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October 2003 |
AEC/GIS Interoperability
Engineering the future together
Bentley Systems
Interoperability is at its best when it is implemented to support real world workflows. The implication of this emphasis is that each environment must extract only the specific data that it needs to support a particular workflow, and then present it in a form natural to the user of the solution. Bentley, with its solutions for Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) professionals and ESRI a GIS provider, has emerged onto a platform of integration that will provide a complete and comprehensive armour to work with. Here is a candid elaboration of Bentley's ongoing endeavour of integrating the AEC content created and managed with the Bentley solution and the GIS information created and managed by the ESRI solution. It elaborates and talks of how Bentley is working full-fledged to meet user requirements in a holistic manner, where any barriers of discreet industry products takes a backseat.
When Technologies shake handS
Graphically oriented applications that use a spatial context are often used within organizations served by the Geospatial industry. Such organizations include municipalities, transportation departments, national government agencies, utilities, and others.
While Bentley and ESRI applications may create and maintain data in a common coordinate space, they are designed for unique purposes and therefore used by individuals with distinct organizational functions. The planning role, for example, requires a broad view of spatial information, the ability to work with large areas, and a powerful toolbox of analytical functions. Engineers create and work from sets of detailed drawings and models, with spatial information, and require a rich set of 2D and 3D geometry-based engineering and design functions. The needs of the planner are best met by a continuous database, a GIS. The Engineer's require ments continue to be best met by a model and drawing paradigm. ESRI users typically perform enterprise data management, decision support, planning and analysis functions. Bentley users design, engineer, build, and operate roadways, buildings, plants, communication networks and other large constructed assets. Yet, despite distinct roles, planners and engineers very much depend upon each other. Planners need accurate information on as-built conditions and engineers and architects need the context of plans to create their designs. Despite the obvious practical need to share information, it is very difficult to share digital content between planners and AEC Professionals. Very little true functional integration exists between AEC and GIS solutions. In today's world, the requirements for interoperability are met most commonly by exchanging files in an adhoc manner. Files are then imported and reformatted for use in the target system. Or, for those with lower tolerance levels, workflows are reduced to exchanging printed materials.
Unique Convergence
Client Interoperability
The first step in interoperability is implemented at the client level. MicroStation is the AEC content creation platform for Bentley. Upon this single integrated platform, Bentley offers interoperable civil engineering, building design, plant design, and geospatial solutions. These applications read and write DGN and DWG files. Likewise, ArcGIS includes a range of GIS client applications, which read and write the file and database types supported by ArcGIS for various GIS related solutions. An initial step in interoperability on the Bentley side will enable MicroStation and Bentley geospatial applications to directly read a map project file known as a map document (MXD) and associated data from ArcGIS. The technology to read the exported map will be supplied by ESRI. Bentley will integrate this technology into MicroStation to enable a direct read of ArcGIS data formats.
Server to Server Interoperability
Integration, to be effective, must not only address workflows that support information creation, but also span enterprise solutions designed to manage and publish created information. Both ESRI and Bentley offer server based solutions to provide a managed environment for their users' data and to facilitate practical integration with enterprise systems. In Bentley's case, this environment is referred to as AEC Content Management and Publishing. In ESRI's case, this is a geodatabase accessed via ArcSDE.
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