[2004 C#]

I'm reviewing an old project, we have lack of information about it and I'm new on Microstation. The project has our own submenus, I'm checking them (from workspace->customize->menu bar) and they've been done in different languages. When they're done in mdl or vba it's easy to recognise but some of them haven't any word that indicates the language, it's probable that's C# but how can I be sure?. How Microstation gets that info?. I try to find files with that name on my hard disk and I don't find anything.

Parents
  • Azteca said:
    I'm checking them (from workspace->customize->menu bar) and they've been done in different languages.

    Please clarify what you're asking.  A customised menu is not 'done' in any language — it's a user customisation using the built-in tools provided with MicroStation.

    Azteca said:
    When they're done in mdl or vba it's easy to recognise but some of them haven't any word that indicates the language

    It might be easier to supply a diagnosis if you were to supply some evidence. What are those that you recognise?  What are those that you don't recognise?

     
    Regards, Jon Summers
    LA Solutions

Reply
  • Azteca said:
    I'm checking them (from workspace->customize->menu bar) and they've been done in different languages.

    Please clarify what you're asking.  A customised menu is not 'done' in any language — it's a user customisation using the built-in tools provided with MicroStation.

    Azteca said:
    When they're done in mdl or vba it's easy to recognise but some of them haven't any word that indicates the language

    It might be easier to supply a diagnosis if you were to supply some evidence. What are those that you recognise?  What are those that you don't recognise?

     
    Regards, Jon Summers
    LA Solutions

Children
  • Unknown said:

    Please clarify what you're asking.  A customised menu is not 'done' in any language — it's a user customisation using the built-in tools provided with MicroStation.

    It might be easier to supply a diagnosis if you were to supply some evidence. What are those that you recognise?  What are those that you don't recognise?

    I'm talking about the key-in on MenuItem. I recognise the ones which starts with mdl or vba

  • Diagnosis by Telepathy

    Azteca said:
    I recognise the ones which starts with mdl or vba

    Maybe you recognise the ones which starts with mdl or vba, but we can't see what you can see.  Should we guess, or would you like to provide more evidence?

    1. What are those that you recognise? 
    2. What are those that you don't recognise?

     
    Regards, Jon Summers
    LA Solutions

  • Unknown said:

    Diagnosis by Telepathy

    Maybe you recognise the ones which starts with mdl or vba, but we can't see what you can see.  Should we guess, or would you like to provide more evidence?

    1. What are those that you recognise? 
    2. What are those that you don't recognise?

    1. For example: vba run database.databaseconnect

    2. parallelpoles

  • Azteca said:
    1. For example: vba run database.databaseconnect

    That tells me that there is a VBA project that contains a module named 'database' that contains a procedure named 'databaseconnect'.  What we don't know is the name of that VBA project (e.g. db.mvba). Do you agree?

    Azteca said:
    2. parallelpoles

    That tells me to look for a command parallelpoles provided either by MicroStation or by an add-in application.  Since it doesn't look like a MIcroStation built-in command, it must be provided by an add-in.

    What products in addition to MicroStation do you use?

    Key-in Commands

    MicroStation continues to support key-in commands.  That is, a command you can type manually in MicroStation's key-in window (menu Utilities|Keyin).  The user interface is a shortcut to a keyin command. 

    Because commands are plain old text, you can include them in user interface components, which is exactly what you have with your menus.  For example, vba run module.procedure is a MicroStation key-in that you can type manually or attach to a menu or icon. The place shape MicroStation  command lets a user draw a shape: you can type that into the key-in window, or select the appropriate icon from MicroStation's user inteface.

    parallelpoles must be a command.  We know that it isn't a built-in MicroStation command, so it must be provided by another application.  We can't tell what programming language was used to create that application — it's most likely MDL.  It can't be VBA, because VBA doesn't provide keyins, and it's unlikely to be C# because .NET development only became well-supported in MicroStation V8i.

     
    Regards, Jon Summers
    LA Solutions

  • Unknown said:

    That tells me that there is a VBA project that contains a module named 'database' that contains a procedure named 'databaseconnect'.  What we don't know is the name of that VBA project (e.g. db.mvba). Do you agree?

    Yes. I hadn't any problems here.

    Unknown said:

    What products in addition to MicroStation do you use?

    I guess 0.

    Where microstation loads those external key-in?

  • MicroStation provides its own command table, which defines the available keyins for the base product (e.g. place line).  An MDL application can define its own command table, which defines additional keyins for that application only.  When you load an MDL application, its commands become automatically available.

    Sometime in your company's recent history an MDL application was developed or purchased.  That application provides a command table, and one of the commands in that table is parallelpoles.  The command is available only when the MDL application is loaded (i.e. using mdl load xyz). 

    All MDL applications live in a .ma file, and those files live in the \MicroStation\mdlapps folder.  MicroStation itself delivers a number of MDL applications.  Your job is to figure out which .ma file supplies the command table that includes parallelpoles.

    One way is to load each MDL application and examine its keyins.  MicroStation's keyin browser (menu Utilities|Keyins) will help.  Alternatively, perhaps you can guess the application from its name.

     
    Regards, Jon Summers
    LA Solutions

  • Unknown said:

    MicroStation provides its own command table, which defines the available keyins for the base product (e.g. place line).  An MDL application can define its own command table, which defines additional keyins for that application only.  When you load an MDL application, its commands become automatically available.

    It doesn't appear in Utilities->MDL Applications, is it logical?.

    Unknown said:

    One way is to load each MDL application and examine its keyins.  MicroStation's keyin browser (menu Utilities|Keyins) will help.

    When I select that option, nothing happens.

  • Azteca said:
    It doesn't appear in Utilities->MDL Applications

    What doesn't appear?  You should see a dialog similar to the attached screenshot.

    You can see two lists...

    • The top list shows MDL applications that are currently loaded in MicroStation
    • The bottom list shows MDL applications that are available (usually from the \mdlapps folder) but not loaded

    With the MDL dialog open, select an application in the top list.  Press the Key-ins button.  You will see the commands for that application appear in the Keyin dialog. 

     
    Regards, Jon Summers
    LA Solutions

  • Unknown said:

    What doesn't appear?  You should see a dialog similar to the attached screenshot.

    The functionality we're talking about (parallelpoles).

  • Let me explain differently.

    An MDL application lives in a .ma file. You can see several MDL applications listed in the screenshot I posted earlier.  If you look in the \mdlapps folder, you will see those MDL apps. listed (with a .ma extension).

    An MDL application may provide a command table.  The command table provides key-in commands.  A command is not the name of the MDL application.  The name of an MDL application is not a command.

    In your case, there is or was a command parallelpoles.  That command was supplied by the command table of an MDL application.  There is probably not an MDL application named parallelpoles.ma.  We don't know what the MDL application is called. 

    I don't know what your organisation does, what your role is, or the purpose for which you use MicroStation.  I'm guessing that it could be electrical distribution or maybe telecoms.  Presumably the MDL app. was something to do with pole placement.  So you're looking for an MDL application that includes the command table that provide the parallelpoles command.

    Since you have stated that your company uses no MDL application, that could be a futile search.  You could just list the contents of your \mdlapps folder, post that list here, and ask if anyone recognises the application.

     
    Regards, Jon Summers
    LA Solutions