Archive for June, 2004

ow that I’ve got FileFixer…

Monday, 7 June 2004

CAD managers share real-world FileFixer experiences.

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA — “I always considered FileFixer one of those magical products,” proclaims Ray Danley, CAD Manager for Washington Infrastructure Services. “You just hit a button and whatever is wrong goes away.”

Why is FileFixer a topic of interest among MicroStation users around the world? Because no better preventive or curative solution to design file corruption exists.

Why is FileFixer still a topic of major interest for CAD managers and MicroStation users around the globe? Because FileFixer saves hundreds of design firms and government agencies upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars each in man-hours every year, by solving their design file problems automatically.

A tool CAD managers have referred to with such terms as “invaluable” and a “godsend”, FileFixer performs with the credibility and reliability MicroStation users have grown to depend on. From creating leisure time for harried CAD manager, to ensuring project budgets are not surpassed, FileFixer is an integral part of any confident and productive CAD manager’s design team. But you don’t want to hear us pumping FileFixer up. What about listening to your colleagues and peers?

Leave work early.
Even if you love your job, there’s no need to live at the office.

Jean Castro, CAD Coordinator for Technum (one of the largest MicroStation sites in Belgium) relates a story where he found himself so busy repairing files for everyone all over his company that he didn’t have time to do his own work. He quickly made arrangements to acquire a corporate license of FileFixer so everyone at his company could repair their own files. He now has a chance to get his work done.

Avoid missing project deadlines.
With looming deadlines, CAD managers face obstacles like unselectable elements, failed fence manipulations and erroneous plots that threaten timely deliveries. Without FileFixer, MicroStation users incorrectly allocate their time attempting to work around file corruption, attempting to restore from backup or attempting manual file repair.

FileFixer recovers valuable project time by precisely identifying the corrupt data in your files and, in most cases, FileFixer repairs the identified problems automatically.

“I’ve been using FileFixer for over five years now and have been very satisfied with the product. It definitely saves our company lots of time and money,” states Edgar Gamiao, GIS Specialist at RM Towill Corp.

“Files that end up corrupt need to be fixed now. We can do that with FileFixer,” says David Silveir of CH2M Hill.

“When dealing with corrupt files, FileFixer saves [us] time which means money and aggravation,” explained Andrew Guard, Director CAE for Stone & Webster.

Avoid cost overruns.
Without FileFixer, CAD managers have reported that corrupted design files have increased labor costs and decreased project profits because staff time is devoted to manual file repair. This is why MicroStation users employ FileFixer to perform emergency file repair.

“If we hadn’t fixed the file with FileFixer, we would’ve had to rebuild the file from scratch,” stated Thomas Tapley from Mon-Cre Telephone. “It could’ve easily taken a year to rebuild it, but none of this was necessary thanks to FileFixer.”

Others use FileFixer every day. James Weisgram, Systems Analyst for Oregon DOT, is responsible for about 500 MicroStation users. He estimates FileFixer saves his DOT more than $100,000 annually.

Support staff included
FileFixer, like all Axiom products, is always delivered with a “technician-in-the-box”. Axiom Support Department is always available to cover your rear during project dogfights. Even better, contact Axiom during the planning stages of your project for time-saving tips and advice.

A FileFixer owners offer these commonly heard sentiments:

  • Leo Piche of ATCO Power Canada LTD told us, “I must tell you that the technical support staff at Axiom have been super.”
  • Dennis Riebeling, Design & Detailer for Burns and McDonnell, shared, “I really didn’t expect that kind of service. It was a nice surprise.”

How can you benefit by owning FileFixer?

  • Use FileFixer to avoid surprises when accepting submissions from subcontractors. Better yet, require your subcontractors to own and use FileFixer.
  • Use FileFixer when preparing to translate your projects to AutoCAD or V8.
  • Eradicate project hiccups caused by unexpected data corruption that renders files useless. FileFixer can handle unexpected data corruption automatically 98.7% of the time.
  • Avoid project delays and save time by handling design file emergencies in a timely and stress-free manner.
  • Recover personal time by using FileFixer to rapidly handle corrupted files and keep projects on schedule.

Don’t allow your projects to be delayed or derailed because you don’t have the tools needed to get the job done. Contact an Axiom MicroStation Consultant to learn how FileFixer and MicroStation Productivity Toolkit pay for themselves in no time.

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Canadian CAD manager speeds up quality control process of MicroStation files by 78%.

Monday, 7 June 2004

An interview with Jim Lewis, of KMD Mapping.

KEMPTVILLE, ONTARIO, CANADA — Jim Lewis, CAD Manager for Canadian mapping company KMD Mapping Inc., was concerned about the rejection rate of his design team’s MicroStation deliverables. Looking for a solution that would save his team time and KMD money, Mr. Lewis reviewed several products and selected SpecChecker — Axiom’s premier MicroStation quality assurance solution. MicroStation Today interviewed Mr. Lewis about his quality assurance plights and how SpecChecker streamlined his operation.

Jim Lewis of KMD Mapping in Kemptville, Ontario, Canada.

MicroStation Today:Please tell us about the design projects that prompted you to inquire about SpecChecker’s capabilities?
Jim: We work on mapping projects that, due to their scope and the accuracy demanded by our clients, require strict adherence to CAD standards.

Due to the thousands of MicroStation files involved in the projects and the lack of a rigorous CAD standards quality control tool, the efficiency of our design team sometimes suffered as a result of the corrections we had to make when deliverables were sent back by our client. I inquired about SpecChecker because I wanted to reduce the number of deliverable rejections we incurred and the time taken to fix the errors.

MST: How are things now that you have implemented SpecChecker?
Jim: The situation has changed completely. Our design file rejection rate for violations of specifications has decreased from eighty percent to two percent.

Whenever any MicroStation file came back from the client, our drafters would spend an average of about two hours finding and correcting the CAD standard violations. If one figures that we get about 20 files sent back to us by the client, that it took the drafter about two hours to spot and correct the violations, and that there are about two to three submissions in the lifecycle of our design projects, this totaled approximately 120 man-hours spent in corrections — time spent not earning any new revenue!

When there are rejections from the client, our drafters now spend about five minutes on each MicroStation file, because they don’t have to hunt down the errors anymore — SpecChecker takes care of this for them. The cost of doing the same tasks using SpecChecker is a fraction of what it used to be. SpecChecker has already paid for itself.

We also have contractors that do MicroStation work for us. When they submit files to us, we run them through SpecChecker first. SpecChecker usually finds CAD standard violations in their files. But we don’t have to worry about correcting these errors. We simply send back the files with an error report generated by SpecChecker and tell the contractor to fix them.

MST: What will you do with all the extra time on your hands, Jim?
Jim: Ah! There are always new jobs to map.

MST: Excellent. Thank you for your time and best of luck in all your future endeavors.
Jim: Thank you.

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New version of Problem Element Viewer for V8 supports Axiom’s MicroStation quality assurance tool, SpecChecker.

Monday, 7 June 2004

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA — Axiom, the world’s largest independent provider of general-purpose MicroStation utilities, announces the release of Problem Element Viewer for V8 (Problem Element Viewer 8.1). Originally developed to display the problematic and corrupt elements listed in the reports generated by FileFixer, Problem Element Viewer for V8′s expanded functionality allows users to zoom in on any element knowing only its element ID, element position within the file (known as “file position”) or display element information (color, weight, level, style, element type, etc.). Using Problem Element Viewer for V8, operators can step through a design file viewing each problematic element. Problem Element Viewer for V8 even selects and allows users to review element characteristics of corrupt and non-displayable elements so users can delete them if necessary.

With Problem Element Viewer for V8 users can zoom on an element based on its element ID, element position or whether or not it’s flagged by FileFixer or SpecChecker.

Both FileFixer and SpecChecker generate reports describing elements in processed design files. FileFixer’s reports include current and potential problems that could endanger the integrity of design files. SpecChecker’s reports inform the user of CAD standard violations. Problem Element Viewer for V8 allows users to step through all elements flagged in the previously mentioned reports and graphically view each element. This is especially useful when correcting problematic or off-standard elements in crowded design files. Problem Element Viewer for V8 even displays the information reported by FileFixer and SpecChecker about each element in question (like type of corruption found or the reason for the element being off standard).

Among the latest enhancements to Problem Element Viewer for V8 are:

  • Support for reading SpecChecker for V8 reports and ability to step through a file to view all elements that SpecChecker for V8 deems to be off standard,
  • Capability to step through the file in reverse sequence reviewing the most recent elements drawn in the file by clicking on the newly-added <Last> button,
  • An option to temporarily turn on non-displayed levels to review problematic elements or CAD standard violations,
  • Capability to view non-displayed tag elements using the <Blink> button. This is useful when inspecting crowded design files with important non-displayed tags.

For a limited time Problem Element Viewer for V8 is being offered at no additional cost to purchasers of FileFixer for V8.

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New CellManager for V8 batch modifies text strings in cells throughout cell libraries.

Monday, 7 June 2004

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA — Axiom announced the release of a new version of CellManager for V8. CellManager 8.1 modifies text strings in cells in batch throughout cell libraries in MicroStation V8. Modifications can be restricted based on level, color, weight, style, cell name and other element characteristics. In addition, CellManager 8.1 can display more information about cells than prior releases when cataloging libraries via its cell library documentation feature (more below).

Standardize the symbology and content of cell text strings in batch with CellManager for V8.

The “Modify Text” dialog, in combination with CellManager’s existing cell selection features, consolidates all tools necessary to precisely select and modify text within cells in cell libraries while also modifying cell text font, height, width, symbology and level. Serving as robust management tools for CAD managers, these functions are not available through native MicroStation commands.

Users moving from V7 to V8 have discovered that V8 cells have a number of characteristics not present in V7 – for example, cell-specific date and time stamps (date and time of last modification), cell-specific working units and cell-specific dimension elements. Each of these new V8 cell characteristics are now supported in CellManager 8.1, so users can include them in CellManager-generated cell library documentation and in CellManager reports. This functionality is only found in CellManager for V8.

To help users report on the new V8 cell characteristics, CellManager 8.1 is delivered with templates and examples which demonstrate how to use the new features. Users can follow the examples to create customized cell library documentation and reports.

CellManager for V8′s cell library modification powers aid in managing and maintaining cell libraries by cleaning, organizing, splitting and combining cell libraries. CellManager for V8 also allows users to rename cells, change descriptions, move cells from library to library, move component elements of cells from level to level, change colors, change weights, scale cells and change point cells to graphic cells. Each command works on either one cell at a time or on all tagged cells for multi-cell operations.

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Let go of your mouse! Move around using function keys.

Monday, 7 June 2004

Did you know that you can move the active view of your design either up, down, left or right by using function keys? You can by defining four function keys with the “move” key-in.

First, open the “Function Keys” dialog box under the Workspace menu.

Then, assign the following key-ins to your desired function keys:

To move up: move up;dx=0
To move down: move down;dx=0
To move left: move left;dx=0
To move right: move right;dx=0
Note: The “dx=0″ in each key-in represents the origin point for any movement. It represents the distance from the last tentative or data point in the active view. The “d” stands for “delta” or the difference between two data points.

Now, press each of the keys you designated the commands to, and you should be moving through the active view. If not, double-check your key-ins and try again. By default, the “move” key-in will shift the view one fourth of the active view’s screen area. To change this, add a decimal value of the amount you want it to move. For example, to move half the distance of the screen to the left, key-in the following: “move left .5;dx=0″. Enjoy!

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