Microstation Tips and Tricks: Eliminate Pre-drawing Time in Microstation

Hierarchy Variables are set in a hierarchical system as follows:

0)	System Level	c:/bentley/program/Microstation/config
1)	Application Level	c:/bentley/program/Microstation/appl
2)	Site Level	c:/bentley/workspaces/standards
3)	User Level	c:/bentley/workspaces/users
4)	Project Level	c:/bentley/workspaces/projects

Many of the variables are set by c:/bentley/program/msconfig.cfg which can be opened with Notepad but should not be altered.
When Microstation needs to determine or resolve a configuration variable setting, it looks for the setting in the various levels in the following order.

• The User Level
• The Project Level
• The Site Level
• The Application Level
• The System Level

Microstation uses the value of the configuration variable at the highest level it is set. Variables Assignment

The following variables are set in msconfig.cfg. By default the installation is completely local.

MSDIR : ${_ROOTDIR}/
MSLOCAL : $(MSDIR)
_USTN_BENTLEYROOT : ${parentdir ${parentdivder {MSDIR}}}
_USTN_WORKSPACEROOT : ${_USTN_BENTLEYROOT}Workspace/
_USTN_HOMEROOT : ${_USTN_BENTLEYROOT}Home/
_USTN_DOCUMENTATIONROOT : ${_USTN_BENTLEYROOT}documentation/

In the same file, the following variables are also set:

_USTN_PROJECTSROOT : $(_USTN_WORKSPACEROOT)projects/
_USTN_PROJECT : $(_USTN_PROJECTSROOT)
_USTN_PROJECTDATA : (USTN_PROJECT)$(_USTN_PROJECTNAME)/
_USTN_USER : $(_USTN_WORKSPACEROOT)users/
_USTN_USERINTROOT : $(_USTN_WORKSPACEROOT)interfaces/
_USTN_USERINT : (USTN_USERINTROOT)$(_ENGINENAME)/
_USTN_LICENSING : ${_USTN_BENTLEYROOT}Program/Licensing/

In msconfig.cfg, the variable _USTN_BENTLEYROOT will typically be set to c:/bentley. Note that this file is not hard-coded. If Microstation is installed in a different location, the change to the variable _USTN_BENTLEYROOT will cascade through all the other variables where it is referenced.

Msdebug

The file msdebug.txt provides a snapshot of the current configuration settings. This file can be created as follows:

• Right click on the Microstation desktop shortcut.
• Select Properties.
• Add the argument -debug to the command line, i.e. after ustation.exe.
• Double-click on the shortcut and the text file msdebug.txt will be created in c:/bentley/program/microstation.
• Message "debugging output server to [msdebug.txt]" will appear.
• Press Enter to close the window.
• Remove the argument -debug from the command line.

Variables Assignment: Syntax

In developing workspaces there are a number of ways to assign variables as shown in the following:

Variable	Assignment Value of the Variable
VAR1=1	1 is the new value assigned to VAR1
VAR2=$(VAR1)	1 is the new value assigned to VAR2
VAR1=2	2 is the redefined value for VAR1
VAR3:3	3 is the new value assigned to VAR3, since VAR3 was undefined
VAR3:1	2 remains the value of VAR1, since VAR1 was already defined

Variable Path Assignment	Path Value of the Variable
PATHVAR1=c:/	c:/ is the new value of PATHVAR1
PATHVAR1>project/	c:/project is the new value of PATHVAR1 (append)
PATHVAR2=project/	project/ is the new value of PATHVAR2
PATHVAR2<c:/	c:/project/ is the new value of PATHVAR2 (prepend)

Variables Assignment: Rules

The following rules apply when compiling Microstation configuration files.

• All backslashes in path names must be entered as forward slashes.
• Variables that begin with an underbar e.g., _VAR1 will not display under workspace > configuration in Microstation.
• Variables that begin with a letter or number e.g. VAR1 will display in the configuration variables dialog box.
• A variable must contain at least two characters.
• Comments should be added using the pound () character. Commenting can also be used to disable a variable assignment without deleting it.

The Phases of Configuration

It is essential to understand how the various configuration files work together. Any number of configuration files can be included in the configuration level hierarchy. Since any variable can be defined in any one of these files, it is important to understand that the last file to process before Microstation actually executes will decide the assignment. One of the key challenges in writing user and project configuration fiels is insuring that the planned assignment is not overwritten.

Conclusion

• Plan how your configurations will interface with the default Microstation configuration level hierarchy.
• Plan and standardise your directory structure beforehand.
• Use variables as much as possible to eliminate rewrites of entire files following one change i.e. avoid hard coding.
• Use msdebug utility to find and solve problems.
• Understand the processing of configuration files so that your variables do not get overwritten.
• Document all configuration changes.