1. From the MicroStation Manager dialog box, locate the Workspace area with three drop-down menus labeled User, Project and Interface. Click on the Interface drop-down menu and select “New…”.

   

2. Enter your name and a description as required inside the “Create Interface” dialog box. Press the <OK> button to complete. The new interface is now active.

   

3. Click on the Project drop-down menu and select New.

   

4. Enter the name of your current project with a description. Press <OK> to complete. Note how a folder (whose name matches the project you entered) is created under the “Projects” directory.

   

   

5. Click on the User drop-down menu and select “New…”. This brings up the “Create User Configuration File” dialog box. Enter the name you want to assign to your user configuration file. Then, press <OK>.

   

6. Select a default project folder and user interface. Press <OK>. From now on, your user name will activate the default project folder and interface.

   

And that’s it! Enjoy!

Sample of the Axiom pull-down menu in MicroStation V8

Since I am in the Axiom Support Department, I hear many common issues that people have. One frequent topic is the Axiom pull-down menu. How to display only the products that the designers use is one of the queries that I run into again and again.

I am writing this article in an effort to make this information more accessible to our users. Call me with any additional questions you may have.

Axiom pull-down menu basics
What displays on your Axiom pull-down menu is determined by the contents of a simple text file. This text file is called “aximenu.cfg”. The “aximenu.cfg” file can be modified in various ways to customize the Axiom pull-down menu.

The “aximenu.cfg” file is located in the “aximenu” folder that is directly underneath your Axiom base directory (the location where you installed your Axiom products). The default location for the Axiom base directory for V7 is “C:\program files\axiom\v7\” and for V8 the location is “C:\program files\axiom\v8\”.

Part 1 – How to remove items from your menu
Often it is beneficial to change which products are displayed for individual users. It removes the potential confusion of which products are available for use. Also, in some cases, administrators like to restrict the use of particular programs – kind of like when IT removes the “Games” folder before giving you your new computer. (Who’d have thought Solitaire wasn’t billable time?)

Below is an excerpt from a modified V8 “aximenu.cfg” file with its corresponding Axiom pull-down menu display:

A V8 “aximenu.cfg” file with its corresponding Axiom pull-down menu desplay

Each product listed on the Axiom pull-down menu has two consecutive entries in the “aximenu.cfg” file. To cause a particular product to not display you can “comment” the two lines for that product. By “comment” I mean that it causes those two lines to be nothing more than comments in the file – as opposed to something that is actually read and loaded.

To comment a product, simply place a colon (:) in front of it. For example, perhaps I only want my users to use DgnCompare for V8. Look at the illustrations below to see how simple it is.

To comment out a product, simply place a colon (:) in front of each of the two lines representing that product.

Note that you do need to restart MicroStation in order for any modifications to the “aximenu.cfg” file to take effect.

Stay tuned for the next installment!

The Axiom Support Department receives a lot of mail asking about modifying the Axiom pull-down menu. One typical request is from CAD managers who want to remove or rearrange products on the Axiom pull-down menu so it looks just right for their particular users.

In addition to being able to modify the existing contents of the Axiom pull-down menu, you can load other applications from it, including MicroStation applications and Windows executables.

Axiom pull-down menu basics
What displays on your Axiom pull-down menu is determined by the contents of a simple text file. This text file is called “aximenu.cfg”. This file can be modified in various ways to customize the Axiom pull-down menu.

The “aximenu.cfg” file is located in the “aximenu” folder that is directly below your Axiom base directory (the location where you installed your Axiom products). The default location for the Axiom base directory for V7 is “C:\Program Files\Axiom\V7\” and for V8 the location is “C:\Program Files\Axiom\V8″.

How to load an additional MicroStation application from your Axiom pull-down menu
Here is an example of what a section of the current (default) “aximenu” file looks like and what the Axiom pull-down menu in MicroStation looks like as a result:

Figure 1: A V8 “aximenu.cfg” file with its corresponding Axiom pull-down menu display

Notice that for every product displayed in the menu on the right, there are two lines driving it from the “aximenu.cfg” file shown on the left.

The “#” that precedes the first line for every product in the “aximenu.cfg” file is used to indicate that the text or other characters immediately after it will be displayed on the Axiom pull-down menu. [Exception: The ~ symbol does not display. It tells the computer that the letter immediately following is also the hot key for the given application.] The second line (the line immediately after the line starting with the “#”) defines the application to be loaded when you select the item from the menu.

For example, if you wanted the Axiom pull-down menu to display “Chicken” and you wanted to load “chicken.ma” you would enter the following two lines into the “aximenu.cfg” file:

#Chicken
C:\Program Files\Poultry\chicken.ma

In this example, “C:\Program Files\Poultry\” is the location of chicken.ma.

How to load a Windows application from your Axiom pull-down menu
Setting up to load a Windows application from the Axiom pull-down menu is essentially done the same way as adding a MicroStation application to load from the menu. The difference is, on the line where specifying the application to be loaded, you must precede the path to the file with “WIN:”. For example, if you want the Axiom pull-down menu to display “Windows Application” and you want to load “windowsapp.exe”, you would enter the following two lines into the “aximenu.cfg” file:

#Windows Application
WIN:”C:\Program Files\WindowsApp\windowsapp.exe”

In this example, “C:\Program Files\WindowsApp\” is the location of windowsapp.exe.

After you’ve installed an Axiom MDL (MicroStation Development Language) program you should have an Axiom pull-down menu from which to run it. What do you do if it isn’t there?

The truth is, there are several MicroStation Workspace settings that could cause your menu to not show up. I’ve found that it is usually caused by a single equal sign (=) in the active User Configuration File (UCF). The solution is as easy as changing this equal sign (=) to a greater than (>) sign. It really is that easy!

How can this be true? Let me cover some MicroStation concepts to help it make sense. When MicroStation loads, it finds a series of configuration files and reads the configuration variable definitions in those files to determine the majority of MicroStation settings (such as design file settings and workspace preferences). There is one configuration variable that is used to define which applications get loaded when MicroStation loads: “MS_DGNAPPS”. This configuration variable is the one Axiom uses to load the Axiom pull-down menu. The MS_DGNAPPS configuration variable can (and usually does) have multiple definitions. This is because you may have several applications that you want to load when MicroStation loads.

In a configuration file, a typical set of definitions might look like this:

MS_DGNAPPS > c:/apps/application.ma
MS_DGNAPPS > c:/axiom/aximenu/aximenu.ma
MS_DGNAPPS > c:/apps/newapplication.ma
or
MS_DGNAPPS > c:/apps/application.ma
MS_DGNAPPS > c:/axiom/aximenu/aximenu.ma
MS_DGNAPPS = c:/apps/newapplication.ma

The difference between the two sets of definitions above is the operator. The “>” operator will add the new definition to any existing list of MS_DGNAPPS variable definitions. In other words, if you defined two applications to be loaded by MS_DGNAPPS definitions and then added another definition containing the “>” operator, it would add this as the third definition to be loaded.

The “=” operator works differently. The “=” will nullify any other previous definitions. In other words, if you defined two applications to be loaded by MS_DGNAPPS and then added a third definition containing the “=” operator, it would nullify (cancel) all previous definitions. This would be bad if you wanted all the applications to load. In short, you will lose any definition in the list that occurs prior to the definition containing the equal sign. For example, in the second set of definitions above, the equal sign in the third definition (MS_DGNAPPS = c:/apps/newapplication.ma) will cancel the two definitions above it and those two applications will not load.

How to find the culprit
You have installed your new Axiom product, opened a design file and find there is no Axiom pull-down menu. The first thing to do is find out what your MicroStation UCF is called and where it is.

• While still in MicroStation, choose Workspace|About Workspace.

• Right there at the top, it shows you exactly where your UCF is and what it is named. Now open Windows Explorer and navigate to your active UCF file.

You can always see the name of the active MicroStation User Configuration File (UCF), among other workspace tidbits, in any session of MicroStation.

• Open your UCF file using Notepad.

• Search for any lines that start with “MS_DGNAPPS” and contain a “=” as the next character. It does not matter what else is on the line as long as the “=” is the next character after “MS_DGNAPPS”. Spaces are ignored.

• Change the “=” to a “>” sign.
  “MS_DGNAPPS =” would be “MS_DGNAPPS >”

The shot on the left is an actual case where the UCF containing an “=” caused the Axiom pull-down menu to not display. The shot on the right shows how to solve the problem.

• Save and close your UCF.

• Re-start MicroStation and you should now see the Axiom pull-down menu.

We found it. The Axiom pull down menu is now on the far right, where it belongs.

Again, there are other MicroStation settings that could cause your Axiom pull-down menu to not display. It’s just that most of the time it is caused by an errant “=” and can be fixed with the method above. If you find that this method doesn’t solve your problem, you can always contact Axiom Technical Support for assistance.

I want to show you one of the newest features added to the Axiom menu. You can now rearrange your Axiom software applications on the Axiom pull-down menu so it is organized they way you want.

For example, you could group your quality assurance products together, including SpecChecker, SpecMonitor, SpecManager, RuleManager and SpellCheckerPlus. Also your reference handling tools, RefManager, RefMerge and RefWriter could be grouped together. In this article, we will make a reference tool group by creating a submenu for RefManager, RefMerge and RefWriter.

Let’s get started.

Axiom pull-down menu basics

What displays on your Axiom pull-down menu is determined by the contents of a simple text file called “aximenu.cfg”. This file can be modified in various ways to customize your Axiom pull-down menu.

The “aximenu.cfg” file is located in the “aximenu” folder, which is in your Axiom base directory (the location where you installed your Axiom products). The default location for the Axiom base directory for V7 is “C:\program files\axiom\V7\” and for V8 the location is “C:\program files\axiom\V8\”.

How to create submenus on your Axiom pull-down menu

Submenus are great. They allow you to shorten your Axiom pull-down menu and categorize your listed Axiom software applications.

Figure 1: This is the default Axiom pull-down menu. Wow! We sure do have a lot of tools to help save your time (and sanity). Now, you can create submenus listing any tools you like. (See Figure 2.)

Below is an excerpt from a modified V8 “aximenu.cfg” file with its corresponding Axiom pull-down menu display:

Figure 2: This is the Axiom pull-down menu with reference file tools grouped in a submenu. Cool, eh?

The difference between the two menus above is caused by differences in the “aximenu.cfg” file (see Figure 3). These changes are simple and easy to make.

To comment a product, simply place a colon (:) in front of it. For example, perhaps I only want my users to use DgnCompare for V8. Look at the illustrations below to see how simple it is.

Figure 3: On the left is an excerpt form the default “aximenu.cfg” file. On the right is an example of a customized section of “aximenu.cfg”.

Here are some rules:

• When a line starts with a “#”, it indicates that the rest of the alphanumeric characters on that line will display on the Axiom pull-down menu. The only exception to this rule is the “~” symbol, which will not display and is used to signify that the character following it is the hot key to load this application.

Example: “#~RefManager for V8″ will display “RefManager for V8″ on the menu.

• The line that comes immediately after each line that starts with “#” has one of two purposes. It defines exactly what is to be loaded when the menu item is selected, or it defines where a submenu will begin (in cases where a submenu is used).

• Each desired submenu requires three additional lines. You will need:

1. A name for your menu: “#Name”
2. The command to start the menu: “SUBMENU:”
3. The command to stop the menu: “ENDSUBMENU:”

You will, of course, need menu items to go between the “SUBMENU:” and the “ENDSUBMENU:” to make it useful.

Good luck on your road to organization!

1. Click on the Interface drop-down menu and select New.

   

2. Enter your name and a description as required inside the Create Interface box. Press the OK button to complete. The New Interface is now active.

   

3. Click on the Project drop-down menu and select New.

   

4. Enter the name of a current project with a description. Press OK to complete. Note how a folder is created.
5. Click on the User drop-down menu and select New.
6. Enter your name and press the OK button.
7. Select a default project folder and user interface. Press OK. From now on, your User Name will activate the default project folder and Interface.

Following this procedure results in the creation of three separate files. Open Windows Explorer to the Bentley | Workspace folder (keep in mind that your MicroStation folder may use a different filename). Three folders of interest are Interfaces, Projects and Users.

The Interfaces folder maintains any custom menus, frames and toolboxes in a ustn.r01 file located in the Interface | MicroStation folder with your name. A project configuration file with a .pcf extension is stored in the Projects folder. Appropriate project information, such as, the location of project libraries and references, is entered into the project configuration file. Finally, a user configuration file is used to maintain any changes made to the Preferences dialog setting.

Once a personal workspace is created for each person sharing the single computer, remember to change the active user to your name before opening a design session. This insures that your personal workspace is exactly the way you left it the next time you enter MicroStation.

MicroStation’s main menu bar normally occupies the entire width of the screen:

Set MS_MAINMENUDOCKINGBESIDE = 1 to allow MicroStation tool boxes to be docked next to MicroStation’s main menu:

This frees up some screen real estate.

Answer: The background color for DWG files is not stored in the file itself, but is instead a program setting. This is true for both MicroStation and AutoCAD. You can change the background color of sheet and design models before opening the DWG files in MicroStation by clicking the <DWG Options> button in the MicroStation Manager dialog and clicking on the colored square next to the Design Background Color and Sheet Background Color options.

Send us your MicroStation tips!
Send us your favorite MicroStation tip to tips@axiomint.com. We will give you full credit for the tip and your peers will look at you with the reverence a MicroStation guru rightly deserves!