This Client Server article is republished in its entirety from 2005 for reference purposes.

Bentley Instrumentation & Wiring provides support for Microsoft Access, MSDE, SQL Server, or Oracle project environments. This article provides you with a clear understanding of how and when to deploy each database for projects and which versions of the various databases are supported.

Microsoft Access

The Bentley Instrumentation & Wiring requires that Microsoft Office Professional be installed, regardless of which database platform you are going to use. Bentley currently supports Office 2000 SR1a, Office XP, and Office 2003.

If you are going to setup a small P&ID-based project for just a few users, an Access-based project is the simplest to set up and manage. Your project data will reside in the ...project name\PROJDATA\PROJDATA.MDB file. This makes backups and administration fairly easy tasks for normal users.

Be aware that instrumentation-based projects should be run on an MSDE-based environment as a minimum. Creation of MDB- and MSDE-based projects is carried out solely in Project Administrator through the aid of a very intuitive wizard, whereas the other supported database environments require a qualified DBA to setup the environment before the project is actually created.

MSDE

Bentley Instrumentation & Wiring currently supports MSDE 2000. It requires the use of MSDE as a minimum

The Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) can be used for both a single user desktop and for shared database solutions. MSDE is based on SQL Server technology and is fully compatible with SQL Server 7.0. When used in Access 2000 Sr1a, MSDE is an attractive alternative to Jet-the default Access 2000 database engine.

MSDE operates as a service that has to be installed on the server. Services are applications that run as background processes.

During the install process, select the installation of MSDE when prompted. The location of MSDE depends on where the project is located. If the project is to be located on a server, then install MSDE on the server.
Go to Start\Settings\Control Panel\Administrative Tools\Services
Verify that the MSSQL$Rebis and SQLAgent$Rebis Services Status is started. If it is not started, right-click the service and select Start.
Verify that the Startup Type is set to Automatic. If not, right-click Select Properties. Select Automatic as Startup Type and click OK.
When this is done, you should be again be able to use the wizard in Project Administrator to create the MSDE project. When prompted during this process, select servername\REBIS as your server name and the installation should complete.

SQL Server

Bentley Instrumentation & Wiring supports SQL Server versions 7.0 or 2000.

SQL Server serves as a great database choice for larger projects where a lot of users have simultaneous access to the project.

This document does not serve as a substitute for a qualified DBA. There is much more involved in running and maintaining a SQL database than I will cover in this article. However, I have listed a few steps below that are enough to get your SQL-based project set up and ready for use with an AutoPLANT environment.

You need to have MS SQL installed and Enterprise Manager available to create databases. We recommend that you run single-mode databases versus multi-mode databases for AutoPLANT projects. Have a qualified DBA do this part for you.

Below are the steps to create a database called PIWDB and a user called PIW.

1. Start Enterprise Manager
2. Expand the Servers group and select the appropriate server
3. Expand the tree so you see Databases
4. Right click on the Databases node and pick New Database
5. Name the database PIWDB
6. Press OK to close this dialog
7. Expand The Security Branch and Right Click on Logins to select New
8. In the SQL Server Login Properties - New Login dialog, type in PIW for the name and password. Make sure you select SQL Server authentication.
9. Set the username and password to PIW. Set the default database to PIWDB \
10. In the Database access tab, permit PIWDB and also grant DB_OWNER permissions
11. Press OK to the new Login dialog
12. You now have a new user and database in MS-SQL for use with AutoPLANT.

When you have completed the steps outlined above, the Wizard in Project Administrator will create the AutoPLANT project and point it to the above server and database as created above.

See Also

Client Server Archive

MicroStation Desktop TechNotes and FAQs

Comments or Corrections?

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