Projectwise datasources do not display in Projectwise Explorer


Product(s):ProjectWise Explorer Client
Version(s):08.11.11.574
Area: Installation
Original Author:Dana Guthrie, Bentley Technical Support Group

Problem Description

User has a client in a remote office who has installed Projectwise Explorer, but when they launch it, no datasources appear in the window.

Explanation

In order to connect to a datasource the Projectwise Network Control DNS and Datasource tabs need to be populated, Port 5800 needs to be open bi-directionally, and if the network is being restricted, the FQDN for the ProjectWise server you are connecting to needs to be allowed through any proxy \ firewall filters.

Steps to Resolve

Option 1:  Checking the ProjectWise Network Control

  1. Go to Control Panel, then double click the ProjectWise Network icon

  2. On the General Tab, solid check the “Prevent UDP”

  3. On the DNS Services tab, enter in a name for the connection, under Host Name enter in the FQDN name of the server you are trying to reach, and under port put 5800, then click add

  4. On the Datasource Listing tab, enter in a name for the connection, under Host Name enter in the FQDN name of the server you are trying to reach, and under port put 5800, then click add

  5. Click apply and okay.  Launch Projectwise Explorer to see if this process solved the problem

  6. If it fails, then double check with the Projectwise Administrator that the information you are entering is correct.

  7. Note you can also get to the ProjectWise V8i Network Control by launching Projectwise explorer, then choosing Tools \ Network Configuration Settings.

Option 2:  Check to see if port 5800 is blocked on your network using Telnet

  1. If Telnet is not installed on the client machine, go to control panel, programs and features, click the link that says “ turn windows features on or off”, a new window will pop up, turn on Telnet Client. Click okay.

  2. Telnet should be run from the command prompt on the client machine. Go to start, run, then type cmd. (you may need to run as administrator depending on how locked down the system is)

  3. Example command line:  Telnet Projectwise.Bentley.Com 5800

  4. Where Projectwise.Bentley.Com is the information that the you enter into the ProjectWise network control for the connection to your server.

  5. If it does not connect, then port 5800 is blocked somewhere on the network.

  6. Or it could be that the address (in this example:Projectwise.Bentley.Com) needs to be allowed through the firewall.

  7. Unblocking the port and or address is a Network administrators job.  Allowing access to the FQDN is also a network firewall issue. It is not a client side problem unless the client has their client firewall locked down.

  8. Running Telnet will prove to the network admin that the port and or address is blocked.

Option 3: Check the connection to Projectwise using the Windows Socket Analyzer

  1. Go to Start \ Programs \ Bentley \ Projectwise \ Tools \ User Tools \ Windows Socket Analyzer

    1. Protocol name: TCP  (Click Next)

    2. Service Name: dms (Click Next)

    3. Port number: 5800 (Click Next)

    4. Remote host: <FQDN of server you are trying to reach> 

  2. Click next and it should resolve the Ip address of the server you entered

  3. Click next again and the clients name and IP address are resolved.

  4. Click next again, and the tool sends a bit of data to the Projectwise server.

  5. If it is successful, then at the bottom of the tool you will see a message that says " Connection to remote host established and closed successfully"

  6. If it fails you will be presented with an error message with the possible cause of the problem.

Option 4:  Turn up the Projectwise Logging on the client to see where the problem might be

  1. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Bentley\ProjectWise\Bin and open pwc.log.xml with notepad

  2. Choose Edit \ Replace

  3. Under Find What type =”warn”

  4. Under Replace With type =”all”

  5. Click replace all

  6. Now choose Edit \ Find

  7. Look for the work Hook

  8. If found change the priority value from "all" back to "fatal"

    1. <category name="pwise.hook">               <priority value="all"/></category>

    2. <category name="pwise.hook">               <priority value="fatal"/></category>

  9. Save and exit the file

  10. Go to C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\Bentley\Logs and delete the pwc.log

  11. Launch Projectwise Explorer. Then open the pwc.log file in notepad

  12. Choose Edit \ Find, the look for the work ERROR and match case.

The most common problems are: