MicroStation Web Menus deliver your CAD Drafting Standards from a single location on the Internet for all to use

Texas Computer Graphics, Inc.

Features & Benefits:

CAD Standards reside in one location on the internet
Any changes made to the standards will be made in one location only. No more distributing CD’s and CAD Manuals. No more wondering if the consultants and sub-consultants actually received and loaded the latest standards.
Available to sub-consultants
No more delivering CD’s of CAD standards to your sub-consultants and trust they load and use them. By enforcing the use of Web Menus and the CAD standards which reside in one single location on the internet, every designer providing service to your company will be creating standardized drawings.
Available to any computer with an internet connection
It doesn’t matter what hardware platform you are using or what operating system you are running, if MicroStation runs on your computer and you have access to the internet, you can utilize the Web Menus.
Universally accessible
The proliferation of internet dependency has broken down distance barriers between company offices. Companies with multiple offices in different cities and states can collaborate on a single project by using a single set of CAD standards delivered by Web Menus. Project managers can now manage their CAD standards between offices and even between sub-consultants because a single Project Web Menu is available to all designers no matter where they live or where they work.
Web Menus can be used at work, at home, anywhere
Since Web Menus are not installed on any one computer, they can be accessed anywhere you go, on any computer, with an internet connection. Other CAD Standard management software requires installation on a single machine and you lose the flexibility of using it elsewhere on another computer.
Focused on features
No more flipping through pages of a CAD manual trying to locate the feature you want to draw. Your entire CAD standards are displayed on the Web Menu - allowing you to quickly select and begin placing the proper geometry.
Selecting a feature on the Web Menu sets the appropriate symbology
A simple click on one of these feature codes will send instructions to your CAD program to set the proper ‘Level’, ‘Color’, ‘Weight’, ‘Linestyle’ (based on your CAD Standards) and start the ‘Place Line’ command – it’s that easy. The time it takes for you to decide to place “Improved Roads” until you are actually placing the geometry is only a few seconds – compared to 30 – 45 seconds the conventional way.
No installation necessary
Avoid the hassle of installing software. If you get a new computer or change operating systems, you must re-install other software - but not Web Menus. Also, other software can only be used on one machine unless you purchase additional copies for home use. Other software does not run on all hardware or on all operating systems and for some, you must be ODBC compliant because of the database they have chosen. Web Menus will work on any computer which has an internet connection.
Lowest cost in the Industry
This low cost tool will yield tremendous returns for a company. The subscription rate to the company per person is pennies per hour. When compared to hourly rates for qualified employee’s the Return on Investment of this extraordinary tool is generally recognized in the first day of use each month.
Quick access by the designer
(1) The “Level Menu” page displays features for the placement of geometry and text. The designer selects a feature and the proper symbology of Level, Color, Linestyle, and Weight will be set instantly. Geometry can then be placed. The designer will make the Text selection and the proper Font, Text size, Color, and Weight will be set for that element’s annotation. (2) The “Symbol” page displays the various cells or symbols used by the company. The designer finds the appropriate symbol and then can drag and drop the symbol into the drawing. (3) The “Database Linkage” page displays the various records of a database table for quick access and linkage to geometry in the design drawing. Attach a database of Bid Item Codes and link a unique code to every asset you draw. Use Bentley Map to populate the database with lengths and areas to allow you to electronically extract an accurate Bill-of-Material take off. (4) The “Download” page displays the various resource files you expect designers and engineers to use on a given project. These resource files will include borders, seed files, font and linestyle .rsc files, plot drivers, pen tables, CAD Drafting Manual, etc.
Quick access to CAD standard features will minimize cost
The designer can decide what feature to place, select the feature from the Web Menu, and begin drawing in a matter of seconds. By contrast, the conventional method has the designer searching the CAD manual for the feature. Once found, the designer must manually set the ‘Level’, ‘Color’, ‘Linestyle’, and ‘Weight’ and then select the ‘Place Line’ command. For the veteran designer this process may only take 20 seconds, but for the new-hire, this process could take up to 60 seconds or more of indecision.
Quick response favorably impacts project schedules
The designer using the Web Menus has the ability to place geometry into the drawing 5 times faster than the designer using the conventional method of searching the CAD manual for the features to place. With every feature placed from the Web Menu, the designer is getting to the next task of placing the next feature 5 times quicker. When you consider the number of designers on a project and the number of hours worked each day, it is easy to see why Web Menus have a positive effect on the project cost and timeline.
The Company’s CAD standards are set behind every feature shown
When a designer selects a feature from the Web Menu, the instruction is sent to the CAD application to set that features ‘Level’, ‘Color’, ‘Linestyle’, and ‘Weight’. Accuracy is assured as long as the correct selection is made. By contrast, a designer may make errors when reading from a CAD manual and trying to make these settings manually. Furthermore, if the designer uses the popular ‘Smart Match’ command, they may be propagating errors by matching improperly placed geometry.
Upgrade independent
With every upgrade to your CAD application software, there must be an upgrade to every 3rd party software you own which works with your CAD application – not with Web Menus. Web Menus are Web Code-based and completely universal and do not require upgrading with every change in application software, operating system, or internet browser.
Electronic Extraction of Bill of Materials
If you have a database of bid item codes, you can use Web Menus to link these codes to the geometry in the drawing. With the use of Bentley Map, you can automatically populate the database with lengths, volumes, and eaches. Place a fence around your drawing and MicroStation will extract all quantities by bid item code. This report table can be exported to an Excel Spreadsheet for your use. Just imagine how much time is saved determining the exact quantities using Web Menus versus the traditional manual method of counting quantities.
Bridge The Gap between CAD and GIS
Use the Interoperability Tools within Web Menus to link database information to geometry in the design drawing to produce an intelligent drawing. Not only does this give you exact quantities, but now the geometry can be exported by MicroStation to Shape files for use in other GIS Applications. These same Shape files can be imported back into MicroStation for continued update. Web Menus create drawings that have a continued life cycle.
Email us today and let us demonstrate how it can work for you.