MicroStation Wiki Unleashing The Power Of The Desktop Within MicroStation V8.5 [CS]

Unleashing The Power Of The Desktop Within MicroStation V8.5 [CS]

This Client Server article is republished in its entirety from 2004 for reference purposes. It was written for MicroStation v8.5 and may not apply to any other version.

By Melissa Hook, Technical Support Analyst, Bentley Corporate Office
18 October 2004

With MicroStation V8.5 and higher, you can access all the power of your Windows desktop applications and batch routines from within MicroStation.

This ability can be accomplished by using the MicroStation key-in browser. The key-in command can be assigned to a MicroStation function key or toolbox icon for easier usage.

Note that some MicroStation users may have become accustomed to using MDL programs like NTBANG.MA or WINSTART.MA to start their Windows programs from within MicroStation. MicroStation V8.5 now includes SHELLEXECUTE.MA, which offers more options than either NTBANG or WINSTART.

Before we take a look at some examples, let's take a moment to examine the key-ins available in the SHELLEXECUTE application by performing the following steps:

From MicroStation, select Utilities>Key-in. Select the SHELLEXECUTE MDL application from the application list on the key-in browser (See Figure 1).

From the key-ins listed, it is important to note that there are currently three symbol key-ins available: "!," "%," and "%%." Each has three respective alternate keyword key-ins: "bang," "percent," and "percentpercent."

Each symbol key-in performs a slightly different operation:

*Keyin*	*Alternate Keyin*	*Purpose*
!	bang	Used to open a command prompt and optionally to execute a system command or batch file from that command prompt
%	percent	Used to enter a key-in in which a MicroStation configuration variable is embedded as a parameter
%%	percentpercent	Used to temporarily run another Windows application. After you enter this key-in, you can return to the MicroStation application window only by exiting the other application
$	expand keyin	Used to enter a key-in in which a configuration variable is embedded as a parameter

More advanced examples:

Create a MicroStation debug report:
$ % $(MSDIR)ustation.exe -debug
Write a MicroStation environment variable to a text file:
$ ! echo $(_USTN_USERCFG) > c:\MicroStation_Variable.txt
Write a Microsoft environment variable to a text file:
$ ! echo $(USERNAME) > c:\Microsoft_Variable.txt
Open Explorer in same directory as the current file:
$ % explorer /e, /select, $(_DGNFILE)
Open a MicroStation debug report:
$ % Notepad "$(MSDIR)msdebug.txt"
Open the current file workspace config file:
$ % Notepad "$(_USTN_USERCFG)"
Open your favorite PowerPoint presentation:
%c:\myslideshow.ppt
Search the internet in your favorite browser:
%www.google.com
Open the remap .csv file:
$ % "$(MS_DATA)remaptemplate.xls"

Please note where spaces are being used between these key-in symbols.

If you find other useful or interesting key-ins, share them with other users by E-mailing them to the editor of the BE Newsletter. Your key-in may be included in the next User Tips section.

Comments or Corrections?

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