User’s Guide – FileFixer for V8

Chapter 12 — Reports

Report Summary

FileFixer always generates a report that summarizes the actions taken during each processing run.

The first “landmark” to check in a report file is the Report Summary. By default, this summary is at the top of the report.

Your report Summary might look like this:

Report Summary

No errors were found.

If so, you’re done!

Otherwise, your Report Summary indicates what is reported in the remainder of the report file. The number on the left in the “Report Summary” section is the number of times that an element with this type of error was encountered and is the total for all files that were processed in that run:

Report Summary

14 -- Text uses font that is not in current font library. [144].

3 -- Text element doesn't contain any visible characters. [146].

12 -- Shared cell definition has no shared cell instances. [303].

2 -- Reference file is missing. [343].

10 -- Phantom element. Complex bit is set for non-component. [702].

Usually the best strategy is to find the highest (most severe) error number and use the Edit | Find feature of Notepad or your Browser to locate instances of the most severe error in your report. Such a search will usually jump to the detail portion of the report file. Here’s an excerpt from an actual report:

290, ID=3567 -- Cell "Chair". Shared cell definition has no shared cell instances. [303].

2000009, ID=229 -- Reference file <Floor.dgn> is missing. [343].

4000012, ID=1219 -- Current font library or resource has no font 10. [144].

4000767, ID=1720 -- Text string doesn't contain any visible characters.

[146].

4002775, ID=13803 -- Phantom element. Complex bit set for non-component.

[702].

As in the above excerpt, each detail line in your reports will contain the following:

File position number,

ID=element ID

--

Error message. [Error number].

Each of these four parts is described below.

The File Position Number

The left-most number is the file position of the element. Here’s how to interpret file position numbers for an element:

File position Meaning
0–1,999,999 The element resides in the non-model section of a V8
file. The non-model section contains information
which is shared by all models in the file.
There is only one non-model section in each V8
design file.
2,000,000–3,999,999 The element resides in the control section of a model.
Each control section contains non-graphical
information for a model, such as settings and reference
file attachments.
There can be many control sections in a V8 design
file, one or more for each model.
4,000,000 and above The element resides in the graphical section of a
model. The graphical section contains the visible
elements in a model.
There can be many graphical sections in a V8 design
file, one or more for each model.

File position numbers are not unique within a V8 file. For example, the first graphical element in each model has file position 4,000,000.

Further, an element’s file position can change when a V8 file is saved. File position numbers are not permanent.

File position is included in FileFixer reports because they are useful for identifying the element’s role in a V8 design file (as in the above table).

Note: The numerical ranges in the table above are arbitrary and subject to change by Bentley in the future.

The Unique Element ID

The element ID follows the file position number in each detail line of the above example.

The element’s ID is unique within a file.

Let’s examine the above report detail lines with a microscope:

File Position Element ID Comments
290 ID=3567 This element’s file position is less than
2,000,000, which means it resides in the non-
model section. We can tell from FileFixer’s
error message (see above) that this element is a

 

shared cell definition — shared cell definitions
should be shared amongst models, so it makes
sense that this element resides in the non-model
section of the file.
This particular shared cell definition has
element ID = 3567.
2000009 ID=229 This element’s file position indicates it is in the
control section of a model. We can tell from
FileFixer’s error message (see above) that this
element is a reference file attachment. A
reference file attachment element is not itself
visible, so it makes sense that this element
resides in the control section of a model.
The reference file attachment element’s ID =
229.
4000012 ID=1219 This element’s file position indicates it is in the
graphical section of a model. We can tell from
FileFixer’s error message (see above) that this
is a text element. A text element is visible, so it
makes sense that this element resides in the
graphical section of a model.
The text element’s ID = 1219.

Element IDs do not necessarily correspond to the order of elements in a file.

Note: You can learn a lot more about the elements in a V8 file using Axiom’s Problem Element Viewer.

The FileFixer Error Message and Error Number

In each detail line of a FileFixer report (as in the above example), the file position and element ID are followed by a FileFixer error message and an error number in square brackets.

The error numbers are described in the “Error Messages” section of this guide.