User’s Guide – FileFixer for V8

Chapter 15 — Preventive Maintenance

Nightly FileFixer maintenance

Some problems, left unnoticed and unhandled, can get worse. Some design file problems can be prevented by fixing your files before the invalid data becomes obvious. FileFixer’s 400 and 500 level errors are examples of such design file time bombs.

This is why some FileFixer users schedule FileFixer to repair all their design files on a regular basis.

By having FileFixer regularly repair your design files before they manifest fatal errors, you can prevent certain types of invalid data from becoming fatal.

Setting up a typical nightly FileFixer maintenance run

In this section, you will see how to set up FileFixer to run automatically in batch mode using the Windows scheduler.

By running FileFixer in “Search for Problems” mode, you can create a report on files that contain serious problems as well as a list of the problem files. FileFixer can later be used to repair only those files in the problem file list.

Scheduling

For best results, schedule FileFixer before file compression and before nightly backups.

Create the settings file for nightly FileFixer run

Start by opening FileFixer in graphic mode and set up the settings (repair and search) the way you want FileFixer to work.

  1. You will probably want your nightly run to produce a list of corrupt files that FileFixer can later use to repair only those files that are seriously corrupted. Having FileFixer only repair those files which are seriously corrupted can save you processing time, especially valuable when you have large amounts of files to maintain. In the example below, we first selected “Future dangers and worse (error codes 400 and greater)”. This ensures that our list will only contain the names of files with errors of level 400 or higher. We also entered a name for the output list of corrupt files.

  2. When you are done making your selections, press <OK> to return to the main FileFixer dialog box.
  3. Save your settings using the Settings | Save Settings As... function from the main FileFixer dialog box. Give the settings file a unique name, “fixer_nightly.ini” for example, because you may only want to use these particular settings when running FileFixer at night.

Note: Those familiar with the Windows scheduler or using some other method can proceed to the next section to see how to set up the MSBATCH command.

Set up the Windows scheduler

  1. Open the Windows scheduler by selecting Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Scheduled Tasks in Windows. The following box should appear:
  2. If you do not have the “Scheduled Tasks” feature installed on your computer, please see your System Administrator about getting this feature installed.
  3. Double-click “Add scheduled task”.
  4. Click <Next> on the Scheduled Task Wizard box that appears.
  5. In the next window, <Browse> to your MicroStation directory to find the MSBATCH.BAT file and select it.
  6. Enter a name for the task in the next Wizard window (such as “FileFixer”), select “Daily” as in the image below and press <Next>.

  7. On the next screen you can select the time and day you want this task to start. Make your choices and press <Next>.
  8. On the last screen, be sure to check the “Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish” option. Then click <Finish>.

  9. A Properties box for this task will appear. This box will have whatever name you gave your task, such as “FileFixer”.

Set up the FileFixer MSBATCH command

  1. You will need four parameters in the “Run” box after “...\MSBATCH.BAT\”:
  • The path to the FileFixer executable program.
  • The code “-sb” tells FileFixer that the mode will be “Search for Problems” and tells msbatch to run it in batch mode.
  • A path to the saved settings file.
  • A path to the design files to be processed or to a list of files. Options for this path are described in detail in the section on “Batch Mode”.

Example:

C:\MS\V8\MSBATCH.BAT c:\ms\V8\axiom\fixer\fixer.ma –sb C:\MS\V8\axiom\nightly.rsc c:\ms\V8\dgnfiles\*.dgn/s

  1. When you click <OK> on this dialog box, your setup is complete.

Tip: For a detailed description of these fields and of other options available in batch mode, see “Batch Mode” section.

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