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CADconform for MicroStation Readme |
CADconform requires a machine to act as a database file server. This “server” machine can be any machine that is available on a Windows network. No particular Operating System is required, but the server database file needs to be locatable by a Windows client, either by mapping a network drive or specifying a UNC path. There are no software, operating system, or device driver requirements for the server machine; however it is preferable that the machine used for the server has a relatively fast connection to the network.
In addition to the CADconform requirements on the server, you may also want to run the licence server on this machine. See the readme file for requirements for running the licence server (either CMLS or ALS). You may need to open a port in your firewall to allow the licence server to operate. The licence server can be installed on any machine (not necessarily the CADconform server), and is only required to run pooled licensing, instead of standalone (node-locked) licensing. Pooled licensing is a more convenient way to manage multiple licences of CADconform or other Altiva Software products.
As CADconform is an MDL application, MicroStation must be loaded on each client machine in order to use the software. Additionally, the client needs to be able to access the server computer via UNC or network drive mapping using a Windows Network, if the database is centrally located. CADconform will run on any version of MicroStation: 2004, XM or V8i.
As CADconform is an MDL application, PowerDraft must be loaded on each client machine in order to use the software. PowerDraft support is bundled with the main CADconform installer.
CADconform for PowerDraft requires the Bentley MDL database drivers. These drivers are either delivered with PowerDraft or available as a separate component, depending on the PowerDraft version:
PowerDraft runs the MDL environment with limited write-privileges. By default, CADconform cannot create new files and directories. This means that to export new reports (CSV, HTML, etc) or create new cache or settings files, CADconform requires PowerDraft to run with elevated privileges. This problem occurs regardless of your current UAC (User Account Contol) settings. If you experience problems with CADconform creating new files, then try launching PowerDraft with Administrative privileges. This usually only has to happen once to create the new file or directory. Modifiying existing files is not usually a problem, so running as administrator usually needs to only happen when creating new files or directories initially. To run PowerDraft as administrator, right-click on the PowerDraft executable shortcut and select "Run As Administrator" from the pop-up menu. To permanently run PowerDraft with elevated privileges, change the PowerDraft shortcut properties to always run as administrator from the "Compatibility" tab. Note that in Windows 8 and above, the shortcut properties can only be accessed from the Desktop (or Task Bar) and not from the Windows Start Menu. To alter the properties of the PowerDraft icon in the Start Menu, choose "Open File Location" from the pop-up menu and right-click the icon from Windows Explorer.
In order for CADconform to work on PowerDraft 2004, the user must have previously installed the PowerDraft Database Server plugin available from the Bentley Select Server downloads site. The latest download file at time of writing was located in the Download Category "Enhancements & Updates" and was named: "Database Servers for MicroStation PowerDraft (08.05.02.74)" and dated 24th July 2008.
PowerDraft XM and above does not require the database plugin as it has database connectivity built-in. However, PowerDraft XM must be installed with the Database Components option turned on during the install process. This option is usually on by default during a complete install of PowerDraft, but may have been turned off for a minimal installation.
CADconform for PowerDraft has a few minor limitations not present in CADconform for MicroStation. Briefly these limitations include:
CADconform can not be run on Windows Vista or 7 with UAC enabled. This is due to a limitation in Vista API support in PowerDraft (specifically the ability to create a directory in the local user directory), and may be resolved in later releases of PowerDraft. It can also be worked around by disabling UAC or running PowerDraft as an administrator.
CADconform can only be node-lock licensed, it can not run a pooled licence from CMLS or ALS (the licence server).
CADconform can not import feature table data from MicroStation Settings Files (*STG) due to an API limitation in PowerDraft.
CADconform can only launch external applications through a DOS window, so there may be an extra step required to close the DOS window when launching an external application such as viewing the PDF manual, opening the Preferences editor, etc.
The install path of CADconform on the server needs to be a location that is readable, writeable (for the user profile and databases) and executable (for some of the shared binary files). The default location for installation is the "C:\ProgramData" directory, pointed to by the system environment variable "PROGRAMDATA" or "ALLUSERSPROFILE", depending on the OS version. This location should normally be writeable for non-administrators. Due to the requirements to both read and write data, it is probably best not to install the server component into the “Program Files” directory of your server, as this will not be writeable under Windows Vista or higher, or earlier versions of Windows where the user privileges are insufficient to write to this directory. If the CADconform server installation does occur in the Program Files folder, then write/execute privileges can be granted under Windows Vista or higher by either:
Options 1 and 2 can be performed using normal Windows administration. Option 3 can be performed by copying the user and database folders, and then:
After installation of the server component, it is worth checking that the users have full read/write/execute permission in the CADconform directory. Failure to do so may result in users not being able to define users, change passwords, write reports or alter the feature table database.
The CADconform Server database is located via ODBC drivers. The main advantage of using ODBC is that it allows flexibility in the choice of database management application (eg: Oracle, Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, etc). By default, CADconform uses the Microsoft Access drivers to access the default "CADconform Example" database. The drivers for this database should already be installed with Windows 2000 or higher. If an earlier version of Windows is installed, then the requisite drivers can be downloaded free from Microsoft's website as part of the MDAC or DAO toolsets.
For other database systems (such as Oracle), extra ODBC drivers may be required for each client from the database vendor.
Copyright 2001-2016 Altiva Software, Inc. Last modified by Piers Porter.
