ini file in the directory defined by the
$(OFFICE_INI) MicroStationconfiguration variable.
3. The previous settings file used if it exists.
4. The office.ini file in the directory that office.ma was
executed from.
5. The office.ini file in the axiom directory.
6. If Microsoft Office Importer does not find office.ini in any
of these directories,it will use its factory default settings.
Save SettingsUse Save Settings to save all currently selected
options into the active settings file.
If you have not loaded a different .ini file, the settings will
be saved to the default .inifile, which is OFFICE.INI.
Save Settings As...Use Save Settings As to save your current
settings with a filename of your choice.
Restore Factory DefaultsThis clears all settings to their
factory default state.
Help menu
The Help menu gives you options to open the Microsoft Office
Importer Help fileand to open an HTML file with version and
licensing information, as well as Axiomcontact information and
e-mail addresses.
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Page 54 Microsoft Office Importer
Help | Contents...The Contents option of the Help menu opens
this Users Guide in the form of aHelp file.
Help | About...The Help | About function displays an
informational box which shows the currentversion, license type and
copyright information for Microsoft Office Importer. It alsogives
you Axiom contact information and hyperlinks.
CategoryIn the settings box you will see several categories on
the left. When you highlight one ofthese categories, the options
associated with that category appear on the right.
Currently active settings file nameYou will see the name of the
currently active settings file in the title bar of the
settingsbox.
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Chapter 9 Microsoft Office Importer Settings Page 55
MatchUse this button to change the current settings to match
those settings stored in an existinglink. Click the button, select
the link you want to match the settings from, thendata point to
accept.
Information fieldAt the bottom of the settings box is an
information field. The information displayed inthis field relates
to the last area where you clicked your mouse. In the example
below,input focus is in the Height field.
This information field contains only a general description. If
you need more information,you can use the Help | Contents... menu
to bring up the full Users Guide.
Click to accept the current settings and close the Settings
box.
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Page 56 Microsoft Office Importer
Click to close the Settings box without saving any changes
made.
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Chapter 10 Text Settings Category Page 57
Chapter 10 Tex t Settings Category
The Text settings boxThe Text settings box contains three
tabs:
1. Font tab, which gives you settings to control the fonts used
in your pastes.
2. Formatting tab, which gives you settings for controlling how
the text isformatted in your pastes.
3. Size tab, which gives you settings for controlling the scale
at which your text ispasted and sizing the non-text areas.
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Page 58 Microsoft Office Importer
The Font tabThe four options in this tab allow the user to
define exactly what fonts to be used whenimporting Microsoft Word
or Excel documents.
Use same fonts as source document.Enable this option to use
exactly the same fonts that are contained within a sourcedocument
when pasting it into MicroStation.
Set default fontThe font chosen here will be used for all pastes
into MicroStation. The fonts displayed inthis pulldown menu are
determined by MicroStations font.rsc file. Instructions on how
toinstall new fonts are located at the end of this section.
Use active fontMicroStations active font will determine the font
that is used when pasting.
Advanced font mappingThe Advanced font mapping is used so that
Microsoft Office Importer can use the fontfamily that matches the
font used in the source document. For example, if the font in
theMicrosoft Word file is Arial, it will paste with the fonts
selected for the Arial family.
If the font in the source does not belong to any of the
Microsoft font families, then thedefault font is used.
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Chapter 10 Text Settings Category Page 59
Microsoft Word provides TrueType fonts for creating "portable"
documents, that is,documents that always keep their original
appearance no matter which computer orprinter you use to view or
print them.
The TrueType fonts and the PostScript fonts have a font family.
These are Roman(Times), Swiss (Arial, Helvetica), Modern (Courier),
Script (Script) and someothers. You can use the full family when
pasting Microsoft Word documents.
The image below shows the font family settings box with the
factory defaults.
Using font families allows you to achieve the best output with
the least amount of work.
Use to set the bold, italic and bold-italic fonts to the same
numberfont as the normal font for that font family. Text that is on
the clipboard as bold or italictext will then paste using the
normal font.
Use the button to set all fonts to the default font that is on
theprevious tab. This erases all special settings.
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Page 60 Microsoft Office Importer
Installing additional fonts1. Key-in MDL LOAD FONTINST to start
the font installer or select Utilities | Install
Fonts from the main MicroStation menu.
2. Click the Source File button, the one on the left.
3. Select TrueType.
1. Navigate toyour Windows fonts directory (usually in
C:\Windows\Fonts\).
4. If it isnt obvious which file contains the font you need to
install, browse the fontdirectory with the Windows Explorer, which
lists the font's name (The MicroStationFont Installer only lists
the file name containing the font). This way you can be surewhich
file contains the proper font and then use that font file name with
theMicroStation Font Installer.
5. Select the files you want to import. You can select multiple
files by holding down the key while making your selections.
6. Clickthe button to put your selected fonts in the file list
and then click the button.
7. Click the button on the right side and navigate to the
resource file thatcontains the fonts in your copy of MicroStation.
The default location is usually:
\Bentley\Workspace\system\symb\font.rsc
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Chapter 10 Text Settings Category Page 61
8. Click . Youll know if you have the right file because all the
fonts that arealready in MicroStation will now appear in the
right-side window of the dialog box.
9. Highlight the fonts in the source file list.
10. Click the > Copy>> > button to import your
fonts.
11. When the import processing is completed, click the
button.
The Formatting tab
Use the Formatting tab to set options for importing paragraphs
as text nodes, importingstacked fractions, setting the symbology
and other options.
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Page 62 Microsoft Office Importer
Import text nodes.When you select this, each paragraph pastes as
a single text node. This setting is Off(unchecked) by default.
If your standards require consistency of text appearance, you
can use this option to forceall italics, bold and underlined text
to the style of the first character of the paste. Anotheradvantage
of this option is that the pasted text will be easier to edit using
MicroStationtools. However, all text in a paragraph will paste with
the symbology of the firstcharacter. Embedded bold, italic and
underlined text may paste as normal text. Specialformatting, tabs
and numbered lists will look less like the original.
Note: If it is desirable to edit pasted text and to maintain
perfect formatting, considerlinking the pasted text to the source
document and making changes in the sourcedocument. The Manage
function of Microsoft Office Importer facilitates this method.
Examples:For example, consider a paragraph containing one
underlined word like the following.
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid ofthe
party.
When this option is On (checked), this text pastes as a single
text node and all wordshave the same formatting. The underline is
lost.
Import stacked fractions from Excel.When the Import stacked
fractions from Excel option is turned on, fractions withinyour
Excel spreadsheets will be converted into stacked fractions in
MicroStation.
In order to convert fractions from Excel into stacked fractions
in MicroStation, thefollowing conditions must be met:
1. The Excel cells Number format (Format | Cells | Number tab)
must be set toFraction.
2. The cell must have a fraction somewhere in it (such as
1/2.)
3. Microsoft Office Importers Import stacked fractions from
Excel. checkbox mustbe turned on.
4. The MicroStation font must include a symbol for that stacked
fraction.
5. More than one cell must be copied to the clipboard.
6. MicroStations Element | Text Styles | Fractions checkbox must
be turned on.
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Chapter 10 Text Settings Category Page 63
Spaces between tab stops:When a tab character is encountered on
the clipboard, Microsoft Office Importer insertsspaces in the line.
For each tab character imported, a set of n spaces is placed in
linewhere n is equal to the number of characters in this Microsoft
Office Importer setting.
Tabs are only processed when importing from Word documents and
then only if theImport with V7 text nodes is checked on.
Note: If you insert tabs in a Word document that has the left
indent set, pressing the key results in moving the left indent to
the next tab stop. That is, additional tabcharacters will not be
inserted to the left of the line.
Height of a single line will be nnn% of text height.The height
of a line of text should be greater than the text height in order
to increasereadability. If line height is the same as the text
height, one line is pressed up against thenext. The default for
this field is 150%, which usually gives a very readable result.
ForExcel imports, this setting applies only to cells with text that
wrap in the cell.
Symbology
Color:To select a color that is different from the source
document color and the MicroStationactive color, check this option
and use the color picker to select any color for your
pastedtext.
Weight:To select a weight that is different from the source
document weight and theMicroStation active weight, check this
option and use the weight picker to select theweight for your
pasted text.
Style:To specify a line style attribute for your text, check
this option and use the style picker toselect the line style for
your pasted text.
Level:The Level field contains the level for text placement. To
change it, just type in anothervalid level number.
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Handling unselected Symbology settingsYou have two options for
handling unselected Symbology settings. The screen shotbelow and
the following sections explain how to use these options.
Take unselected settings from source documentWhen you do not
select exact color or weight in the options above, choose this
option toalways take these settings from your source document.
Take unselected settings from active symbologyWhen you do not
select exact color or weight in the options above, choose this
option toalways take these settings from MicroStation active
symbology.
AttributesModify these attributes to change bold weight the
angle of italicized text.
Bold WeightModifying this value specifies Microsoft Office
Importer to use this setting for importedtext with a bold
style.
Italic slantModifying this value causes Microsoft Office
Importer to add a slant attribute toimported text.
The Size tab
Use the Size tab to set the text scale factor for data pasted
intoMicroStation.
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Chapter 10 Text Settings Category Page 65
NameThe Name field gives you the opportunity to create named
pairs of text height and textwidth values. These values are
available to you when pasting documents intoMicroStation through
the Paste Excel data into MicroStation dialog box.
Note: The Named text size: option on the Paste... dialog box
will display and makenamed text sizes are defined in the current
Microsoft Office Importer settings.
Text height:The Text height field gives you the translation
factor from text point size in MicrosoftOffice to text character
height in MicroStation master units.
The default scale of 1.00000 gives a one point to one master
unit ratio.
Examples:
With scale 1.00000:
8-point text pastes at 8 master units.
10-point text pastes as 10 master units.
With a scale of 0.60000:
8-point text pastes as 4.8 master units. (8 x 0.6)
10-point text pastes as 6 master units. (10 x 0.6)
With a scale of 1.40000:
8-point text pastes as 11.2 master units. (8 x 1.4)
10-point text pastes as 14 master units. (10 x 1.4)
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Text width:The Text width field gives you the translation factor
from text point size in MicrosoftOffice to text character width in
MicroStation master units.
The default scale of 0.80000 gives a one point to 0.8 master
unit ratio.
Examples:
With scale 0.80000:
8-point text pastes at 6.4 master units.
10-point text pastes as 8 master units.
With a scale of 0.60000:
8-point text pastes as 4.8 master units. (8 x 0.6)
10-point text pastes as 6 master units. (10 x 0.6)
With a scale of 1.40000:
8-point text pastes as 11.2 master units. (8 x 1.4)
10-point text pastes as 14 master units. (10 x 1.4)
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Chapter 10 Text Settings Category Page 67
Text ratio lockThe text ratio lock maintains a saved ratio
between text height and width.
When using the ratio lock, if either height or width changes,
the other number changes tomaintain the same ratio.
To set or change the ratio, unlock the text ratio lock icon by
clicking on it. Change widthand height so as to obtain the desired
ratio. Then click to apply the changes.
After you set the ratio, you can now close the lock icon, change
the width or height andexpect the ratio to be maintained.
Add
button allows you add a name to the list of height/width
pairs.
Remove
button will delete a named pair from the list of height/width
pairs.
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Update
button will update height and width values that have been
modified for thehighlighted pair.
Move Up and Move Down
and allows you to change the order in which the named pairsare
displayed within the list.
Non-text area height: and Non-text area width:Non-text area
height times Text height and Non-text area width times Textheight
determine the relationship between text and non-text factors like
line spacing,spreadsheet cell size and page margins.
We include these scales because there is not a precise tile size
relationship to a font inMicroStation and a Windows font even when
the font you import is apparently the same.This setting allows you
to compensate for that difference while maintaining
preciseMicroStation text heights during the paste.
These Non-text Area factors do NOT influence the size of text in
MicroStation butdetermine the scale of related non-text features
such as line spacing and page margins.
The default values of 1.3 give the best results in most cases
when using fonts of the samename in both the Microsoft application
and MicroStation. When mapping a TrueTypefont like Arial to a
MicroStation fixed width font like Working, higher values
willusually give better results due to the inherent differences
between these two fonts. A fewquick trial pastes will determine the
best value to use.
Word wrapIf text is too long for the cell width, the following
rules apply:
1. If the cell formatting option in Excel includes "Word wrap",
then text in the cell isalways wrapped.
2. If word wrap is not selected and the adjacent cell is empty,
then text overflows intothe next cell.
3. If the adjacent cell is not empty, then text is
truncated.
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Chapter 10 Text Settings Category Page 69
How to compute cell height when pasting from ExcelCell height in
the MicroStation design file depends on several factors.
Note: In all cases, if the computed height for different cells
of the same table row isdifferent, the maximum value for all cells
of the row is used.
A precise row height is defined in the Excel spreadsheet. To
check row height, use theExcel Format | Row | Height menu selection
as in the images below.
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The formula for cell height in the design file is as
follows:
CellHeightMS = RowHeight * TextScale * NonTextHeight
where
CellHeightMS - the height of the cell in MicroStation in master
units
RowHeight - precise row height define d in the source
application
TextScale - text height scale setting value, mu/pt (default
1.000)
NonTextHeight - non-text area height (default 1.300)
When using settings as in the images above, the formula
becomes:
12.75 * 1.00000 * 1.30000 = 16.575 master units cell height in
design file.
How to compute cell height when pasting Microsoft Word tablesTwo
factors in Microsoft Word documents can affect the outcome, cell
height andallowable minimum height.
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Chapter 10 Text Settings Category Page 71
The default caseIn most Microsoft Word files, cell height and
allowable minimum height are notdefined in the source application.
This is the default case for Microsoft Word. In this case
CellHeightMS = TextHeight * TextScale *
HeightOfSingleLineFactor
where
CellHeightMS - the height of the cell in MicroStation in master
units
TextHeight - height of the text in the source document in
points
TextScale - text height scale setting value, mu/pt (mu is short
for master units,pt is short for points).
HeightOfSingleLineFactor - value of Height of a single line
setting in theFormatting tab (see image below. default is 150%)
Example:
If you paste a table from Microsoft Word with 10-point text
using MicrosoftOffice Importer default settings, the cell height
will be 15 master units.
10 pt * 1 mu/pt * 150% = 15 master units cell height in the
design file.
With 12-point text, again using the default settings, the cell
height will be 18 masterunits.
12 pt * 1 mu/pt * 150% = 18 master units cell height in the
design file
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When cell height is defined exactly in the source
documentSometimes a cell height is defined exactly in the Word
document. To check this,highlight one or more cells in the table
and select Table | Cell Height and Width... inthe Microsoft Word
main menu.
In that case, the formula becomes the same as the formula for
Excel spreadsheets when aprecise row height is defined.
CellHeightMS = CellHeight * TextScale * NonTextHeight
where
CellHeightMS - the height of the cell in MicroStation in master
units
CellHeight - precise cell height defined in source
application
TextScale - text height scale setting value, mu/pt
NonTextHeight - non-text height setting value
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Chapter 10 Text Settings Category Page 73
When a minimum height is defined in the source documentWhen a
minimum height is defined in the Word document, the program uses
the larger ofthe At least height or the computed height as
described in the default case above.
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Chapter 11 Borders Settings Category
The Borders settings boxThe Borders settings box contains some
additional options that apply to pastingspreadsheet information.
Table Lines refer to the spreadsheet cell border lines.
Border lines:Use the Border lines: option to control the
handling of cell borders and grid lines.
Note: Excel does not place borders on cells by default. Cell
borders can be appliedthrough Excels Format | Cells | Borders box.
Borders are user-definable.
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Chapter 11 Borders Settings Category Page 75
As in sourceWhen you select As in source, you will get borders
displaying as they are displayed inthe source document. The cell
grid lines will not be imported.
AlwaysWhen you select Always, every cell will be outlined by
grid lines or border lines in thedesign file. The user-defined
borders override any grid lines in the source document.
NeverSelect Never, to turn off all cell outlinesneither borders
nor grid lines will beimported.
Import diagonal border lines defined in source.If your source
Excel spreadsheet has diagonal border lines defined in it, checking
thisoption on will ensure those diagonal border lines are imported
into MicroStation.
Technical Note: Expect your imports to slow down if you turn
this option on as thediagonal border line information isnt on the
clipboard it has to be requested fromExcel directly,