Technical Support
and Customer Service
FileFixer FAQ
Q- I keep running
FileFixer on my file and the same errors keep showing
up in the report. Why is nothing getting fixed?
A- There are a couple of ways
that FileFixer can be run in Automatic Repair Mode.
FileFixer gives you the choice of working on the original
file, creating a backup or working on a copy of the original
file, leaving the original file untouched. FileFixer
defaults to the latter. Look in the directory of the file
that you were repairing to a file with a .FIX extension. This
is the file that FileFixer has repaired. If you would
like to change FileFixer so that it creates a backup
file and lets you work on the original, open FileFixer
and click on OPTIONS | REPAIR | DESIGN FILE and click on the
long button that says "Work on copy (.fix) of original
file. Leave original untouched" and change it to "Work
on original file. Create backup (.bkp)".
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questions
Q- I would like
to only fix my design files that have severe corruption in
them. How do I do that?
A- Open FileFixer and
click on OPTIONS | SEARCH | DESIGN FILE - Change the SEVERITY
OF ERRORS TO BE REPORTED to ERRORS AND WORSE (ERROR CODES
700 AND GREATER). Additionally you can build a list of file
names with these errors by choosing the option directly beneath
the SEVERITY OF ERRORS OPTION. You can save the list and import
the file names to run in AUTOMATIC DESIGN FILE REPAIR MODE
at a later time.
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questions
Q- When I run FileFixer
in Automatic Design File Repair Mode, I'm getting an information
message: "WARNING: FileFixer has finished processing".
However, at least one file couldn't be updated. See your report
file for more information. Backup files have a ".bkp"
extension." What does this mean? How do I fix my file
now?
A- The first thing that you
want to do is check the report file that FileFixer
created. Most likely, it will contain the following error
message in the report details:
Start of automatic repair step 1.
*** -- Backup file or fixed file C:\…\filename.bkp already
exists. [029].
FileFixer was design with your safety in mind. The
.BKP file that is created is the only backup that we know
of for your original design file. If you are low on disk space,
you can delete this .BKP file each time that you run FileFixer
on your file(s). If you have ample disk space, you can set
FileFixer so that it will create incremental backups.
To do this, click on OPTIONS | REPAIR | DESIGN FILE and change
the Backup File Extension to BK?. This will incrementally
create backups of your file(s) with .BK1, .BK2, … BK9
extensions.
If the FileFixer report lists a different error message,
please contact Axiom Technical Support.
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questions
Q- How do I
run FileFixer in MSBATCH?
A- Here’s a simple MSBATCH
SEARCH command line:
@CALL MSBATCH x:\…\FIXER.MA –sb –i fatal.lis –r findfatal.ini
c:\*.dgn/s
Here’s what it all means:
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@CALL
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This is a DOS call that allows the batch file to return
and continue processing
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MSBATCH
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This starts the MicroStation MSBATCH function
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X:\…\FIXER.MA
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This is the path to your FIXER.MA
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-sb
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This tells FileFixer that you are running in
SEARCH MODE, in MSBATCH
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-i
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This tells FileFixer that you want to create
a list of files (in your case the FATAL ERROR files)
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Fatal.lis
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This is the name of the file that FileFixer
will create (you can call this whatever you like – if
you don’t give it a path it will create it in the current
directory)
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-r
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This tells FileFixer to use a specific resource
file
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Findfatal.ini
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This is the name of the resource file that FileFixer
will use to scan the files. (Again you can call this
whatever you like – I also recommend that you copy the
resource file to the MSBATCH directory
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C:\*.dgn/s
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This tells FileFixer to process all of the files
on your C drive with a DGN – the /s tells FileFixer
to look into all of the subdirectories as well
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Here’s a simple MSBATCH AUTOMATIC REPAIR command line:@CALL
MSBATCH x:\…\FIXER.MA –ab –r repair.ini @fatal.lisHere’s what
it all means:
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@CALL
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This is a DOS call that allows the batch file to return
and continue processing
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MSBATCH
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This starts the MicroStation MSBATCH function
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X:\…\FIXER.MA
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This is the path to your FIXER.MA
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-ab
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This tells FileFixer that you are running in
REPAIR MODE, in MSBATCH
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-r
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This tells FileFixer to use a specific resource
file
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Repair.ini
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This is the name of the resource file that FileFixer
will use to repair the files. (Again you can call this
whatever you like – I also recommend that you copy the
resource file to the MSBATCH directory
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@fatal.lis
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This tells FileFixer to process only the files
that are in the list file that you created in SEARCH
MODE
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What you want to do is create a "batch" file in
the c:\Bentley\Program\MicroStation folder. I would call it
FIXBATCH.BATHere’s what the contents of you FIXBATCH.BAT file
would look like, if you only wanted to process the files located
on your C drive:
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@CALL MSBATCH x:\…\FIXER.MA –sb –i fatal.lis –r findfatal.ini
c:\*.dgn/s
@CALL MSBATCH x:\…\FIXER.MA –ab –r repair.ini @fatal.lis
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If you need to process multiple drives, your FIXBATCH.BAT
could look like this:
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@CALL MSBATCH x:\…\FIXER.MA –sb –i fatal_c.lis –r findfatal.ini
c:\*.dgn/s
@CALL MSBATCH x:\…\FIXER.MA –sb –i fatal_d.lis –r findfatal.ini
d:\*.dgn/s
@CALL MSBATCH x:\…\FIXER.MA –sb –i fatal_e.lis –r findfatal.ini
e:\*.dgn/s
@CALL MSBATCH x:\…\FIXER.MA –sb –i fatal_f.lis –r findfatal.ini
f:\*.dgn/s
@CALL MSBATCH x:\…\FIXER.MA –ab –r repair.ini @fatal_c.lis
@CALL MSBATCH x:\…\FIXER.MA –ab –r repair.ini @fatal_d.lis
@CALL MSBATCH x:\…\FIXER.MA –ab –r repair.ini @fatal_e.lis
@CALL MSBATCH x:\…\FIXER.MA –ab –r repair.ini @fatal_f.lis
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There are other switches that you can turn on, in fact you
could create a separate report file for each repair run above
if you so desired. Check out the chapter on RUNNING IN BATCH
MODE in the FileFixer help.
Once you’ve created the FIXBATCH.BAT file, either double-click
on it, create a shortcut to it, or add it to your scheduled
tasks. It should open a MicroStation text window and after
a brief pause, it should report that it is processing your
files.
I hope this is enough to get you started. Give us a call
if you have any additional questions.
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questions
Q- I have a file that gives me an “End
of File Missing” error when I try to open it. I fixed
it with FileFixer, but many elements appear to be missing.
What should I do?
A-Turn on “Options|Repair|Element|Recover elements past
end-of-design marker”, then re-fix your original file.
If there are still elements missing, they may still be in
the file but not showing due to a problem with the header
elements of the file. To fix this, run FileFixer in
Replace Type 9 Elements mode.
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questions
Q- I tried to open my cell library
and get an MDL Abort - I need the cells in this library -
do you have anything that will repair a cell library?
A-Yes. FileFixer will repair your cell library. In
most cases, you can successfully repair design files and cell
libraries using FileFixer’s default settings.
For those cases that require a bit of extra tweaking, the
“Options” Menu allows you to access several high-powered
functions. Just add the cell library to the list of files
to process and hit the <START> button. After fixing
a cell library, you should recreate the cell library index
file (the file with an extension of .CDX), if it had one.
Use the MicroStation index keyin command to do so.
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questions
Q- I’m trying to run FileFixer
and I’m getting a SYSTEM DATE ERROR. How can I fix that?
A-The error you are having is minor and simple to correct.
It indicates that FileFixer encountered a file on your
system with an invalid or wholly impossible date, such as
9 September 199Z. In this case, the 'Z' on the end would make
the date invalid.
When it encounters this error, FileFixer automatically
creates the text file C:\FILE.TMP, which points to the offending
file. Use EDIT, Notepad or another text editor to open C:\FILE.TMP
and you will see the name and location of the file with the
offending date.
Once you have located this file, open it with the appropriate
program (based on the type of file it is) and save it, thereby
giving it today's date. Remember this: the solution is to
give the file reported in C:\FILE.TMP a current, valid date.
Sometimes there is more than one file with an invalid date.
C:\FILE.TMP will list only one file at a time, starting with
the first file it encounters. So in some cases you may need
to fix the date of more than one file. This means you will
run FileFixer to produce a fresh C:\FILE.TMP, then
fix the date of that file, and repeat until FileFixer
no longer produces the "System Date Error". Once
this error is gone, you are home free. This problem may affect
other products in addition to FileFixer.
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questions
Q- When I open some of my files,
I get this HRESULT = … message. What is it and how do
I get rid of it?
A-When a file is opened and it gives you the error HRESULT=…,
another file with the same name of the file that gave the
error is usually created under your MicroStation TMP directory
with an OLE extension. The problem is that when a file that
is being opened and gives you the OLE/HRESULT error, will
now cause any other file that you actively open in the same
MicroStation session to be corrupted in the same way. It's
almost like a small virus that is passed from one file to
the next with the user unaware that this is occurring.
The files being opened after getting the OLE/HRESULT error
will not display this error while in the same session of MicroStation.
Nevertheless, upon exiting MicroStation and then trying to
open any of those files, in future sessions, will cause you
to get the same OLE/HRESULT error on all the ones that were
opened with the previous corrupted version of MicroStation.
Now, any file that is actively opened with MicroStation will
receive the corruption. Further, if you run FileFixer
on any of these files, the special design file, FIXERDGN.SYS
also becomes corrupted. With the newer versions of FileFixer,
FIXERDGN.SYS is self-repairing so it is not necessary to fix.
As with any solution, the best version of FileFixer
is the most current version. You may download the current
version of FileFixer by typing <ftp://ftp.axiomint.com/fixer.exe>
into your browser, or clicking on the link if your email supports
it. It's also a good idea to download the corresponding document
<ftp://ftp.axiomint.com/fixer.pdf> so that you can read
about the latest features of FileFixer. If you are
downloading a newer version of FileFixer, your license
will most likely need to be updated - just send an email to
license@axiomint.com and let them know that you need the password
to download and a license for the latest version of FileFixer.
The proper solution to correct this problem with FileFixer
through the MicroStation GUI is to do the following:
- 1. Close MicroStation.
- Using your 'Windows Explorer', navigate to your MicroStation
TMP directory were you could see the same name of the design
files, but with the .OLE extensions. MicroStation makes
these files here and after selecting all the ones with the
.OLE extensions, delete them all. This will take care of
all the corrupted files that were added to the temporary
directory.
- Now, we already know that one of these files is the corrupted
one. You can open any design file that you wish. However,
as soon as you get the OLE/HRESULT error on any of them,
CLOSE MicroStation immediately. DO NOT open any other files
after getting this error, because they will also be corrupted
and give you the same error next time you try to open them.
- To correct this file that just gave you the OLE/HRESULT
error then please open a new session of MicroStation and
simply create a new design file from a good seed file. Using
this as your base .DGN file you can start FileFixer
with out corrupting the file (FIXERDGN.SYS). This is were
you turn on the options in Fixer "Options | Search
| Linkage | OLE application element detected." and
"Options | Repair | Linkage | Remove all OLE files
and OLE application elements."
- On the "Which files?" field you can type in
the path and the name of the file that just gave you the
OLE/HRESULT error. You can then <START> FileFixer.
As you already know when this file gave you the error "HRESULT=…",
then another file was made in your MicroStation TMP directory.
The options you just turned on in FileFixer will
delete the file in the MicroStation TMP directory and correct
the original .DGN so that next time you will not get the
error "HRESULT=…' when trying to open it. NOTE: You
can also use the <EDITED FILE LIST> in FileFixer.
If you have a large amount of files to process, you may also
want to try the following (still through the MicroStation
GUI).
- Follow the above process with the exceptions as noted.
- Open FileFixer and click on File | Save Resource
File As - name the file OLE_FIX (when you save this, it
will add the .RSC extension).
- Now click on Options | Search and go through each category
and turn every checked option to OFF.
- In Options | Search | Linkage turn ON, OLE APPLICATION
ELEMENT DETECTED.
- In Options | Search | Design File turn ON, BUILD A LIST
CONTAINING THE NAMES…
- Select a LIST FILE in the field below that.
- Make sure that you now click on <OK> in Search
Options to keep the changes that you just made.
- Now click on File | Save Resource File and the changes
you just made will be written to your OLE_FIX.RSC resource
file.
- Go to Options | Repair and now go through all of the
Repair categories, turning all of the checked options OFF.
- Click on <OK>, and again go to File | Save Resource
File.
- You now have a resource file that will find only the
files with the OLE/HRESULT problem.
- Run FileFixer in SEARCH MODE on all or any of
your files and the files that have the OLE/HRESULT problem
will be listed in the file that you told FileFixer
to create.
- Click on the <EDIT LIST> button and click on LIST
| IMPORT - browse to the file that you told FileFixer
to create and import it - you will now have an edited list
in the WHICH FILES? field when you click <OK>.
- Click on Options | Repair | Linkage and click on REMOVE
ALL OLE FILES AND OLE APPLICATION ELEMENTS - you should
get a WARNING MESSAGE - please read it carefully.
- Change FileFixer to AUTOMATIC REPAIR MODE and
hit <START>
- All of your selected files will have the OLE/HRESULT
error repaired
This method only repairs the OLE/HRESULT problem and removes
all OLE linkages; therefore you should not run this resource
file on an average day-to-day basis. Return your resource
file back to FIXER.RSC or the resource file that you normally
use.
An alternate method of repairing the problem is through MSBATCH.
Use the following method to properly correct the problem from
the command line. We highly recommend that you read the FileFixer
documentation and become familiar with the chapters titled
"Preventative Maintenance" and "Batch Mode".
- Close MicroStation
- Re-read the "Batch Mode" chapter in the FileFixer
PDF file.
- Create the OLE_FIX.RSC file as in steps 2-11 of the second
GUI fix.
- Set the configuration variable "FIXER_OLE" to
"y".
- Open a DOS window and move to the directory that contains
USTATION.EXE
- Create a DOS batch file which is similar to the following:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@CALL msbatch c:\…\fixer.ma -sb -r c:\…\OLE_FIX.rsc
c:\*.dgn/s -i c:\…\ole.lst
@CALL msbatch c:\…\fixer.ma -ab -r c:\…\OLE_FIX.rsc
@c:\…\ole.lst
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Replace the drive letters and ellipses (…) with the correct
drive and path that fits your directory structure]
- The first line in the batch file
a. Opens MSBATCH.BAT
b. Tells MSBATCH to use FileFixer (fixer.ma)
c. Run in SEARCH MODE, in BATCH (-sb)
d. Use the OLE_FIX resource file (OLE_FIX.rsc)
e. Check all files with .DGN extension on drive C:\ (c:\*.dgn/s)
f. Create a list of the files affected with the OLE/HRESULT
problem (ole.lst)
8. The second line of the batch file
a. Opens MSBATCH
b. Tells MSBATCH to use FileFixer (fixer.ma)
c. Run in AUTOMATIC REPAIR MODE, in BATCH (-ab)
d. Use the OLE_FIX resource file (OLE_FIX.rsc)
e. Fix the files found to have the OLE/HRESULT problem (ole.lst)
Keep in mind however, that once you have it beaten at your
site, the next file that you receive from an outside source
could also contain the quirk and your cycle starts all over
again. I highly recommend that you rigorously test each file
that you receive from any outside source for the HRESULT problem.
You can always run FileFixer with your new HRESULT.RSC
resource file to screen all new files for this problem.
Back to FileFixer
questions
Q- Your Q&A
section didn’t answer my question. Now what can I do?
A- You can contact us:
- Fill out a Tech Support Form
- Call us 727-442-7774 Extension 8324.
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Productivity Toolkit questions
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