PC World Komputer 1996 May/PCW596.iso/wtest/bentley/mstation/dos/readme.txt

Text File | 1995-10-13 | 36KB | 775 lines

     Product:        MicroStation
     Version:        5.5.1.48
     Date:           October 13, 1995

     Copyright 1995, Bentley Systems, Incorporated
     All Rights Reserved

     Including software, file formats, and audiovisual displays; may only
     be used pursuant to applicable software license agreement; contains
     confidential and proprietary information of Bentley Systems,
     Incorporated and/or third parties which is protected by copyright and
     trade secret law and may not be provided or otherwise made available
     without proper authorization.

     IGDS file formats Copyright 1981-1988 Intergraph Corporation.
     Intergraph Raster File Formats Copyright 1993 Intergraph Corporation.
     Used with permission.
     Portions Copyright 1992-1994 Summit Software Company.

     RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGENDS

     Use, duplication, or disclosure by the government is subject to
     restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights to
     Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013 or
     subparagraphs (c)(1) and (2) of Computer Software -- Restricted
     Rights at 48 CFR 52.227-19 as applicable.
     Unpublished - rights reserved under the Copyright Laws of the United
     States.

     Bentley Systems, Incorporated
     690 Pennsylvania Drive
     Exton, Pennsylvania  19341-1136
     USA
     1-610-458-5000

     This document contains important information not available in the
     MicroStation 95 Beta printed documentation.

     --------------------
     Beta Software Notice
     --------------------
     This is the third Beta for MicroStation 95 for DOS and Intel-based
     Windows. Please look at this release and report any and all problems
     you may encounter by sending a completed Problem Report Form to
     Bentley Systems:

     E-mail: [e-mail]
     Fax:       [phone]

     This software is provided for testing purposes only. Some features
     planned for the production version may be unreliable or not yet fully
     implemented.
     ------------------------
     End Beta Software Notice
     ------------------------

     ----------------
     Product Sections
     ----------------
     Installation Help
     Running under Windows
     Printing/Plotting
     Display Drivers
     Configuration Variables
     MicroStation BASIC Macros
     Adobe Acrobat
     OpenGL Support for Windows NT
     Rendering
     Archiver
     DWG/DXF
     General Graphics Information
     Database
     -----------------------
     End of Product Sections
     -----------------------

     -----------------
     Installation Help
     -----------------
     For simplified installation instructions from CD, please refer to
     README.TXT in the root directory of the CD.

     For more detailed information about installing MicroStation 95, see
     Chapter 1, "MicroStation Setup Guide"

     The DOS installation program, "install.exe," requires approximately
     360K to run properly. The configuration program, "usconfig.exe,"
     requires approximately 340K to run properly.
     ------------------------
     End of Installation Help
     ------------------------

     ---------------------
     Running Under Windows
     ---------------------
     MicroStation no longer relies on Windows Connection to run in Windows
     3.1x. The Windows version of MicroStation 95 runs under Windows 3.1x,
     Windows NT, and Windows 95.

     Running MicroStation 95 under Windows 3.1x is accomplished using a
     Microsoft utility called Win32s (version 1.25.141). This utility allows
     32-bit Windows applications (like MicroStation 95 for Windows) to run
     under 16-bit Windows 3.1x. Win32s can be installed from the CD and is
     found in the \WIN32S directory. You will need to install Win32s under
     Windows 3.1x before installing the Windows version of MicroStation 95
     There are complete instructions in the "MicroStation Setup Guide."
     Note that you do NOT need to install Win32s in Windows NT or Windows 95.

     It is possible that MicroStation 95 will not run properly on some
     older versions of Win32s. For your convenience, we have included a
     utility to remove older versions of Win32s. NOWIN32S.BAT is located on
     the CD in the \WIN32S\UTILS directory. The command line syntax is:
     NOWIN32S C:\WINDOWS (where C:\WINDOWS is your Windows directory)

     Win32s is a Windows 3.1x enhancement from Microsoft. Bentley assumes
     no responsibility for unexpected behavior resulting from the
     installation of Win32s. Please refer to the appropriate Microsoft
     documentation for more information on Win32s.

     The DOS versions of MicroStation, MicroStation Review, and MicroStation
     PowerDraft use memory resident programs in order to communicate with
     graphic cards and input devices. If the DOS version of any of these
     programs has been run before starting Windows to run the Windows
     version of MicroStation 95, an error message will be displayed after
     you attempt to start MicroStation ("Error: resource file is wrong
     platform, Expected=(Windows), File=(PC))". You will need to either use
     the mark and release utilities to remove these memory resident drivers
     before getting into Windows or reboot after running these programs.
     (The Mark and Release programs are in uStnRoot\utils directory, please
     refer to the documentation regarding usage.)

     Make sure that you do not have any DOS level environment variables
     (like MS_CONFIG and MS) set up to point to DOS versions of MicroStation
     products. This will result in messages similar to what was described
     in the previous paragraph.

     A required component for MicroStation 95 to run under Windows is the
     Microsoft Visual C++ runtime library MSVCRT20.DLL. Windows 3.1x requires
     this file to be in the <windows>\system directory. NT requires it to be
     in the <windows>\system32 directory. The MicroStation installation
     procedure will attempt to load it in the appropriate directory. There is
     a possibility that other applications may have placed MSVCRT20.DLL in
     the <windows> root directory. If you encounter problems running under
     Windows, make sure that MSVCRT20.DLL is in the appropriate location and
     remove other versions of it.

     Microsoft Word 6.0 will not properly display views served by
     MicroStation 95 running under Windows 3.1x. This is due to a
     limitation in the application's ability to accept the link format used
     for served views.
     ----------------------------
     End of Running under Windows
     ----------------------------

     -----------------
     Printing/Plotting
     -----------------
     NOTE: Bentley does not endorse any hardware peripherals. This includes
     plotters, printers, display adapters, or input devices.

     Due to Win32s limitations, printing under Windows 3.1x will support
     standard line styles and line weights, but not both.  If an element
     has both style and weight, then only the style will be honored.Custom
     line styles are not affected.  Plotting does not have this limitation.

     The Plot Toggle setting in the reference file dialog has been removed.
     Reference files were plotting by default, even if the display setting
     was disabled. This will make plotting more WYSIWYG as well as more
     consistant with V5 plotting.
     ------------------------
     End of Printing/Plotting
     ------------------------

     ---------------
     Display Drivers
     ---------------
     NOTE: Bentley does not endorse any hardware peripherals. This includes
     plotters, printers, display adapters, or input devices.

     The Windows version of MicroStation 95 uses your existing Windows
     display drivers.

     The DOS version of MicroStation 95 also supports any third party
     display drivers that function with MicroStation V5.
     -------------------------
     End of Display Drivers
     -------------------------

     -----------------------
     Configuration Variables
     -----------------------
     New Project Configuration files can only be created through a text
     editor.

     MS_SAVEMENU is used to set where the menu configuration file (mgds.men)
     is stored. This can specify a file or directory. If not specified,
     ms_savemenu.men is created in the current directory.

     MS_RASTERSCAN is used to enable raster reference scanning. If set to 1,
     raster reference scanning is enabled. If set to 0, scanning is
     disabled. This scan will occur when ref.ma is loaded.

     MS_NOEOF_MSGFILE is used to point to a text file that contains any
     custom message that can be displayed when a no end of file marker is
     encountered. This configuration variable is not set by default.

     MS_CELLSELECTORDIR determines the directory for the Cell Selector button
     configuration (.csf) files.

     MS_ARCHIVE is used to select the directories to include in the search
     path for Archive (.mar) files.

     MS_ARCHIVECLASS is used to select the directories to include in the
     search path for Archive class (.mac) files.
     ------------------------------
     End of Configuration Variables
     ------------------------------

     -------------------------
     MicroStation BASIC Macros
     -------------------------
     The Create Macro... utility is designed to generate a prototype or
     template MicroStation BASIC macro that may need to be edited in order
     to be useful. The macro utility is not designed to be a general
     purpose record and playback facility.

     The MicroStation BASIC macro language now includes DDE
     commands (Windows platforms only).
     DDEExecute
     --Syntax--
     DDEExecute channel%, command$
     Description:
        Sends an execute message to another application.
     Comments:
        The channel must first be initiated using DDEInitiate. An error will
        result if channel is invalid. If the receiving application does not
        execute the instructions, BASIC generates a run-time error. The
        format of command$ depends on the receiving application.

     DDEInitiate
     --Syntax--
     DDEInitiate%(app$, topic$)
     Description:
        Initializes a DDE link to another application and returns a unique
        number subsequently used to refer to the open DDE channel.
     Comments:
        The function returns 0 if BASIC cannot establish the link. This
        will occur under any of the following circumstances:
        * The specified application is not running.
        * The topic was invalid for that application.
        * Memory or system resources are insufficient to establish the DDE link.
        The app$ parameter specifies the name of the application (the server)
        with which a DDE conversation will be established. The topic$ parameter
        specifies the name of the topic for the conversation. The possible
        values for this parameter are described in the documentation for the
        server application.

     DDEPoke
     -- Syntax--
     DDEPoke channel%, dataItem$, value$
     Description:
        Sets the value of a data item in the receiving application associated
        with an open DDE link.
     Comments:
        The channel must first be initiated using DDEInitiate. An error will
        result if channel is invalid.
        The format for dataItem$ and value$ depends on the receiving application.

     DDERequest$
     -- Syntax--
     DDERequest$(channel%, dataItem$)
     Description:
        Returns a string representing the value of the given data item in the
        receiving application associated with the open DDE channel.
     Comments:
        The channel must first be initiated using DDEInitiate. An error will
        result if channel is invalid.
        The formats for dataItem$ and the returned value depend on the receiving
        application.

     DDESend
     --Syntax--
     DDESend application$, topic$, item$, data$
     Description:
        Initiates a DDE conversation with the server as specified by
        application$ and topic$ and sends that server a new value for the
        specified item.
     Comments:
        The DDESend statement performs the equivalent of the following
        statements:
       ch% = DDEInitiate(application$, topic$)
       DDEPoke ch%, item$, data$
       DDETerminate ch%

     DDETerminate
     --Syntax--
     DDETerminate channel%
     Description
        Closes the specified DDE channel.
     Comments:
        The channel must first be initiated using DDEInitiate. An error
        will result if channel is invalid.
        All open DDE channels are automatically terminated when the macro
        ends.

     DDETerminateAll
     --Syntax--
     DDETerminateAll
     Description:
        Closes all open DDE channels.
        All open DDE channels are automatically terminated when the macro
        ends.

     DDETimeOut
     --Syntax--
     DDETimeOut milliseconds&
     Description:
        This statement sets the number of milliseconds that must elapse before a
        DDE command times out. The default is 10,000 (10 seconds).
     --------------------------------
     End of MicroStation BASIC Macros
     --------------------------------

     -------------
     Adobe Acrobat
     -------------
     The on-line documentation files supplied in Adobe Acrobat pdf format
     are not delivered to MicroStation's "docs" directory as stated in the
     printed Release Notes. Rather the pdf files are in the \DOCS directory
     of the CD.

     For Adobe Acrobat Reader installation instructions, please refer to
     ACROREAD.TXT in the \ACROBAT directory of the CD.

     The Adobe Acrobat Reader is an Adobe product and is supported by that
     organization. Although we would like to be informed about any problems
     that you encounter with the Reader, please contact Adobe for technical
     support with regard to that product.
     --------------------
     End of Adobe Acrobat
     --------------------

     ----------------
     Rendering
     ---------------
     MicroStation can be optionally configured to make use of advanced
     graphics acceleration interfaces to improve performance of rendered
     images.  Support for the acceleration interface is through an MDL
     extension which may be supplied by Bentley or a third-party vendor.
     Bentley will support OpenGL in MicroStation 95 in our Windows NT and
     SGI versions.

     The primary reason for using a graphics acceleration interface like
     OpenGL is to improve rendering performance, but there is often a
     tradeoff between increased performance and visual quality for rendered
     views. A toggle button labeled "Graphics Acceleration" has been added
     to the Settings->Rendering->View Attributes dialog. The function of
     the toggle is to mark the view as eligible to be drawn using OpenGL or
     (depending upon platform) some other graphics acceleration interface.
     If the toggle is set, the view will be accelerated on all platforms
     that have an accelerator extension installed (e.g. Windows NT and SGI).
     If the toggle is not set, the view will be drawn without acceleration.
     ----------------
     End of Rendering
     ----------------

     -----------------------------
     OpenGL Support for Windows NT
     -----------------------------
     This delivery includes support for OpenGL graphics acceleration using
     the MicroStation OpenGL Interface application (MSOPENGL). In order to
     use OpenGL, MicroStation must be run on a high-color or true color
     display device.  For Windows NT, make sure the display driver selected
     in the Control Panel is set for >=32768 colors.

     -- Operation--

     The current version of MSOPENGL must be loaded manually using the
     MicroStation key-in "MDL LOAD MSOPENGL".  Once loaded, MSOPENGL will
     remain loaded until MicroStation is shut down or it is unloaded by the
     user.

     NOTE:  You can force MSOPENGL to load automatically each time
     MicroStation is started by copying the files MSOPENGL.MA and MSOPENGL.DLL
     from the MDLSYS/ASNEEDED directory to the MDLSYS/REQUIRED directory.

     The application supplies a single command, "MSOPENGL SETTINGS" which
     will display a modal settings dialog box.  The following controls are
     available in the settings dialog box:

     View Number - This option button is used to select the MicroStation view
     for which to set OpenGL acceleration options.  When the view number is
     set to "All", the current settings will apply to all views.

     Enabled - When this toggle is set, OpenGL will be used to accelerate
     drawing to all MicroStation views that have the "Graphics Acceleration"
     toggle set in the "Settings->Rendering->View Attribues" dialog box.

     Options Group Box:

     Batch Triangles - On some systems, rendering performance improves when
     triangles are "batched" before sending them to OpenGL.  The default
     setting for this toggle if off.

     Direct Rendering - Currently not implemented.

     Double Buffer - When this toggle is set, MicroStation will attempt to
     display OpenGL graphics in double buffered mode.  When used in
     conjunction with the Dynamics option, double buffering allows for
     smoother view manipulations.  Not all OpenGL implementations can support
     double buffered display operations.

     Dynamics - When this toggle is set, view manipulations that are activated
     from the view control icons will operate directly on the displayed
     elements rather than on a dynamic cube.  Dynamic view rotation
     performance is typically enhanced when used with the View Cache setting
     (see below) enabled.

     Single Precision - MicroStation normally sends double precision
     coordinates to OpenGL to ensure proper display over a widest possible
     range of design files.  However, on some systems, performance improves
     when single-precision coordinates are used.  The default setting for this
     toggle if off.

     View Cache Group Box:

     Enable - When enabled, and the contents of a view are cached in an OpenGL
     display list.  Elements displayed in subsequent view updates (including
     zooms, rotations, pans, and perspective changes) will be displayed from
     the cache which is many times faster than MicroStation.  The cache is
     automatically reloaded whenever the view is updated with a different
     display mode, so it is best to use the Rendering View Attributes dialog
     box (activated by Settings->Rendering->View Attributes) to set the
     display mode for the cached view.  Elements placed or modified in the
     design file will not be reflected in the cached view until the cache is
     reloaded.  The cache can be forced to reload on the next update by
     setting this toggle off and then back on again.

     Stroke Mult. - Increasing the numeric value in this text field will cause
     elements to be stroked into a finer mesh when they are loaded into the
     view cache.  A finer mesh allows greater zooming before curved lines and
     surfaces begin to appear faceted.  A finer mesh also causes more data to
     be loaded into the cache and will increases the time it takes to load and
     display data from the cache.

     Miscellaneous Notes and Known Problems
     --------------------------------------
     1) The greatest performance improvement OpenGL provides to MicroStation
    is for cached views and smooth renderings without texture maps.  In
    many cases, OpenGL will render 10x faster than MicroStation.  The
    performance advantage diminishes considerably when OpenGL texture maps
    are enabled.  Texture maps are not supported in cached views.

     2) Phong rendering is not supported by OpenGL.  Selecting Phong rendering
    in an OpenGL accelerated view will result in a Smooth rendering.

     3) Windows NT version 3.5 and later supports OpenGL regardless of
    hardware configuration.  However, using OpenGL will generally not
    improve MicroStation performance except on systems that include
    graphics acceleration hardware.
     ------------------------------------
     End of OpenGL Support for Windows NT
     ------------------------------------

     --------
     Archiver
     --------
     Dragging and dropping a directory icon from the Windows File Manager will
     not Archive any files contained in that directory. You must select each
     file to be archived, and then drag them to the MicroStation Archive dialog
     box.

     Long filenames are truncated to the first eight characters when transferred
     to an operating system that does not support long filenames (DOS).

     For the Use Path Filter option to have any effect, the Save Directories
     option must also be selected.
     ---------------
     End of Archiver
     ---------------

     -------
     DWG/DXF
     -------
     Some of the import/export settings can now be set only through a
     MicroStation BASIC macro.

     Enhancements:

     Exporting a source view with level symbology turned on will export the
     drawing using level symbology. Font mapping is done in the MicroStation
     BASIC macro. Cell Name mapping is also available through a MicroStation
     BASIC macro. Line styles have been reworked (especially wide polylines
     and custom line styles). Cell export has been enhanced. Nested Cells
     and Nested Groups are now supported.
     --------------
     End of DWG/DXF
     --------------

     ----------------------------
     General Graphics Information
     ----------------------------
     When performing any flood commands in views containing more than 2000
     elements, the following message will appear: "There are currently more
     than 2000 elements in the selected view. Computing the flood area from
     this many elements is very slow. This processing time can be reduced by
     limiting the view area, or selecting the bounding elements before
     initializing the flood operation". At this point, you have the option of
     continuing the flood operation by selecting "OK" or canceling the command
     with the "Cancel" button. This applies to all commands that have a flood
     option (hatch, pattern, create region, and measure area).

     Using the <Ctrl> key while moving a window (ie: tool box) over a
     dockable region will prevent docking.

     There is now a toggle (Join elements) while placing SmartLine that
     allows for placing elements as either individual or joined elements.

     Deleting the default.upf under ustnRoot\config\user will always return
     you to the Default workspace setup.

     The current snap, lock, and level can now be set by clicking data and
     reset buttons in the appropriate field in the Status bar.

     The Surface of projection tool now respects selection sets, graphic
     groups, multilines and text elements.

     The Camera tool no longer requires a front and back clipping plane to
     be set. The default setting will use from the front of the camera to
     the back of the design. If clipping planes are desired, the Depth
     Display tool can be used.

     The Insert Vertex tool can now be used to add a vertex off of the end
     of a line, linestring or curve. The element must be selected at or
     near the end of the element in order to accomplish this.
     -----------------------------------
     End of General Graphics Information
     -----------------------------------

     --------
     Database
     --------
     ** General Database Enhancements

     * FI= statement where the mslink value is null:
     If the where clause on a fi= statement is such that it specifies only
     a single row, and the mslink column is null or zero, (i.e. unpopulated)
     and we are in duplicate linkage mode, the mslink column for that row
     will automatically get assigned the next highest one, and will be used
     as the AE.If, in the case of the above scenario, there is more than one row
     that satisfies the where clause, that will cause an error. You will see the
     message - Unable to assign mslink. Version 4.0 functionality has been
     restored. FI= works where the mslink value is null in both New and
     Duplicate linkage mode.

     * Now allows decoding of a DB linkage without having server.ma running
     or being connected to a database. malDB_decodeLink will set
     link->tablename to an empty string if not connected to a database.

     * There is a new toggle in the database section of user preference box for
     mslink caching. When the toggle is on (off by default) a cache of database
     linkages is maintained, allowing applications which take advantage of this
     cache to access elements with database linkages much faster than by
     scanning.

     * The Database settings submenu lets you switch between databases (and
     servers) without reconfiguring/restarting. It gives you the ability to
     connect and run with a database even when there is no MSCATALOG table.
     It gives you the ability to optionally create the MSCATALOG table if it
     doesn't exist. It also provides the ability to create tables in the
     currently open database.

     * The fence and non-fence versions of attach ae, load displayable
     attributes and detach linkage on the database toolbox have been
     consolidated. These three commands also now work with selection sets.

     * All servers are DLMs (for faster performance), except for MS DOS
     Oracle and RIS.

     * The following describes the add row without locking functions:
     If MS_DBNOLOCKING is defined (value does not matter) then MicroStation
     will not lock the table to add a new row.  The server will get the largest
     mslink in the table, add one to it, and try to insert the new row.  If
     the insert fails, the mslink is incremented and another insert is
     attempted.  This process continues until the row has been successfully
     inserted or MS_DBMAXATTEMPTS is reached. The maximum number of attempted
     inserts defaults to 10 (DB_MAX_ATTEMPTS in dbserver.h) when
     MS_DBMAXATTEMPTS is undefined.  I added NEXT_MODE_LARGEST to the next
     mode choices, NEXT_MODE_MAX, NEXT_MODE_OCC and a field for maxAttempts
     in sqlStatedata.  This information is global to server.ma


     ** XBASE

     Some significant progress has been made in the improvement of performance
     in the Xbase servers. The affected areas are:

        Fence Reporting
        Fence Filters
        FI= (setting the active entity)
        Loading Displayable Attributes (forms and non-forms mode)
        Cursor processing mdlDB_readColumn function

     Additionally, there are now xbase-specific implementations of cursor open,
     fetch, and close. They are in rdbmslib.ml, so the prototypes can be
     found in rdbmslib.fdf.  The interface is exactly the same as with the
     normal cursor functions, except for mdlDB_openCursorXbase. Its extra
     parameter is an indicator from the caller as to whether any more than
     just the column's values are desired.  If the other information in the
     MS_sqlda structure is not needed by the caller, set this parameter to
     TRUE.  That will result in better performance.

     Also, mdlDB_simpleSelectXbase is a new function.  It provides the MDL
     developer the ability to issue a select statement and receive a single
     row's column values back without the overhead of opening and closing a
     cursor.  This is an improvement over mdlDB_sqlQuery because as many
     columns as desired can be specified in the select statement.

     * XBASE Sample files added. The data dictionary files for the GIS
     example are now included in the delivery. This means that you can
     connect to GIS simply by using the menu - right out of the box.
     No additional configuration needed. They don't have to run build.bat
     or initialize the datadictionary to connect to the sample XBASE,
     XBASENDX or XBASEFOX files.

     * "Script Mode" for datadict programs (datadict, datadndx, datadfox).
     Script mode is necessary for win32s (but may be used on any platform
     except Macintosh). It allows the user to specify a script file that
     contains all of the datadict arguments, and a file in which to write
     any error or warning messages (the file is empty in the event that
     everything works without error).

     The syntax is:  datadict -s<script-file-name> -o<output-file-name>

     The following information is strictly an example and is not required
     for the GIS example in particular (see the previous bullet)

     The script file should look something like:

     -init
     -ta parcel parcel
     -ia parcel parcel
     -ta pard  parcel_das
     -ta maps maps
     -ia maps maps
     -ta features features
     -ia features features
     -ta highway highway
     -ia highway highway
     -ta mscatlog mscatalog

     Note that it's the same as the delivered "build.bat" for the GIS
     example, except that the "datadict" program name doesn't appear on any
     of the lines. This is not a batch file. You can not comment out a
     line (ie: "REM").

     This script file can be executed from the command line in the Windows
     RUN window. In the file manager, select the directory that contains
     your database files. For example, using the delivered XBASE sample you
     would select the GIS directory. The top of the file manager window
     displays the path.

     <MS>\database\xbase\examples\gis

     If you select RUN from the FILE pull down menu, the path appears in
     the command line. You need to add the script command to the end of
     this path.

     ..\examples\gis\..\..\datadict -sbuild.s -obuild.rpt

     Note the ..\..\ before the datadict. In this case the datadict
     executable is stored in the XBASE directory and ..\..\ allows you to
     execute it from the GIS directory. The BUILD.S file is a script file
     delivered with the XBASE samples. You can name the output file
     anything you want.

     * If you are a single user of an Xbase database, be sure to set the
     configuration variable "MS_DBMODE" to "nonshared".  Note that not
     defining it at all is not adequate.  This will improve performance
     of activities that require the generation of a new MSLINK value
     (e.g. ATTACH AE while LINKAGE MODE is "New").
     Microsoft NT ODBC drivers on 3.5


     ** RIS

     * RIS is not supported under Win32s (in Windows 3.1x)


     ** ORACLE

     * Oracle is not supported under Win32s Windows 3.1, it is supported
     under Win32s Windows 3.11 (WFW)

     * MicroStation 95 Adds Support for Oracle Forms 4.5 on Intel.
     If settings->database->dialog->Text Forms is selected, MicroStation will
     invoke the Oracle Forms 4.5 runform program (f45run.exe), displaying
     database information in a user defined form when elements are reviewed
     for database information (review attributes).

     The configuration variables that effect Oracle forms execution is
     MS_FORMSMANAGER. This specifies the forms manager executable that
     MicroStation will use to display Oracle forms.  When undefined
     MicroStation uses 'f45run.exe' as the Oracle Forms runtime executable.
     Use this variable to specify a different forms executable.MS_FORMSARGS -
     This specifies arguments to invoke the forms manager. Normally,
     MicroStation does not use any arguments when it invokes the forms
     manager. Use this variable if you want to invoke the Oracle Forms
     Manager with arguments.


     ** ODBC

     * As of MicroStation 95 Beta 3, the Microsoft ODBC Access and dBASE4
     drivers will ONLY connect under NT 3.51.  For Beta 3 and in the final
     distribution, users must run under NT 3.51 (NOT 3.5) to successfully
     connect using the Microsoft Access or dBASE4 ODBC drivers.
     The supported Intersolv driver work under both NT 3.5 and NT 3.51.

     * MicroStation 95 will support ODBC Access forms.
     MicroStation 95 supports other forms managers under Windows. Setup
     procedures will be issued in a technical note upon release.


     * Workgroup 2000 Tools:
     To get the Workgroup server tools (16 bit) to connect up under NT, when
     you install 16 bit SQL*Net TCP/IP (under NT), you must select Winsock
     dlls, Windows NT 3.1/3.5 transportation layer.  If you are under
     Windows 3.11 select Windows for Workgroups 3.11 TCP/IP (VDx). This allows
     you to use the Workgroup Server 2000 Tools to manage network databases:
     startup / shutdown, operate in tables, resize databases, etc.It is much
     easier than using SQL to do it. If you also have a local Oracle 7
     database under NT, you must install the 32 bit Server version of SQL*Net
     TCP/IP or Named Pipes.  It gets confusing, but in essence you are running
     the 32 bit server listener and connecting from 16 bit client tools on the
     same box.

     You can also manage UNIX databases with these tools.MDL basic database
     extensions.


     * Basic extensions are now available for all MicroStation database
     operations. Database extensions to MicroStation BASIC helps the user
     to manipulate database tables and graphics linkages by writing simple
     macros. Querying database was never this easy or simple. There are two
     database BASIC examples DBPROFIL.BAS and DBQUERY.BAS in the $MS/macros
     directory. DBPROFIL.BAS prints the detailed table wise profile of the
     currently connected database. DBQUERY.BAS shows how to manipulate and
     query records from the active database.

     The database features of MicroStation BASIC extensions are implemented
     over three main objects:

     -MbeSqlda
     -MbeTable
     -MbeDatabase

     MbeSqlda:
     MbeSqlda object helps the user to extract the results after a query or
     a describe table operation.  The MbeSqlda object is similar to the
     concept of records in a database table.

     MbeTable:
     MbeTable object represents a table in a database.

     MbeDatabase:
     MbeDatabase object represents a database or schema.
     ---------------
     End of Database
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