MDL Syntax

Unknown said:

Getting sucked back into the MicroStation world

Welcome back!  Which version (e.g. v10.x.y.z) of MicroStation are you using?

Thanks, Jon 

SDK version is v08.11.09

MicroSation is v8i SS3 (v08.11.09.578)

Located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Bentley\MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries)\Documentation folder should be two chm files.  MDLAPIFunctionReference.chm and MDLProgrammerGuide.chm. 

Your path name could be slightly different.

mdlBitMask_logicalOperation is described in the Function reference.  Search for mdlBitMask_logicalOperation and you should find the description of the function.

Jon can probably describe exactly what the code is doing but my guess looking at the call is it's trying to turn on any levels that are on in the "j" file on in the "k" file while leaving alone any levels already on in "k" since it's doing an "OR".  (Again, this is a guess so I could be completely wrong).

In any case, if you didn't already know about the two documentation files they should be helpful to you.  I believe they get installed when you install the SDK so they won't be there otherwise.

Regards,

Mike Lazear

Thanks, Mike. I did find those help files. I'll have a closer look through them to decipher what this code is actually doing

I should state the error is:

error: '=' : incompatible pointer types from 'struct BitMask *' to 'struct BitMask'

Unknown said:

incompatible pointer types from 'struct BitMask *' to 'struct BitMask'

The compiler is telling you that it expected a pointer but you passed an unqualified variable.  Without more information I can't say what the problem is, but probably you need to write &variable rather than plain old variable.

Unknown said:

I understand the the arguments are now BitMaskP and BitMaskCP

This article about MDL Structures, Typedefs, and #include may throw some light on those type names.

Thanks for the links, Jon! Will have a look

The comments in the code indicate *type is a pointer argument passed to this function (get_type). The view variable in the offending code is defined:

Views_Info *view

Views_Info is a custom typedef:

typedef struct views_info
{
int num_files;
char name[64];
char label[64];
Files_Info *files;
}

Files_Info is a custom typedef:

typedef struct files_info
{
int mode;
char name[MAXFILELENGTH]; // GDG Sep 2006
char logical_pre[64];
char logical_post[64];
short level_num;
short level_val;
BitMaskP *levels;
} Files_Info;

What does the "->" mean in the offending code?

Thanks again for the help!!

Unknown said:

What does the "->" mean in the offending code?

That is the pointer operator.   Use it to get at the nested contents of a pointer...

typedef views_info ViewsInfo;
ViewsInfo* info = ... get info from somewhere
// Get num_files value
info->num_files

Ah, ok. Thanks, Jon!