Posts Tagged ‘RefManager’

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It was twenty years ago today… Steve Palmer enters his third decade with Axiom.

Monday, 7 April 2008

Clearwater, Florida, USA — 2008 marks Steve Palmer’s twentieth anniversary working with Axiom. He took a bit of time away from working on new features for FileFixer to give us an idea of what it was like to be there at the very beginning of Axiom.

Guess what Steve does when he is not programming.

MicroStation Today: Hi Steve. You have been with Axiom for 20 years — what has been the biggest challenge?
Steve: Keeping up with David Greenbaum, the founder of Axiom. In David’s own words, “When you are your own boss, your work hours can be flexible — you can schedule your 70-hours per week whenever you like!”

MST: How did you find your way to Axiom?
Steve: I met David at a holiday party in 1987. At that time, David was a very successful computer consultant and software developer offering innovative new productivity tools to Intergraph sites. Intergraph users flooded David with more demands than he could handle personally, so in 1988 he asked me to help him with overflow projects.

MST: What is your most memorable moment at Axiom?
Steve: Working with David on site at PBS&J. PBS&J gave us access to their Intergraph CAD server and CAD workstations during off-peak production hours (evenings and weekends). David and I could work off site via dial up modem when necessary, but we would also drive across Tampa Bay to PBS&J for very long weekends of intensive software development. David would bundle a collection of technical manuals and food for the day on the back of his motorcycle. He asserted, “Given a sufficient number of bungee chords, any item of any size can be strapped to a motorcycle.” Over the course of just three (intense) Saturdays at PBS&J, David implemented six new product releases, while I managed to sweat out one new release. That product is now known as CellManager. That was my first taste of “Greenbaum boot camp”. I’ve been trying to keep up with David ever since.

MST: Any miracles you have seen with Axiom products?
Steve: One small phone company called us when they had lost their entire outdoor plan for the phone system. They sent the file to Bentley who said 65% of the elements had been deleted. FileFixer salvaged the whole thing. That could have put them out of business.

MST: What was it like when you first started?
Steve: Several independent developers, including myself, worked on assignments defined by David. David was an undisputed Intergraph design-file–format guru who mentored each of us. I remember when David sketched out the inner guts of a cell for me on a piece of paper (it was a stop sign). It was an intense period of software development. FileFixer, RefManager, CellManager, SpecChecker and other well-known Axiom applications originated during those first few years.

Soon, there was so much business activity, it became clear the team had to start working together in a centralized office. In 1991, I met with an attorney to establish Axiom as a corporation. Then I hired myself as David’s first employee. We started renting office space and moved business activities out of our homes.

MST: What positions have you held at Axiom?
Steve: Out of necessity, at one time or another over the past 20 years, just about everything. I’ve spent the majority of my time in our software development area.
Currently, amongst other things, I am the Product Manager for FileFixer. That requires constant evolution and innovation — and fast response.

MST: What do you like most about working at Axiom?
Steve: I love creating technical solutions to problems experienced broadly by our public. When I’m developing software, I completely lose track of time.

MST: What time saving MicroStation applications have you developed?
Steve: I developed early versions of RefManager and CellManager.

MST: What do you feel is the most significant change at Axiom over the past 20 years?
Steve: The quantity of personnel now on the Axiom team and the resultant exponential boost in Axiom’s capacity to service our customer base. Remember, I was David’s first employee. Early on, just a few people handled every aspect of the business. Now the company has teams of staff handling each division of business activity. I remember the first time an employee walked through the office whom I hadn’t met yet (someone else had hired them). It was clear that Axiom had taken on a life of its own.

MST: Anything you enjoy as much as developing software?
Steve: Yes, music. If you knew how many guitars I own (and how much space they occupy at our house), you’d grasp what a wonderful, understanding wife I have.

MST: Thanks, Steve.

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How to undelete your weekends

Friday, 7 March 2008

Attachments update like magic with RefManager.

By Steve Palmer

Clearwater, Florida, USA — If you are responsible for updating dozens (or hundreds) of project sheet files during the lifecycle of large MicroStation projects, weep no more.

Clinical tests confirm RefManager’s new “Clone or Replace Reference File Attachments” command is proven to undelete entire weekends.

Are these your plans for the weekend?

During RefManager’s beta test for this new feature (mid 2007), eager MicroStation users practically ripped the beta version from Axiom’s hands. They confirmed RefManager’s new “Clone or Replace Reference File Attachments” command makes short work out of tedious, error-prone reference file updates.

If each MicroStation project consisted of only one unchanging sheet file with one unchanging reference attached – no problem. Set it and forget it.

But you know, too well, how MicroStation designs evolve and change over time. Colleagues and subcontractors handling various project disciplines submit new or revised reference files, weeks or even months after initial project design. Design files representing existing roads, drainage, topography, utilities and other disciplines are inevitably added or renamed during the course of a project. Plot sheet master files must be updated with the new and revised reference files as they become available.

Some of the incoming reference files must be attached for the first time to existing project sheet files; the remaining incoming reference files must replace existing attachments. And, if you’re the person responsible, you know each renamed or new attachment must be properly scaled, rotated and clipped, with correct level display and level symbology settings. If you have to attach each new or revised reference file manually, one at a time, that’s a lot of mouse-clicks!

And no rest for the weary – more updated reference files are expected on Monday, so hurry up! But don’t be discouraged, your three-man-year project is 2% complete – only 98% to go!

The solution
Wait a minute, you aren’t really trying to replace and update all those reference files without RefManager, are you?
RefManager’s new “Clone or Replace Reference File Attachments” command makes this common problem a piece of cake.

“Well, great! Now, I only have to do this 999 more times. I need RefManager bad!”

Here’s the trick: Your existing sheet files already contain attachments which are properly offset, scaled, rotated and clipped, with proper level display and level symbology settings. RefManager copies the settings from one or more of your carefully tweaked existing attachments and uses those settings to attach new or revised reference files. There’s a good reason Axiom has delivered an unprecedented number of new RefManager licenses since the “Clone or Replace Reference File Attachments” command was introduced.

Classic RefManager features
RefManager didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday (actually, it just celebrated its 20-year anniversary). The new “Clone or Replace Reference File Attachments” command is just the latest addition to RefManager’s versatile, time-saving bag of tricks.

Have you ever moved a collection of MicroStation project files to a new server drive or into a new folder? And everything went smoothly, did it? Oh, sorry to hear that. Well, RefManager is used by MicroStation sites around the globe to update reference file paths after project files have been moved to a new server or new directory.

How do you confirm the nesting depth, level display or level symbology settings for your reference files? One at a time manually? Ouch! With the click of a button, RefManager can report settings details for all reference file attachments in all of your project master files. Easy!

See for yourself.
If any of the preceding is hard to believe, you should see it for yourself. In just a few minutes, a knowledgeable, friendly Axiom expert can give you a RefManager test drive on-line without ever leaving your desk. All you need is a phone and a browser.
Learn how RefManager can undelete your next weekend — and all your weekends after that.

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Trains keep a rollin'!

Friday, 7 March 2008

On track with Gerard Hall of Scott Wilson Railways

London, United Kingdom — As CADD/EDMS (Electronic Document Management System) Manager for Scott Wilson Railways, Gerard Hall is responsible for managing and supporting the CADD and EDMS systems of one of the top ten largest engineering consultancy firms in the United Kingdom. He talked with us recently about some major rail projects, including transportation preparation for the 2012 Olympics in London.

Gerard Hall uses FileFixer once a week.

MicroStation Today: What are some of the projects you have been working on?
Gerard: One major project is the London Crossrail. This £16 billion project includes the planned construction of a brand-new rail link across London from Maidenhead and Heathrow Airport in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. The railway will utilize existing infrastructure on the western and eastern surface (above-ground) sections of the London Crossrail, coupled with a brand-new tunneled section beneath central London, to link major existing Underground (subway) and National Rail stations. High-frequency train service will serve all stations within this central zone. Scott Wilson Railways has been one of the significant players in developing the Crossrail project in its current form. In addition, Scott Wilson has been awarded a contract as a multi-disciplinary consultant for the London Crossrail surface routes west and northeast.

Another big venture is the East London Line Project. Phase one of this £900 million project will form a key part of the transport strategy for the 2012 Olympics, incorporating an extension to the south via the London Bridge branch of the Brighton Main Line, allowing trains to run through to West Croydon and Crystal Palace. Scott Wilson will provide all structural engineering for the new, refurbished and extended track structures, including the architectural design of all stations which includes the Dalston Junction remodeling.

MST: With all that going on, what are some of the problems you have encountered?
Gerard: We are finding that more often, clients require the original design files, to support the delivered hard copy or PDF. These files, quite rightly, must be supplied such that they conform to project standards for collaboration purposes. Typical requirements include specific settings for reference files, such as “locate” and “snap” turned on, and making sure that only final, deliverable reference files are attached. Also, the reference file name must not include any file path.

Apart from design file settings, we also need to check for departures from standards, such as changes to global origin, elements drawn outside the limits of the project grid, non-standard text and dimension styles, non-standard levels, elements that are on incorrect levels and so on.

So, for whatever reason, it is not possible to maintain the design files in a “to standard” condition while in they’re in design development, be it for purposes of efficiency or user preference. From the point of view of delivery, it must be considered that all files, in some way, do not conform to standards.

We first check the files while in their design development using SpecChecker to both affect a partial fix and generate a summary report which is returned to the file owner for correction.

Then for larger projects, where there can be up to a thousand files in each delivery, we use Axiom’s MicroStation Productivity Toolkit in a series of batch processes to cleanse the files prior to issue. RefManager is used to ensure that “locate” and “snap” are turned on, that all reference files are detached from models and that the ProjectWise file path is removed from the filename. We also use Global File Changer to copy the design file settings from the project seed file into the batch of project files.

We haven’t measured the overall time saved, but typically a batch of 50 design files is processed in around an hour, using Global File Changer, compared with manually checking each file at 20 to 30 minutes per file. Anyone can do the math.

As part of our day-to-day support to the CADD teams, about once a week we are asked to recover a file from back-up because the original file has become corrupt and unusable. More often than not, this is not necessary, as FileFixer either completely fixes the file or recovers enough design data that the file can be re-used. This way, the designer gets the file back in a quarter of an hour or so, as opposed to the one to three days that it takes to retrieve a file from back-up. This is much better than the last resort – and the bane of every draftsman – having to draw the same design twice.

Just recently, I have become aware that virtually all design files have some problem that needs fixing. It may or may not need an immediate fix, but as matter of course, all files will need to be fixed prior to being made available to the users.

MST: How did you get started in CAD?
Gerard: I’ve been in civil and structural engineering since 1979 as a draftsman. From 1988, I have been primarily involved in the rail industry, specializing in bridge design. In 2000, I changed tack and since then have been working in coordination and management roles. Since 1981, CAD has played a significant role in my career. For five years, I worked on Scott Wilson’s own in-house system, but since 1990 I have been utilizing the more “industry standard” systems.

MST: As busy as you must be, do you have time for anything else?
Gerard: Outside of work, I enjoy playing a lot of sports. My main passion was rugby – but alas, the body is no longer willing. So now most Saturdays are spent playing golf, which although less physical, is no less competitive. The frustrations of the week are now taken out on the green, instead of on the rugby pitch. [Editor's note: "Pitch" is a British term for a ball field.]
I have been married for twenty years and have two children. As any parent of teenagers will concur, your time is no longer your own. Though, naturally, I would not wish it any other way.

MST: What would you like to be doing in ten years?
Gerard: I’d like to think that I’ll be working in a similar role and still have the enthusiasm and appetite that I do now, but not with quite so many working hours.

MST: What’s a book you wish you’d written?
Gerard: I’m never without a book on the go, non-fiction or novel. The book I would most like to have written, I have yet to read. Recently, I read a biography on Chaucer. His Canterbury Tales is recognized as being the first work of literature in English, at a time when all other written material was in either Latin or French.

On Saturdays, you will find Gerard on the green.

MST: If you could trade places with anyone for just one day, who would it be?
Gerard: Tiger Woods. Just so I know what it’s like to hit a golf ball properly.

MST: What do you predict will be the “next big thing” in CAD?
Gerard: I don’t believe that there is much more that can be added to the existing CAD platforms so my best guess is that there will need to be changes in the way that we share data.

In the UK, our infrastructure has been underfunded for many years. This is now changing, and a large amount of investment is being pumped in, especially into rail projects. This, coupled with the large number of civil/structural CAD designers nearing retirement and not enough school-leavers taking their place, has put a huge demand on these resources. Consulting engineers are now setting up design offices overseas and using local labor for the engineering design and drawing. With this comes the problem of file sharing. We have to become smarter in the way that this is managed. By “smarter”, I mean that there should ideally be only one file, which can be accessed by all, rather than having multiple copies that are held on local area networks, CDs, e-mail, local C: drives, etc.

And, by “one file”, I mean that by the efficient setup of caching servers and local caching, there will be little need to drag the entire file all over the world, taking up bandwidth. However, when a file does change, delta file technology facilitates this by transferring only the part of the file that has changed. [Editor's note: "Delta file technology" is a technology which analyzes changes in content between two versions of the same file.]

So I think that we will see a blossoming of project collaboration software using delta technology for the file sharing.

MST: Thanks, Gerard.

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Insisting on the best — How CAD Manager Donnell Griffith handles the constant pressure to get the job done faster and easier

Thursday, 7 February 2008

New York City, New York, USA — CAD Manager Donnell Griffith was so impressed with Axiom products at his previous job, that when he came to work for Urbitran, he requested Title Block Manager, RefManager and Microsoft Office Importer straight away.

Donnell Griffith jumped at the opportunity to learn.

MicroStation Today: Hi Donnell, what are some of the problems you encounter in your position?
Donnell: Some of my problems? Well, I guess the same as any other CAD manager: drafting production, quality assurance – and anything else they decide to throw at me. The biggest problem I face is the constant pressure to get the job done faster and easier. Axiom’s products help me do that. The Axiom tools I currently have are Title Block Manager, RefManager and Microsoft Office Importer. Axiom products help me by saving time through automating time-consuming tasks.

I had this one situation on my last job, when I was at Jacobs, Edwards and Kelcey. We had a job that was over 1,000 drawings. The job was broken up so that we were working on it in three of our offices: Miami, Chicago and my office in New Jersey. We had three sub-consultants working on it as well. When the time came to combine all the work, there were many little changes that had to be made to make it all consistent. Then we would get new drawings, from Chicago or Miami, which meant all of the existing sheets had to be renumbered. Title Block Manager made it very easy to do the renumbering in batch. About 900 had to be renumbered in all. We basically had one title block we used on all the drawings but each office, with the help of Title Block Manager, would change it slightly to reflect that it was drawn in that office, you know: “drawn by,” “checked by,” and so on.

When the drawings were finally combined, with all the references attached, we used RefManager to handle the levels that needed to be turned off. Using RefManager allowed us to do this on many files at the same time.

We used Microsoft Office Importer to import large quantities of data from Excel. Since Microsoft Office Importer establishes a link between the spreadsheets and the design files, it was easy to update the many little changes we had to make to that data. That is why I requested getting those Axiom products at my new job. I have a job I am working on now that will require me to renumber about 500 title blocks. Title Block Manager will come in handy.

Another big way Axiom helped me was through their training. The trainers at Axiom showed me the best ways to use the products. It made life much easier.

MST: Donnell, you have a pretty interesting story on how you began in the CAD field. Can you tell us about that?
Donnell: I was introduced to CAD through a minority training program called JUMP in 1994. I couldn’t afford to continue in school and needed a job. I went to the business library in Manhattan and found a book on scholarships and internships. I made a few calls and got in the program. I have been in love with CAD ever since. [Editor’s note: The Joint Urban Manpower Program helps New York engineering firms meet equal opportunity and affirmative action requirements by recruiting and training females, minorities and disadvantaged individuals for entry-level drafting and construction inspection positions on New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Engineering Agreements.

MST: What would you like to be doing in ten years?
Donnell: I would still like to be working within the CAD industry, something other than engineering and architecture. I would like to be doing something more creative and pushing the limit of what CAD can do.

MST: What do you think is your greatest accomplishment?
Donnell: I don’t think I have accomplished it yet. I am still young and I feel very good about the future. I see myself growing in the CAD field. I want to see how the CAD field grows too.

MST: What’s a book you wish you’d written?
Donnell: CAD: Making the Most of Computer Aided Design.

MST: If you could trade places with anyone for just one day, who would it be?
Donnell: New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg – he doesn’t need money.

MST: What do you predict will be the “next big thing” in CAD?
Donnell: I think the next big thing will be with hardware. The way we communicate with CAD drawings currently involves a lot of input. You don’t have as much freedom as you do when drawing with a pencil.

MST: Thanks, Donnell.

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New Year's resolution: Save time, reduce effort and maximize profit!

Monday, 7 January 2008

By Steve Palmer
Clearwater, Florida, USA — It’s almost midnight. You are wrapping up a project submittal for an important client. MicroStation keeps crashing when you attempt to open a vital project design file. The necessity for a FileFixer midnight miracle is abundantly real to you right now. Just press FileFixer’s <Start> button and you’re back to work in three minutes.

But FileFixer’s midnight miracles, despite being dramatic and life saving, are, in truth, only part of the story. FileFixer is just one of the vital applications in MicroStation Productivity Toolkit*.

MicroStation professionals, like you, can save time, reduce effort and increase profit continuously during the entire life span of all your MicroStation projects. Keep reading to see how Toolkit can benefit you all year long.

Get MicroStation Productivity Toolkit early this year and watch your company’s profit skyrocket.

At the beginning of a new project or new project phase, use FileFixer to ensure existing design files are healthy and whole before you rely on them. Use FileFixer for V7 to search for problems in your V7 files before moving them to V8. Use FileFixer for V8 to search for problems in your V8 files before corruption stops your project dead in its tracks. FileFixer can determine which files are healthy and which are likely to cause trouble – and FileFixer can automatically generate a list of the isolated troublemakers so you can immediately and efficiently repair them. This makes for fast and easy project preparation!

When setting up a new project, use CellManager to clean up and consolidate multiple, old, non-standard cell libraries. Eliminate the non-standard junk cells. Ensure your drafting staff start off new projects with one consolidated, fully-standardized cell library. The most recent release of CellManager allows you to easily select cells from one or multiple cell libraries and display just the cells you need for your project in a concise cell-selection palette.

If you are starting a new project or new project phase, use Global File Changer to standardize each project design file’s settings (locks, snaps, coordinate readout, view attributes – you name it!). Global File Changer can replace your obsolete or non-standard cells in multiple design files with the correct, standard cells (from the standardized cell libraries you just created with CellManager).

MicroStation users around the world use RefManager when they need to update reference file folder paths after moving project files to a new server or a new folder. RefManager can make short work out of standardizing attachment level settings or display settings in one or multiple master design files. Ahh, ready to go with perfect initial layout.

Plus, all Toolkit owners with active Axiom Maintenance Plus are eligible for unlimited support and on-line training. Get your questions answered fast at the start of your project (or as questions arise during your project). The entire Axiom team is at your disposal.

Project execution with Toolkit: Continuous time-saving ease
During the course of your project, use Microsoft Office Importer to import spreadsheets, charts and Word documents into your designs with perfect formatting. The beauty of Microsoft Office Importer is the ability to automatically update design files to keep your design files synchronized with the original spreadsheets, charts and Word documents.

RefManager is indispensable for updating or replacing reference file attachments as the project design progresses. Use RefManager’s “Clone and Replace” command to add new attachments (with proper settings and correct clipping) and easily replace existing attachments with the latest revision.

Wise MicroStation managers set up automated batch runs of FileFixer to search for problems once a week as projects progress. FileFixer creates a list of files with serious problems so you can repair corrupted files before they impact your work.

DgnCompare shows the differences between two versions of a design file. What was changed in the design file since last week? Was any billable work done? Is the project progressing on schedule? What did your staff do this week? CAD Managers can use DgnCompare’s reports to identify today’s drafting errors – making it possible to train or correct project staff now (to ensure standards are maintained for current and future projects). Get your staff (or subcontractors) re-trained fast and eliminate last minute end-of-project fixes. Get it done right, from the start.

When drafting work begins, use SpecMonitor to continuously monitor adherence to CAD standards as the work is done (not after-the-fact). SpecMonitor helps ensure the work is done right the first time – it’s also great for training new project personnel!

Project finalization with Toolkit: Preparation for submittal to client
When all project work is completed, use FileFixer to perform a final “Search for Problems” to ensure you don’t submit troublemaker files to your client.

SpecChecker can eliminate tedious manual proofreading. Just fire up SpecChecker and confirm whether or not all project files comply with your CAD standards. Plus SpecChecker can automatically correct violations of your standards. Going beyond traditional quality control, SpecChecker’s analysis of your files can also be used to correct and train your own project staff (or your subcontractors).

SpecChecker can eliminate tedious manual proofreading.

Resolution kept
Now that the majority of its clients have moved to MicroStation V8, Axiom is really pouring the coals on V8 development – adding enhancements more rapidly than ever. All Toolkit owners with active maintenance receive all product updates at no additional cost! There has been no better time to own Toolkit for V8.* [Editor's note: There are 16 applications in Toolkit for V8, 22 in the Toolkit for V7.]

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Increase productivity with Axiom training.

Wednesday, 7 November 2007

By Fredrick R. Kenniston III
Clearwater, Florida, USA — You hold your tongue as you say, “How many times do I have to tell you how to locate what library a certain cell is in?” to a somewhat bewildered co-worker. I know, you probably never get impatient, but this is the third time he has been back, almost begging you to tell him, again, how to locate this same cell.

It starts off simple enough. You take a co-worker or member of your design team aside, you start explaining how to do a particular thing and you get very polite indications they are following what you are saying, like “I see, yeah, okay.” You know, despite his reassurance, that he does not really understand what you are saying. Sure enough, after a period of time, that same person is back – asking how to do that same thing. This chews up very valuable time for you, the person you are attempting to train, and your company.

Almost every profession, skill or job requires some form of training to ensure one is proficient enough to utilize the tools and do the actions. This holds especially true when it comes to the general subject of computer training. The more specialized the subject, like learning Bentley and Axiom products, the more important it is.

When I started working at Axiom twenty years ago, I had good basic electronics, computer and communications training and skills, acquired during my enlistment in the US Navy. However, when I started working in the very technical field of computer-aided design, it was like learning a foreign language. Fortunately for me, I also had some very knowledgeable and experienced people around me, like David Greenbaum, CEO of Axiom, that made learning this field a lot less painful than it otherwise might have been.

Since then, I have had to train many others on their computer basics and also on MicroStation and Axiom products. Over the years, I learned one very important thing: If I only told a person how to do something with Bentley or Axiom product, they wouldn’t retain the information. I would have to train them on that very same thing again at a later time. You have probably experienced this yourself.

Axiom’s Frederick Kenniston uses his wealth of experience to deliver online training straight to your desktop.

Online training
About five years ago, Axiom started offering its Axiom Maintenance Plus service. This includes support, updates and other benefits, like online training for the Axiom products covered. (Note: Contact your Axiom MicroStation Consultant for exact details on what Axiom Maintenance Plus covers).

Axiom’s online training covers the basics of Axiom products. It also gives you and your design team answers to questions like:

  • How do I use RefManager to turn the reference file display off, in views four through eight, in all my master files?
  • How do I set the scale factor for text in an Excel file that I am pasting it into a MicroStation file using Axiom’s Microsoft Office Importer?
  • How do I set up a timed execution of FileFixer to run after normal business hours?

Each online training session is designed to cover the basics of a particular Axiom product. Because it is live, we can tailor the training on the fly to cover the things you want covered. This makes Axiom’s online training much more effective overall. Here is what one supervisor said about their group attending one of our online training sessions:

“Everyone on our team was very impressed with the training. I work within a team of five, and out of that, one team member had no background in MicroStation. He was very happy with how easily he could follow.”

Suite 16
Most of you are probably already familiar with Axiom’s MicroStation Productivity Toolkit for V8. However, have you ever counted up how many products are actually included in our MicroStation Productivity Toolkit for V8? Well, if you haven’t, this suite of time-saving MicroStation tools consists of sixteen separate products! Learning even the basics of each product on your own would not be a light undertaking.

Catch 22 resolved.
Axiom’s programming department works very hard to help make our programs as intuitive and easy to use as possible. Based on success stories and feedback from our customers, our products are intuitive and easy to use. A great majority of our clients successfully utilize our products every day. However, you do have deadlines to meet and time-sensitive production requirements, leaving you precious little time to sit down and run through, for example, the FileFixer for V8 Quick Start on your own. You know that Axiom’s products will help you and your co-workers, but you are so swamped you haven’t had time to learn them. So, what do you do, given the lack of time you have for learning such things? You call Axiom and get scheduled for online training! Do it now, right away!

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Make life easier with cloning.

Friday, 7 September 2007

Automate the process of adding new reference files.

Clearwater, Florida, USA — Axiom is pleased to give you back your evenings and weekends. As the world’s oldest and largest third-party solutions provider for MicroStation, Axiom is known for breakthrough enhancements to the applications in MicroStation Productivity Toolkit. Coincident with RefManager’s 20th anniversary (RefManager is a Toolkit component), Axiom outdoes itself by offering one of the most customer-demanded, weekend-liberating enhancements in Axiom’s history.

Liberate your weekends — let RefManager take care of the scaling and clipping so you can get to grilling and flipping.

RefManager now automates the process of adding new or revised reference files to multiple plot sheets, as a project’s design evolves. For example, MicroStation users can now use RefManager to add new reference files to multiple sheets along a roadway. Using RefManager, 50, 100, 200 or more sheet files can be automatically updated in one batch. Each new attachment clones (copies, duplicates) the attachment settings of a pre-existing attachment (one that is already properly scaled, rotated, clipped, and so forth).
If each MicroStation project consisted of only one unchanging sheet file with one unchanging reference attached – no problem. Set it and forget it. If you later need to add a new attachment to that sheet file, it doesn’t take long to add one new attachment — even if the new attachment must be rotated, scaled and clipped for the sheet.
But multiply the time involved by 50, 100, 200 or 500 sheets and repeat a dozen times throughout the life span of a large project and it adds up to a lot of wasted time. If that describes the production demands you face, don’t be discouraged. You don’t have to be a full-time “reference wrangler” any more — just select RefManager from your Axiom pull-down menu, click on RefManager’s new “Clone or Replace Reference File Attachments” command and take the weekend off!

How RefManager’s “Clone” command works
Your project sheet files typically contain one or more attachments which are properly clipped, scaled, rotated and shifted. You have probably tweaked the level display, level symbology, nesting and other settings for these existing attachments.
RefManager’s “clone” command copies the settings from one of those carefully-created existing attachments and uses those settings to attach your new or revised reference files.
A cloned attachment is a new reference file which inherits the clipping, scale, rotation, offset, level display, level symbology and all other settings of an existing attachment. RefManager also ensures each cloned attachment is created with a user-defined logical name and description.

Figure 1: RefManager’s new “Clone or Replace Reference File Attachments” command eliminates the time and tediousness of repeatedly adding or replacing reference files in multiple project sheet files.

Ralph the Reference Wrangler — a case study
Ralph (name changed to protect his anonymity) works for a civil engineering firm, which is contracted to widen a multi-mile span of a major highway. A few weeks ago, the initial layout was completed for 187 project sheet files. Ralph now has the ongoing responsibility of updating all project sheet files when new or updated reference files are created during the life of this three-year project.

Figure 2: The new attachment (shown in blue) needs to be appropriately clipped in 187 sheet files!

One day, a subcontractor submitted “pavement.dgn” (pavement plan) to Ralph. Ralph needs to attach “pavement.dgn” to the 187 project sheet files. [See Figure 2]

The new attachment (“pavement.dgn”, indicated in blue) needs to be clipped — not once, but 187 times (in “sheet001.dgn”, “sheet002.dgn”, “sheet003.dgn” through “sheet187.dgn”). That’s 187 different clipping boundaries for 187 project sheet files!

When Ralph hears that the field engineers need all sheets updated by Monday, his heart sinks. So much for his weekend barbecue plans. And sheet updates will continue throughout this three-year project!

Ralph realizes there is an existing attachment in all 187 sheet files, “roadway.dgn”, that is already properly clipped, scaled and rotated in each of the 187 sheet files. Level display, level symbology and all other attachment settings for “roadway.dgn” are perfectly tweaked in all 187 sheet files. Ralph ponders, “If only ‘pavement.dgn’ could inherit the attachment settings from ‘roadway.dgn’ in each of the 187 sheet files.”

Then a thoughtful colleague tells Ralph about RefManager. Ralph contacts Axiom, orders RefManager and has the application downloaded and installed a couple minutes later.

Figure 3: RefManager automatically attaches (and properly clips) the new reference file to all 187 sheet files!

Ralph uses RefManager to automatically attach “pavement.dgn” (the new reference file) to all of his 187 sheet files. RefManager applies clipping and other attachment settings from “roadway.dgn” (the pre-existing attachment) each time “pavement.dgn” is attached to a different sheet file. RefManager automatically applies the appropriate clipping boundary to each newly created attachment.

Ralph confirms RefManager has automatically attached “pavement.dgn”, properly clipped, to all 187 sheet files in just minutes! Hello weekend barbecue!

Tip of the iceberg
So far we’ve only discussed reference file clipping. There are dozens of settings involved with the creation of each reference file attachment.

RefManager’s “Clone or Replace Reference File Attachments” command preserves all of the existing attachment’s settings (including clipping, scale, rotation, offset, level display and level symbology settings) when creating cloned attachments.

On top of that, as the command name implies, RefManager’s “Clone or Replace Reference File Attachments” also allows you to replace existing attachments.

Replace is similar to clone, except a new reference file takes the place of an existing attachment. For example, RefManager can replace “pavement50.dgn” (design 50 percent complete) with “pavement60.dgn” (design 60 percent complete) in one or hundreds of project sheet files.

And the new “Clone or Replace Reference File Attachments” command doesn’t limit MicroStation users to updating one attachment at a time in their sheet files. The “Clone or Replace Reference File Attachments” command allows you to clone and replace multiple attachments in multiple sheet files. If, for example, your sheet files contain a plan and a profile view, you can clone and replace different attachments in both views in all project sheet files — all in one step.

RefManager’s new time-saving “Clone or Replace Reference File Attachments” command is available for MicroStation/J and MicroStation V8 (including XM).

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With MicroStation Productivity Toolkit, help is there when you need it.

Thursday, 7 June 2007

Clearwater, Florida, USA — Sometimes there’s not enough time in the day to resolve MicroStation issues and get your design work done. That can mean working nights and weekends to make deadlines. That’s bearable once in a while, but it’s no way to live, is it? Well, in case you hadn’t heard yet, there’s a suite of software products specially designed to provide you the MicroStation help, speed and efficiency you need, when you need it — Axiom’s MicroStation Productivity Toolkit.

Design file corruption emergencies? Violations of CAD standards? Deadlines threatened by time-consuming tasks? With MicroStation Productivity Toolkit, you will have all the tools you need to quickly handle MicroStation emergencies.

Axiom has versions of Toolkit available for both V7 and V8 MicroStation users. The tools contained in each Toolkit undergo continuous updates and improvements so that they can meet your changing needs. Here are some of the breakthroughs achieved in just the past 100 days:

It’s not possible to describe all the new releases and enhancements in the space available here. (So call for an online demonstration!)

  • FileFixer for V8 now handles all major categories of V8 design file corruption discovered in customer files. FileFixer for V8 is the only application available anywhere that can open and repair files containing the most severe forms of V8 corruption.
  • Microsoft Office Importer enhancements continue relentlessly. Recent user interface improvements make it easier than ever to use. It’s no surprise that Microsoft Office Importer’s ability to flawlessly import spreadsheets of any size, with flexible formatting (unachievable with MicroStation), has made it one of the most broadly used MicroStation third-party utilities of all time.
  • RefMerge for V8, the software that automatically merges a design file and any or all of its reference files into one design file, now supports 3D files.
  • Global File Changer’s Modify Text command now allows MicroStation users to make batch changes to text in tags and dimensions — impossible with MicroStation alone. These are just two of the eight recent Modify Text command enhancements.

The facts behind the legend
If you haven’t witnessed it yet for yourself, you’ve probably heard legends about Axiom’s MicroStation Productivity Toolkit speeding up projects, saving time and increasing profits for MicroStation shops around the world every day.

“I love RefManager — I wasn’t looking forward to changing 1,300 reference file attachments manually,” says Chris Seymour-Smith of Capita Percy Thomas.

Here are the benefits that every MicroStation site will get when they own Axiom’s MicroStation Productivity Toolkit:

Jean-Paul Pors of Philips Medical Systems reaches new automation heights with CellManager.

  • Free product enhancements. Toolkit owners with Axiom Maintenance Plus receive all product enhancements (such as those described earlier) for the version they own (V7 or V8) at no additional cost.
    “[With CellManager for V8], we already reached a higher automation level than we dared to dream of,” exclaims Jean-Paul Pors of Philips Medical Systems.
  • Unlimited support. Toolkit owners with Axiom Maintenance Plus are eligible for unlimited support at no additional cost. The entire Axiom team is available for help.
    Jason Cosgrove of Volkert & Associates tells us, “All of my experiences with Axiom and the staff, especially technical support, have been outstanding. The technical support staff that we have worked with deserve a special recognition for helping us work through some very difficult problems. Thanks!”
  • Free online training. With Axiom Maintenance Plus, you and your colleagues can participate in online training, scheduled at your convenience, without leaving your desk! Axiom professionals can deliver training to you and your colleagues on any or all MicroStation Productivity Toolkit applications.
    “The Axiom training was more than enough for my employees to get started using RefManager. RefManager works very well and the training provided us with the knowledge to use its full capabilities,” says Jorge Serrano of Ameren.
  • Purchasing the full MicroStation Productivity Toolkit saves you money — it’s by far your best value. For instance, if you’re planning to purchase a single-computer license of FileFixer, RefManager and Global File Changer (just three of the applications in Toolkit), you can pay just ten dollars more and receive the entire MicroStation Productivity Toolkit (rather than individual applications). If you think that’s a good deal, the savings are really astounding for site and corporate licenses! If you plan to purchase a site license of FileFixer, RefManager and Global File Changer, pay just ten dollars more and receive a site license of the entire MicroStation Productivity Toolkit!

The savings are similar regardless of the individual Toolkit applications you are considering. If you already own Axiom tools, you can upgrade from one, two or three individual applications to the full Toolkit and save a bundle. Hard to believe? Axiom MicroStation Consultants stand ready to answer any questions you might have.

Even if you can’t immediately envision fully utilizing all of the 22 applications in Toolkit for V7 or the 16 applications in Toolkit for V8, pay just ten dollars more and you’ll have the full Toolkit arsenal available whenever you need it.

“I want to thank you and your staff for your exceptional service in getting the V7 and V8 Microsoft Office Importer to me at the drop of a hat. It made a big difference and the job went out on time. Great tool,” declares Richard Odum of Ghyabi & Associates.

That’s why Axiom wants MicroStation Productivity Toolkit at your site.

MicroStation sites around the globe use MicroStation Productivity Toolkit to save time, reduce costs and increase profits.

Add up free on-line training, free enhancements, the entire Axiom team that is available to support your projects and you have compelling reasons why you should own and use MicroStation Productivity Toolkit!

Take it from Bill Stout of Atlantic International Consulting Engineers who said it best, “The only piece of software that I use more than Axiom’s MicroStation Productivity Toolkit is MicroStation itself. This software [Toolkit] has saved me thousands of hours of work.”

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Google SketchUp attachments supported in new RefManager for MicroStation V8.

Wednesday, 7 February 2007

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA — Axiom, the world’s most experienced developer of time-saving MicroStation software solutions, announces the release of RefManager for V8 version 8.4a. RefManager allows users to manipulate, debug, organize and control MicroStation reference file attachments in bulk.

Google SketchUp model of the Bank of America building in Saint Petersburg, Flori

RefManager for V8 now supports Google SketchUp reference file attachments, a feature new to MicroStation V8 XM Edition.

Google SketchUp is a simple-to-use 3D modeling system. Bentley and Google recently joined forces to develop support for SketchUp 3D models as MicroStation reference files. Axiom handles SketchUp reference file attachments like other vector MicroStation reference file attachments — such as V7 and V8 DGN files and DWG files.

RefManager allows users to stay in control of every reference file attachment on their CAD system. Whether users want to make bulk modifications, attach or detach references or even report on the status of attachments, RefManager can complete many tasks ten to a hundred times faster than MicroStation on its own.

Users can easily learn how to use SketchUp with the self-paced tutorial that is included.

Other recent RefManager enhancements make it even easier to standardize your level display settings — for every level, for any view, in any attachment, in one or many master files.

Also, RefManager now allows greater control of Global Display and Global Freeze for all attachment levels. RefManager saves level display settings for re-use over and over to create discipline-specific sheet files or snapshots of project milestones as your project progresses.

Enhanced Level Display and Level Symbology Reports
By popular demand, RefManager now offers full reporting capability for V8 attachment level display and level symbology settings.

Enhanced Level Selection
RefManager for V8′s level display and level symbology modification features are all intimately connected with the levels used in your reference file attachments. It is now easier than ever to precisely select the levels you want to process with RefManager.
Level selection enhancements include:

  • Wildcard search for matching level names.
  • Display of level descriptions and the name of the file from which the level definitions were obtained — for example, one or more different .dgnlibs.
  • The ability to read level names from a file (indicated by “@” and full path).

RefManager now allows you to turn on or off the display of levels in reference files.

RefManager now allows you to modify level symbology in multiple files at the same time.

And there’s more…
RefManager now offers a master file model search filter. This allows precise control over which master file models are processed by RefManager. Also included is a new option to exclude files from reports if they do not match the selection criteria — this results in more concise reports. Clipping boundaries are now reported in user-friendly master units instead of Units of Resolution. Regular, Cross-reference and Missing reports now process read-only master files.

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If only FileFixer could fix the human soul…

Wednesday, 7 February 2007

By Reverend Bethel Chapman, Design Manager, Valero Paulsboro Refinery and Pastor, CornerStone Pentecostal Assembly
PAULSBORO, NEW JERSEY, USA — One afternoon, I was using FileFixer to repair ten MicroStation design files with problems such as “end of file missing”, nested cell corruption and a number of other various problems. I thought to myself — if only I had this tool in my church, what great people we would have in this world.

Reverend Bethel Chapman and Dan Lottes of the Valero Paulsboro Refinery

Just think, when people come to my church with all kinds of problems and hang-ups, just run them through “SoulFixer”. Within seconds their sins would be washed away and the lust problems would disappear. Depression and stress would dissipate. Hate, envy and malice would all turn to love. What a beautiful solution to the problems of mankind.

I then came to my senses and my ten files that had gone through FileFixer were totally repaired and operating perfectly.

My name is Reverend Bethel Chapman and I currently have two jobs. I am currently Design Manager of the Design and Reproduction Department at the Valero Paulsboro Refinery and I am a pastor at the CornerStone Pentecostal Assembly Church, in Williamstown, New Jersey. Since 1985, my job in the church world is to try to fix souls as FileFixer repairs bad design files.

My CAD History
I have been working in the engineering profession since 1968. I became a junior designer for R.W. Booker Consulting Engineers in St. Louis, Missouri while still a junior at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Illinois. In February of 1970, I went to work for Mobil Oil Corporation in Sauget, Illinois in the Design Engineering department. I was later transferred to the Paulsboro, New Jersey refinery. I specialize in designing piping systems, tanks, fractionation systems and generally all facets of mechanical engineering design.

How Axiom tools have been a blessing to us
My Design Lead Supervisor, Dan Lottes, has implemented several tools in MicroStation Productivity Toolkit to eliminate thousands of hours of tedious work and wasted time.
For instance, we recently constructed three new process units here at the refinery. As a result of this new construction, we received 12,000-plus design files from our contractors. Using Global File Changer we were able to select text, delete it, attach a cell library, place a new cell at the correct scale, angle and location and drop the cell, for over 1,000 designs at a time. Using RefManager, we were able to make reports on what design files had what reference files so we could run our batch plotting program. RefManager also detached all the needless reference files from the entire group of design files. Using RefMerge, we were able to automatically merge all reference files attached to each design into the design file itself. Using RenamePlus, we were able to do batch renaming for thousands of design files that did not quite match our file-naming procedure. Using DgnCompare saved us hours of painstaking work when it came time to merge the contractor’s revision with our current revision of the design.

Dan Lottes found that MicroStation Productivity Toolkit was so valuable that he wanted all his designers to have access to its goodies. We purchased a site license last month and now all of our designers have access to all of the great tools contained in MicroStation Productivity Toolkit.

How much money did we save?
The money we saved by using MicroStation Productivity Toolkit was substantial. If we were to project that it would take a minimum of 15 minutes to process one design then we are talking about 3,000 man-hours. We were able to complete the job in less than 500 man-hours. That’s a savings of 2,500 man-hours at a very conservative rate estimate of $50.00 per hour, we were able to save $125,000 dollars. We have continued to use MicroStation Productivity Toolkit with all of its tools and Toolkit has been incorporated into our everyday arsenal of design tools.

Prediction for the future of CAD
Since I began designing in CAD in 1987, there have been great improvements in hardware and software designs. We can model designs in 3D. Rotate, turn, cut sections through the designs, walk through the entire model and do many other things. With the improvements in software, there is no telling where we are going. Nonetheless, it will be an exciting ride.

Thanks!
Thank you for thinking of us at Valero Paulsboro Refinery and thank you so much more for creating such a great, helpful tool as MicroStation Productivity Toolkit.

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