Moving From promis.e for AutoCAD to promis.e Standalone [TN]

Document Information

Document Type: TechNote

Product(s): promis•e V8i and promis•e 2007

Version(s): 3.0.x, 08.11.05.xx - 08.11.12.xx

Original Author: Matt_P

Overview

This document explains the steps necessary to successfully switch from promis•e 2007 or promis•e V8i running on AutoCAD to promis•e Standalone. Some of these steps must be completed before promis•e for AutoCAD is uninstalled. It is generally recommended that the instructions in this document are followed in the order in which they appear.

To move to a recent release of promis•e from a "legacy" version of promis•e (promis•e 5.06 through promis•e Aero 2), please see the Migrating Legacy Data To promis•e TechNote.

For the remainder of this document, the term "promis•e Standalone" will be used to mean promis•e with an integrated MicroStation engine as well as older versions of promis•e running on top of MicroStation or MicroStation PowerDraft.

Note: you must be moving to the same or newer version of promis•e than you are currently using. Projects are not backwards compatible. See Project Database Version.

Backup Existing Projects

There is no option in the Migration Wizard of promis•e V8i to convert projects from promis•e 2007 or V8i for AutoCAD to promis•e Standalone. To "convert" existing projects, back them up with the "Save files in MicroStation compatible format" option enabled. The resulting .PRJ files will be restored into promis•e Standalone.

Important: Complete this step before uninstalling promis•e for AutoCAD or AutoCAD.

The backup process:

Start promis•e for AutoCAD.
In the Project Manager, right click a project and select Backup.
Specify a destination path for the backup file in the "Save in" field.
Important: Enable the "Save files in MicroStation compatible format" option on the Backup Project dialog. This must be done each time the Backup tool is used.
Click the OK button to begin the backup process. When complete, an archive file with a .PRJ extension should have been created in the folder specified in step 3.

Repeat this process for the remaining projects to be converted.

Rename the Data Folder

To ensure that a new "promis-e Data" folder is created during the installation of promis•e Standalone, rename the existing local data folder to something like "promis-e Data ACAD". Alternatively, a unique name can be specified for the new data folder path during installation.

Note: If the path for the data folder specified during installation already exists, a new data folder will not be created and the existing one may not be overwritten, depending on the version of the software. The existing data folder that remains after installation could therefore contain data that is not native to promis•e Standalone. It will contain drawing files in the .DWG format, while promis•e Standalone needs to have these files in its native .DGN format.

Install promis•e Standalone

If possible, do not uninstall AutoCAD or promis•e for AutoCAD until promis•e Standalone is operational and the users are comfortable with it.*

* Prior to promis•e V8i SELECTseries 5 (08.11.10.xx), promis•e for AutoCAD and promis•e Standalone can coexist on the same machine as long as they are installed in different paths. This is no longer possible beginning with promis•e V8i SELECTseries 5.

During installation of older versions you may be prompted for the type installation to perform. Choose the "New Install" option, not the "Upgrade Install" Option. This creates a separate installation from previous versions and ensures that necessary files are installed and in the correct format.

Be sure to specify a unique installation path or "program folder" during installation to avoid overwriting files in an existing path which would make the existing version of promis•e non-functional. If the default Program folder path exists, specify a different path during installation of promis•e Standalone. If promis•e for AutoCAD has already been uninstalled then an existing path can be specified here and will be overwritten.

As noted in the Rename the Data Folder section, a new "promis-e Data" folder should be created for promis•e to work properly. If sharing promis•e data, the newly created "promis-e Data" folder can be copied to a file server and the promis•e Setup dialog configured to use it. See also the Network Installation Guide TechNote. It may be desirable to preserve existing network data folders until all users have moved to the new promis•e and the data successfully migrated. Consider migrating data to the new "promis-e Data" folder before moving the folder to a network file server.

Convert Supporting Data

The contents of catalogs (symbols, macros, and title blocks) and page formats are stored as drawing files and must be in the native format of the platform that promis•e runs on. Therefore any customized catalogs and page formats need to be migrated before they can be used in promis•e Standalone.

If no custom symbols, macros, title blocks, or page formats were used in promis•e for AutoCAD, then this step should be skipped; the supplied data in the newly created data folder will be in the correct format.

To convert supporting data:

Start promis•e Standalone
Open the Project Manager
Select File > Migration Wizard from the Project Manager menus.
Select the "From promis-e (ACAD) to promis-e (MicroStation)" option
Continue through the process to migrate catalogs and page formats. The destination paths should typically be in the new "promis-e Data" folder.

If a catalog was migrated to an uncompressed catalog, a Catalog Path to it must be added on the promis•e Setup dialog in order for the catalog to be recognized by promis•e. If the catalog was migrated to a backup catalog file (.ctlg), import it into Catalog Manager with the Import Catalog button on the right.

To save time, copy custom page format files to a temporary folder and convert the contents of that folder instead of converting the entire contents of the "\PageFormat" subfolder of the promis-e Data folder.

Note: Supporting data that is not stored as drawing files such as parts databases and project option profiles can simply be copied to the new data folder. promis•e must then be configured to use that data if applicable. For example a new Parts Database Path would be created for the custom parts database on the promis-e Setup dialog.

Create a New Project Database

If the version of promis•e Standalone being migrated to uses the same database version as the version of promis•e for AutoCAD currently being used, the existing project database could be used by promis•e Standalone. However, if the existing project database has been used for awhile or contains data for many projects, this might be a good time to create a new project database. By doing so, the data for the AutoCAD projects would be separate from the data for the MicroStation projects and it would be a simple task to decommission the old database at an appropriate time, leaving the new database free of obsolete data.

If moving to a version of promis•e Standalone that is newer than the promis•e for AutoCAD, then the database schema must be updated or a new one created. Again, it is probably better and cleaner to create a new database

Important: The existing project database should not be updated if existing projects are to remain accessible by promis•e for AutoCAD.

See the Creating and Updating the promis•e Project Database TechNote for details.

Restore Projects

Start promis•e Standalone and select File > Restore from the Project Manager pull down menus. Browse to a .PRJ file created in the Backup Existing Projects section. Specify a destination folder for the drawing files and enter the name that should be given to the restored project. Click OK to restore the project. The project should then be accessible in promis•e Standalone.

Note: If running promis•e in a network environment, projects should be restored after configuring promis•e to use the network project database. This is done on the Setup dialog.