Looking under the bonnet...

[Updated 14 August 2018] We discourage manual editing of this file as it is written to by CONNECT Edition applications during active sessions, updating the value of _USTN_CONFIGURATION (in the [Set Configuration] section of the file) to correspond to the active WorkSpace selected in the User Interface. In nearly all circumstances specifying the Custom Configuration via the installer User Interface is the only method that…

Focus is where input from the keyboard will take effect. Unlike an application such as Microsoft Word, where the input focus is essentially either in the document or in a dialog; MicroStation has several points where keyboard input can be applied. While most of the time focus will follow your flow of activities, there are many occasions where you need to be sure you are at the right point before entering your input keystrokes…

This is an updated version of an earlier V8i 101 article. A DGNLIB is a DGN file used for the storage and distribution of shared resources. Its internal structure is identical, only the file extension is different. Files with the .dgnlib extension are treated differently within Bentley applications. For instance, Compress Design does not affect DGNLIBs. DGNLIBs can be used to store a wide range of resources and can be applied…

As items drift down a blog's timeline they can be overlooked, so here is an index for this series of pieces:

Updated 12 September 2016 Notepad++ is one of the best text editors around and the one I always use for editing configuration files. However out of the box it understandably does not include the Bentley CFG file language so all text is the default black. I recommend setting the Notepad++ Setting menu > Preferences > Tab Settings > Tab Size to 8 for best presentation of tab spacing. To transform your configuration files int…

In MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 10 (and AECOsim Building Designer Update 4) we have introduced the ability to edit the description of an attached GCS. Previous articles in this series utilised individual transformed GCS's to locate individual buildings or facilities on a site, all of which had the same GCS description when listed in dialogs. That description can now be edited: to a more useful description, in…

The CONNECT Edition Configuration variables dialog is considerably more user friendly than its V8i predecessor, offering more space, column sorting and other improvements. However, one apparent limitation is that any changes made are saved to the current user’s Personal.ucf. This is usually fine for testing but requires manual editing to copy the changes made to the WorkSet or other CFG files. A CONNECT Edition key…

Batch Process Utility Use for straightforward repetitive operations. The MicroStation Batch Process Utility enables you to select groups or folders of files then run a series of key-in commands on them. The commands are stored in a simple text file as a sequential list. This command file is then applied to the selected files with options to process selections and choose whether to process the default model or all models…

What is SnakeGrid? SnakeGrid takes a linear alignment and lays it out on a flat plane maintaining low distortion along a strip 1 mile wide each side of the alignment. This allows accurate measurements of distance and angle within this strip. This is not a Geographic Coordinate System (GCS) that relates to established geoids that could be added to MicroStation's GCS library, but a self-contained coordinate system unique…

AECOsim Building Designer’s DataGroup enables the creation, manipulation and reporting of business data associated with DGN graphic objects of various kinds, generally building elements or components. The DataGroups Scheduling tools can produce sophisticated schedules that are usually exported to Excel for presentation/delivery. Other data about DGN elements/objects and file contents is stored as ECschema data and is…

Bentley's CONNECTION Client will, unless told not to by installation options or user preferences, offer to update enabled CONNECT Edition applications. Like most other software update features, the update offered will always be the latest release. This release will install over the previous version. For instance, if MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 5 is installed and has not been updated, the automatic update offered…

We provide the ability within CONNECT Edition applications to create new WorkSpaces:  and WorkSets:   For many users these are useful tools; however in organizations where there are strict procedures about project creation, where projects are often created in advance of any CAD/BIM activities, they have the potential to disrupt processes. Both of these features can be hidden by use of the MS_CONFIGURATIONOPTS variable.…

Following the techniques used in Setting Up in the Real World – GeoReferencing Update, a similar approach uses individual facility/building footprints as the guiding geometry. This allows the individual facilities to be moved around independently by updating their geographic transform or if plan position is fixed allows the z height to be adjusted using the reference Z offset value Having created the site plan,…

This article is an update of the earlier Setting Up in the Real World – GeoReferencing piece with a slightly simplified workflow to create the transformed GCS and using different example data. Background The accuracy of 3D modelling operations can be affected by the limitations of floating point arithmetic. This is a fundamental limitation of current technology. When many complex calculations are involved rounding…

In CONNECT Edition Display Rules have been added as an additional option for Display Styles. Display Rules are a platform feature that are available in MicroStation and all other CONNECT Edition applications based on MicroStation's core. This simplified example is from AECOsim Building Designer where we have the DataGroup System that stores business data about graphic objects, in this case the Construction Phase of…

The DGNWS file, full name DGN WorkSet file, is very important. It contains WorkSet properties, custom properties, WorkSet sheet index, and the WorkSet Link Set. Each of these, other than the sheet index, involves some initial data input. As a project proceeds the sheet index will build up automatically. If a DGNWS is accidentally deleted a new blank DGNWS will be created, any data will be lost, so this is a file that needs…

The following tips are valid for V8i applications, the variables mentioned have not changed in CONNECT Edition. From MicroStation help: When MicroStation opens a DGN file, it searches for DGN files that contain attached references as follows: If the file specification contains a custom configuration variable, it searches that directory, using the relative path, if any. It searches a list of directories which consists…

You may come across references to this term in our discussions and documentation. Power Platform is the MicroStation core application that underlies the CONNECT Edition products that are based on MicroStation. In the V8i world we delivered many discipline specific applications that relied upon being installed over specific versions of MicroStation, these have gradually migrated to integrated applications. For instance…

An out of the box installation of a CONNECT Edition application is largely centered on folders in Windows' default ProgramData folder. This has to be done so the application can be successfully installed in a fully functioning state. However, live operational data is in practice almost always located on network shares for security and sharing. The location of shared network resources in the Custom Configuration is discussed…

As discussed in Part 3, Standards can be applied at all configuration levels. As delivered Standards content is configured: At the Organization level by: C:\ProgramData\Bentley\MicroStation CONNECT Edition\Configuration\Organization\standards.cfg At the WorkSpace level by: C:\ProgramData\Bentley\MicroStation CONNECT Edition\Configuration\WorkSpaces\<WorkSpaceName>.cfg At the WorkSet level, e.g.: C:\ProgramData\Bentley\MicroStation…

In CONNECT Edition - Custom Configuration - Part 1 : Initial Creation Steps I described how the installer can be used to specify the location of your Custom Configuration by setting the value of the variable _USTN_CUSTOM_CONFIGURATION listed in "C:\ProgramData\Bentley\MicroStation CONNECT Edition\Configuration\ConfigurationSetup.cfg" to the chosen Network Configuration path; e.g.: \\hal\CONFIGURATIONS\MCE. We…

This article is based in the MicroStation CONNECT Edition installation process. The process for other applications is similar but will generally have some additional steps to cover application specific requirements, AECOsim Building Designer (ABD) datasets for instance. The additional steps for ABD are linked from CONNECT Edition - Configuration : Customization Guides. The initial setup of WorkSets requires some manual…

The process in Part 1 created the functional structure of the Organization with the first WorkSpace and WorkSet and the essential configuration files needed for it to operate. It did not create any of the resources that contain and deliver the Organization, WorkSpace or WorkSet standards. These resources need to be created or where they already exist be reviewed and copied into the appropriate locations. Then the configuration…

Standards can be configured by files at all configuration levels. Organization The Standards.cfg is the primary configuration file for setting organization wide standards. This is the organization baseline for: locations and names of shared resources; configurable default settings: etc. The Organization standards resources are contained in the Organization folder's subfolders. Note: to highlight that the file is different…

When you create a Deployment Image for MicroStation CONNECT Edition or AECOsim Building Designer CONNECT Edition, the configuration stage of the installation enables the location of the Custom Configuration to be selected in the same way as a manual installation: This step writes the location of the Custom Configuration, normally on a network share (mapped drive or UNC) into the ConfigurationSetup.cfg that is created…