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Introduction to SpecMonitor
Standardize your MicroStation files
as you create them!
The problem: You and your team of designers
keep getting designs rejected due to violations of CAD standards.
Quick solution: Use SpecMonitor, the program that enforces
CAD standards as elements are created.
The purpose of SpecMonitor is to automate quality assurance
and quality control — to greatly assist you in the creation
of standard drawings, without the need for tedious, costly,
time-consuming proofreading and correction after-the-fact.
If an element being created doesn't follow your CAD standards,
SpecMonitor will prevent it from being placed.
For example, a draftsperson is placing text describing an
item in the design. Company CAD standards require all text
to go on level 60. The active level is still set to level
10 (where he was just working). He mistakenly places text
on level 10. Without SpecMonitor, he might go on for
hours placing text on the wrong level and never realize the
mistake (until submission time). With SpecMonitor,
the user is notified as he attempts to place text on the wrong
level. With the click of a button, the text is automatically
moved to the correct level. But SpecMonitor goes further -
with the click of a button he can correct the active settings
so that subsequent element placement will be correct.
How does it do it?
In order to enforce CAD standards, SpecMonitor must
be told what the CAD standards are. This step is for the CAD
manager, who must define "rules" which tell SpecMonitor
what the CAD standards are, what SpecMonitor tells
users each time the rule is violated and how to correct each
type of violation. These rules are easily created using SpecMonitor's
companion program, RuleManager. Once CAD standards
have been defined, SpecMonitor is ready to enforce
the standards.
In order to intercept CAD standard violations, SpecMonitor
constantly runs in the background. When a rule is violated,
a dialog box like the one shown below will appear.
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| SpecMonitor dialog box
showing CAD standard violation with a correction clause. |
Automatically change it
In the example above, the user was trying to place an element
with color 4 on the Default level. Per the defined CAD standards,
this is a violation. To correct this particular violation,
all the user would have to do is click on <Change> or
<Change & Update> to automatically change the element's
color to color 3.
<Change> changes the element symbology to correct the
standards and allows it to be placed in the file. <Change
& Update> changes the element symbology and MicroStation's
active settings to ensure that subsequent elements don't violate
the same CAD standard. For example, if the correction is to
make the blue element red, <Change & Update> will
make the element red, place it in the design file and make
the active color in MicroStation red.
Rejections
If the user doesn't want to place the element, he can reject
it.
The <Reject> button does just that, reject elements.
<Reject All> is for cases involving moving or placing
multiple elements, like a fence copy. If there are multiple
elements queued up which violate the CAD standards, the user
can push <Reject All> once instead of pressing <Reject>
dozens or hundreds of times. This way SpecMonitor can
help to enforce the CAD standards without being burdensome.
Ignore standards?
There is the third option of ignoring an element that violates
CAD standards. Since this function allows users to ignore
CAD standards violations, the CAD manager may choose to leave
the <Ignore> and <Ignore All> buttons disabled.
However, in some situations — like when developing new
standards — users may want to be notified of CAD standards
violations but be allowed to place those off-standard elements
anyway.
In closing
SpecMonitor's main benefit is its ability to enforce
design file standards during the design phase of a project.
Consistency and uniformity of design files can easily be achieved
using it. By enforcing correct standards, SpecMonitor
helps organize design files and facilitates project management.
Call now!
For more information on SpecMonitor
contact an Axiom MicroStation Consultant today! Call 727-442-7774
extension 9560 or e-mail 9560@AxiomInt.com.
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