I want to configure my project in ProjectWise using a custom folder configuration. How can I do this?
A custom configuration of a Managed Workspace in ProjectWise would be any project which uses a folder structure different from the folder structure as delivered with OpenBuildings Designer. To configure a Managed Workspace with the delivered folder structure please follow this document. This document also provides an overall view of the configuration variables discussed below.
As a custom configuration is very much subjective, it is not practical to provide an objective guide to how you should go about designing the configuration you are planning to create. Hence, in this Wiki, we will be covering a few important points to keep in mind while creating your custom configuration.
To create a Managed Workspace with a folder structure other than what is delivered (custom configuration), it is important to have a basic knowledge of how the configuration of OpenBuildings Designer works.
It is important to understand that the configuration in ProjectWise uses Configuration Setting Blocks (CSB) while the same configuration in a local machine or shared server would use Configuration files (.cfg). While the existence of the CFG files are important, the configuration variables for a Managed Configuration could also reside completely within the CSBs. This means the CFG files, although being empty, should exist within the configuration with the correct name and extension.
The following table lists specific variables and their respective functions. These are the most important variables that need to be declared properly in order for a Managed Configuration to work. The functions of each of the variables should help guide you on where these variables should resolve to within your custom folder configuration.
Variable
Details
_USTN_CONFIGURATION
_USTN_WORKSPACESROOT
_USTN_WORKSPACENAME
_USTN_WORKSPACEROOT
_USTN_WORKSETSROOT
_USTN_WORKSETNAME
_USTN_WORKSETROOT
TF_DATASETS
TF_DATASETNAME
TFDIR
_USTN_WORKSPACESTANDARDS
_USTN_WORKSETSTANDARDS
The Workspace and the Workset CFG files contain configuration variable declarations which are specific to each of the Workspaces and Worksets. If your folder structure doesn’t allow the configuration as mentioned in the CFG files, make sure you change them as per your requirement (example, Designs, Sheets, Outputs, etc.). If any configuration change is to be applied to all the Workspaces and Worksets, it is easier to do this in a CSB while commenting out the configuration declarations in the CFG files. Any configuration declaration, which is specific to any single Workspace or Workset, should be done in the respective CFG file.
General Note:
Every time you open a file from ProjectWise, a copy of the final configuration is saved as a CFG file in the local ProjectWise working directory. You can go to the local ProjectWise working directory, open the Workspace folder, and within that sort by Date Modified. The latest CFG file with its name in Hexadecimal code will be the final configuration file that was used the last time you opened a file from ProjectWise. This configuration file will have the resolved values for all the configuration variables. It can also be used for troubleshooting the configuration. A good rule of thumb is, if the value of any configuration variable points to a ProjectWise directory/file instead of a local (ProjectWise local working directory) directory/file, that would mean the variable is not resolved correctly.
Note for V8i users:
Please keep in mind that in V8i there is no Workspace, so the _USTN_WORKSPACESROOT, _USTN_WORKSPACEROOT and _USTN_WORKSPACENAME variables are not required. Also in V8i, Worksets are called Projects. So _USTN_WORKSETSROOT would be replaced by _USTN_PROJECTSROOT, _USTN_WORKSETNAME would be replaced by _USTN_PROJECTNAME and _USTN_WORKSETROOT would be replaced by _USTN_PROJECTCFG which should resolve to the PCF file for the project.
V8i users also need to declare _USTN_SITE resolving to the standards folder which is under the \workspace folder in the delivered configuration (standards folder should contain all the subfolders), _USTN_USER which by default resolves to the \users folder under the \workspace folder in the delivered configuration (this folder should contain at least one user configuration) and _USTN_WORKSPACEROOT which would replace the _USTN_CONFIGURATION variable used in the configuration of CONNECT Edition.