Original Tip Date: June 2002
Did you know that compressing in V8 actually re-writes the entire file? Well, now you do.
And that's not all, Keith Bentley writes:
When you compress a file, MicroStation creates a dgn-compress .tmp file in the same folder as the active drawing (as defined by the variable $(_dgndir). It then deletes the original file and renames the dgn-compress to the same as the original.
During the compress operation, the original file remains locked but, there is a very short window where the original file is released so the .tmp file can be swapped into its place. In earlier versions of MicroStation V8, there are some intances in where the tmp file is not deleted, or when the DGN is "turning into a TMP file" right before your eyes. MicroStation has since been reworked, so this should no longer be an issue.
AskInga Tip #214