HOW TO

Convert text from Microstation DGN to Geodatabase annotation feature class, keeping text font and other properties

Last Published: September 12, 2023

Summary

Caution:
Converting Microstation DGN (CAD) text to file geodatabase is a complex process. Please read these instructions carefully before proceeding.

This article discusses the issues involved and provides instructions for each step of the process to convert Microstation DGN (CAD) text to a file geodatabase annotation feature class, keeping text font and other properties.

In Microstation, fonts, symbols, and colors are stored in .rsc, or Resource files.  These are similar to the Style file used to store symbols in ArcMap.  To perform this process, the fonts used for text in the Microstation DGN file must be converted to TrueType format, so that ArcMap can draw text with the same symbols that were used in Microstation.

After converting the fonts stored in the RSC file(s) to TrueType, those TrueType fonts must be installed in the  C:\Windows\fonts directory so that ArcGIS Desktop can access the text fonts.

Procedure

Steps to get the RSC file installed for the MicroStation session and associated with the DGN files
The source RSC file must first be applied to the DGN file when the file is saved. Here are the steps to get the RSC file installed for the MicroStation session and associated with the DGN files in MicroStation:

  1. In MicroStation, with one of the DGN files displayed click WorkSpace > Configuration.
  2. Under View/Modify all configuration variables, scroll down and connect to the file MS_SYMBRSRC.
  3. Click the the Select button.
  4. Navigate to the location where the new resource (RSC) file is stored.
  5. Click Done.
  6. Select OK
  7. Select Yes to save changes. 
  8. Restart MicroStation.
  9. Redraw the desired DGN file, and re-save as a v8 DGN
  10. Click File > Compress > Design, then Save again.

Steps to convert the MicroStation DGN file to geodatabase in ArcGIS Desktop
With this set of steps, the text will appear with the fonts specified in MicroStation.

Note:
“Real” features with geometry, that is, points, lines, polygons or multipatch, must be imported into the geodatabase along with the text.  Even if the other features are not needed for the project, they will help define the extent of the annotation and allow it to properly import, and draw at the correct scale on screen.
  1. Open ArcMap with a new, empty map.
  2. Open the ArcCatalog panel on the side of ArcMap, select the folder on the local hard drive where the output file geodatabase will be created, right-click and click New > File geodabase.
  3. Rename the geodatabase to some appropriate name, and right-click and click Make Default Geodatabase so the output from the CAD to Geodatabase tool is directed to that specific location.
  4. Added the polyline and annotation layers ONLY from the DGN files to be converted to ArcMap. The projection must be defined for the DGN file at this point.
Note:
Zoom in until the smallest text is visible, and legible, as if the file were to be printed at that specific scale.
  1. Run the ArcToolbox tool CAD to Geodatabase, importing the DGN file into the default geodatabase. Multiple files can be selected as input, and imported at the same time. However, there is generally a limit to the number of features that can be imported in one operation.

    The text from the DGN files is imported, but all the text is black and the font is Arial. The annotation feature class from CAD to Geodatabase is not usable in most cases.
Steps to import the CAD annotation into the geodatabase and preserve the color and size of the original text
  1. In the ArcCatalog window in ArcMap, open the geodatabase with the imported the data, right-click the feature dataset, and create a new annotation feature class, with the same reference scale used earlier.
    This is the feature class to contain the manually converted text. Click through the dialog boxes for the new annotation feature class.  In the final panel, where the annotation attributes are listed, click the Import button, navigate to the DGN file to be imported, open that file, click the annotation layer, and click OK.  This adds the CAD attributes to the geodatabase feature class.
  2. Add the annotation layers from the DGN file(s) to ArcMap.  The coordinate system must be defined for the data.
Note:
Do not add the Group layer. In the Add Data dialog, navigate to the location where the CAD file is stored, and double-click the file name. Add only the annotation and polyline layers.
  1. In ArcMap click Customize > Customize Mode. On the Commands tab, select Label from the Categories list. In the Commands list, is the Convert Coverage Annotation tool on the right.
  2. Hold down the left mouse button, click the tool icon, and drag it into a toolbar displayed in the ArcMap window. Once the tool has been added to a toolbar, close the Customize dialog box.
  3. Click the new Convert Coverage Annotation icon, and a dialog box opens asking to select the annotation layer you wish to convert. Multiple layers can be selected, but the annotation must be displayed in ArcMap to convert it. Click the radio button to add to a database, and click the folder to navigate to the geodatabase, feature dataset, and empty annotation subclass you created in step 1.
  4. Click Convert. The annotation from the CAD file is converted to the geodatabase, and the new annotation feature class is added to the ArcMap display.

    When switching back and forth between the original CAD annotation, and the annotation from the geodatabase, it will be difficult to discern the difference between the two.

    The Convert Coverage Annotation tool also allows you to append additional annotation to the same feature class later, if necessary.

Assign the correct font to the annotation in the geodatabase after the conversion process is completed

  1. Open the attribute table for the annotation feature class created with the Convert Coverage Annotation tool.
  2. Note that you will see the following fields that are relevant for this process, but they are separated by many other fields:
    • FontName
    • FontID
  3. To make it easier to access the relevant information, close the attribute table, right-click the annotation layer name,and click Properties. On the Fields tab, turn off all but the following fields:
    • OBJECTID
    • SHAPE
    • Feature ID
    • ZOrder
    • AnnotationClassID
    • Element
    • SymbolID
    • FontName
    • FontID
  1. Click OK

The field arrangement in the attribute table shown in the following image. The FontID field is populated with the font number from the RSC file that was converted to a TrueType font.

In this example, FontID 23 was used to create text in the DGN file.

image of attribute table

  1. In the ArcMap dialog, click Selection > Select by Attributes, select the appropriate FontID, in this case 23.  With the text strings selected that were created with font 23, click on the FontName field, and use the Field Calculator to calculate the following:
FontName = “font023”
This is the name of the installed TrueType font. That process assigns and draws the text with the original font used in Microstation.
Note:
The TrueType font applied to the text in the geodatabase attribute table must be installed on the computer where the data from the geodatabase is displayed.  If the font is not installed, the text will be displayed with the Arial font, ArcMap’s default.

Article ID: 000022149

Software:
  • ArcMap

Receive notifications and find solutions for new or common issues

Get summarized answers and video solutions from our new AI chatbot.

Download the Esri Support App

Get help from ArcGIS experts

Contact technical support

Download the Esri Support App

Go to download options