Dynamic Projects is a great way to manage all your MicroStation Projects using Managed Workspaces. In pre V8 XM versions Administrators had to create a Project CSB for each Project in the datasource. Having many CSB's can be difficult to manage. ProjectWise V8 XM Edition introduced the concept of Dynamic Projects. Two new macros were added, DMS_PROJECT and DMS_PARENTPROJECT, which can be used to define paths for MicroStation Projects data. ProjectWise will evaluate the folder structure and return the path of the nearest Project found. When the macro is used along with MicroStation variables you can discover the project from which the current design file is being opened. Dynamic projects will eliminate the need to create a CSB for each Project. Using the delivered MicroStation workspace I will demonstrate how this works. I will create a single Project CSB which will be used to manage each of the MicroStation projects.
The new macros are,
DMS_PROJECT: ProjectWise defined macro which will resolve to the nearest Project in the hierarchy, similar to devdir in MicroStation.
DMS_PARENTPROJECT: ProjectWise defined macro which will resolve to the second nearest project in the hierarchy, similar to parentdevdir in MicroStation.
A) Import the delivered MicroStation workspace data into ProjectWise.
B) Import one of the delivered project configuration files into a CSB. I'm going to use one of the existing project configuration files as a template.
C) Edit the Imported Project CSB. (see image)
D) Create Projects and assign the Project CSB.
When you open a design file under any of the project folders ProjectWise will scan the tree for the nearest Project folder in the tree and substitute the ProjectWise path for the Project in the variable _USTN_PROJECTDATA. All the workspace date using the relative path _USTN_PROJECTDATA will be copied to the local working directory.
Open a design file from the Building project, ...\Building\dgn\Designs\*.dgn. ProjectWise will create the configuration files, copy out the workspace data and launch MicroStation with the Building Project. Open the Workspace configuration dialog, (Workspace > Configuration), and check the Project variables. _USTN_PROJECTNAME will be equal to "Building". _USTN_PROJECTDATA will be resolved to the full path of the Building Project, pw://server:datasource/Documents/MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 1)/Workspace/Projects/Examples/Building/.
Open a design file from the Geospatial project, ...\Geospatial\dgn\Designs\*.dgn. ProjectWise will create the configuration files, copy out the workspace data and launch MicroStation with the Project data from the Geospatial Project. Open the Workspace configuration dialog and check the project variables. _USTN_PROJECTNAME will be equal to "Geospatial". _USTN_PROJECTDATA will be resolved to the full path of the Geospatial Project, pw://server:datasource/Documents/MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 1)/Workspace/Projects/Examples/Geospatial/.
Same results will apply to the Civil, General and Plant projects. A single CSB can be used for each of the MicroStation Projects.
CSB = Configuration Settings Block