	Product(s):	OpenBuildings Designer (and AECOsim Building Designer)
	Version(s):	V8i and CONNECT Edition
	Area:	Operation
	Subarea:	Other

OpenBuildings Designer adds three actions to the Compress options user interface, File menu > Compress > Options dialog:

Delete Empty Forms
Delete Building Dataset Elements
Delete Building Display Accelerators

Building Dataset Elements and Building Display Accelerators are cached by OpenBuildings Designer to speed up operation of any files containing Dynamic Views. Both of these actions should be unticked unless you need to remove cached data from files. Ticking these actions is not recommended in normal operation.

The cached data results in larger file sizes but this does not equate to longer file opening, quite the opposite. If the cached data is compressed out file opening can be extended while the caches are rebuilt.

To ensure that users do not inadvertently turn these actions on they can be pre-set in the site configuration by adding the following (all on one line):

MS_COMPRESS_OPTIONS = +ALL;-BUILDING_DATASET_ELEMENTS;-BUILDING_DISPLAY_ACCELERATORS

The order of the statement is crucial, +ALL ticks all the boxes (which you generally want ticked), the following '-' entries untick the two Building actions .

These values can be added at the site level in the Standards.cfg or set in an OpenBuildings Designer level configuration file.

Setting these values does not lock the dialog, a user can still override them if necessary. Any user selection will be reset to the configured values when the next file is opened.

If set at site level where MicroStation is using the same Standards.cfg as OpenBuildings Designer the additional OpenBuildings Designer specific statements will not cause any errors.

Reference

The three additional compress actions available in OpenBuildings Designer:

Action	Alias
Delete Empty Forms	EMPTY_FORMS
Delete Building Dataset Elements	BUILDING_DATASET_ELEMENTS
Delete Building Display Accelerators	BUILDING_DISPLAY_ACCELERATORS

Batch Process Options

Where large numbers of files are involved a regular batch process to apply the compress options is worth planning into the project management.

The Batch Processor is launched from File > Tools > Batch Process:

The Batch Process dialog opens.

The basic sequence is:

Create and edit a new command file
Decide how to apply the process
Select the files to be processed

So first, create a command file, similar to this example. Including COMPRESS DESIGN will execute the compress options set by MS_COMPRESS_OPTIONS.

If it is necessary to remove the Building Dataset Elements and Display Accelerators precede the compress command with 'compress options on ALL', e.g.:

#----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Command file for batchprocess utility
#
# This command file was originally copied from $(MS_DATA)cmdfiletemplate.txt.
# Command file information:
# - Lines that start with the '#' character are treated as comments and ignored.
#
#----------------------------------------------------------------------

# Command to turn on all compress options
compress options on ALL

# Command to compress all models in the listed files
compress design

Compress Options in OpenBuildings Designer - Behaviour and Configuration

Reference

Batch Process Options

See Also