Changing ProductIDs - Impact of double-clicking a DGN file


When you double-click on a DGN file, you open it with the full set of MicroStation Power Platform functionalities. Using these functionalities is only allowed with a sisNET license, whose license costs includes the Power Platform. Using these capabilities is not included in the license costs of sisFLOW or sisVIEW and is therefore not allowed with these products.

Note: It takes 2 minutes before a sisNET ProductID gets assigned if you double-click a DGN file. This to allow the sisNET software to make sure what application is being used (sisNET, sisVIEW, sisFLOW, …). After these 2 minutes, the assigned ProductID gets logged to the Bentley licensing server. No worries about the first 2 minutes, these don't get counted as usage.

You have the different options to set the right license usage, depending on which product you want to use when double-clicking a DGN file:

  1. For sisNET users
    If you have not set SISNET_LICENSE_PRODUCTS, usage of platform functionality will be logged by default as a sisNET Multi license. Therefore, always set the environment variable SISNET_LICENSE_PRODUCTS to one of the old sisNET product IDs. If you use sisNET with the new domain-based licensing, available since Update 5, also set SISNET_LICENSE_USE_FEATURESTRINGS. Set these variables on OS system level.

  2. For sisFLOW and sisVIEW users
    You can avoid DGN files being associated with sisNET, during the installation of sisVIEW and sisFLOW. If you do that, the DGN file will not be opened with sisVIEW or sisFLOW when double-clicking, neither will it pull a sisNET license unless a user explicitly opens a DGN file with sisNET. To configure this, keep the” File association” checkbox empty. See the screenshot below from a sisVIEW installation:

    In addition, you can associate DGN files with Bentley View, the free of charge Bentley tool for viewing DGN and DWG files. See the screenshots below:




    For more details see https://www.bentley.com/en/products/product-line/modeling-and-visualization-software/bentley-view.
  3. For the administrator: User Entitlement Settings
    The administrator can configure which Bentley applications can be used by which users. This can also be done for entire groups of users. If you don’t want your viewing users ever to start a sisNET license, then revoke this entitlement from them. More details are in the Bentley wiki on https://bentleysystems.service-now.com/community?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0018953.