Make References Relative

Last revised: April 8, 2010
Applies to: MicroStation V8i, MicroStation V8 XM Edition, and MicroStation V8 2004 Edition

The download for this utility can be found here.

Description

The application changes reference attachments to use relative attachments.

Installation Instructions

Place mkrefsrelative.ma in the ..\mdlapps\folder.

To load mkrefsrelative

Key in: MDL LOAD mkrefsrelative from the Key-in Browser

or

from Utilities > MDL Applications > Browse, select mkrefsrelative

The application will scan through your references and bring up a dialog box that will say something like "Change Slot 1 attachment filename from "border.dgn" to "..\borders\border.dgn?" with Yes, No, and Cancel buttons.

Clicking Yes makes the change.

There are two optional command line arguments:
mdl load mkrefsrelative -[y|n|h|?] [logfilename]
'-n' means do not query for each reference
'-y' (or no argument) means query for each reference
'-?' or '-h' shows usages message

1. If you start it with "mdl load mkrefsrelative -n" it will change all attachments without asking you.
2. It can only make relative paths for references that it can find. If it cannot find the reference, it cannot calculate a relative path.
3. It skips all references attached with logicals like BORDERS:border1.dgn, since those are already in good shape for being found when a project is moved.
4. It does not change self-attachments, they are already relative.
5. It reports the actions it takes to the message center. The number of messages that the message center saves is limited, so you can also have it create a log file by giving the second command line argument as a full file specification.
6. You can use it in conjunction with batch process to process many files. In your Batch Process command file, just put something like:
   mdl load mkrefsrelative -n d:\tmp\relative.log (or put '-y' instead of '-n' if you want it to ask you before it changes the attachments to relative).
7. It is a good idea to turn ON the user preference Reference->"Cache When Display Off" when running mkrefsrelative, because otherwise MicroStation doesn't bother to try to find references whose display is off, and mkrefsrelative can only work on references that MicroStation successfully finds.

NOTE: It is highlyrecommended to try this on backups of your project to make sure it does what you want.

Please post any questions or comments regarding this utility in the Bentley Library Forum.

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