User’s Guide – FileFixer for V8

Chapter 5 — Running FileFixer

Getting started with FileFixer

Once FileFixer has been installed, select FileFixer from the Axiom menu on the MicroStation menu bar.

FileFixer is so easy to use you’ll probably be able to diagnose and repair design files without reading the rest of this documentation. However, our clients confirm time after time that the more you know about FileFixer the more it can do for you.

The main dialog box

FileFixer’s main dialog box.

Mode

To diagnose your files, set “Mode:” to “Search for Problems”.

To repair your files, set “Mode:” “Automatic Design File Repair”.

Which Files?

Tell FileFixer which file or files to process.

Example Explanation
C:\Project\MyFile.dgn A single file name.
Select any assortment of files from one
or more directories.
C:\Project\*.dgn A wildcard expression — in this
example, all design files in the
C:\Project\ directory.
C:\Project\*.dgn /S All design files in C:\Project\ and its
sub-directories.
/l C:\Project\MyFiles.txt MyFiles.txt is a file containing the
names of files to be processed, one file
name per line. The “/l” characters
directs FileFixer to use the contents of
the specified file.

Report File

Tell FileFixer where to save its report about the file or files processed.

The “Report File:” <Select...> button opens a dialog box that allows you to select a report file directory and name.

Tip: The Settings | Change Settings... | Report File dialog box gives you many selections for changing the default format and content of the report file.

<Start>

Press <Start> when you have selected all desired settings and are ready for FileFixer to process your files.

<Display Report>

Each report file contains FileFixer’s analysis of your design files and cell libraries, and what was done to remedy problems found.

Press <Display Report> to display a FileFixer report.

This button is disabled until you generate a report.

By default, text report files are displayed by “Notepad”, HTML report files are displayed by your default browser.

Use “Notepad” or your browser to print FileFixer report files.

Tip: Use Settings | Change settings | Report File... to switch between text and HTML report formats or to change the application which displays your report files.

Note: When you are creating more than one report file, the <Display Report> button displays the index file containing summaries from all reports.

The File menu

File | Save Edited File List as List File…

You can run FileFixer on a batch of files selected using <Select>.

If you want to save your file list for re-use later, use the File | Save File List As... function of the “Choose Files to Process” dialog as in the image below:

You can also select the “Save Edited File List as List File” option on the “File” pull down menu from FileFixer’s main dialog box:

This option is enabled only when the main dialog’s “Which Files?” field contains “<List of 999 of 999 >”.

For much more information, see the “Choose Files to Process” section in this guide.

File History

The “File” menu displays a history of files most recently processed. Files processed in batch do not appear in the file history list.

File | Exit

The “Exit” menu selection unloads FileFixer.

The Settings menu

The “Settings” menu.

Change Settings

“Change Settings” allows you to be able to change the General, Search, Repair, Report File and MicroStation Applications settings

Load Settings...

When FileFixer is started up, the settings from the fixer.ini file are loaded. Use the “Load Settings” option to load settings from other .ini files that have been previously saved.

Use the fixer.ini to hold your default settings.

Restore Factory Defaults...

Select “Restore Factory Defaults” to reset all of FileFixer’s settings back to “factory default” values. These are the settings that your FileFixer came with when you first installed it. This is useful if you have been changing several settings and want to start fresh.

Save Settings

Use “Save Settings” to save all currently selected settings into the active settings file.

Save Settings As...

Use “Save Settings As...” to save your current selections with a file name of your choice.

Current Settings File:

General, report file, search and repair settings are saved in FileFixer “settings” files in ASCII format. The default settings file, fixer.ini, is created the first time you run FileFixer. It is saved in the same directory as fixer.ma.

You can save your settings file to a different file name and you can load previously saved settings.

Tip: Save your default settings to fixer.ini. These settings will load automatically when FileFixer loads.

The currently active “settings” file name is displayed at the bottom of the “Settings” menu.

FIXER_INI (custom location for your settings file)

The default location of the FileFixer settings file is the directory containing the fixer.ma....axiom\V8\fixer\

You can also use a MicroStation configuration variable, FIXER_INI, to point FileFixer to a different directory containing the “settings” file of your choice. This is especially useful for groups of users running FileFixer from a shared location who want to define custom settings locally.

Just define the MicroStation configuration variable FIXER_INI and set it to the path of the directory containing your settings files. It will search that path for a fixer.ini file.

Tip: You can also change your default to a settings file of a different name by setting FIXER_INI to the full path and filename of a valid FileFixer “settings” file, such as “x:\users\home\bobsmith\BobsFixerSettings.ini”.

Help | Contents...

The Help | Contents option opens the full FileFixer User’s Guide.

Tip: For a quick reference on any error that FileFixer reports, use Help | Contents to search for the error number.

Help | About...

The Help | About option displays FileFixer version and licensing information.