2009

NavisWorks colors are derived from either MicroStation cell colors or MicroStation materials, depending
on the export options set during nwcout. The appearance of objects in Publisher will match the
appearance of a MicroStation shaded render.
The view number chosen for export determines the initial view in NavisWorks, whether level symbology is
used and which levels are hidden.
Note:
The exporter only exports from 3D dgn files - 2D files are not supported.
Quickly exporting files
If you want to export the current design file quickly, you can use the batchnwcout key-in. This will not
display the export dialog box, and it will not prompt you to overwrite any existing files. It simply replaces
the design file extension (usually .dgn) with .nwc when exporting.
Exporting from the command line
The MicroStation exporter can also be run from the command line. This is useful when you want to export
lots of files using an automated script.
It uses the msbatch.bat batch file that comes with MicroStation. To export a file from the command line,
you must first ensure that the MicroStation program directory is in your PATH environment variable.
The format of the command line exporter is:
msbatch nwexport6 [-f] FILE [OUTPUT]
FILE is the name of the DGN file you want to export. This is the only required option. If you want, you can
specify the name of the output file with the OUTPUT argument.
The command line exporter will only convert a file if it has changed since the last time you exported it.
This is useful for speeding up exporting of a large number of files. If you want to force the exporter to
re-export a file, use the -f option.
If the exporter encounters any problems, it will produce an error log in a file called nwdout.err.
MicroStation .nwc Exporter Options
Available from the NWExport dialog box, this enables you to configure various elements of the exported
file to your choosing.
See “ DGN File Reader Options ” for details on what each of the options does.
Once you have set the options, future exports of .nwc and publishes of .nwd files will use these settings.
Viz and Max .nwc Exporter
While NavisWorks cannot directly read .max files, there is a plugin for Viz versions from 3 to 2008 and
Max versions from 5 to 2009 that will export the model to an .nwc cache file that can then be read into
NavisWorks. Viz will be outlined here, although the process is exactly the same for Max.
As long as Viz is already installed on the computer when NavisWorks is installed, the plugin is installed
with NavisWorks on a Custom Install or Full Installand ready for use.
Converting Files
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