To Laure Dessemontet-Berthoud -
First of all ... Universal Translator is a scaled down version of a product
called FME from www.safe.com. UT (and FME) use two files to translate data:
1) is the dgn input file and 2) a .fme file containing FME commands to guide
the translation from .dgn to .tab or .mif files.
In your case, UT is generating appr. 6 .tab - files for every dgn file,
because UT is directed by the .fme file to sort the geographic elements in
points, text, lines, polygons, arc, ellipses ... each feature type in a
separate tab file. Another method is to split the dgn files in up to 64 tab
files, one file for each igds-level ...
If you'll look in the MapInfo program directory , You'll find, that UT is a
stand-alone program "<Mapinfo directory>\professional\ut\imutgui.exe" that's
started from a mapbasic program. The "imutgui.exe" is a Windows front-end
for the command-line program "<Mapinfo directory>\professional\ut\imut.exe".
Both "Imutgui.exe" and "imut.exe" can be run outside the MapInfo
environment. The remaining problem is to control "imut.exe" by feeding it
parameters on the command-line. Because "imut.exe" is a scaled down version
of the FME-translator, is it possible to control imut.exe with the same
parameters you use in FME. You can download the full documentation to FME
from www.safe.com, including the chapter on translations using the
command-line program.
If you search the ..\ut directory (and subdirectories) you'll find many
snippets of fme control-macros, that is used by MapInfo.
A warning - the fme control language is _somewhat_ (meaning _very_) cryptic
.... :)
Some notes on using Imut.exe:
1) A _lot_ of the feature functions and factories from the original
FME-program has been disabled.
2) Coordinate translation (Projection and Datum sihfts) "inside" imut.exe
has been disabled
3) The "base" version of the original FME - program that imut.exe has been
developed from is FME build 280 (ca. ver 2.0 - 2.1), so you can't use any
ver 2.2 or 2.3 syntax in the imut-based macro (ie. no TCL).
What you _can_ do:
1) Use imut.exe from the command-line, ie. from bat-files and mapbasic.
2) Write your own (somewhat limited) fme macros, for example: A macro that
reads dgn-data; converts dgn-linestyle, colors, textfonts to the
corresponding mapinfo linestyle, colors and fonts ( using the fme-function
"lookup"); writes the data as one or two MapInfo files - all in one step.
If you want to do some serious data translation, I advise you to buy the FME
product from SAFE software.
I've used both Imut.exe og Fme to translate several hundred dgn-files. I
have found, that using FME and Imut from the command-line and with batch
files is the best method, when you are dealing with hundreds of file
translations.
Good Luck..
Bo Thomsen
GIS-consultant
GeoConsult I/S, Denmark
> -----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
> Fra: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sendt: 14. juni 2000 23:18
> Til: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Emne: MI Converting Microstation projects to MapInfo workspace
>
>
>
> Dear All,
> My company just decided to use MapInfo as a cartographic tools which I
> think is
> great. We were using Intergraph Microstation before that and will have to
> convert hundreds of projects from *.dgn to MapInfo. If anyone of you have
> any
> experience, I would be most interested to hear about existing workflows as
> I am
> struggling to understand what exactly the Universal Translator does to my
> existing files!!! Apparently it is creating about 6 files for every files
> I had
> before...
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Laure Dessemontet-Berthoud
> Cartographer, Houston
>
>
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