Sharing ORD configurations with MSCE

There have been other questions here about having MSCE open ORD configurations, which is not really a problem by itself, but now the plot thickens....

This is a bit long, but stay with me, some of you may be facing the same issue.

Within the past week I have been contacted by two clients about setting up the MicroStation configurations so that they can utilize WorkSpaces from different versions of ORD, and also accessing non-ORD based configurations.

The situation is as follows...

  • DOT A projects are done in ORD 10.10 (located in P:\CAD\ORD\ORD 10.10\Configuration)
  • DOT B projects are done in ORD 10.9  (located in P:\CAD\ORD\ORD 10.09\Configuration)
  • Client C has a different set of standards that are purely MicroStation (located in P:\CAD\MicroStation\Configuration)

How do you configure MicroStation to access three different sets of standards stored under three different Configurations?

The solution I have come up with so far is:

  • Configure MicroStation so that _USTN_CUSTOM_CONFIGURATION is set to Client C's MicroStation configuration
  • Add a WorkSpace cfg file to MicroStation custom configuration with the same name as the DOT A ORD 10.10 Workspace cfg
  • Add a WorkSpace cfg file to MicroStation custom configuration with the same name as the DOT B ORD 10.9 Workspace cfg
  • In those two DOT WorkSpace cfg files change the value of _USTN_WORKSPACEROOT to the corresponding ORD configuration location
  • %include the corresponding DOT ORD WorkSpace .cfg file.

This seems to work well, however...

DOT A also has older projects in ORD 10.9 that are not being moved to ORD 10.10. How can I tell MicroStation to access the ORD 10.9 WorkSpace instead of ORD 10.10?
I can't change the WorkSpace name because the dgn's are branded to the other WorkSpace name, changing the branding would introduce all sorts of other problems.

I also haven't tested this with any ORD configurations that implement Roles. That might be another sticking point.

Anybody else having the same problem?

  • I know it is only theory right now , but I was basing it off of the naming convention you used for your folders.

    You have it defined with the product and the version - so I thought OBM would be set the same way.

    Timothy Hickman

    CADD Manager | CADD Department

    timothy.hickman@colliersengineering.com

    Main: 877 627 3772| 

    1000 Waterview Drive Suite 201 | Hamilton, New Jersey 08691

  • That's probably OK.

    For the DOT's that roll out their configurations this way, they are upgrading both ORD and OBM at the same time. Then you manage the OBM _USTN_CUSTOM_CONFIGURATION the same as you do for ORD.

    I guess the other thing is I haven't run into any client using OBM who isn't also using ORD. I also haven't had any requests so far to access OBM only WorkSpaces from MicroStation.

    I'm sure that day will come too.

    Rod Wing
    Senior Systems Analyst

  • I have no suggestions whatsoever, but thank you for a very clear example of the nightmare created by versioning and branding.

    MaryB

    Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918
    Power InRoads 08.11.09.918
    OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2

        

  • It's rather curious that Bentley updated their Wiki page about the One Configuration today.

    https://communities.bentley.com/products/administration/w/wiki/56590/one-configuration

    One Configuration sets up automatic %include statements for including resources from different applications, but doesn't really help in this situation.

    1. None of the DOT's that I've seen (I've downloaded over 20 DOT's ORD configurations) have implemented the One Configuration approach. Trying to retrofit a DOT configuration into the One Configuration setup would be very time consuming, and not worth the effort.

    2. It also does not address the multiple version aspect. One Configuration suffers from the same pit falls when you are trying to have MicroStation access resources/standards from different versions of ORD.

    3. Lastly, One Configuration uses separate WorkSpace and WorkSet configurations for each product. This is a serious problem when you need to have MicroStation and ORD sharing the same dgnws file so that they are both working with the same Sheet Index and Custom WorkSet settings.

    Rod Wing
    Senior Systems Analyst

  • DOT A also has older projects in ORD 10.9 that are not being moved to ORD 10.10. How can I tell MicroStation to access the ORD 10.9 WorkSpace instead of ORD 10.10?

    The only workable solution I have to this problem is to create a separate MicroStation shortcut with a -wc switch that uses a startup configuration that sets the value of _USTN_CUSTOM_CONFIGURATION to the the ORD 10.9 configuration folder. It's not pretty, but it works.

    Rod Wing
    Senior Systems Analyst