Hello,
I am fairly new to the Bentley World and want to set it up properly for my users who haven't used it at all. What I would like to do is setup the standards and DNG templates and other items that the end users will need on the server and have Bentley look there for these items.
Dimension Styles, Layers, Wall Configs, tags and callouts.
What I am lacking is what to look for and where in the configuration would I find the paths to point the others to? Is there a book or a white paper somewhere that I can refer to for this?
Thank you for the help
As in the case with most things there are several ways to go about setting up a networked MicroStation workspace. Adding any of the building applications, of course, adds a whole new set of configuration variables and folder structures to deal with.
To help you out, I'd like to try and go step-by-step through what I would consider a simple set up.
If OK with you guys, instead of trying to explain it all in one long post, let's try it a few steps at a time.
I'll try to post daily and keep up with the thread here and answer questions as we go along.
Bear, feel free to chime in anytime on the process.
So, my first questions for anyone wanting to set this up is: What version of BA are you using? And, are you using any other building applications (BS, BBMS, BBES)?
To be honest, I think you can take one step back and look at how you can set things up at the most basic level and then build to supply your vertical apps as well.
Here's something I posted a while ago:
The way my build works is very scalable.
I have a cfg file in the appl directpry that helps me set my build location, it also allows me to have the build locally if users are travelling. This is controlled by login scripts and copied fresh to the users machine in each version of MS at login. It looks similar to:
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Set SPS drive mappings #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
build_drv = X:/ P_DRIVE = P:/
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Determine MicroStation Version #--------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Set Version 85 to be the default MS_VER= MS85
%if defined (_VERSION70) MS_VER = MS70 %endif
%if defined (_VERSION89) MS_VER = MS89 %endif
%if defined (_VERSION_8_11) MS_VER = MS811 %endif
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------- #Set build locations #--------------------------------------------------------------------------- %if exists (C:/standard/bentley/$(MS_VER)/Standards/.) _USTN_SITE = C:/standard/bentley/$(MS_VER)/Standards/ %endif
%if exists ($(build_drv)standard/bentley/$(MS_VER)/Standards/.) _USTN_SITE = $(build_drv)standard/bentley/$(MS_VER)/Standards/ %endif
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------- #set client and project configs #--------------------------------------------------------------------------- %if exists (c:/cad_var.cfg) %include c:/cad_var.cfg %endif
_____________________________________________
Under the 'standards' directory I now have my cfg files split to make it easier to debug and change. The directories under 'standards' are exactly the same and the install directories for MicroStation. This helps me and Bentley to sort issues.
Part of the cfg files I have looks for cfg and pcf files in my working locations. This allows me to run the build as it is for all projects out of the box, but also allows me to append or overwrite using these cfg and pcf files. This is where the '%if exists' and '%include' come in. If these files have been created in the build locations, they are read and then the variables in them become part of the build.
The out of the box build also uses the project and client to set reference paths and so on. It does mean having a good standard build, but it also means that anything outside of the build can be appended at the client\project config files.
The cadvar.cfg files simply reads:
Project= CLIENT= USERNAME=
The only reason I've used batch files for this Company is that they won't purchase VB and I'll be buggered if I'll by it for them so I have to supply something they can look after if\when I move on. In the past I would use a small vb app started by a mate of mine that allows the user to pick a Client and Project read from a text file and also have links to the available apps. MS, BS and so on.
The beauty about the vb app is that we also included a 'version' ext file in the project, if required, that allowed us to only make certain apps available once a Client and Project were selected. If done similar with the batch build, but to work around no vb I have added a version directory to the client and project builds that allows me to use a cfg file to help lock out particular version. It reads similar to:
%if $(MS_VER)=='MS811'
% error MicroStation Exiting, V8i not approved for this project. Please Use
%endif
The beauty of this is that, batch or vb, it is very flexibly and scalable without having to do too much work.
How to deliver the build:
http://communities.bentley.com/products/microstation/microstation_-_all_pre-v8_versions/microstation_-_all_pre-v8_versions_programming/f/163/t/21510.aspx
It might take a little reading, but it's a really good base for any beginner, and to be honest, none of this stuff is going to be super easy for any newby to the admin side of things.
Basically, what ever the structure you build with, stick to the directory structure that Bentley use to make it easier to degug any issues you may have.
Using:
allows you to set a location on the network as your site build. If you have a look at the way MS is installed on your machine you then get an idea of what you need to replicate on the network.
What this then means is that when MS starts up it will read any cfg file in the directory:
$(build_drv)standard/bentley/$(MS_VER)/Standards/
This could be:
X:\standard\Bentley\811\Standard\
and so on.
To start with you could hard code the paths in the cfg file you have in the appl directory until you work around the issues of setting a Client\Project etc. you could even just use a batch that copies in a new cfg file into the appl directory each time to set the build.
Thanks - I'll plow through this as best I can - It's starting to look familiar.
"None of this is going to be super easy for any newby to the admin side of things." Bentley's marketing department needs to look very long and hard at that statement. Some of us are "having" to come to this cold because of no other reason than contract requirements. Now that we're trying to use the software our impression of it will go a long ways toward whether or not we'd recommend it to other users.
I'll also add little tidbits as I find them, in hopes they may help shed more light on the overall scheme...
"Datasets" and "Project" installation components:
The "Datasets" portion refers to the content installed under workspace\triforma\. This is where we populate cells, parts, DataGroup catalogs, etc, specific to that dataset; i.e., usually corporate or standards level stuff.
The "Project" portion refers to the folders installed under workspace\projects\examples\, which is a predefined directory structure for storing project-specific data. The delivered content is minimal, but does includes the BB_FloorMaster.dgn file as well as MasterProject.dgnlib for Project Explorer.
The arch_roles.cfg file's path is defined by the configuration variable ATFDIR_ARCHROLES, in the architecture.cfg file, located under the program\TriForma\Architecture\config\appl folder. It is by default set to $(TFDIR), or the main dataset folder or workspace\triforma\. However, this variable can also be set at the project level; i.e., in the *.pcf file, in order to change it's location as needed.
Note: If the same part & family name exists at both the "dataset" and "project" level, the part at the project level will override its dataset equivalent. This allows you to define a corporate or standard dataset to be used across the board, while allowing project-specific parts of the same name to take precedence only if and when they exist.
tcfonts:
Having not that long ago been exactly where you appear to be with your BA deployment I feel compelled to pass along what little info I can to help you out. In addition to this forum, which you're obviously discovering as well, there were two other external resources which we have found extremely helpful. At the midwest Microstation User Group's Conference last year there were a couple of sessions I attended which covered the topic of creating and deploying a corporate workspace. The presenter was very knowledgable, made great use of the condensed time frame and his leave behind reference material was/is very targeted and useful. We had been struggling to get the product sensibly deployed for a few months by then and this UserGroup conference experience really helped us get our firm's deployment over the hump and fully funtional. A few months later I attended Bentley's instructor-led " Microstation...for CAD Managers" course for a more elaborate, in-depth exploration of the topics covered in the user group conference's mgmt/admin sessions. Since we're located in a city with no Bentley resources beyond the local user community this meant travel expenses on top of the fee for the course plus my man-hours but in the end it still proved a very sound investment for our firm (and I'm not a Bentley employee nor have I been solicited for this plug either BTW). Both the UserGroup-Presenter and the Bentley-Instructor did a great job and I don't hesitate to recommend either of them but, beware, these learning opportunities still did fall a little short in that they only covered 2-D Microstation without any reference to the Building verticals. We were able to find our way from that point (thanks in part to the users on this forum as well as the Bentley tech support guys) but perhaps the v8i version of the Bentley mgmt/admin class, which I notice from the lms server listings is now being offered, will be different in that respect. I notice that you unfortunately just missed an offering of the multi-day Bentley "...CAD Managers" class but if you navigate to the MCMC user community page at this site you'll notice that their annual conference is coming up in August. If your need is more urgent than that I would be happy to pass along the contact info for the vendor who presented at the conf last year whom I suspect would be open to a private tutoring visit to your facility (and I'm not getting any sort of kickback from him either).
I look forward to Mr. Wagner's posts as well as we'll soon be migrating from our BAXM deployment to a BAv8i one.