Where are AutoPLANT project and document DWG paths stored

Overview

This technote pertains to Bentley AutoPLANT 3D Plant Design software only. Most of these changes were brought into the software starting with the support of SQL Server databases in 3.0 and have continued on up to the current version (V8i SelectSeries 2).

Pathing information is stored in several places. It is stored in the registry on the individual computer, in the xdata or each individual dwg and on the project level in the PROJECT.INI file.

• The registry on a computer will contain the "Project Root" paths which you also see when opening Project Administrator.
  
  
  
  
• The XDATA in each 3D Piping or Equipment model will contain the project root, project name as well as a path to a distributed mode local database. Here is an example of this data:

Command: (at_dwgdata_getfldlist "AT_REBIS_APP" "AT_REBIS_APP_DB")
(("AT_REBIS_APP_DB_PROJECTID" "0001") ("AT_REBIS_APP_DB_PROJECTROOT"
"C:\\ProgramData\\Bentley\\Plant V8i\\Bentley Plant V8i Projects\\")
("AT_REBIS_APP_DB_PROJECTNAME" "SAMPLE_IMPERIAL") ("AT_REBIS_APP_DB_FORMAT" 2)
("AT_REBIS_APP_DB_VERSION" "8.11.0000") ("AT_REBIS_APP_DB_NAME"
"C:\\Users\\current.user\\Desktop\\Drawing1.MDB") ("AT_REBIS_APP_DB_DOCTAGID"
"0000000602"))

• The file ..\project name\PROJECT.INI can be opened in notepad. In the [PATHS] section of this file, all paths for documents associated to the project are stored here. This same information can also be see in Project Administrator in the folder ..\<project name>\Database\Paths\
  
  
  
  
• Path information is not actually stored in the Project Database. In the table [DOC_REG], there is a column LOCATION that contains an alias (example: AT_PIPE_0). This alias corresponds to the values in the PROJECT.INI in the [PATHS] section.

It does matter if users are accessing projects (via project administrator) or models when opening through mapped paths (i.e. G\PROJECTS\) or through UNC pathing (i.e. \\server_name\folder1\projects\). AutoPLANT will see these as two separate folders while in windows, in fact, they are the same. So it's important to stay consistent. It is recommended that you use mapped drives and that all users access the models through the mapped drives. Document Manager/Vision is a good program to control this.

Errors will occur when trying to access projects or open documents in AutoPLANT when there is an inconsistency in the path information. This can occur many times when two users are accessing drawings in different ways.

Example: If a user typically opens AutoPLANT first and then goes to the menu: File > Open... to access the drawing, double check the current path in the pulldown menu. It might be different than when another user double clicks on a DWG in Windows Explorer.

Really to avoid all these issues, users should open models from our document manager programs. Document Manager is a free program bundled with AutoPLANT Plant Design. Vision and Projectwise are available as licensed products.

See Also

Product TechNotes and FAQs

External Links

Bentley Technical Support KnowledgeBase

Bentley LEARN Server

Comments or Corrections?

Bentley's Product Advantage Group requests that you please confine any comments you have on this Wiki entry to this "Comments or Corrections?" section. THANK YOU!