User’s Guide – FileFixer for V8
Chapter 14 — Batch Mode
What is batch mode?
FileFixer can be run outside of MicroStation to process one or a batch of files.
You must have MicroStation installed, but MicroStation’s graphical user interface is not used.
The details about running FileFixer in batch mode are covered in this section.
Important Note: Msbatch mode for FileFixer has been temporarily disabled under MicroStation V8i and later versions of MicroStation. This is necessary due to problems with several critical MDL functions that fail only in msbatch mode. You can still search and repair all your V8 design files launching FileFixer in the graphical user interface of MicroStation.
Why use batch mode?
Batch mode might be handy for you under any of the following conditions:
- You want to schedule timed execution of FileFixer, especially after normal business hours.
- You can’t tie-up network resources during normal business hours and need FileFixer to run at a specified time, unattended.
- Your server can’t run MicroStation in graphics mode because it has no graphics terminals connected.
How do you run FileFixer in batch mode?
To run FileFixer in batch mode follow these steps:
- To prepare for batch mode processing you must first run FileFixer within MicroStation by selecting FileFixer from the “Axiom” menu.
- You can use FileFixer’s defaults, but if you want to use customized settings, select the FileFixer search and repair settings you want to use in batch mode and save your settings with Settings | Save Settings As....
- Run MicroStation in batch mode. The syntax of the command you enter at the operating system command line is:
<path1>msbatch <path2>fixer.ma options design_file_wildcard
<path1> is the location of the file “MSBATCH.BAT”. By default, this path is “C:\Program Files\Bentley\Program\MicroStation\”, but this may be different on your computer. Check with your system administrator if you have any questions.
<path2> is the location of the file “FIXER.MA”. By default, this path is “C:\Program Files\Axiom\V8\Fixer\”, but this may be different on your computer. Check with your system administrator if you have any questions.
options are described below.
design_file_wildcard is any legal Windows path and filename or filename wildcard expression, such as “*.dgn”.
For example, if MicroStation and FileFixer are installed in the default locations and your current directory is “C:\Program Files\Bentley\Program\MicroStation\”, the batch command to search for problems in MyFile.dgn would be:
msbatch “C:\Program Files\Axiom\V8\Fixer\fixer.ma” –sb MyFile.dgn
If your current directory is a project directory containing design files, you need to specify the full path to msbatch.bat.
Note: Remember to put quotes around any pathname that has a space in it.
Valid options
-a — Automatic Design File Repair. Uses Automatic Design File Repair settings.
-b — Batch Mode. This option is required when running in batch mode.
-d — Reload design file. Reload the currently loaded design file once the files have been checked.
-f Report_File_Name — The name of the report file. Use this option when you don’t want to use the report file name you had last used when running FileFixer from within MicroStation.
-i List_File —In “Search for Problems” mode FileFixer can create a list of corrupted files found. FileFixer can save the names of all corrupted files, or you can exclude files with minor errors. You control the threshold of corruption severity by selecting Settings | Search Settings | Design File | Severity of errors to be reported. The name of the output file created is defined by the List_File option. The files written to List_File can be used as input in “Automatic Design File Repair” mode — on FileFixer’s main dialog click <Select> button and then select File | Import File List....
-o Repaired_Design_File_Directory — Specify the directory where the repaired files will be placed.
-r Resource_File_Name — Specify which FileFixer resource file to use for the search and repair settings.
-s — Search Mode. Analyze, but do not repair files. Analysis report is created. Uses Search for Problems settings.
-u 999 — Only process those files which have been updated within the specified number of days — up to 999 days.
Examples
Note: For simplicity the following examples exclude paths for msbatch.bat and fixer.ma.
msbatch fixer.ma -ab MyFile.dgn msbatch fixer.ma -sb "*.dgn, *.cel" msbatch fixer.ma –sb -f MyOutput.log *.dgn
msbatch fixer.ma –ab -r c:\progra~1\axiom\v8\fixer\fixer.ini *.dgn
msbatch fixer.ma –ab -o c:\progra~1\axiom\v8\fixer\output *.dgn
msbatch fixer.ma –sb –i c:\progra~1\axiom\v8\fixer\fixer.lst *.dgn
msbatch fixer.ma –sb –u 10 *.dgn
Tip: design_file_wildcard can also be the name of a file that contains the filenames you wish to process. For example, if you create a file called MyFiles.txt which contains one path and filename per line:
C:\MyProject\Floor.dgn
C:\MyProject\Walls.dgn
C:\MyProject\Ceiling.dgn
You can search for problems in all of the above files using the following command:
msbatch c:\progra~1\axiom\v8\fixer\fixer.ma –sb @MyFiles.txt
Note: DOS commands are limited to 132 characters (on the command line).