MDL V8 tool to CONNECT EDITION Migration

Daniel Bollavarapu said:

We are migrating old MicroStation V8 tools(.ma) to CONNECT EDITION 14.

Daniel Bollavarapu said:

we are using 'mdl load sourcer' tool in V7 to generate .r file from .rsc file.

That reads as if you're reverse-engineering an app to extract its user interface and implementation.

You seem confused about the purpose of source (*.r, *.mc, *.h, *.fdf) files and compiled (*.rsc, *.mo, *.mp, *.ma) files.

Header Files

Header files (*.h, *.fdf) are source code files. Usually shared by implementation *.mc and resource source (*.r) files.

Resource Definition Files

Dialogs, Command Tables and Message lists are defined in one or more reource source (*.r) files. Resource source code is compiled to binary (*.rsc) using the Bentley tool rcomp.exe. Multiple resource files can be merged using the Bentley tool rlib.exe.

Implementation Definition Files

MDL is written in source (*.mc) files. Source code is compiled to an intermediate binary (, *.mo) file by the Bentley tool mcomp.exe.

Build

Finally, all resource binaries and intermediate code files are merged into a *.ma by the Bentley librarian.

BMake

The above steps are best written in a Bentley Make (bmake.mke) file.  Your screenshot doesn't show a bmake file but it does show a Windows batch file: I hope you're not controlling the build of your app using a batch file!  Prefer a make file (bmake) to manual build methods.

Daniel Bollavarapu said:

We are migrating old MicroStation V8 tools(.ma) to CONNECT EDITION 14.

Daniel Bollavarapu said:

we are using 'mdl load sourcer' tool in V7 to generate .r file from .rsc file.

That reads as if you're reverse-engineering an app to extract its user interface and implementation.

You seem confused about the purpose of source (*.r, *.mc, *.h, *.fdf) files and compiled (*.rsc, *.mo, *.mp, *.ma) files.

Header Files

Header files (*.h, *.fdf) are source code files. Usually shared by implementation *.mc and resource source (*.r) files.

Resource Definition Files

Dialogs, Command Tables and Message lists are defined in one or more reource source (*.r) files. Resource source code is compiled to binary (*.rsc) using the Bentley tool rcomp.exe. Multiple resource files can be merged using the Bentley tool rlib.exe.

Implementation Definition Files

MDL is written in source (*.mc) files. Source code is compiled to an intermediate binary (, *.mo) file by the Bentley tool mcomp.exe.

Build

Finally, all resource binaries and intermediate code files are merged into a *.ma by the Bentley librarian.

BMake

The above steps are best written in a Bentley Make (bmake.mke) file.  Your screenshot doesn't show a bmake file but it does show a Windows batch file: I hope you're not controlling the build of your app using a batch file!  Prefer a make file (bmake) to manual build methods.

Hi Jon,

Thanks for explaining about the file types and their use.

And my question is do we really need dialog box source code .r file for migration ?

Thank you.

Daniel Bollavarapu said:

Do we really need dialog box source code .r file for migration?

Jan has already answered that topic.

However, keep in mind that you're porting from a 32-bit world to 64-bit CONNECT.  Will 32-bit binaries work in a 64-bit world?  If you have source code, and use rcomp.exe, delivered with the CONNECT SDK, to create a binary *.rsc file then that must be CONNECT compatible.

It is quite likely that the data structures used in an ancient 32-bit app are incompatible with data structures of the same name in 64-bit development.  Attempting to use 32-bit resource files for a 64-bit app would be foolish.  So, yes, you need the source code for your dialog box.  How else will you maintain or extend the app?