Applies To
	Product(s):	Bentley Building Electrical Systems
	Version(s):	V8i (SELECTseries 1)
	Environment:	N/A
	Area:	N/A
	Subarea:	N/A
	Original Author:	Bentley Technical Support Group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a new file, none of the BBES commands are working. Why?

a) Check the status bar for the message “Not a BBES design file. Command cancelled”.

This error means that the file has not yet been registered, which is required in order for BBES commands to work. To register a design file, choose Electrical>Setup>Register Current Design File from the pull-down menu.

b) The “Not a BBES design file. Command cancelled.” error can also occur when copying existing BBES DGN files to a new folder without the accompanying _bbes folder. You should never copy a DGN file and _bbes folder into another folder that already has its own _bbes folder, since it will overwrite all existing data. If the DGN file has no circuiting, then it can be copied without the _bbes folder, but the Object Database must be reorganized after the file is re-registered.

To reorganize the Object Database, choose Electrical>Database>Reorganize Object Database from the pull-down menu.

The Bentley Building Electrical System’s Project Navigator tool doesn't seem to let me access projects on our network. How can I browse outside of the current location?

The location of the active DGN file determines the project root directory as seen in the Project Navigator dialog. If you open a DGN file from the network project, that file will be the active DGN. The network drive will be the project root directory, and you will find the list of available projects.

How can I share Bentley Building Electrical Systems projects on a server?

You can share the Bentley Electric1al Systems dataset by following these steps:

a) Install Bentley Building Electrical Systems on your local computer.

b) Copy the elecdatasetncsus dataset from …Bentley\WorkSpace\TriForma\ folder on your local installation to a location on your network drive.

c) Be sure that all users have full read/write access to this network location.

d) Copy the ElecProjectTemplateNcsUS.pcf file from the local …Bentley\WorkSpace\Projects\Examples\ folder to the same location and rename it with your new project name.

e) Open the new electrical project configuration file in Notepad and uncomment the following configuration variables and set them to the correct network paths:

         BBES_DATASETNAME

         BBES_WORKSPACEROOT

         BBES_DATASETS

f) Be sure that each computer that will share this information uses the same mapped drive letter.

g) When you restart Bentley Building Electrical Systems, select the new project from the MicroStation Manager. By doing this, you will use all the network settings that were set up for the project.

How can I get the Bentley Building Electrical Systems main tool box to stay docked on the right side of the screen?

All Bentley Building Electrical Systems toolboxes show the same behavior in V8 2004 Edition. In the Bentley Building Electrical V8 XM Edition, however, the Electrical Task Toolbox can be docked on the right or left side of the screen.

What should I do if I receive the following error message? “Cannot find BBES database server. Please restart BBES Database server.”

Restart the database server by choosing: Start>All Programs>Bentley Building>Building Tools>Bentley Building Electrical Systems>Restart BBES Database.After the database is restarted, check that the design file is properly set up.Also, reorganize the Project database using the Electrical>Setup>Reorganize/Compress Project Database pull-down menu.

In the Symbol Manager dialog box, what is the difference between the Symbol Size settings/options: Use Factor, Use Scale, and User Defined? When we are placing symbols in the model, we would like to scale our 2D cells appropriately to the known sheet scale. I am expecting the Use Factor setting to prompt me to enter a scale factor before placing the symbol, but it does not.  Is it necessary to define a separate 2D cell and BBES symbol for every drawing scale size?

a) The Use Factor setting is used for elements that must be placed with different scale factors, such as switches, receptacles and smoke detectors, when the appropriate scale factor is set in the Design File Setup (see Figure 7). The scale factor will affect only 2D models, while 3D models remain at the original size, so if you do a fly-through of the 3D model, all sizes are accurate.

One current limitation is that once you place elements using a certain scale factor, you can't change them later, since changing the scale factor will affect only elements that you place from that point on.

b) The Use Scale option is used only for lighting fixtures. Even though you set a different scale factor in the Design File Setup, lighting fixtures will still remain at the original size (the scale at which you defined them). If you want to scale lights, then switch to the Use Factor option in Symbol Manager.

c) The User Defined option will prompt you to enter symbol dimensions every time you want to place a symbol.

In the Building Manager dialog box, why are there two Pick Text buttons?

The two Pick Text buttons let the user pick two descriptions for a room, such as room name and room number.

 

Why is the Insert button disabled when I try to place a new conduit using the Raceway tool?

After selecting the Raceway tool, make a selection from all four pick-lists on the left to activate the Insert button.

When starting Bentley Building Electrical Systems, the following message appears when I click on any of the BBES tools: “Database C:\Program Files\BentleyWorkspace\ TriForma\elecdatasetncsus\Metadata\ECSL.DBF not found. Retry?”

If you receive this error message, there are several things to do, in this order:

a) Choose Electrical>Setup>Reorganize/Compress Project Database from the pull-down menu. Then choose Start Process to compress the database. If you still get the error message, go on to the next step.

b) Check that the folder exists at the specified location and that there are no misspellings of folder names or files. If this does not solve the problem, go on to the next step.

c) Check if there is an entire BBES dataset at the path location shown in the message. You should see a list of files in the metadata folder at:

C:\Program Files\Bentley\Workspace\TriForma\elecdatasetncsus\metadata\

d) Next, check that the Metadata folder has read/write access. If Metadata is a read-only folder, Bentley Building Electrical Systems will not run.

e) Finally, make sure to check the folder properties at the user level for the Security tab in the Metadata folder properties.

If the above steps fail, generate a msdebug.txt file by adding “–debug” to the end of the Target line in the Bentley Building Electrical Systems shortcut and double-check that the BBESDATA configuration variable is set to the correct path.

When placing a Cable Tray from the Raceway tool, the first tray is created after placing two data points. With the Raceway dialog box still open after changing the system to a different type (such as Cable Ladder) and clicking Insert again, the system assumes that I want to connect the new component to the previously placed component. Only if I cancel, restart the Raceway tool, and click Insert again can I pick new points disconnected from the previously placed component. Is this the way it is supposed to work?

You do not need to restart the Raceway tool in order to change System types. After placing the first component and selecting a different System type in the Raceway dialog box, simply change the Insert pick-list option from Append Part (the default when consecutively placing components) to Place Part, which will start a new run.