Question: Which operating systems are supported by ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8)?
Answer: See the Installation Requirements section of the Requirements for a list of supported operating systems.
Question: What are the "Prerequisites for Bentley Desktop Applications" and why do I need them?
Answer: The Prerequisites for Bentley Desktop Applications are Microsoft packages that are installed to your workstation when you install ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8). A complete list of the components of the Prerequisites for Bentley Desktop Applications, along with information about them, can be found in the Installation Requirements. These components are required because ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) has a dependencies on them.
Question: Do I need to install the Prerequisites for Bentley Desktop Applications manually before I install ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8)?
Answer: You have the option of installing the Prerequisites for Bentley Desktop Applications manually prior to installing ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) or you can allow the ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) installer to download and install them during the ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) installation.
Question: Can I install ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) on the same workstation as MicroStation V8 XM Edition or MicroStation V8i?
Answer: Yes, you can install ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) on the same workstation as MicroStation V8 XM Edition or MicroStation V8i. The only restriction is that you do not install both versions to the same directory. For information about installing ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) on the same workstation as MicroStation V8i, see "Before you start" in the QuickInstall Guide.
Question: Can I install ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) on the same workstation with previous versions of V8i (SELECTseries 3) Building Applications (Bentley Architecture, Structural Modeler, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems or Bentley Building Electrical)?
Answer: Yes, you can install ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) on the same workstation with the previous versions of V8i (SELECTseries 3) Building Applications. Please note, only one instance of a major release of each application for V8i is allowed to be installed on a workstation. Please consult "Before you start" in the QuickInstall Guide.
Question: How do I activate ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8)?
Answer: Activation can be accomplished during or after the installation process through License Management Tool. You will need two pieces of information in order to complete activation: the name of the SELECTserver and an activation key, which should be available from your system administrator. See ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) Product Activation.
Question: Will ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) require/consume a MicroStation licenses?
Answer: No, ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) is a PowerPlatform application. Predecessor applications were “layered” applications that ran on top of MicroStation. As a PowerPlatform application, ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) is a standalone product and does not require and does not use, previously installed versions of MicroStation. ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) will not check for a corresponding MicroStation license. ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) incorporates most of the MicroStation capabilities natively within its application and install set.
Question: Are ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) licenses managed by SELECTserver 2004 Edition?
Answer: No. ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) requires SELECTserver XM Edition or later and will not run with SELECTserver 2004 Edition. Bentley now provides two options for application licensing: (1) SELECTserver ONLINE hosted by Bentley, or (2) you may choose to download and deploy SELECTserver at your organization. More information can be found regarding our SELECTserver ONLINE option.
Question: Where can I review the ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) End User Licensing Agreement?
Answer: The End User License Agreement is named "EULA.pdf". See the Readme for the default location.
Question: What is the "Evaluation Mode" licensing state?
Answer: ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) adds an additional licensing mode for new users to “test drive” our products prior to purchase. Evaluation mode allows full use of the product for up to 30 days. A window will display daily presenting the option to purchase or continue the evaluation. After the evaluation period concludes, the product will not function until it is activated. If you want to purchase a product, contact your account manager or fill out a Sales Contact Request.
Question: How is Schedule Simulation in ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) activated and licensed?
Answer: Schedule Simulation in ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) is initially available running in a pre-activated trial mode. It will run in trial mode for up to 29 days following the first use. To license Schedule Simulation you must obtain a ProjectWise Schedule Simulation Visa. For more information:
Question: Will ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) performance be enhanced when running on a 64-bit operating system?
Answer: Yes. While ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) is a 32-bit application, it takes advantage of AWE (Address Windowing Extensions) to use the extra memory. When a ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) session is running out of memory, it uses AWE to swap to the extended memory instead of to disk. This can make a significant difference in the performance. An application must have the Lock Pages in Memory privilege to use AWE. In order to obtain this privilege, an administrator must add Lock Pages in Memory to the user’s User Rights Assignments. For more information on how to do this, see “User Rights” in the operating system help.
Additionally, the Luxology rendering engine is delivered in both 64-bit and 32-bit versions. The appropriate version will be installed automatically, depending on the operating System detected during installation. Both the 64-bit and 32-bit versions will take full advantage of all available memory and processing power available to each operating system.
Question: I have a dual-core workstation. Will ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) take advantage of multi-core or multi-processor systems?
Answer: Yes, ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) takes advantage of multi-core or multi-processor systems. ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) will perform graphics processing in a separate thread. The new Luxology rendering engine makes very efficient use of up to 32 cores, and you will see linear performance gains as more cores are added.
Question: Will enabling hyper-threading on my workstation have any benefit?
Answer: Yes, while early attempts at hyper-threading on single core machines actually degraded ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) performance, the new generation of multi-core processors from Intel (Nehalem) actually yield 20% gain in rendering performance. Therefore users with single core processors should make sure hyper-threading is not enabled on their workstation and users with multi-core processors should enable hyper-threading to realize the performance gains.
Question: What are the benefits of running ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) with a DirectX 11 compatible graphics card?
Answer: When running a graphics card that supports either DirectX 10 or DirectX 11, most users will see significant performance gains, particularly with display modes that include transparency, edges, or shadows. We see many examples where complex models displayed in hidden line, illustration, or shaded monochrome mode are 3 to 5 times faster with DirectX 11 than with DirectX 9. Even users that already have DirectX 11 capable hardware or that work with predominantly 2D models can generally boost display performance by upgrading to a faster graphics card.
Question: Is DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 supported by ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) and will it run on video cards that support DirectX 9 and DirectX 10?
Answer: Yes, however, for new purchases, it is recommended that you choose a video card that supports DirectX 11.
Question: Will MicroStation BASIC macros work in ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8)?
Answer: MicroStation BASIC is supported in ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8). However, MicroStation BASIC has not been enhanced and is likely to be unsupported in future versions. Bentley recommends migrating existing MicroStation BASIC code to Visual Basic or Visual Basic for Applications.
Question: Will User Commands still run in ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8)?
Answer: User Commands still run in ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8), but have been unsupported since the initial release of V8i. It is anticipated this will be the last release permitting User Command to run. For assistance on migrating from User Commands please check the BE Communities Web site or contact Bentley SELECT Support through the Service Ticket Manager.
Question: Will existing MDL applications still work in ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8)?
Answer: Most pure MDL applications that run on MicroStation V8 XM Edition and MicroStation V8i should run on ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) without modification. There are some incompatibilities. These are noted in the MicroStation SDK Readme. If the application contains portions written in native code (compiled with Microsoft Visual C++ compiler), then the application should be recompiled with Visual Studio 2005 service pack 1.
Question: Will existing Visual Basic applications still work in ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8)?
Answer: Yes.
Question: Can applications compiled with Visual Studio 2008 work in ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8)?
Answer: Running applications compiled with Visual Studio 2008 is not recommended. This is due to the possible incompatibilities and differences in the C runtime between the Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Studio 2005 compilers. For example, the way memory is allocated and freed can be different. Such issues can make it extremely difficult to debug problems.
Question: ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) support LIDAR point cloud data?
Answer: Yes, ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) includes the Pointools Vortex™ engine which provides fast, efficient display and manipulation of point cloud data. Please refer to the help for additional details.
Question: How have fonts changed in ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8)?
Answer: Beginning with V8i the MstnFontConfig.xml configuration file is used for the handling of fonts. This file has two sections: language-based font specifications and font details, and can be modified with any text or XML editor. The file is installed in …\Workspace\System\fonts. In addition, there are three new configuration variables for fonts. For more information, consult the Help documentation. From the table of contents, go to What's New > New in V8i > Text Enhancements > Font Enhancements.
Question: What are the changes to DWG file format support in ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8)?
Answer: ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) now includes the Autodesk® RealDWG™ libraries, which provide the highest levels of fidelity possible when working with DWG™ files. Due to this change ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) has the same level of support that all applications based on Autodesk® RealDWG™ libraries will have as a baseline. ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) also provides some unique benefits not available to other Autodesk® RealDWG™-based applications and will provide more in the future.
ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) has these changes regarding DWG format support:
Question: Does ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) support versions of DWG prior to 2016?
Answer: Yes, it does. ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) opens all DWG versions up to 2016.
Question: What are the Bentley iWare Apps for interoperability?
Answer: The Bentley iWare Apps for interoperability are Bentley's free software serving infrastructure professionals. The following Bentley iWare Apps for interoperability are installed as part of the ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) installation.
Bentley DGN Reader for Windows 7:
The Bentley iWare Apps for interoperability can also be downloaded from http://www.bentley.com/en-us/free+software/.
Question: What is the Bentley DGN Indexer?
Answer: The Bentley DGN Indexer is a shared indexing service that is used by the Project Explorer to retrieve data from DGN files. If enabled, it replaces the harvesting technique from previous versions of Project Explorer. The performance of the indexing service is much better than the conventional harvesting technique. The Bentley DGN Indexer is installed as part of the ProStructures V8i (SELECTseries 8) installation.
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