Configuring AECOsim Building Designer #1 - A Simple Test Project

This blog was written for AECOsim Building Designer SS4, it may still offer some insight, but related information in later articles will take precedence. 30 May 2019.

For learning purposes without the complication of working with whatever existing project file structure you have, try the following.

I've used the NM Light dataset in this example, similar steps will work for other datasets.

Copy the whole folder:

C:\ProgramData\Bentley\AECOsimBuildingDesigner V8i Ss4\WorkSpace\Projects\BuildingExamples\BuildingTemplate_NM_Light

and rename to;

C:\ProgramData\Bentley\AECOsimBuildingDesigner V8i Ss4\WorkSpace\Projects\BuildingExamples\MyProject_NM_Light_01

Copy the whole folder:

C:\ProgramData\Bentley\AECOsimBuildingDesigner V8i Ss4\WorkSpace\BuildingDatasets\Dataset_NM

and rename to;

C:\ProgramData\Bentley\AECOsimBuildingDesigner V8i Ss4\WorkSpace\BuildingDatasets\MyDataset_NM

Then copy

C:\ProgramData\Bentley\AECOsimBuildingDesigner V8i Ss4\WorkSpace\Projects\BuildingExamples\BuildingTemplate_NM_Light.pcf

renaming to:

C:\ProgramData\Bentley\AECOsimBuildingDesigner V8i Ss4\WorkSpace\Projects\BuildingExamples\MyProject_NM_Light_01.pcf

Then make two edits to MyProject_NM_Light_01.pcf

Step 1 should not be necessary. 30 May 2019.

1. add  _USTN_PROJECTNAME = MyProject_NM_Light_01 as shown here after line 13 (download Notepad++ to do this if you haven’t already, it’s a brilliant text editor)

#======================================================================
 
# Project Description as it will appear in Workspace menu > About Workspace
 
_USTN_PROJECTDESCR                 = Building Designer Neutral Metric Light Dataset Project Template
 
_USTN_PROJECTNAME = MyProject_NM_Light_01
 
#======================================================================

2. go to line 24 and change:

TF_DATASETNAME = Dataset_NM

to

TF_DATASETNAME = MyDataset_NM

Open ABD and pick BuildingDesigner from the user pop-down then MyProject_NM_Light_01 from the project pop-down. Any changes you make to the dataset will be in your project or the copy of the core dataset.

Repeat, copying only the project folders and PCF, for test project MyProject_NM_Light_02....

This will allow you to try out new builds or learn ABD on your own PC (ask your employer for a Home Use licence, they are free to all users on SELECT Subscriptions).

Note: this is not best practice for a production environment, a Company dataset should be added to isolate Company changes from future updates to the delivered dataset. This will be covered in a future blog.

Additioanlly, there is more configuration to do to integrate with a live project structure whether local or on your network or NAS. You really don't want live project data sitting in C:\ProgramData.

Warning! Do not try these steps on your office workstation without consulting your CAD/BIM/IT manager!