SDK Installation

Hi Mohammad,

Unknown said:

I'm not sure if this is correct location to raise this question or not.

Yes, MicroStation Programming community and forum is the place where all aspects of MicroStation application development can be discussed.

Unknown said:

I'm only interested in SDK piece of it.

In my opinion it makes no sense, because no application can be run without MicroStation itself. SDK license is also tightly linked with MicroStation in terms of license, because SDK has no own license, but you have to have a proper Bentley product (MicroStation in this case) license.

Unknown said:

hoping it comes with SDK but it doesn't have it.

MicroStation SDK is delivered separately from MicroStation itself by default.

Unknown said:

I attempted to get SDK from...

And what happened?

Unknown said:

I really need help with this. How can I download the SDK?

I am not expert on this issue, but I guess (any) SDK is accessible thorugh BDN program (Bentley Developer Network).

Unknown said:

Is there a way that I can develop and compile MDL with Visual Studio and completely ignore SDK? 

No, it's not possible. SDK contains header files, lib files and other necessary tools (bmake, developer shell) and of course documentation.

Unknown said:

Any comment or feedback will be hugely appreciated.

I guess the right approach is to become BDN member and you will obtain access both to MicroStation (developer license) and also MicroStation SDK. An advantage is the access is not limited to a specific MicroStation version, so depending on customers' request you can develop e.g. both for MicroStation V8i and MicroStation CONNECT Edition.

You should also be aware there is "SELECT BDN" program for users with SELECT maintenance that allows in-house development.

With regards,

  Jan

Jan,

Thanks a lot for your reply. Following to the link I sent in my post, there was an inline image showing that Download column is empty, where I was expecting a download link or button. When I click on "Web Downloads (Previous Version)", I get access denied.

What I understand from your reply is that I can possibly get a developer sort of license for Microstation and its SDK (free of charge or less expensive that the price showing in store)?

If so, would you be able to give me a few hint on how can I get started?

Kind Regards,
Mohammad Aryafar

Hi Mohammad,

Unknown said:

Following to the link I sent in my post

The problem is that using you link I will get my page with my access rights, not your. Screen capture would be better, but it's clear now where is the problem.

Unknown said:

What I understand from your reply is that I can possibly get a developer sort of license for Microstation and its SDK

Yes, the developer license is the part of BDN program.

Unknown said:

If so, would you be able to give me a few hint on how can I get started?

There is "Contact us" button on Bentley Developer Network page I linked in my answer. I guess it's the most simple way how to start.

With regards,

  Jan

Jan,

Again, thank you for your reply and guidance. I followed the link you sent and I was able to get a response from BDN. However, they indicated there is an annual subscription fee associated with program of $5000 USD which I don't find it reasonable at this stage as I'm just getting started and want to put my hand on this to see whether I'm capable of working on it or not. I have also asked to receive a SDK as a free trial so I can benefit from my Microstation trial or not, but did not get any feedback on that. Is it a miscommunication that I received this response or the subscription fee sounds about right?

I have also contacted my account manager in Bentley and he did not have a clear answer to that and his solution directed me back to BDN.

Considering this, is there anyway that I can put my hand on some coding without having access to SDK (not requiring to be recompiled again) such as VBA or MVBA or JMDL?

Kind regards,
Mohammad Aryafar

Hi Mohammad,

Unknown said:

Considering this, is there anyway that I can put my hand on some coding without having access to SDK (not requiring to be recompiled again) such as VBA or MVBA or JMDL?

• VBA ... It's included in MicroStation standard installation and no specific tool or downloads are required.
• NET (C#, VB.NET...) ... In MicroStation V8i managed API it's base on COM API, so API is pretty the same as VBA and the same help file is used. There are some extensions (like WinForms) but there is no documentation available, but information can e gathered from this community and existing posts.
• JMDL ... It's very old and is not supported from MicroStation 8.0
• MDL (in general C/C++ native API) ... You need MicroStation SDK.

With regards,

  Jan

Hi Mohammad,

Unknown said:

Considering this, is there anyway that I can put my hand on some coding without having access to SDK (not requiring to be recompiled again) such as VBA or MVBA or JMDL?

• VBA ... It's included in MicroStation standard installation and no specific tool or downloads are required.
• NET (C#, VB.NET...) ... In MicroStation V8i managed API it's base on COM API, so API is pretty the same as VBA and the same help file is used. There are some extensions (like WinForms) but there is no documentation available, but information can e gathered from this community and existing posts.
• JMDL ... It's very old and is not supported from MicroStation 8.0
• MDL (in general C/C++ native API) ... You need MicroStation SDK.

With regards,

  Jan