Product(s):	Bentley Substation CONNECT Edition
Version(s):	10.00 - 10.02
Environment:	N/A
Area:	Installation_Configuration
Subarea:	N/A

Overview

The purpose of this document is to guide you through the deployment process of Bentley Substation CONNECT Edition. The deployment process involves the following steps:

1. Download Substation CONNECT Edition
2. Install Substation CONNECT Edition
3. (Optional) Create a deployment image (refer to Substation Help > Deployment Guide)
4. Create Project Database
5. Create and Deploy a Shared Workspace
6. Migrate V8i Projects to CONNECT
7. Deploy Substation CONNECT to all users

1       Download Substation CONNECT Edition

Please refer to the article How to download the Bentley Substation software.

2       Install Substation CONNECT Edition

An administrator should install the software on one machine that they can use to initially configure the software and establish a shared corporate workspace further explained in step 4 below.

For instructions on installing Substation CONNECT Edition you can refer to the online Substation Help > QuickInstall Guide.

3       (Optional) Create a Deployment Image

If you want to create a software deployment image in order to facilitate the installation of the software across your organization then refer to the Substation Help > Deployment Guide topic for detailed steps on how to create this.

4       Create Project Database

To share projects among multiple users you will need to have SQL Server running on a network server. See the application’s readme file for SQL Server requirements.

Note: Currently there is no method to update a legacy V8i project database to CONNECT. You will have to create a new CONNECT project database and refer to the topic, “Migrate V8i Projects to CONNECT” for instructions on how to migrate your V8i projects.

To create a new CONNECT project database, you can refer to the article, “Creating and Updating the Project Database.”

5       Create and Deploy a Shared Workspace

The installer delivers an example workspace named, “Substation Example” which contains the standard symbol catalogs, parts database, page formats, templates, etc.

Important! Bentley reserves the right to modify the Example workspace on new releases of the software. You must create and deploy a new corporate workspace that includes your custom content and templates rather than modifying the existing Example workspace.

Creating a New Workspace

To create a new WorkSpace follow these steps:

1. In Windows Explorer, make a copy of the ‘Substation Example’ workspace which is located in this folder after a default installation of the software:
   C:\ProgramData\Bentley\Bentley Substation CONNECT Edition\Configuration\WorkSpaces
   
   Copy both the folder and the configuration file named, “Substation Example.cfg”
   
   
2. Rename both the copied folder and the configuration file to a new name for your organization such as, “MyCompany.”
3. Start Substation and from the Welcome dialog and select the “Start a Work Session” button
   
4. Select the “WorkSpace Picker” and choose “Create WorkSpace” to create a new WorkSpace.
   
5. Enter a name for your workspace such as “MyCompany” and point the Root Folder path to the “MyCompany” workspace.
   

Customize the WorkSpace

By default, the dataset resides in the following folder within your WorkSpace:

…\MyCompany\Standards\Substation

The dataset is organized into the following subfolders found in the before mentioned folder:

• Catalogs
• Cell
• Config
• Databases
• DgnLib
• License
• PageFormat
• Quickstart
• Sample Projects
• Templates

You may delete any default content that you do not need from the dataset. For instance, you may have no need for the Sample Projects or specific catalogs.

If you have custom content from V8i that you would like to use such as catalogs, report templates, and other files you can copy them over to the CONNECT WorkSpace to the appropriate folder.

The following sections will explain in more detail how to add your custom content.

Symbol Catalogs

To ensure that the software loads your custom catalogs you must follow this twostep process:

1. Copy any custom catalogs that you have to the following folder: …\MyCompany\Standards\Substation\Catalogs
2. Specify a path to each catalog you wish to load

Catalog Paths can be specified in one of two ways:

1. Directly editing a configuration file
2. Using the application’s interface

Directly editing a configuration file

Set the configuration variable named, “ELEC_CATALOG_PATH” in a configuration file to point to each of your catalogs. Multiple catalogs should be delineated by a semicolon “;” when setting the value for the ELEC_CATALOG_PATH variable as shown below:

ELEC_CATALOG_PATH               = $(_USTN_WORKSPACESTANDARDS)$(_USTN_APPLICATION)/Catalogs/MyFirstCatalog/;$(_USTN_WORKSPACESTANDARDS)$(_USTN_APPLICATION)/Catalogs/MySecondCatalog/

The two recommended places to specify your catalog paths are as follows:

1. WorkSpace Level (MyCompany \ Standards \ Substation \ Substation.cfg): Setting catalog paths at this level of the configuration system will make the catalogs available to every WorkSet / Project that you create.
2. WorkSet Level: Setting catalog paths here will make the catalogs available to this specific WorkSet and will take precedence over any value you set at the WorkSpace level. This could be specified in a Template WorkSet which is explained in the article Working with Template WorkSets.

Refer to the article Configuration Files for a greater understanding of the configuration files in the application.

Using the application’s interface

1. Select the WorkSpace Configuration Variables button in the Project Manager to open the dialog.
2. Locate the ELEC_CATALOG_PATH variable and click the “…” button to edit it.
3. Select the “+” button to display the Add Catalog dialog.
4. Select the “…” button to browse to and select your catalog.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each catalog you wish to load.
6. You can remove an existing catalog that you do not wish to load by highlighting that catalog path and selecting the Delete button.

Parts Database

To configure your own parts database, you must follow this twostep process:

1. Create a parts database mapping configuration
2. Set the ELEC_ACTIVEPARTSDATABASE variable

Create a parts database mapping configuration

To create a parts database mapping configuration you must use the New/Modify project dialog. To access the dialog, you must first select a WorkSet in the Project Manager and then follow these steps:

1. Select the New/Modify Project button in the Project Manager to display the New/Modify Project dialog.
2. Select the Content tab in the dialog and click the New button to create a new parts database mapping.
3. In the Add Parts Database dialog, enter a Parts Database Name such as “MyPartsDatabase.”
4. If using a MS Access parts database file, you can browse to the file. If using a SQL Server table, you can Build the connection string.
5. Select the table that contains your part records from the Table pull-down and click Next to continue.
6. Map the fields from your parts database with the application’s internal field names. Refer to the application’s help file for more information on this feature if needed.
7. When done mapping fields click the Finish button.

The parts database mapping is stored in this file:

MyCompany \Standards \Substation \ PartsDBMappings.xml

If you need to change the location of this file you can modify the value of the ELEC_PARTS_DB_MAPPING_PATH variable in the WorkSpace Configuration Variables dialog or by directly editing the WorkSpace configuration file (MyCompany \Standards \Substation \ Substation.cfg).

Set the ELEC_ACTIVEPARTSDATABASE variable

You must now tell the software to load the parts database mapping configuration that you just defined in the first step. This is done by setting the ELEC_ACTIVEPARTSDATABASE variable to the name of the parts database mapping configuration. If you want to ensure that the software uses this parts database for all WorkSets, that do not specify their own parts database, you must set this variable in the WorkSpace configuration file.

This can be done in one of two ways:

1. Directly edit the Workspace Configuration file (MyCompany \Standards \Substation \ Substation.cfg) and set the variable as shown:
   ELEC_ACTIVEPARTSDATABASE       = MyPartsDatabase
   
   
2. Using the application’s interface by opening the WorkSpace Configuration Variables dialog and locating the ELEC_ACTIVEPARTSDATABASE variable and setting the pull-down to “MyPartsDatabase.”

Default System Options File

To make changes to the default System Option settings in the software you can follow this procedure:

1. Open a page of any Project.
2. Select File > Options to open the Options dialog.
3. Set the system option settings as desired and click the “Save (Disk Icon)” shown below to save the options file:
   
   Give the file a name such as “MySystemOptions” and save it to your workspace here:
   
   \MyCompany\Standards\Substation\Config\Options
   
   
4. To specify this as your default System Options file set the variable ELEC_SYSTEM_OPTION_PROFILE to the name of your System Options file using the WorkSpace Configuration Variables dialog or by directly editing the configuration file (MyCompany \Standards \Substation \ Substation.cfg) and setting the variable as shown:
   
   ELEC_SYSTEM_OPTION_PROFILE     = $(AppWorkspaceStandards)Config/Options/MySystemOptions.xml

Default Project Options File

To make changes to the default Project Option settings in the software you can follow this procedure:

1. Open a page of any Project.
2. Select File > Options to open the Options dialog.
3. Set your desired project option settings and click the “Save (Disk Icon)” shown below to save the options file:
   
   Give the file a name such as “MyProjectOptions” and save it to your workspace here:
   
   \MyCompany\Standards\Substation\Config\Options
   
   
4. To specify this as your default Project Options file for all new projects set the variable ELEC_PROJECT_OPTION_PROFILE to the name of your Project Options file using the WorkSpace Configuration Variables dialog or by directly editing the configuration file (MyCompany \Standards \Substation \ Substation.cfg) and setting the variable as shown:

   ELEC_PROJECT_OPTION_PROFILE     = $(_USTN_WORKSPACESTANDARDS)$(_USTN_APPLICATION)/Config/Options/MyProjectOptions.xml

5. (Optional) If you have multiple project options files that you need for different projects, you can make use of a template WorkSet to set which Project Options file to load when using this template to create a new project. For more details, see the article Working with Template WorkSets.

Default User Options File

To make changes to the default User Option settings in the software you can follow this procedure:

1. Open a page of any Project.
2. Select File > Options to open the Options dialog.
3. Set the user option settings as desired and click the “Save (Disk Icon)” shown below to save the options file:
   
   Give the file a name such as “MyUserOptions” and save it to your workspace here:
   
   \MyCompany\Standards\Substation\Config\Options
   
   
4. Edit the file you just saved (MyUserOptions.xml) in a text editor and Find the two lines that begin with <LogCommand> and <LogCommandPath> and replace them with the following:
   
   <LogCommand>false</LogCommand>
   <LogCommandPath/>
   
   This will avoid setting a path that is specific to one particular machine for all users when you deploy the software to others.
   
   
5. To specify this as your default User Options file set the variable ELEC_USER_OPTION_PROFILE to the name of your System Options file using the WorkSpace Configuration Variables dialog or by directly editing the configuration file (MyCompany \Standards \Substation \ Substation.cfg) and setting the variable as shown:
   
   ELEC_USER_OPTION_PROFILE       = $(AppWorkspaceStandards)Config/Options/MyUserOptions.xml

Profiles

The Profiles folder (\MyCompany\Standards\Substation\Config\Profiles) contains many sub folders for the various types of profiles or formats that are commonly used in the software as shown below:

• Address Files
• Device Cross Reference Formats
• Device ID Formats
• Drawing Standards
• Text Styles
• Wire Link Cross Reference Formats
• Wire Properties
• Wire Tag Formats

Copy your custom profiles to the appropriate folder above.

If you want to change the default location of the profiles, the variable ELEC_PRJ_PROFILE_DIR can be modified in the WorkSpace Configuration Variables dialog or by directly editing the configuration file (MyCompany \Standards \Substation \ Substation.cfg).

Multi-language Database

Copy your custom Multi_Language_UI.mdb to this folder:

\MyCompany\Standards\Substation\Databases

If you want to change the default location of the page formats, the variable ELEC_LANGUAGE_DB_PATH can be modified in the WorkSpace Configuration Variables dialog or by directly editing the configuration file (MyCompany \Standards \Substation \ Substation.cfg).

Page Formats

Copy your custom page formats to this folder:

\MyCompany\Standards\Substation\PageFormat

If you want to change the default location of the page formats, the variable ELEC_PAGE_FORMAT_DIR can be modified in the WorkSpace Configuration Variables dialog or by directly editing the configuration file (MyCompany \Standards \Substation \ Substation.cfg).

Templates

The Templates folder (\MyCompany\Standards\Substation\Templates) contains many sub folders for the various types of templates that are commonly used in the software as shown below:

• Graphic Plan
• Page
• Reports

Copy your custom profiles to the appropriate folder above.

You can individually change the default location of the template folders using the WorkSpace Configuration Variables dialog or by directly editing the configuration file (MyCompany \Standards \Substation \ Substation.cfg) for each of the following variables:

• ELEC_TEMPLATES_GRAPHICPLAN_DIR
• ELEC_TEMPLATES_PAGE_DIR
• ELEC_TEMPLATES_REPORT_DIR

Template WorkSets

In the CONNECT Edition, the application makes use of WorkSets to apply configuration settings to projects. Therefore, it can be advantageous to take advantage of template WorkSets to drive the creation of a new WorkSet. By doing so you can apply project specific settings to any new project that you create. Here are some typical uses for a template WorkSet:

• Specify a project specific catalog or parts database.
• Load a specific project options file.

 You can add Template WorkSets to your workspace by following the instructions in the article Working with Template WorkSets.

Deploying a Shared Workspace

Once you have defined your own corporate workspace you will want to deploy this workspace to a shared network location so that all your users can access it. This is achieved by following this procedure:

1. Move or copy the “MyCompany” workspace and the MyCompany.cfg configuration file to a shared network location such as:
   
   \\MyServer\Workspaces\
   
   
2. Locate the “WorkSpaceSetup.cfg” file on your local machine which can be found here after a default install of the software:
   
   C:\ProgramData\Bentley\Bentley Substation CONNECT Edition\Configuration\
   
   
3. Edit the file in notepad or any other text editor and locate this section of the config file:
   # Assume MY_WORKSPACES_LOCATION variable points to your desired network location like
   #MY_WORKSPACES_LOCATION = //MyNetwork/MyWorkSpaces/
   #
   #%if defined (MY_WORKSPACES_LOCATION) && exists ($(MY_WORKSPACES_LOCATION))
   #   _USTN_WORKSPACESROOT = $(MY_WORKSPACES_LOCATION)
   #%endif
   
   
4. Remove the ‘#’ sign to uncomment the script lines and then specify your network path as shown below:
   # Assume MY_WORKSPACES_LOCATION variable points to your desired network location like
   MY_WORKSPACES_LOCATION = //MyServer/Workspaces/
   %if defined (MY_WORKSPACES_LOCATION) && exists ($(MY_WORKSPACES_LOCATION))
      _USTN_WORKSPACESROOT = $(MY_WORKSPACES_LOCATION)
   %endif
   
   
5. Restart Substation to connect to the new workspace.

6       Migrate V8i Projects to CONNECT

In V8i, we did not use the native configuration system, but in CONNECT you must have a WorkSet for each Substation project. Currently, there is no migration tool to automatically create a WorkSet for your legacy V8i projects. Therefore, you must follow this procedure to load a V8i project in CONNECT:

1. In V8i, use the Project Manager’s Backup tool to create a project backup file.
2. In CONNECT Edition, create a new WorkSet matching the name of your V8i project.
3. In the Project Manager, right click on the WorkSet you created in step 2 and select “Restore.”
4. Browse to the V8i backup file you created in step 1 and click “OK” to restore the project to this WorkSet.
5. You can now open and edit this project in Substation CONNECT Edition.

7       Deploy Substation CONNECT to All Users

To deploy Substation CONNECT across your organization, you should perform the following tasks:

1. Install the Substation CONNECT Edition on all your user’s machines. If you created a deployment image you can make use of that to expedite the installation process. You should be able to install CONNECT alongside your V8i installation if you wish.
2. Copy the WorkSpaceSetup.cfg file that you customized in section 5 (Create and Deploy a Shared Workspace) to each user’s machine, replacing their existing files. The file is located here if using a default installation:
   
   C:\ProgramData\Bentley\Bentley Substation CONNECT Edition\Configuration

You have now successfully deployed the application.