I had a designer call and state that when he is creating his Postscript Files for his Cross Section Sheets the process runs on only 6 or 7 sheets and times out (there were 173 sheets in his Cross Section file).
This is caused by a couple of reasons but is mostly due to the Microstation Timeout setting in the EDI > Tools > Options > Microstation Tab. The time is set in seconds with a minimum setting of 90 (1 min 30 secs) and a maximum setting of 1500 (25 min) and is set for a single file, not a single sheet. It can also be looked at as 50 Sheets x 30 secs, maximum.
If you have the FDOT2010 MR3, you can use the XS.tbl pen table to resolve the time out issue. This should speed the Postscript File Creation Process up exponentially and the time out setting should not have to be modified. Ultimately, this method is the recommended method for processing a large number of Cross Section sheets in a single Cross Section file.
However, if for some reason this XS.tbl cannot be utilized there are a couple of things you can do in order to complete the process and get your Plot Files without experiencing timing out.
Microstation Timeout Setting:
1. Navigate to the EDI > Tools > Options > Microstation Tab.
2. Locate the MicroStation timout [secs] drop down menu.
3. Click on the down arrow to view the available settings for selection.
4. Select 1500. (This is equivalent to 25 minutes or 30 secs x 50 Sheets).
5. Click the Ok button to dismiss the dialog.
6. Right click on the cross section file.
7. Select Create Plot Files > All.
8. On the EDI - PEDDS Signatory Warning Dialog toggle on the Apply Answers to all items.
9. Click the Yes button on the EDI - PEDDS Signatory Warning Dialog.
Note: This may not be adequate for DGN’s with a large quantity of sheets.
Modifying the EDI Settings Timeout Setting:
1. Navigate to the EDI Menu Bar > Tools > Options > EDI Tab.
2. On the second tier of tabs locate the EDI Settings Tab.
3. Scroll to locate the EDI.**** (where **** is the version number) > Settings > Microstation > Timout = [secs] toggle.
4. Toggle on the Check Box in front of the Timeout = *** (where *** is the current timeout value in seconds). Click on the down arrow to view the available settings for selection.
5. Highlight the value in seconds and type in the new value.
Note: Make the value adequate for DGN’s with a large quantity of sheets (example: # of sheets x 30).
6. Click the Push button to set the new Timeout setting.
7. Click the Yes button on the EDI - Save Edited Settings dialog.
8. You may receive the following dialog, make a decision whethre to Save the Index data to the ProjectIndex.xml file.
Note: EDI will close and will have to be reinitiated.
9. Right click on the cross section file.
10. Select Create Plot Files > All.
11. On the EDI - PEDDS Signatory Warning Dialog toggle on the Apply Answers to all items.
12. Click the Yes button on the EDI - PEDDS Signatory Warning Dialog.
Note: After setting the Time Out setting using this method, this will be reset anytime you click the OK button on the Option dialog.
Disable Timeout Method:
1. Right click on the cross section file.
2. Select Create Plot Files > All.
3. On the EDI - PEDDS Signatory Warning Dialog toggle on the Apply Answers to all items.
4. Click the Yes button.
5. Toggle on Disable Timeout on the EDI – Create Plot Processing dialog.
Note: On the EDI – Create Plot Processing Dialog, notice next to the clock animation there is a toggle to Disable Timeout and the note stating ‘Timeout for file processing is set to 500 seconds’. The Microstation Timeout Setting from the EDI > Tools > Options > Microstation Tab is disabled, but setting has a purpose. Though rare, sometimes EDI can get hung while processing and this setting helps to buffer against those types of memory leaks. With this setting disabled if there is a problem EDI will not stop running until canceled by the designer/operator which may us up the system memory resulted in other computer problems such as slow performance and/or low or out of memory errors, etc.