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How to set up FileFixer to run
automatically to help prevent design file corruption
By Eiren Smith, Axiom's Director
of Certification
The MicroStation world is going through big changes. Design
files are getting bigger, level lists and cell names are getting
longer and the design file format has undergone a deep overhaul
with the increasing acceptance of the V8 generation. Added
to all that, AutoCAD and V7 DGN files are being converted
to the new V8 format on-the-fly without an explicit conversion
process.
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| FileFixer used today, keeps design file corruption
away! Prevent design file corruption by running FileFixer
on your project design files regularly. |
According to the whispers in the hall, multi-user simultaneous
access to the same design file is finally imminent.
I am very familiar with what happens when one user can't
open his design file because of corruption. So my first reaction
to the prospect of multi-user design file access is, "Great
idea. But what's going to happen when not one but many users
are put out of work waiting for one design file to be repaired?"
This is going to make individual design files more important
than ever, multiplying the cost of downtime by the number
of users accessing one file. I want people to be prepared
for this shift. For my part, I decided to write an article
to stress the increasing importance of preventive design file
repair.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
It may be banal, but it's true. When talking about design
file integrity in a tightly-scheduled CAD production environment,
preventive maintenance is very relevant.
In my experience, the majority of FileFixer owners
use it for emergency design file repair and do not have a
preventive maintenance plan in place. While FileFixer
as an emergency design file repair tool regularly saves the
day in CAD shops around the world, I want to introduce CAD
managers to the idea that things can get even better by executing
a preventive design file maintenance plan. They need only
leverage tools they already have: MicroStation, FileFixer
and the Windows Scheduler.
About yesterday's backup…
Probably the most common method of "repairing" design
files in use in the world today is deleting the damaged file
and reloading yesterday's backup. The most obvious problem
with this "technique" is that you can lose a full
day's work or more. Considering the cost of operator time,
this should be a last resort.
But there is a more important reason for not going back to
yesterday's backup. The error that caused your file to become
corrupted today might be dormant in yesterday's backup. The
safest solution is to analyze misbehaving or crashed design
files with FileFixer and fully repair them — and
then to keep them clean hereafter by using a preventive maintenance
plan that fits your needs.
I'm not going to spend a much more space talking about why
last night's backup is barely a workable solution for today's
CAD shops, because it's pretty obvious. If you've ever had
to give up a day's worth of work, you already know. And if
you've ever restored from a backup only to have that design
file predictably go corrupt again due to the latent corruption
which caused the problem in the first place, you know firsthand
why restoring last night's backup should only be an act of
desperation.
Even more important than helping CAD managers sleep better,
when your design files are all kept clean with FileFixer,
your users work better. They encounter less slows from minor
corruption that they usually attribute incorrectly to "MicroStation
bugs" and less lost work due to more serious dormant
corruption which, left unhandled, can lead to data loss and
unopenable files.
Design file cavities
Design file corruption is very much like a dental cavity.
If you can already see the symptom, it's too late for prevention
- you have to go see the dentist for a filling (emergency
repair). Think of running FileFixer regularly like
brushing your teeth every day. There's no question that that
daily brushing is a good idea. Do you know someone who gets
a lot of cavities but still brush after each meal? Running
FileFixer for preventive maintenance is like brushing
your teeth.
The most successful design file integrity strategy is one
you don't have to think about or remember.
FileFixer's preventive maintenance plan breaks down
into two major parts. The first part is setting up FileFixer
to be run via MicroStation's included msbatch.bat, which allows
FileFixer to be run from the Windows command prompt
without opening MicroStation in graphics mode. The second
part is running FileFixer on a timed basis with the
Windows Scheduler.
There are two chapters of the FileFixer User's Guide
dedicated to running FileFixer from the command line
(known as "batch mode") and at a predetermined time
(using the Windows Scheduler). These two chapters are named
"Batch Mode" and "Preventive Maintenance."
I don't have enough space to repeat the entirety of those
two chapters, so I will compromise by listing the FileFixer
options that are most relevant to a preventive maintenance
plan. With FileFixer you can:
- Set FileFixer to backup the original file, then
repair the original so you don't have to rename it afterward.
- Specify the directory in which to place your repaired
files or your backup files, in case you don't want to put
them in the same directory FileFixer found them in.
This is useful if you are processing a lot of files and
don't want to fill up your project directories or your file
server.
- Automatically process reference files too. Don't worry,
FileFixer won't process a reference file if it has
already been processed in that job.
- Easily create a list of files to process that are a certain
number of days old (since they were last modified.) This
way, if you run a timed FileFixer job, say, every
14 days, you have FileFixer only fix files that have
changed in the last 14 days.
- Create a list of design files that have only serious problems
(you choose the severity) and then fix only those severely
corrupt files.
- Run FileFixer in Automatic Design File Repair mode
(to fix files automatically) or in "Search for Problems"
mode, where it only creates a detailed report of design
file corruption but does not actually repair the files.
Summary
Running FileFixer in the case of an emergency is incredibly
easy. Just open FileFixer and press <Start>!
Anyone can do it. But, setting up FileFixer for preventive
maintenance is a bit more involved. It is more of a CAD manager
activity. It requires some know-how, judgement and, possibly,
administrative privileges.
The best way to set up FileFixer for preventive maintenance
is to call or e-mail Axiom Support at 727-442-7774 or support@axiomint.com
to discuss your exact situation with a FileFixer expert.
One phone call will save you a lot of time and ensure your
FileFixer preventive maintenance solution is perfectly
tuned to take advantage of every corner of FileFixer
to fit your specific needs.
Call now!
For more information on FileFixer
contact an Axiom MicroStation Consultant today! Call 727-442-7774
extension 9338, e-mail 9338@axiomint.com
or visit Axiom on the Web at www.axiomint.com
now!
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