===============================
Product:        MicroStation SE
Version:        05.07.00.25
Language:       English
Date:           Nov 21, 1997   
===============================

This document contains important general MicroStation SE 
information not available in the on-line documentation. For 
platform specific information, please refer to one of the 
following files (installed in MicroStation SE's root 
directory/folder):

    DOS                          READDOS.TXT
    Intel-compatible Windows     READWin.TXT
    DEC Alpha NT                 READDEC.TXT
    OS/2                         READOS2.TXT
    HPUX                         READHPUX.TXT
    Solaris                      READSol.TXT
    IRIX                         READIRIX.TXT
    AIX                          READAIX.TXT
    CLIX                         READCLIX.TXT
    MacOS                        READMac.TXT

* Getting Started
    Using the On-line Help
    Registration and licensing
    Configuration variables
    Display drivers
    Semaphore file locking
    Support and services information
* MicroStation Features
    Printing and plotting
    Archiver information
    DWG/DXF import/export
    MSBATCH
    MicroStation BASIC
    Enter data field information
    General graphics information
* 3D
    Rendering Acceleration
    Export visible edges
    Panoramic Rendering
* Non-graphic Databases
    General database enhancements
    Xbase
    Oracle
* Copyright Notice

For "quick" installation instructions and for information 
regarding the hardware keyed version of MicroStation, see 
the file READFRST.txt on the CD's root directory/folder. For 
detailed information about installation, see the "MicroStation 
Setup Guide."


===============
Getting Started
===============
This section contains information about the following:
   Using the On-line Help
   Registration and licensing
   Configuration Variables
   Display Drivers
   Support and Services information


----------------------
Using the On-line Help
----------------------
For basic instructions on how to use the on-line help, choose 
How to Use Help, from MicroStation's Help menu. The following 
paragraphs provide additional notes on using help.

The on-line help file provided with MicroStation SE contains 
two types of information: new topics covering the updates and 
changes for MicroStation SE, and topics that cover features 
that did not change. Titles of topics that are new or updated 
in MicroStation SE end with the notation, "SE", for example, 
"Reference Files (SE)."

Hypertext links are present in help text, so you easily 
navigate between the new material and related unchanged material.


--------------------------
Registration and licensing
--------------------------
The license agreement for MicroStation differs from previous 
agreements. We follow what is now standard intellectual property 
practice by requiring that you sign a separate agreement, the 
Bentley SELECT Program Agreement or the License Pooling Agreement.
For more information, contact the nearest Bentley office; phone 
numbers can be found in the "Support and Services Guide."


-----------------------
Configuration variables
-----------------------
The MS_OPENDESIGNFILEFILTER configuration variable provides users 
with the ability to specify the initial design file filter to 
be used in various open design file dialog boxes. If this variable 
is set, then MicroStation Manager and the Open Design File dialog 
will use the value as the initial filter. An example value is "*.*". 

New Project Configuration files can only be created through a 
text editor.

See also "Printing and Plotting", "Archiver Information" and 
"Database."


---------------
Display drivers
---------------
NOTE: Bentley does not endorse any hardware peripherals. This 
includes plotters, printers, display adapters, or input devices.

Bentley highly recommends obtaining the latest versions of 
video drivers from your graphics vendor.

Aspect Ratio
------------
MicroStation automatically detects the aspect ratio of the 
display screens on most systems. In some configurations 
(including some dual screen Windows displays), the video driver 
returns incorrect display size information, causing elements to 
appear stretched in either the horizontal or vertical direction. 
The MicroStation configuration variable MS_ASPECTRATIO 
specifies the correct aspect ratio to use in these situations. 
This variable should be set to the ratio of the width to the 
height of the display area.

For example: 

System A: Display screen is 200mm wide by 150mm high. The 
aspect ratio is 200/150 = 1.33, so set MS_ASPECTRATIO=1.33.

System B: A dual screen system where each screen is the size 
of the System A display and the monitors are arranged 
side-by-side. The display area width is 400mm and the aspect 
ratio would be 400/150 = 2.67, so set MS_ASPECTRATIO=2.67.

IMPORTANT NOTES: If your display is not distorted, there is 
no need to create this configuration variable. If 
MS_ASPECTRATIO is set as a system environment variable in 
AUTOEXEC.BAT, it will affect operation in both the DOS and 
Windows 3.1x, potentially causing a problem in the version 
that receives correct information about the display size. 
Therefore, it is highly recommended that this variable only 
be set through the configuration variable dialog box of 
MicroStation (Workspace > Configuration > New dialog).


--------------------------------
Support and services information
--------------------------------
Please reference the "Support and Services Guide" for more 
information regarding support and services from Bentley.

======================
End of Getting Started
======================


=====================
MicroStation Features
=====================
This section contains information about the following:
   Printing and Plotting
   Archiver information
   DWG/DXF import/export
   MSBATCH
   Enter Data Field information
   General Graphics Information


---------------------
Printing and plotting
---------------------
NOTE: Bentley does not endorse any hardware peripherals. This 
includes plotters, printers, display adapters, or input devices.
       
A significant number of key-ins for plotting have been 
incorporated. For information on what is available, load the
Plot application (File > Print/Plot or Ctrl+P), then open 
the Key-in Browser (Help > Key-in Browser), and type in plot.


--------------------
Archiver information
--------------------
Long filenames are truncated to the first eight characters when 
transferred to an operating system that does not support long 
filenames (DOS).
    
For the Use Path Filter option to have any effect, the Save 
Directories option must also be selected.          

MS_ARCHIVE is used to select the directories to include in the 
search path for Archive (.mar) files.

MS_ARCHIVECLASS is used to select the directories to include in 
the search path for Archive class (.mac) files.


---------------------
DWG/DXF import/export
---------------------
When attaching a cell library to a master design file (for the 
purpose of importing AutoCAD blocks), you must make sure that the 
cell library file has the same dimensions (2D or 3D) as the 
the master design file.

The settings for import/export are now stored in the DWG BASIC 
source file (dwg.bas by default). Since it is an ASCII text file, 
all supported settings are visible to the users. The settings 
files (.sfi and .sfo) do not function to store settings anymore. 
These files only serve the purpose of translation history tracking 
in the GUI environment and as a temporary file storage/retrieval
mechanism for GUI variables. The file names are now fixed as 
dwgin.sfi and dwgout.sfo. Because the DWG settings files are 
completely replaced by the DWG BASIC file, these resource files 
can now be deleted at any time without affecting settings. 

For users who used MicroStation 95 and would like to retain 
settings previously stored in the .sfi/.sfo binary resource 
settings files, an automatic transfer is done by the import/export 
applications when the internal settings file version number 
matches 5.5.0.0. A way to ensure that .sfi/.sfo settings are 
converted in SE is to copy your old .sfi/.sfo files into the 
directory pointed to by the MicroStation configuration variable 
MS_DWGTABLES. The first time that the DWG applications are invoked 
in SE, all settings in the resource file will be moved into the 
DWG BASIC file and the .sfi/.sfo files will be stamped with a new 
version number so that no further settings translations will take 
place in any subsequent import/export activities.

The DWG BASIC file is composed of three sequential sections: a 
normal editing section, an auto-edit section, and a user override 
section. All settings changeable from the GUI are stored in the 
auto-edit section. It is not recommended that this section be 
altered unless you know precisely what implications are involved. 
Any setting appearing in the first two sections can be overridden 
by the same setting in the later section. In that sense, any 
setting appearing in the last section, the user override section, 
will override any setting of the same name that was set in a 
previous section. The last section is recommended to be used only 
by users or administrators who need to setup a data conversion 
standard. This could be for sites that do wish to override any GUI 
or end user settings.

-------
MSBATCH
-------
When using MSBATCH with the import/export applications, some 
users may experience limits to the number of files that are 
operated on with one batch process. This limit is related to the
exhaustion of available system resources and can vary from 
system to system. Typically, more physical memory and/or 
available swap space will increase the number of files that can 
be operated on in a single batch process. 


----------------------------
Enter data field information
----------------------------
EDIT SINGLE and AUTO EDIT are sensitive to the text preference 
for text editor style. These commands should always take input 
from the keyin field for compatibility with Version 5 user 
commands, scripts, Settings Groups and command menus. EDIT 
SINGLE and AUTO EDIT work the same way PLACE TEXT does.


----------------------------
General graphics information
----------------------------

Delete Symbol
-------------

This tool provides the ability to delete symbols from 
a line style resource file. The syntax is 'DELETE SYMBOL 
<symbolName>' To use it, a line style library must be active 
while in a design session. If the line style editor is open, the 
library that is currently being accessed by the editor is used. 
Otherwise, the most recently opened library in the session is 
used. This is the same as 'CREATE SYMBOL <symbolName>'.

A symbol that is currently referenced by any Point component 
cannot be deleted. In this case, the message "Symbol <symbolName> 
cannot be deleted because it is in use" is displayed in the error 
field. If the symbol is deleted successfully. the message, 
"Symbol <symbolName> deleted from library" is displayed in the 
status field.

Text Line Length
----------------

MicroStation has been documented to automatically convert a 
single-line text string to a text node once it has exceeded 
254 characters. It is necessary however to <ENTER> once 254 
characters have been entered in the Text Editor Window to allow 
it to become a text node. If more than 254 characters are entered 
in the Text Editor Window, the message: "Maximum Text Length" will 
appear in the status area and the text string will be truncated at 
that point.
============================
End of MicroStation Features
============================


==
3D
==
This section contains information about the following:
   Rendering Acceleration
   Export Visible Edges
   Panoramic Rendering


----------------------
Rendering Acceleration
----------------------
MicroStation can be optionally configured to make use of 
advanced graphics acceleration interfaces to improve performance 
of rendered images. Support for acceleration is through an MDL 
extension which may be supplied by Bentley or a third-party 
vendor. Bentley supports OpenGL on several platforms in 
MicroStation.

The QuickVision rendering accelerator provides MicroStation 
users on supported platforms with extremely fast rendering 
capabilities without requiring specialized graphics hardware. 
This provides users with a software-only option to dynamically 
view and manipulate three dimensional geometry by using system 
memory. A separate Windows application, the QuickVision Viewer, 
allows rendered designs to be viewed dynamically outside of the 
MicroStation environment. 

The primary reason for using a graphics acceleration interface 
is to improve rendering performance, but there can be a tradeoff 
between increased performance and visual quality for rendered 
views. A toggle button labeled "Graphics Acceleration" has been 
added to the Settings > Rendering > View Attributes dialog. It 
marks the view as eligible to be drawn using a graphics-
acceleration interface. If toggled on, the view will be 
accelerated on all platforms that have an accelerator extension 
installed. If off, the view is drawn without acceleration.


--------------------
Export visible edges
--------------------
In Chapter 2 - File Menu of the on-line Reference Guide, under
Export > Visible Edges..., the sentence "If off, text and 
dimensions are not included in the output. The default is 
on." should read "If off, text and dimensions are 
displayed without any test for visibility. That is, they 
will show regardless of depth in view. The default is on."

-------------------
Panoramic Rendering
-------------------
New to MicroStation SE is the ability to render panoramic 
images from a view point within an environment. The panoramic 
images have a unique format (.ivr) and require a special viewer 
that allows users to display and navigate the rendered 
environment. This "RealSpace Viewer" is obtainable free of 
charge from Live Picture Inc. and can be found in the Download 
section of their web site at http://www.livepicture.com/

=========
End of 3D
=========


=====================
Non-graphic Databases
=====================
This section contains information about the following:
   General database enhancements
   Xbase
   Oracle

For information regarding specific database version support, 
please refer to the Bentley Web site:

http://www.bentley.com/tools/

-----------------------------
General database enhancements
-----------------------------

- Query Builder

  When using the DISTINCT keyword, some of the items on 
  the form will be disabled. Forms created with a GROUP BY 
  clause cannot be edited. When editing forms using Builder, 
  save the form .rsc file by dismissing the edited dialog.  
  Avoid using Dialog/Save To New and Dialog/Save To Existing 
  menu options in Builder to save edited forms.

  It is recommended that table and column names be defined as
  lowercase when using Sybase.

- FI= statement where the MSLINK value is null:

  If the where clause on an FI= statement is such that it 
  specifies only a single row, and the MSLINK column is 
  null or zero, (i.e. unpopulated) and the linkage mode is 
  duplicate, the MSLINK column for that row will automatically 
  get assigned the next highest one, and will be used as the AE. 
  If, in the case of the above scenario, there is more than one 
  row that satisfies the where clause, that will cause an error. 
  You will see the message - Unable to assign MSLINK. Version 
  4.0 functionality has been restored. FI= works where the 
  MSLINK value is null in both New and Duplicate linkage mode.

- Now allows decoding of a DB linkage without having server.ma 
  running or being connected to a database. mdlDB_decodeLink 
  will set link->tablename to an empty string if not connected 
  to a database.

- All servers are DLMs (for faster performance), except for 
  Oracle and RIS on DOS.

- The following describes the add row without locking functions:
  If MS_DBNOLOCKING is defined (value does not matter) then 
  MicroStation will not lock the table to add a new row. The 
  server will get the largest mslink in the table, add one to 
  it, and try to insert the new row. If the insert fails, the 
  MSLINK is incremented and another insert is attempted. This 
  process continues until the row has been successfully 
  inserted or MS_DBMAXATTEMPTS is reached. The maximum number 
  of attempted inserts defaults to 10 when MS_DBMAXATTEMPTS is 
  undefined.

- Configuration Variable "MS_DBMSFORMS"
  MicroStation has the new capability of using temporary 
  (randomly generated) table names for the "msforms" data. This 
  is to better accommodate multi-user situations, so different 
  users don't use the same msforms table. Those database 
  systems that use external forms managers need to know the 
  name of this msforms table. That is not possible if a new 
  name is generated for each database connection. The variable 
  "MS_DBMSFORMS" solves this by allowing the user to specify the 
  name of the msforms table. So, each workstation using the 
  database would have a different name, and the forms trigger 
  would refer to the msforms name assigned for that workstation. 
  If the variable is set to something, its value will be used 
  as the msforms table name. If it is not set, then, in the 
  non-Xbase case, the name of the msforms table will be 
  "msforms". In the Xbase-case, if the "Use temporary ae/msforms 
  tables" User Preference is set such that temporary tables ARE 
  used, then a randomly generated table name will be used as 
  the msforms table. Otherwise, "msforms" will be used. 

  Note that the user preference setting for msforms only applies 
  to Xbase.


-----
Xbase
-----

  Some significant progress has been made in the improvement of 
  performance in the Xbase servers. The affected areas are:

  Fence Reporting
  Fence Filters
  FI= (setting the active entity)
  Loading Displayable Attributes (forms and non-forms mode) 
  Cursor processing 
  mdlDB_readColumn function

  There are now Xbase specific implementations of cursor open, 
  fetch and close. They are in rdbmslib.ml, so the prototypes can 
  be found in rdbmslib.fdf. The interface is exactly the same as 
  with the normal cursor functions, except for 
  mdlDB_openCursorXbase. Its extra parameter is an indicator from 
  the caller as to whether any more than just the column's values 
  are desired. If the other information in the MS_sqlda structure 
  is not needed by the caller, set this parameter to FALSE. That 
  will result in better performance.

  Also, mdlDB_simpleSelectXbase is a new function. It provides 
  the MDL developer the ability to issue a select statement and 
  receive a single row's column values back without the overhead 
  of opening and closing a cursor. This is an improvement over 
  mdlDB_sqlQuery because as many columns as desired can be 
  specified in the select statement.  

- XBASE Sample files added. The data dictionary files for the GIS 
  example are now included in the delivery. This means that you 
  can connect to GIS simply by using the menu - right out of the 
  box. No additional configuration needed. There is no need to 
  run build.bat or initialize the data dictionary to connect to 
  the sample XBASE, XBASENDX or XBASEFOX databases.

- If you are a single user of an Xbase database, be sure to set 
  the configuration variable "MS_DBMODE" to "nonshared". (Note 
  that not defining it at all is not adequate.) This will improve 
  performance of activities that require the generation of a new 
  MSLINK value (e.g. ATTACH AE while LINKAGE MODE is "New").

- Configuration variable "MS_XBFORMITEMSIZER" 
  This allows the user to have the fields of an Xbase form 
  automatically adjusted to better accommodate longer values. 
  Because the font used for dialog item values is a proportional 
  one, depending on the characters that are in the actual value 
  the entire value may or may not be visible if the size of the 
  item is set to a string that has "wide" characters (capital W, 
  for instance). This configuration variable allows you to 
  specify how much bigger each field will be, relative to the DBF 
  files' column width. MS_XBFORMITEMSIZER should be set to a 
  string like "x.y". This means the field size will be adjusted 
  according to the below formula:

  dialogItemWidth = columnWidth + x + columnWidth ^ 0.y
  ("^" means "raised to the power of").

  This causes the fields for small columns to be enlarged 
  relatively more than that for wider columns. If 
  MS_XBFORMITEMSIZER is not set, the default value is "0.0", 
  meaning there will be no adjustment at all. If there is a 
  picture clause for the item, that will take precedence, and 
  MS_XBFORMITEMSIZER will be ignored for that field.

  Hint:  A good value for MS_XBFORMITEMSIZER would be something 
  in the range of "3.5".

- XBASE forms with Memo Fields are not supported in MicroStation. 
  MicroStation will bypass these field and not display 
  memo data on the form.


------
Oracle
------

- MicroStation adds support for Oracle Forms 4.5 on Intel. If 
  Settings > Database > Dialog > Text Forms is selected, 
  MicroStation will invoke the Oracle Forms 4.5 runform program 
  (f45run.exe) displaying database information in a user defined 
  form when elements are reviewed for database information (review 
  attributes).

  The configuration variables that effect Oracle forms execution 
  is MS_FORMSMANAGER. This specifies the forms manager executable 
  that MicroStation will use to display Oracle forms. When 
  undefined MicroStation uses 'f45run.exe' as the Oracle Forms 
  runtime executable. Use this variable to specify a different 
  forms executable. 

  MS_FORMSARGS - This specifies arguments to invoke the forms 
  manager. Normally, MicroStation does not use any arguments 
  when it invokes the forms manager. Use this variable if you want
  to invoke the Oracle Forms Manager with arguments.

============================
End of Non-graphic Databases
============================

================
Copyright Notice
================
Copyright 1993-1997, Bentley Systems, Incorporated. 
All Rights Reserved.
   
Including software, file formats, and audiovisual displays; may 
only be used pursuant to applicable software license agreement; 
contains confidential and proprietary information of Bentley 
Systems, Incorporated and/or third parties which is protected by 
copyright and trade secret law and may not be provided or 
otherwise made available without proper authorization.  
   
IGDS file formats Copyright 1981-1988 Intergraph Corporation.   
Intergraph Raster File Formats Copyright 1993 Intergraph 
Corporation. Used with permission.  
   
RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGENDS   
   
Use, duplication, or disclosure by the government is subject
to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of
the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause
in DFARS 252.227-7013 or subparagraphs (c)(1) and (2) of the
Commercial Computer Software -- Restricted Rights in
48 CFR 52.227-19 as applicable. 

Unpublished - rights reserved under the Copyright Laws of the 
United States.

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====================
End Copyright Notice
====================

===========
END OF FILE
===========
