BE Conference 2008 sessions online
You can now attend BE Conference 2008 directly from your desktop as anytime, anyplace learning. Bentley SELECT subscribers have exclusive OnDemand access to all conference sessions via the Bentley LEARN Server.
SELECT subscribers can earn learning units today by viewing featured OnDemand eLearning courses or BE Conference 2008 sessions. All Bentley learning units are automatically added to online transcripts.
>> more (transcripts)
If you are a SELECT subscriber, view quick start instructions for launching OnDemand eLearning content.
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View the list of OnDemand BE Conference sessions.
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If you have questions about Bentley OnDemand eLearning, contact us.
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BE Conference 2009
Mark your calendar! BE Conference is coming to Charlotte, North Carolina, the week of May 11, 2009. Watch Bentley.com for more information.
Interested in receiving news and updates for BE Conference 2009 via email? Sign up today.
>> more (updates on BE Conference 2009)
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Highlights in BE Communities website: blogs
What does Keith Bentley have to say about the company's recent technology agreement with Luxology LLC, which will enable Bentley to incorporate Luxology's super-fast, photorealistic rendering engine in MicroStation? What's Keith's take on the impact of the recent Bentley/Autodesk agreement for Bentley users? Why does Buddy Cleveland think U.S. infrastructure had a tough weekend in the media? What do your peers think about hundreds of topics related to sustaining infrastructure? Check out these blogs on BE Communities!
At the BE Communities site, click on the "Blogs" tab at the top of the page to go to the blog front page. The most popular blogs and recent postings are listed on the left; you can browse all blogs by clicking “View All Blogs” in the right-hand navigation area.
Click on your blog link on the right-hand side of the page under "YOUR BLOGS:" Note that the list of "common tasks" may be shorter according to the level of permissions that you've been granted.
This will take you to your personal blog page. Before you begin blogging, use the search function to determine if the subject/topic for which you want to create a blog post for has been previously posted. If it has, you should consider posting a comment to that entry. If it has not, click on "Write a Blog Post" under Common Tasks. Once you publish your post, it will be saved in a monthly archive at the bottom of the right-hand page, as well as in "Recent Posts" in your personal blog page. To manage your blog, click on "Blog Dashboard."
More information on using blogs can be found here.
Blogs support images; for more information on uploading, click here.
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Discussion group threads
The Bentley discussion groups are a great place to learn new tips and tricks with Bentley products and to hear the frank views of other users. The discussion groups on discussion.bentley.com will be transitioned gradually, 10 to 15 groups at a time, to read-only mode. The groups with the most activity will be the last to transition. Although there will be a brief period of overlap between the two systems, the intent is to transition entirely to the new BE Communities forums. For now, the traditional discussion groups are still live.
If you have a question, it may have already been the subject of a discussion. To search the discussion groups for answers to your particular questions, use our customized search.
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Here are two interesting conversations going on now in the discussion groups:
How can you create a sloped surface on an area between known elevations?
How can you remove a character from the end of a number of text strings in a model?
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Sponsors
HP delivers workstation technologies that help you work efficiently and reduce costs.
The HP workstation line includes mobile, desktop, and blade workstations. HP offers a choice of processors including Intel dual-core processors or quad-core processors or AMD processors. In addition, HP offers highly secure Blade Workstations, which provide the capability of remote engineering from centralized server-based workstations with powerful 3D performance.
>> Learn more about HP and great deals on HP workstations
>> Learn more about HP and Bentley
FIATECH announces new meeting dates for 2008 and 2009 – save these dates.
This week, FIATECH is holding its annual members meeting at the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge, Mass. Keith Roe, chairman, president, and CEO of Burns and Roe, chairs the meeting with the theme "Creating Sustainable Business Value: Deploying Innovative Technologies." The meeting builds on FIATECH’s highly successful Annual Technology Conference & Showcase, which took place in New Orleans this past spring, and provides FIATECH members with the opportunity to learn more about accelerating the delivery of increased and sustainable business value.
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FIATECH's 2009 Technology Conference & Showcase, Where the Best Get Better, is open to the public and will be held April 6-8, 2009, at the Green Valley Ranch near Las Vegas, Nev. The conference will be chaired by Jerry Gipson, director, Engineering Solutions Technology Center, The Dow Chemical Company. Attendees will explore which technologies they should and shouldn’t be gambling on.
>> more
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Bentley tips
The Bentley SELECT Server Gateway won’t start
The SELECT Server Gateway has to write to the Event Viewer before it will start. If the Event Viewer is full, the Gateway can’t write to it, so the Gateway can’t start.
To purge the Event Viewer:
- Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer
- Select Application
- From the Action menu, select Clear all Events.
To set the Event Viewer to automatically purge when it reaches a certain level, go to Action > Properties in the Event Viewer.
Submitted by: Adam Earhart, AutoPLANT technical support analyst
RememberMe and AutoLogon via ProjectWise Web Explorer Lite
Did you know you can set RememberMe and AutoLogon when logging on to ProjectWise Web Explorer Lite?
To do so, navigate to C:\Program Files\Bentley\ProjectWise\Web Server\common\classes.
Open the PWLiteServlet.properties file, scroll down to this section and be sure the value for “rememberMe.enabled” and “autoLogon.enabled” is “true.”
#
# rememberMe.enabled:
# This value determines if the rememberMe option is available on the login screen.
rememberMe.enabled=true
#
# autoLogon.enabled:
# This value determines if the auto login option is available on the login screen.
# Note: rememberMe must be set to true as well.
autoLogon.enabled=true
Once you enable the values, restart ProjectWise Web Server.
Submitted by: Ranveer S. Basra, ProjectWise Technical Support Analyst
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MicroStation tip from BE Conference 2007
Using Display Sets
Display sets allow you to isolate particular elements in a view by hiding the unselected elements. This does not turn levels on or off.
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These tips were presented at BE Conference 2007 by Stephen Holmes, head of Consultancy Services at Cadventure.
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BE User Group events
Mid-Continent MicroStation Users Group (MCMC)
August 26-27, Overland Park Conference Center, Overland Park, Kan.
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Bentley Plant Users Group
September 17-19, Biloxi, Miss.
>> more
BE User Group - Flanders
September 24, The Antwerp Zoo, Belgium
>> more
IDDEA Group
October 1-3, Schemen Center, Iowa State Campus, Ames Iowa
>> more
Rochester Area User Group
October 23, Rochester, N.Y.
Florida Local Users Group (FLUG) Fall Conference
October 30-31
>> more
Bentleyuser.dk
Nov. 10-12, Monkebjerg Hotel, Vejle, Denmark
>> more
Bentley Community UKI
Nov. 27-28, RIBA, London
Watch for more upcoming BE User Group events.
>> more
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New learning opportunities from Bentley
The Bentley Institute regularly updates its course offerings. Some of the newest offerings focus on building design and structural design and analysis V8 XM Edition applications, as well as Bentley Rail Track, GEOPAK XM Edition, InRoads XM Edition, and Bentley PowerCivil.To find available courses and register online, visit:
Scheduled courses
Find live, instructor-led courses for classroom and distance learning by product.
OnDemand eLearning courses
Find self-paced learning content by language or product.
BE User Group information
Network, share knowledge, and learn with colleagues at regional events.
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Distance Learning
This OnDemand eSeminar was created by recording a live, instructor-led distance learning session from the Bentley Institute. You will experience how this learning environment delivers real-time instruction and collaboration to any desktop, and see how distance learning:
- Is effective for individuals and groups,
- Provides a virtual classroom for simultaneously training users from multiple offices,
- Requires no travel and reduces time away from the office.
>> more
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Attend a complimentary distance learning course and earn Learning Units
Now you can try distance learning’s personal interaction, hands-on instruction, and collaboration with your colleagues for free. Bentley is offering a complimentary MicroStation AccuDraw course that lets you experience how instructor-led distance learning helps you get training conveniently, easily, and with little disruption to your daily work routine.
>> more
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Bentley LEARN
This eSeminar shows how Bentley LEARN is the most cost-effective way to put learning on every desk in your organization. The presentation includes a high-level overview of Bentley LEARN and a short demonstration of the OnDemand eLearning resources provided by this learning subscription program. You can see how Bentley LEARN can help your organization:
- Provide just-in-time training for more users,
- Reduce travel and fit training within busy schedules,
- Learn about product version updates or focus on specific workflow tasks.
>> more (register to attend a live eSeminar)
>> more (view a prerecorded OnDemand eSeminar)
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Bentley eSeminars
Find the most recent and most popular MicroStation/ProjectWise, Building, Civil, Geospatial, and Plant eSeminars from Bentley, with links to Bentley resources in each vertical.
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promis•e 2007, our new electrical design solution
Whether you're creating schematic drawings, panel layouts, wire lists, bills of material, or terminal plans, you’ll find that the intelligent, automatic functions of the promis•e 2007 family of electrical CAD software make the design process fast, efficient, and accurate. This series of eSeminars, presented by Jim Baker, Bentley application engineer for electrical design products, steps you through how to get the most from these comprehensive tools.
- promis●e Overview – Learn how you can streamline your electrical design process and how to create a machine-design project starting from the bill of materials and from the CAD design phase of a project.
>> more
- promis●e Project Modes – Learn how you can use promis●e to create electrical schematics and streamline the entire engineering process.
>> more
- promis●e Project Reporting – Learn how to create project bills of materials, costing lists, purchase order lists, point-to-point wiring lists, pin charts, terminal block plans, distance wiring lists, and more.
>> more
- promis●e Project Development – Learn how to create project bills of materials and job costing and connection reports.
>> more
- promis●e Project Navigation – Learn how to customize the software's dialog prompts and menus.
>> more
RAM Structural System: True interoperability with the Revit Structure Link
Bidirectional integration between the RAM Structural System (RSS) and Revit Structure enables you to analyze and design buildings within the RSS environment and subsequently use Revit Structure for multidisciplinary collaboration as well as documentation.
The integrated environment will:
- Improve internal processes by linking engineering and CAD departments to eliminate tedious and costly redlining and review processes,
- Enable effective communication with the rest of the design team, enhancing collaboration,
- Streamline processes for higher profit margins and fewer errors.
Benefits for structural engineers include:
- Start in RAM Structural System or Revit Structure,
- Import or Export from Revit Structure,
- Make changes in either application,
- Update and synchronize models.
Kevin Billings, CAD production manager with Hart Gaugler & Associates, had this to say regarding the link, “I like that the software provides back and forth updates. This saves us a tremendous amount of time. The two-way communication is key for us to efficiently implement architectural changes quickly. We can update the RAM and Revit portion at the same time; it works very well for us.”
To find out more and to download the RAM Structural System-Revit link, visit http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Promo/Structural+Team/RSS+Revit.htm. You can view a recording of Bentley’s live eSeminar as well as see answers to frequently asked questions regarding the RAM Structural System-Revit Link.
To learn more about Bentley’s comprehensive structural products, visit www.Bentley.com/Structural.
PlantSpace P&ID
Learn more about PlantSpace P&ID, including how to synchronize data from the project database into the PlantSpace P&ID environment; how to create P&IDs in the PlantSpace environment, tagging elements in P&ID; and how to process and synchronize data from the P&ID into the project database.
>> more
PlantSpace Equipment
Learn what PlantSpace Equipment can do for you, including how to model parametric equipment, how to place and orient nozzles, how to create custom equipment, and more.
>> more
PlantSpace Piping
Learn more about PlantSpace Piping, including how to route and place piping components in a 3D environment, how to automatically generate bills of materials, and more.
>> more
Connected by ProjectWise
You can improve project team collaboration without changing the way your team works. See how ProjectWise Explorer is as easy and intuitive as Windows Explorer, only better. Effectively manage reference files, find files quickly, and collaborate with others across all projects when your project team is connected by ProjectWise.
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Video spotlights Barge Waggoner’s ProjectWise success
See how Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon is using ProjectWise to connect people and information across project teams – no matter where they are located – to improve quality, reduce rework, and meet deadlines. The firm has created a solution that integrates ProjectWise with Microsoft SharePoint to enable work sharing among 12 offices across three states.
“People not being utilized 100 percent of the time is a cost and an inefficiency for us,” said David Davidson, president and COO of Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon. “Through organization-wide adoption of ProjectWise and SharePoint, we have been able to increase utilization and raise the revenue per head by approximately 25 percent.”
Independent ROI reports verify that all engineers in an organization can save up to 15 percent of their annual cost when sharing work with ProjectWise.
“The quality of our projects has really been enhanced through the ProjectWise and SharePoint portals because we can disseminate information so quickly, and because we can tie everyone together through one standard,” Davidson said.
Watch the video now
Bentley Map XM Edition – the new desktop GIS for mapping and engineering the world’s infrastructure
This one-hour eSeminar demonstrates how Bentley Map, a full desktop GIS, addresses the specific needs of organizations that map, plan, design, build, and operate the world’s infrastructure. The core desktop product in the Bentley geospatial architecture, Bentley Map integrates seamlessly with the Bentley Geospatial Server and Bentley’s mobile, web-publishing and industry-specific applications. It is also the preferred platform for customized geospatial workflows delivered by third parties. Bentley Map is one of the ways in which Bentley is advancing GIS for infrastructure.
>> more
eSeminars available from Integrated Structural Solutions Seminar
Bentley’s Structural Engineering Group held a seminar in Houston on integrated structural solutions for plant applications. One of the attendees, James Yong, PE, SE with TechnipUSA, said, “I was very impressed with the seminar. In fact, after viewing the capabilities of the programs, I am requesting that my company purchase RAM Connection and STAAD.foundation licenses.”
The seminar highlighted the new version of STAAD.Pro, as well as the integration with RAM Connection and STAAD.foundation. It demonstrated an integrated workflow for industrial structures utilizing STAAD.Pro 2007, STAAD.foundation and RAM Connection.
View the seminar:
Integrated Structural Design for Industrial Structures (STAAD.Pro - Part 1)
Integrated Structural Design for Industrial Structures (STAAD.Pro - Part 2)
Integrated Structural Design for Industrial Structures (RAM Connection)
Integrated Structural Design for Industrial Structures (STAAD.foundation)
ProjectWise Navigator
Learn more about ProjectWise Navigator and find out what this visual collaboration tool can do for you. You’ll learn how to assemble 2D/3D content, how to check-in/check-out transactions, how to review project designs, and more.
>> more
Bentley Data Manager/Bentley Datasheets eSeminar
Learn about Bentley Data Manager and Bentley Datasheets, including how to create views in the database, what datasheets are, datasheet synchronization, and more.
>> more
AutoPLANT P&ID
Learn more about AutoPLANT P&ID, including how to use the symbol manager, what P&ID is, how to use the assembly manager, and more.
>> more
AutoPLANT Equipment
Learn what AutoPLANT Equipment can do for you, including how to model parametric equipment, how to place and orient nozzles, how to create custom equipment, and more.
>> more
AutoPLANT Piping
Learn more about AutoPLANT Piping, including how to route and place piping components in a 3D environment, how to automatically generate bills of materials, and more.
>> more
Create PDF with MicroStation V8 XM Edition
Watch this eSeminar to learn about the immutable PDF file-publishing capabilities of MicroStation. See how easy it is to add comments to PDF files using Adobe Acrobat. Learn how to attach PDF files as references in a DGN, and learn how to create interactive 3D PDF files that contain rendered models with switchable level or layer structures and predefined animations for playback and review.
>> more
ProjectWise Passport
Did you know that every MicroStation license covered by a current Bentley SELECT agreement is eligible for a ProjectWise Passport at no additional charge? And did you know that each ProjectWise Passport licenses its holder to use a number of Bentley products, including ProjectWise StartPoint, ProjectWise Navigator, and ProjectWise InterPlot Organizer?
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Visual Collaboration with ProjectWise Navigator
Joe Croser, global marketing director, platform products and subscriptions, highlights the challenges associated with assembling a variety of project content in one place for design review and analysis. You can learn to:
- Assemble 2D/3D content from hundreds of applications and file stores,
- Review designs and models in an immersive and homogeneous environment,
- Enrich content by adding comments, project links, and materials for visualization,
- Analyze and simulate construction schedules and assess buildability,
- Produce portable and intelligent work packages for downstream activities.
>>more
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Bentley white papers
Sustaining Infrastructure
This paper by Buddy Cleveland, senior vice president of Bentley’s Applied Research Group, explains Bentley’s interpretation of sustainability. It lays out the company’s view of the role of infrastructure in creating a sustainable world; how Bentley users are meeting these challenges today; how they can better address the challenges in the future; and how Bentley’s solutions and products are positioned to support them.
>> more
ISO 15926 – Lifecycle Data for Process Plant
Ever since 2D drafting and 3D modeling were computerized, there has been a need to exchange 2D and 3D geometry information between different CAD systems. In order to provide a common file format for this geometry information exchange, the development of standards began, and ISO 15926 “lifecycle data for process plant” was proposed. The ISO 15926 initiative has been steadily increasing in maturity ever since. With that increase in maturity, interest in this important standard has grown and its acceptance and adoption have spread throughout the plant domain. By going beyond data handover, ISO 15926 is fast becoming the standard for interoperability and collaboration among complex data models of all types, including both 2D and 3D data models.
>> more
Making PDS Interoperable
In a recent user survey taken by Bentley, 90 percent said the transition from PDS is important to them. However, only 28 percent said they had enough information to make a decision on which route to take.
This paper is intended to fill that information gap. It sets out options for PDS users to continue gaining value from their PDS systems, and to take an evolutionary approach toward a transition using the components of Bentley’s DigitalPlant solution. It also provides information about future developments that will help users work out the timing of investments.
>>more
Managing PDS Documents Effectively
Failing to manage and track all the work-in-progress design files for the complete project makes the synchronization between distributed design teams virtually impossible, and can have disastrous consequences for the project. This white paper investigates the processes involved in managing PDS projects and makes recommendations for process improvements.
>>more
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© 2008 Bentley Systems, Incorporated. 685 Stockton Drive, Exton, PA USA 19341.
Bentley, the “B” Bentley logo, BE, Bentley Institute, Bentley LEARN, Bentley Map, Bentley SELECT, SELECT Server, AutoPLANT, DigitalPlant, GEOPAK, InRoads, InterPlot, MicroStation, PowerCivil, PlantSpace , ProjectWise, InterPlot, ProjectWise Navigator, ProjectWise Passport, ProjectWise StartPoint, promis●e, RAM, SELECT, STAAD, and STAAD.Pro are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated, or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.