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CADconform for MicroStation
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CADconform should work with any ODBC compliant database system. The most commonly used ones include:
The right database to use will depend on your own requirements. Most of the time Access is more than adequate to store the standards for CADconform, as generally there is only one administrator working on the standards database at one time. The various pros and cons of these databases is outlined below:
Pros for Access:
Cons for Access:
* This isn't really a limitation in practice, as
it would be extremely undesirable to ever have more than one
administrator editing a feature table concurrently.
Pros for SQL Server
Cons for SQL Server
Pros for Oracle
Cons for Oracle
See Known Issues. The good news is there is a workaround for this.
Typically in MicroStation the level properties are locked
using the DGNLIB file. When you create a workspace the levels are
defined in the DGNLIB and these are then essentially referenced into
the active drawings like an overlay. When you place data on a level it
becomes part of the drawing but there is still the level in the
original DGNLIB it came from. This provides a few benefits from the
standards perspective. For one thing the user is unable to modify the
level properties while in the workspace unless they have access to
modifying the DGNLIB directly. Secondly, if you open a drawing in the
workspace where the level properties are different from the DGNLIB, it
is highlighted in the Level Manager and the “Update Levels” option
allows you to revert back to those properties defined in the DGNLIB.
There is also the file size saving benefit here in that you could have
hundreds of levels defined in the DGNLIB (and hence displayed in your
file while drafting) but they are never actually placed in the drawing
unless the level is used.
The bottom line is that you will typically see the levels defined in
the DGNLIB, the DGNLIB then locked from being changed by the drafters,
and if a user exits the workspace in order to force a property change
in the levels it will highlight in the Level Manager anyway (and can be
quickly corrected). So the control for this is already built into
MicroStation and not something CADconform replicates. On the AutoCAD
side we have this functionality because AutoCAD does not have a way to
lock out users from changing the layer properties, so it is very
beneficial to include that in the checking process. For MicroStation
users, this is not usually an issue for a properly configured CAD
standard.
This is a known limitation as Microsoft do not provide 64-bit JET drivers for Windows 7. The 64-bit JET drivers are delivered with Microsoft Access 2010, or can be downloaded separately from Microsoft. However, as MicroStation and CADconform are 32-bit applications, they are not compatible with the 64-bit JET driver. Instead it is better to either:
This will depend on how CADconform was installed on the computer. There are two main methods for installation (see the Installation Overview); either standalone or networked. Depending on which method was used to install CADconform, the steps are slightly different. Either way, we are looking to remove the following lines from a configuration file:
%if !exists ($(CADCONFORM_STARTUP_FILE))
_USTN_FIRSTDGNFILE > CADCONFORM
%endif
The location of this configuration file depends on the installation type, as shown below.
Standalone
Install or Client Installer run CADconform
A standalone install is typically where there is only one
or two copies of CADconform, or the computer is a laptop.
Alternatively, a Client Installer run CADconform is where CADconform
was installed on that specific machine as a client in the installer
options. In either scenario, we should have a local file in
"/MicroStation/config/appl/CADconform.cfg". If in doubt as to how
CADconform was installed, you should always look here first. This file
needs to be edited as follows:
Note that once _USTN_FIRSTDGNFILE is defined at al level higher than "Application" (e.g. "Project" or "User"), the toggle will become disabled in the CADconform menu, meaning the user cannot change it.
Other options for configuring Auto-Start are explained below:
Scenario #1 - the Auto-Start menu is shown but disabled, CADconform is pre-set to load or not by the workspace
Scenario
#2 - the Auto-Start menu is not available, CADconform is pre-set to
load or not by the workspace
This is similar to the scenario above, except it also requires editing
of the menu file. The lock command is unnecessary (step #3 above) since
the toggle is not displayed.
Copyright 2001-2012 Altiva Software, Inc. Last modified by Piers Porter.