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ExPLANT-I User Guide

AVEVA Solutions Ltd

Disclaimer
Information of a technical nature, and particulars of the product and its use, is given by AVEVA Solutions Ltd and its subsidiaries without warranty. AVEVA Solutions Ltd and its subsidiaries disclaim any and all warranties and conditions, expressed or implied, to the fullest extent permitted by law. Neither the author nor AVEVA Solutions Ltd, or any of its subsidiaries, shall be liable to any person or entity for any actions, claims, loss or damage arising from the use or possession of any information, particulars, or errors in this publication, or any incorrect use of the product, whatsoever.

Copyright
Copyright and all other intellectual property rights in this manual and the associated software, and every part of it (including source code, object code, any data contained in it, the manual and any other documentation supplied with it) belongs to AVEVA Solutions Ltd or its subsidiaries. All other rights are reserved to AVEVA Solutions Ltd and its subsidiaries. The information contained in this document is commercially sensitive, and shall not be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted without the prior written permission of AVEVA Solutions Ltd. Where such permission is granted, it expressly requires that this Disclaimer and Copyright notice is prominently displayed at the beginning of every copy that is made. The manual and associated documentation may not be adapted, reproduced, or copied, in any material or electronic form, without the prior written permission of AVEVA Solutions Ltd. The user may also not reverse engineer, decompile, copy, or adapt the associated software. Neither the whole, nor part of the product described in this publication may be incorporated into any third-party software, product, machine, or system without the prior written permission of AVEVA Solutions Ltd, save as permitted by law. Any such unauthorised action is strictly prohibited, and may give rise to civil liabilities and criminal prosecution. The AVEVA products described in this guide are to be installed and operated strictly in accordance with the terms and conditions of the respective license agreements, and in accordance with the relevant User Documentation. Unauthorised or unlicensed use of the product is strictly prohibited. First published September 2007 AVEVA Solutions Ltd, and its subsidiaries AVEVA Solutions Ltd, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HB, United Kingdom

Trademarks
AVEVA and Tribon are registered trademarks of AVEVA Solutions Ltd or its subsidiaries. Unauthorised use of the AVEVA or Tribon trademarks is strictly forbidden. AVEVA product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of AVEVA Solutions Ltd or its subsidiaries, registered in the UK, Europe and other countries (worldwide). The copyright, trade mark rights, or other intellectual property rights in any other product, its name or logo belongs to its respective owner.

ExPLANT-I User Guide

ExPLANT-I User Guide

Contents

Page

ExPLANT-I
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1
Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1 How this Guide is Organised . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1 Manual or Network Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:2

Transfer from DESIGN to MicroStation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:1


Choose a Seed File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:1 Create a Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:1 Prepare the Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:1 Colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:2 Graphic Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:2 Set the Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:2 Set the Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:2 Running ExPLANT-I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:4 Log File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:5

ExPLANT-I Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:1


Example Configuration File for HTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:1 Structure of the Configuration File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:3 Select the Output Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:3

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Switch the Attribute File On or Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:3 Switch the DGN File On or Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:3

Define the Output Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:4


Link to the DGN File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Define the Head and Foot of the Attribute File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Define the Head and Tail of an Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Define the Format of an Attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Variables Available. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:4 3:4 3:4 3:5 3:5

Set the Output Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:6 Select Attributes for Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:7
Choose Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:7 Choose Multiple Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:8 Choose Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:8 Change the Tag in the Attribute File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:8 Reference Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:9 Attributes of Other Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:9 Using WRT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:10

Miscellaneous Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:10


Control Cell Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:10

ImPlant - I and Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:10

Limitations, Warning and Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:1


Geometry Mapping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:1 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:1 Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:2

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Introduction

Introduction
The AVEVA ExPLANT-I Export Driver allows the user to extract 3D geometric models from the DESIGN databases and output them in a binary file (called a dgn file) compatible with MicroStation according to the Intergraph Standard File Format Specification. The resulting file can then be used to import 3D graphics models into MicroStation or into other systems that can read dgn format files. Version 1.4.x of AVEVA ExPLANT-I can be used to transfer information from AVEVA PDMS and also includes the capability to create a highly configurable text file, linked to the dgn file, containing the PDMS attribute values. Note: AVEVA ExPLANT-I Version 1.4 will only convert models into dgn Version 7 format. This format can be read by more recent versions of MicroStation (which use a different native file format).

1.1

Before You Begin


It is assumed that you are familiar with the following: PDMS - in particular the DESIGN module. Operating system functions such as installing software from CD-ROM/DVD, creating and editing files and directories/folders

For general information on using the Export facilities in PDMS, refer to DESIGN Reference Manual: Utilities.

1.2

How this Guide is Organised


This guide is divided into chapters as follows: Transfer from DESIGN to MicroStation ExPLANT-I Configuration File Limitations, Warning and Error Messages explains transferring geometric information from DESIGN to MicroStation explains creating an ExPLANT-I configuration file explains Limitations, Warning and Error Messages

1.3

Installation
ExPLANT-I is supplied as an installation option of the AVEVA PDMS DVD.

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1.4

Manual or Network Installation


It is possible to copy ExPLANT-I from one machine to another, for example as part of an automated deployment using SMS. In order to do this you must: Copy explant.dll (installed into %PDMSEXE%, to the target %PDMSEXE% folder. You must be sure that the version of explant.dll is compatible with the version of PDMS. Make sure that a suitable seedfile is available, either locally or across a network.

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Transfer from DESIGN to MicroStation

Transfer from DESIGN to MicroStation


The AVEVA ExPLANT-I Export Driver can be used to transfer geometric information from a DESIGN database into a format suitable for input into MicroStation and to write attribute data into a linked text file.

2.1

Choose a Seed File


ExPLANT-I needs a seed file which is a .dgn used as a header for all the generated dgn files, and contains settings such as the units to be used in the dgn file. You can supply ExPLANT-I with a seedfile in either of two ways: If the environment variable SEED3D_DIR is set to a folder-path, then ExPLANT-I will look in that folder for as file named seed3d.dgn., for example: set SEED3D_DIR= %PDMSEXE% This is particularly useful if you always use the same seed file. In that case you could add this set command to your PDMS batch files: set SEED3D_DIR=%PDMSEXE%\ ExPLANT-I. You can use the export option 'seedfile' <filename> command in DESIGN to set the path of the seed file (note that the path of the file is needed, not the path of the folder, as in the case of the environment variable). For example export option 'seedfile' 'C:\seedfiles\seed1.dgn' This is particularly useful if you use different seed files for different exports.

2.2

Create a Configuration File


If you wish to export attribute data you must create a configuration file. This defines the format of the attribute file and specifies which DESIGN elements and particular attributes are to be output. The contents of the Configuration file are described in ExPLANT-I Configuration File.

2.3

Prepare the Transfer


To translate a model file into MicroStation format you must use the AVEVA ExPLANT-I Export Driver from within DESIGN module. However, before you start DESIGN you must to initialise a number of environment variables to appropriate values. Although the commands can be typed in, it is recommended that the commands be invoked automatically at the start of each session. Note: To use a configuration file, either the environment variable EXPLANT_CONFIGURATION must be set to the path of the configuration file; or the

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Transfer from DESIGN to MicroStation

PDMS command export option 'configuration' '<filename>' must be called to set up a temporary path to the configuration file.

2.4

Colours
When selecting geometry for output from DESIGN, the user can choose a colour that is associated with each element or group of elements. Provided that the DESIGN colour number is in the range 1-63, then that number will be used as the level number in the dgn file. If the PDMS colour is outside that range, then a default dgn level number of 1 will be used.

2.5

Graphic Group
When exporting equipment and structural elements, AVEVA ExPLANT-I will use a different dgn graphic group number for each piece of equipment or structural element. It should be noted that because some hierarchy information is not available to AVEVA ExPLANT-I, then there are some circumstances where the graphic group is not always correctly set.

2.6

Set the Units


The exported data units are set from the working units in the seed file in use. The standard seed file supplied with AVEVA ExPLANT-I has mm as the working units but metres, feet and inches can also be recognised if a different seed file is used. In a DGN file the working units are described in terms of: 1. Master units, these can be named 2. Sub-units, these can be named 3. Resolution units (these are not named) 4. Number of sub-units per master unit 5. Number of resolution units per sub-unit Firstly, AVEVA ExPLANT-I checks the master units name for millimetres (MM or mm), metres (M or m), feet (FT, ft or ) or inches (IN, in or ) for a positive match and if it finds one will set the scaling accordingly. If there is no positive match, it then checks the sub-unit name against the same unit names and if it finds a match sets the scaling from the sub-unit and the number of sub-units per master unit. If the units in the seed file are not recognised, the default is to assume MM.

2.7

Set the Representation


The Export command was designed as a what-you-see-is-what-you-get system, where the visibility and representation settings in DESIGN control what is exported. This enables you to select certain elements of the database for export, and to choose an appropriate level of detail for your needs. If you are operating in a graphical mode, and working with relatively small volume of data this is ideal. When exporting large models the close integration with the graphical display can result in slow performance.

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In this case you can speed up the export significantly by running DESIGN without graphics. It is then very important to ensure that the visual representation is set to what you require (note that DESIGNs default settings are different when you are running without graphics). We suggest that you do the following: 1. Read 4.2 Element Representation of the DESIGN Reference Manual: General Commands, which discusses the options available. 2. Using DESIGN with graphics enabled, set the representation to your requirements, using either the menus or commands. 3. Activate the PDMS Command Line window (Menu Display -> Command Line) 4. Type the command: Q REPR 5. Note the results, for example: Centreline Off

Tube On Obstruct Off Insulation Off Hole Off Ppoints Off Ppoint Length 50mm Ppoint Numbers Off Representation level 6 Representation level PIPE 6 Representation level NOZZ 6 Representation level STRU 6 Mass Properties Detail level 6 Pnode On Pnode size 100mm Pnode colour 22 Snode On Snode size 50mm Snode colour 31 Points Off Pline Off Pline length 50mm Pkey Off
6. Leave DESIGN, and re-enter, but without graphics (by typing dev tty to Monitor) 7. Type Q REPR again, note the results, for example:

Centreline Off Tube On Obstruct Off Insulation Off Hole Off Ppoints Off Ppoint Length 50mm Ppoint Numbers Off Representation level 0 Representation level PIPE 0 Representation level NOZZ 0 Representation level STRU 0 Mass Properties Detail level 0 Pnode On

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Pnode size 10mm Pnode colour Visible Snode On Snode size 10mm Snode colour Visible Points Off Pline Off Pline length 50mm Pkey Off
8. Look at the differences, in this case:

Representation level 6 Representation level PIPE 6 Representation level NOZZ 6 Representation level STRU 6 Mass Properties Detail level 6 Pnode size 100mm Pnode colour 22 Snode size 50mm Snode colour 31
9. Either include all of these representation commands in your PDMS macro file (see below), or select those you do need using the DESIGN Reference Manual as a guide.

2.8

Running ExPLANT-I
To translate a model file into a MicroStation input file you must be in the DESIGN module. If the model that you are going to export is large, then it will be a lot quicker to output the file if you enter the device tty mode rather than the graphics mode of DESIGN and then switch tracing off (trace off). The DESIGN EXPORT commands can be stored in a PDMS macro file. For example: pdms Enter project name bas Enter username and password /SAMPLE dev tty DESIGN trace off repre level 6 repre level pipe 6 repre level nozz 6 Enter valid project name Enter your username and password Select the multiple database Select tty mode Enter DESIGN module. The DESIGN banner will be displayed. Switch tracing off Set drawing representation level Set drawing representation level for pipes Set drawing representation level for nozzles From the operating system start PDMS. The PDMS banner will be displayed.

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repre level stru 6 export system /explant Export option 'seedfile' 'c:\seedfiles\seed1.dgn' export file /equip over export holes on export /EQUIP colour 3 export /PIPES colour 4 export finish

Set drawing representation level for structures Load the AVEVA ExPLANT-I export driver Select a non-default seedfile to use Specify name of the output file Process holes in components Select names of PDMS elements that are to be exported. Create export data

Full details of more powerful colour selection and element selection techniques can be found in the DESIGN Reference Manual.

2.9

Log File
Whenever AVEVA ExPLANT-I is run, it writes a log file. This has the same name as the dgn file, but with a .log extension rather than .dgn. If a message or warning is printed by DESIGN, further details will usually be available in the log file. If warnings or errors are written to the log file, this is usually mentioned after the banner to the window from which PDMS was started. The log file is plain text, and may be viewed with more in a command window, or any text editor such as notepad.

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ExPLANT-I Configuration File

ExPLANT-I Configuration File


In order to produce an attribute file from ExPLANT-I you must create an ExPLANT-I configuration file, and inform the ExPLANT-I driver of its location in either of two ways: Setting the environment variable EXPLANT_CONFIGURATION to the path of that file before starting DESIGN, for example set EXPLANT_CONFIGURATION : %pdmsexe%\config.sample This is particularly useful if you always use the same configuration file. In that case you could add this set command to your PDMS batch files. You can use the export option 'configuration' <filename> command in DESIGN to set the path of the configuration file. For example export option 'configuration' ' C:\configs\config.txt' This is particularly useful if you use different configuration files for different exports.

The ExPLANT-I log-file contains the path of the configuration file used for the run.

3.1

Example Configuration File for HTML


Here is a complete example configuration file. This file instructs ExPLANT-I to create a file of commands to display some attributes of valves in the database. The example output format used is HTML (Hyper Text Mark-up Language). The example shows how the ExPLANT-I commands can be used to tables that can be viewed using a browser, such as Internet Explorer. The configuration commands used are explained later in this section. Some of the commands do not fit on a single line of this document and have been split. When you see a character, this means that the next line of the example is really part of the same original line. $* Configuration File header to produce html file ATTRIBUTE_FILE htm DGN_FILE yes ATTRIBUTE_LINKAGE 32768 0 FILE_HEADER |<HTML><HEAD>| FILE_HEADER |<TITLE>Sample ExPLANT-I HTML output </TITLE>| FILE_HEADER |</HEAD><BODY><H1>PDMS Attributes</H1>| FILE_FOOTER |</BODY></HTML>| ELEMENT_HEADER |<TABLE BORDER><CAPTION> Cell %ID1% %ID2%</CAPTION>| ELEMENT_FOOTER |</TABLE>| ATTRIBUTE_FORMAT |<TR><TD>%TAG%</TD> <TD>%VALUE%</TD></TR>|

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ExPLANT-I Configuration File

VALV NAME AS |Valve| NAME OF BRANCH AS |Branch| SPREF AS |Specification| POS END_VALV When ExPLANT-I is run using this configuration file it writes, in addition to the usual .dgn file, a .htm file similar to this: <HTML><HEAD> <TITLE>Sample ExPLANT-I HTML output </TITLE> </HEAD><BODY><H1>AVEVA Attributes</H1> <TABLE BORDER><CAPTION>Cell 1 0</CAPTION> <TR><TD>Valve</TD><TD>/V102</TD></TR> <TR><TD>Branch</TD><TD>/100-B-1-B1</TD></TR> <TR><TD>Specification</TD><TD>/A3B/VCW100</TD></TR> <TR><TD>POS</TD><TD>12490 12280 1836.5</TD></TR> </TABLE> <TABLE BORDER><CAPTION>Cell 2 0</CAPTION> <TR><TD>Valve</TD><TD>/V103</TD></TR> <TR><TD>Branch</TD><TD>/100-B-1-B1</TD></TR> <TR><TD>Specification</TD><TD>/A3B/VG100</TD></TR> <TR><TD>POS</TD><TD>12490 12280 2063.4</TD></TR> </TABLE> ... More tables omitted ... </BODY></HTML> And when this file is viewed with a web-browser it appears similar to this:

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ExPLANT-I Configuration File

3.2

Structure of the Configuration File


The ExPLANT-I configuration file is a text file, which may be produced with any text editor (such as notepad). Lines whose first non-blank characters are $* are treated as comments, and are not processed. Character strings may be quoted with | characters, and must be quoted if spaces are included in the string. Blank lines are permitted (and ignored). Spaces and tabs may be included before commands. Words of commands are separated by one or more spaces or tabs (spaces and tabs within |quotes do not separate words). Commands may not be split over more than one line. Commands are not case-sensitive. This document describes the recommended forms of the commands. Some other forms are also accepted.

3.3
3.3.1

Select the Output Files


Switch the Attribute File On or Off

Keywords: Description:

ATTRIBUTE_FILE This command switches the Attribute file on or off, and sets its fileextension. The default is not to create an attribute file.

Examples: ATTRIBUTE_FILE NO ATTRIBUTE_FILE html ATTRIBUTE_FILE EXTENSION |no| Do not create an attribute file Create an attribute file with extension .html Create an attribute file with extension .no

3.3.2

Switch the DGN File On or Off

Keywords: Description:

DGN_FILE This command switches the DGN file on or off. The default is to create a DGN file.

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ExPLANT-I Configuration File

Examples:

DGN_FILE NO DGN_FILE YES

Do not create a DGN file Create a DGN file

3.4

Define the Output Format


ExPLANT-I has a very flexible output format that enables you to export attribute data in the way that is most useful to you. This section describes the configuration commands available to control the output format.

3.4.1

Link to the DGN File


Four numbers link the cells in the dgn file to the attributes in the attribute file. These are stored as an Attribute Linkage. The first two of these are constant for all cells in the file and may be set by the ATTRIBUTE_LINKAGE command. For example, a web-browser will not read the dgn file itself and so has no particular requirements: ATTRIBUTE_LINKAGE 32768 0 ExPLANT-I generates the other two numbers, which change for each cell in the file.

3.4.2

Define the Head and Foot of the Attribute File


To define constant information to be placed at the start or end of the attribute file, use the FILE_HEADER and FILE_FOOTER commands. Each may be used more than once. For example the HTML file needs three lines at the start: <HTML><HEAD> <TITLE>Sample ExPLANT-I HTML Output </TITLE> </HEAD><BODY><H1>AVEVA Attributes<H1> and one line at the end: </BODY></HTML> and so the configuration file will have three FILE_HEADER commands and one FILE_FOOTER command: FILE_HEADER FILE_HEADER </TITLE>| FILE_HEADER FILE_FOOTER |<HTML><HEAD>| |<TITLE>Sample ExPLANT-I HTML Output |</HEAD><BODY><H1>PDMS Attributes<H1>| |</BODY></HTML>|

3.4.3

Define the Head and Tail of an Element


Similarly you can define the text to be written to the attribute file at the start and end of each element by means of the ELEMENT_HEADER and ELEMENT_FOOTER commands. The HTML file needs to start the table and define a caption at the start of each element, for example: <TABLE BORDER><CAPTION>Cell 1 0</CAPTION> and needs to close the table afterwards:

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ExPLANT-I Configuration File

</TABLE> Some of the information in the element header changes from element to element, and so the command uses two variables in the quoted strings: ELEMENT_HEADER |<TABLE BORDER><CAPTION> Cell %ID1% %ID2%</CAPTION>| ELEMENT_FOOTER |</TABLE>| These variables (%ID1% and %ID2%) will be replaced whenever an element is processed by the current identification numbers (the third and fourth numbers in the dgn attribute linkage). See Variables Available for a list of all available variables.

3.4.4

Define the Format of an Attribute


Each attribute is output using a single text format, with the variable %TAG% set to the tag defined for the attribute, and %VALUE% set to the value of the attribute. The HTML needed for one line of a table is: <TR><TD>Valve</TD><TD>/V102</TD></TR> and so the command needed is: ATTRIBUTE_FORMAT |<TR><TD>%TAG%</TD><TD>%VALUE%</TD></TR>| As another example, to create a file with attribute lines looking like: Valve = "/V102" use the command: ATTRIBUTE_FORMAT |%TAG% = "%VALUE%"|

3.4.5

Variables Available
Here are the variables you may put in the formats. These are replaced by the appropriate values when the format is used: %LINKAGE1% is replaced by the first value from the ATTRIBUTE_LINKAGE command, (the first of the four linkage numbers in the dgn file) in the range from 0 to 65535. %LINKAGE2% is replaced by the second value from the ATTRIBUTE_LINKAGE command, (the second of the four linkage numbers in the dgn file) in the range from 0 to 65535. %ID1% is replaced by the first ExPLANT-I generated identification number, (the third of the four linkage numbers in the dgn file) in the range from 0 to 65535. %ID2% is replaced by the second ExPLANT-I generated identification number, (the last of the four linkage numbers in the dgn file) in the range from 0 to 65535. %#LINKAGE1%, %#LINKAGE1%, %#ID1% and %#ID2% are replaced by the same values, but in the range -32768 to32767. %TAG% is replaced with the attribute tag. %VALUE% is replaced with the attribute value. %% is replaced by a single % character. If a format ends in a single % then ExPLANT-I will not move to the next line of the Attribute File before the next item.

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ExPLANT-I Configuration File

3.5

Set the Output Units


Keywords: Description: OUTPUT_UNITS This command controls how ExPLANT-I writes units to the attribute file. It does not affect unit handling within the DGN file. The default is use PDMS internal units (typically millimetres).

Examples:
OUTPUT_UNITS RAW

Use PDMS internal units. This should not be combined with any other OUTPUT_UNITS command When writing a value in millimetres, use three decimal places. When writing a value in inches, use two decimal places. When writing a value in feet and inches, use fractions as small as 1/32 of an inch. When writing a value which is in bore units, output the nominal bore in millimetres to three decimal places. When writing a value which is in bore units, output the actual bore in inches to the ordinary inch precision. When writing a value in distance units, output in feet and inches to 1/64 of an inch.

OUTPUT_UNITS MM DECIMAL 3

OUTPUT_UNITS INCH DECIMAL 2

OUTPUT_UNITS FINCH FRACTION 32

OUTPUT_UNITS BORE NOMINAL MM DECIMAL 3

OUTPUT_UNITS BORE ACTUAL INCH

OUTPUT_UNITS DISTANCE FINCH FRACTION 64

Here are some examples of sets of OUTPUT_UNIT commands: If you want bore and distance values to be reported in millimetres, using the nominal bore to one decimal place, all other dimensions to three decimal places you should include: OUTPUT_UNITS MM DECIMAL 3 OUTPUT_UNITS DISTANCE MM OUTPUT_UNITS BORE NOMINAL MM DECIMAL 1 If you want distances to be in feet, inches and eighths of an inch, actual bores in inches to three decimal places, and any other inch dimensions to one decimal place you should include: OUTPUT_UNITS DISTANCE FINCH FRACTION 8 OUTPUT_UNITS BORE ACTUAL INCH DECIMAL 3 OUTPUT_UNITS INCH DECIMAL 1

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ExPLANT-I Configuration File

3.6
3.6.1

Select Attributes for Output


Choose Elements
For each element type that you want to report on in the attribute file you must include a block of commands in the configuration file. This block starts with the type of the element, and ends with the corresponding END_ command. Between these two you include the attributes that you require. For example: BRANCH ALL_ATTRIBUTES ALL_UDAS END_BRANCH

VALVE NAME SPREF :MANUFACTURER END_VALVE Each element found when ExPLANT-I is scanning the DESIGN database according to the export commands is checked so see if it is one of those listed in the configuration file. If it matches, a MicroStation Cell is added to the dgn file. Since the DESIGN is hierarchical, with, for example ZONEs containing PIPEs containing BRANCHes containing VALVEs, this will, by default create Cells within Cells in the dgn file. This can lead to two problems: There is a limit on the amount of data that can be put in a MicroStation Cell. A ZONE will almost certainly exceed this limit. Some applications that read dgn files may not interpret nested cells correctly.

To deal with these situations it is possible to tell ExPLANT-I to handle some elements differently, and either to use an empty cell, or a cell containing geometry, but not nested cells. If you use the EMPTY qualifier on an element line, for example ZONE EMPTY NAME END_ZONE ExPLANT-I will create an almost empty cell in the dgn file, and link the attributes to that. As the cell is almost empty it will not exceed the size limit. The cell will not be completely empty as many dgn file readers reject completely empty cells. (If necessary, a line of zero length is put in the cell). It will often be better to use the facilities to report on the attributes of another element (described in Attributes of Other Elements) to report attributes of these very highlevel attributes. If you use the NONEST qualifier on an element line then ExPLANT-I will write a cell to the dgn file which may contain geometry, but will not contain the cells of other elements from the configuration file (it may contain cells produced for geometry defined in PDMS as facets). It is recommend that you only use this option if the system reading the dgn file cannot cope with the default NEST option. An example of a possible use of NONEST is when you want to have cells for valves, but to gather all the geometry within a branch except for the valves into a branch-cell. You can express this as:

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ExPLANT-I Configuration File

BRANCH NONEST ALL_ATTRIBUTES END_BRANCH

VALVE ALL_ATTRIBUTES NAME OF BRANCH END_VALVE If a particular cell would exceed the maximum possible size, ExPLANT-I will exclude some of its contents from the cell. All the geometry will be included in the file, but it will not be included in the cell structure. If this happens, a warning message is output to the log-file.

3.6.2

Choose Multiple Elements


If the same set of attributes need to be reported for multiple element types the ELEMENTS / END_ELEMENTS commands can be used, as shown in the example below: ELEMENTS ELEMENT GASKET ELEMENT CROSS ELEMENT ELBOW ELEMENT BRANCH ALL_ATTRIBUTES ALL_UDAS END_ELEMENTS The start of the block is defined by the command ELEMENTS. Each element type that is to output the same set of attributes is then listed in the lines after the ELEMENT command. Any number of element types can be listed but they must be listed in consecutive lines. The attributes are then defined in exactly the same was as described in Choose Elements. The block is then terminated by the END_ELEMENTS command.

3.6.3

Choose Attributes
There are two special commands to report on groups of attributes at once: ALL_ATTRIBUTES: if this is included in an element-block all attributes available in the element (apart from user-defined attributes) will be listed in the Attribute file. ALL_UDAS: if this is included in an element block all user-defined attributes will be listed in the Attribute file.

To report on individual attributes include them by name, as shown, for example by the Q ATTS command in DESIGN. To report on a UDA (user-defined-attribute) you must include the leading colon, again as shown in Q ATTS. You may find it useful to always include one or two standard attributes, for example the PDMS TYPE and NAME of the element, so that you can always connect back to the PDMS element from which the attributes were extracted.

3.6.4

Change the Tag in the Attribute File


If you wish to change the tag given to the attribute in the attribute file use the AS modifier. For example TYPE AS |Class of Element| NAME AS |ID|

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ExPLANT-I Configuration File

Note: When the new tag includes spaces you must quote it in ||. In the second example it is not strictly necessary to use the quotes, as the new tag is a single word, but it is recommended, for consistency, that you use them.

3.6.5

Reference Attributes
By default, if you ask for a reference attribute, ExPLANT-I will report the name of the element referred to. For example, if the element block were VALVE TYPE NAME REFNO SPREF END_VALVE the report might be TYPE: VALVE NAME: /V102 REFNO: /V102 SPREF: /A3B/VCW100 Sometimes you may want the reference to be reported as the database reference number, rather than its name. In this case you must add the ASREF modifier to the attribute. For example: VALVE TYPE NAME REFNO ASREF SPREF END_VALVE might produce the report TYPE: VALVE NAME: /V102 REFNO: =40/92005 SPREF: /A3B/VCW100 You may combine the AS and the ASREF modifiers, for example: REFNO ASREF AS |PDMS Reference|

3.6.6

Attributes of Other Elements


You may wish to report on attributes of other elements referred to by the element you are working on, for example some attributes of an element owning the current element, or of the specification referred to by the element. You can do this by using OF modifiers, for example VALVE NAME OF PIPE AS |Pipe-name| CATREF OF SPREF OWNER OF PTREF OF CATREF OF SPREF ASREF :LOCATION OF ZONE :VISIBLE OF SPEC OF PSPEC OF BRANCH END_VALVE

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ExPLANT-I Configuration File

As you can see from these examples, you can chain OF modifiers, and combine them with the other modifiers.

3.6.7

Using WRT
If the position or orientation attribute of an element needs to be output with respect to some other element in the DESIGN databases, WRT may be used. For example: DISH POS WRT WORLD POS WRT =23964/17687 END_DISH This example would display the dish position first in terms of world coordinates, then with respect to the position of the element represented by the database reference number =23964/17687 The WRT target may be either a database reference number or an element type within the design that owns the current element directly or through the hierarchy, such as WORLD, SITE, ZONE, OWNER, etc. It is not currently possible to specify the WRT target by an element name.

3.7
3.7.1

Miscellaneous Commands
Control Cell Names
By default ExPLANT-I names all the cells produced for the chosen elements. These names are not particularly meaningful, but some applications and dgn file-checking utilities consider cells without names to be errors. If you wish to switch off the cell names add the command NAME_CELLS NO to the configuration file.

3.8

ImPlant - I and Review


ExPLANT-I can be used to transfer DESIGN geometry and attributes to AVEVAs Review program. To do this successfully only one level of cells must be used. For example, if you wish to query the attributes of PDMS piping components you must not output attributes for SITE, ZONE, PIPE and BRANCH elements. You can report on attributes of these higher level elements with the OF modifier, for example: VALVE NAME NAME OF PIPE AS |Pipe-name| NAME OF BRANCH AS |Branch-name| END_VALVE

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Limitations, Warning and Error Messages

4
4.1

Limitations, Warning and Error Messages


Geometry Mapping
The MicroStation dgn data file that is produced by the AVEVA ExPLANT-I Export Driver contains a series of geometry definition records. The following table shows how DESIGN primitives are mapped to dgn record types. DESIGN Cylinder Snout Cone Slope bottomed cylinder Sphere Dish Box Circular Torus Rectangular Torus Pyramid Polyhedron Structural Rectangle Structural Annulus Extrusion dgn File Truncated Cone Truncated Cone Truncated Cone Capped Surface Capped Surface Capped Surface Capped Surface Capped Surface Capped Surface Capped Surface Cell containing a number of Shape elements Capped Surface or a Cell containing a number of Shape elements Capped Surface or a Cell containing a number of Shape elements Capped Surface

If the user requests that holes to be output, then AVEVA ExPLANT-I will generate a solid object bounded by a number of facets. The facets with no holes are translated as Shapes and the facets with holes are translated as Cells containing no-hole Shapes and hole Shapes.

4.2

Limitations
The following limitations affect the transfer of information from DESIGN to MicroStation.

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Limitations, Warning and Error Messages

1. The interface translates 3D geometric elements only. Attribute data may be written to an attribute file. 2. The BOUN and DRAW elements and 3D lines are not translated. 3. Element names are not translated but may be written to the attribute file. 4. Attributes are not translated but may be written to the attribute file. 5. The database hierarchy is not translated and any catalogue components are copied for every instance. Some geometry elements may not have the correct graphic group setting. 6. Wide character sets (such as Kanji) are not supported. 7. Under some circumstances User Defined Attributes of type WORD may not be output correctly.

4.3

Error Messages
This section provides details of the error messages that can be output when running AVEVA ExPLANT-I. When an error occurs the program will output a message to the standard error stream (usually the screen) and the program will then stop. A more detailed error message may often be found in the log file. Less serious problems will cause a warning to be output to the log file, but the program will not stop. The following message is output by DESIGN if there is a problem with the software license for the AVEVA ExPLANT-I Export Driver. If this problem occurs you may need to contact AVEVA Customer Support for assistance.

***** FATAL SITEFILE ERROR *****


The following message is output by Design if there is a problem with locating or loading the AVEVA ExPLANT-I Export Driver.

Unable to open dynamic library ...


The following error messages may be output during translation from DESIGN to MicroStation.

library does not accept this hardware iogini has not been called file does not exist there is no ISFF file open cannot close the file end of file found insufficient space provided 2D request on 3D file 3D request on 2D file type does not exist type is invalid for query routine invalid level in type 9

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Limitations, Warning and Error Messages

invalid dimension error reading IDGS file invalid exponent in double group not applicable to type attributes not applicable SEED3D_DIR has not been declared Can not open seed file Can not open ISFF file Invalid export option:

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Limitations, Warning and Error Messages

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Index

A
Attribute define the Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:5 Attribute File change the Tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:8 define the Head and Foot . . . . . . . . . 3:4 switch On or Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:3 Attributes choose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:8 other elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:9 reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:8 select for Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:7

choose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:7 choose multiple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:8 ExPLANT-I run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:4

F
File log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:5

G
Geometry Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:1 Group graphic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:2

C
Colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:2 Commands miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:10 Configuration File create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:1 ExPLANT-I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:1 structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:3

I
Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1 network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:2

L
Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:1

D
DGN File link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:4 switch On or Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:3

O
Output Files select . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:3 Format define . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:4 Units set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:6

E
Element define the Head and Foot . . . . . . . . . 3:4 Elements

R
Representation

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setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:2

S
Seed File choose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:1

T
Transfer DESIGN to Microstation . . . . . . . . . . 2:1 prepare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:1

U
Units setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:2

V
Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:5

W
WRT use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:10

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