VBA mdl function declaration for mdlSystem_setBatchProcessingState (PROCESSSTATE_Processing, NULL)

First, define the possible values of PROCESSSTATE for VBA...

Public Enum PROCESSSTATE
    PROCESSSTATE_Inactive             = 0
    PROCESSSTATE_Processing           = 1
    PROCESSSTATE_Paused               = 2
    PROCESSSTATE_Done                 = 3
    PROCESSSTATE_Cancelled            = 4
    PROCESSSTATE_OpeningFile          = 5
    PROCESSSTATE_AnalyzeFile          = 6
    PROCESSSTATE_ClosedFile           = 7
End Enum

Next, declare the function prototype in VBA...

Declare PtrSafe Sub mdlSystem_setBatchProcessingState _
    Lib "ustation.dll" _
    (ByVal PROCESSSTATE, ByVal s As LongPtr)

Now write a VBA wrapper.   I've stolen and adapted this one from Yongan.Fu's post...

Public Sub OpenFileWithoutWorkSetCheck(ByVal fileName As String)
    mdlSystem_setBatchProcessingState PROCESSSTATE_Processing, 0
    OpenDesignFile fileName
    mdlSystem_setBatchProcessingState PROCESSSTATE_Inactive, 0
End Sub

The above is all guesswork — I haven't tested it.

Thanks Jon, it's still not working, but you set me in the right direction. I get a runtime error stating "Can't find DLL entry point mdlSystem_setBatchProcessingState in stdmdlbltin.dll". My assumption is the function is not contained in that dll. I'll look around and see if I can figure out which one it is.

Also, just want to send out a big thanks to you and your website! I starting using Microstation about 8 or 9 years ago and virtually everything I know about Microstation VBA started with your website. You've made me a rockstar among my peers.

Thanks Jon, it's still not working, but you set me in the right direction. I get a runtime error stating "Can't find DLL entry point mdlSystem_setBatchProcessingState in stdmdlbltin.dll". My assumption is the function is not contained in that dll. I'll look around and see if I can figure out which one it is.

Also, just want to send out a big thanks to you and your website! I starting using Microstation about 8 or 9 years ago and virtually everything I know about Microstation VBA started with your website. You've made me a rockstar among my peers.

Hi Robert,

Robert Ness said:

My assumption is the function is not contained in that dll. I'll look around and see if I can figure out which one it is.

I recommend to use tools like dllexp (very old, but still useful) or similar, that allow to see what functions are exported in particular dll.

Using the mentioned one, it was simple task to find the function is available in ustation.dll.

With regards,

  Jan

Jan Šlegr said:

it was simple task to find the function is available in ustation.dll

Thanks for finding the right DLL!

Hi Jan Šlegr,

Though I cannot directly assist on questions related to unpublished/private API methods; in General FWIW as a Productivity Tip...

For the simple task of "finding a method across one or more binary files" (definitions and/or consumers), findstr -sim "FuncName" *.dll is extremely quick and fairly accurate (I'd rate ~92% or better. Binary file types using compression are not good candidates) way to perform a "first pass" at finding consumers and definitions of a given search string.

This approach is used and available within a couple MicroStation Developer Shell "tools":

1. sb SearchString *.FileExt - Search Binary (sb) wrapper.
2. SDKSearch SearchString ver - Search Verbose (ver) most complete SDK and product (e.g. MS) search for resource matches.

For example, in a matter of seconds (<15 seconds) sb from the MicroStation (ms) Root directory provides these results for the SearchString in question:

C:\PROGRA~1\Bentley\MICROS~2\MICROS~1>sb mdlSystem_setBatchProcessingState *.dll
MdlSys\Asneeded\batchprocess.dll
ustation.dll

HTH,
Bob