Bentley i-model Composition Server for PDF – Getting Started

Bentley i-model Composition Server for PDF is a flexible, scalable server-based system that lets both administrators and everyday ProjectWise users create renditions (PDF, JPEG, TIFF, and CALS) from documents stored in ProjectWise (DGN, DWG, Word, Excel, PDF and raster).  iCS for PDF runs on top of ProjectWise Orchestration Framework Service and uses ProjectWise InterPlot Organizer to manage the creation of the renditions.

Administrators use the Bentley i-model Composition Server Administrator interface (inside Orchestration Framework Administrator) to create, schedule, run, monitor and review batch rendition jobs.  ProjectWise Explorer users can run on-demand rendition jobs on documents selected in the document list by selecting Create Rendition from the context menu. Upon completion of the job, the new rendition documents are stored back in ProjectWise and if selected, an email notification is sent to the user who ran the job.

A single job can process source files of more than one file type and can be configured to create renditions of more than one file type for each source file type in the input set.

Before an administrator can create an automated job or a ProjectWise user can create a rendition, rendition profiles must first be configured in ProjectWise Administrator.  A rendition profile supplies the default rendition settings that are used when creating renditions by using rendition profile components.

The settings contained in a rendition profile are divided into the following component categories:

• Source File Presentation Settings – Specifies which InterPlot settings file to use to create the renditions. InterPlot settings files can define such things as the plot area, size/scale, rotation, pen table, design script, etc. 
• Output File Formats – Specifies the file type or types that will be created from the selected source documents.
• Output File Naming Conventions – Specifies how the newly created rendition documents will be named.
• Output Destination Folders – Specifies where in ProjectWise the newly created rendition documents will be stored.

For users to be able to create renditions from ProjectWise Explorer, the administrator will first create the necessary rendition profile components and then create a rendition profile containing the rendition profile components.

For each category above you can create as many components as you want. You can also define as many rendition profiles as you want. If you have more than one component for a particular category, you can add some or all of them to your rendition profile and then designate which of those components will be the default choice for the user.

A rendition profile must have an output file format component, an output file naming convention component and an output destination folder component but the source file presentation settings are optional.

For the automated jobs you define in Bentley i-model Composition Server Administrator, rendition profile components are still used but rendition profiles are not.  Instead of applying a single rendition profile as you would in ProjectWise Explorer, you can select from all of the available rendition profile components in the datasource and add whichever ones you want to the job definition.

Source File Presentation Settings

The source file presentation settings are used to map data types to InterPlot settings files in order to control presentation settings such as color, weight, size/scale, levels and the print area.

Creating a Source File Presentation component

1 . Open ProjectWise Administrator and log in to your datasource.

2. Expand Renditions.

3. Expand Rendition Profile Components.

4. Right-click Source File Presentation Settings and select New > Presentation.

The Source File Presentation Settings dialog opens.

5. Type in a Name and Description.

6. Select the Browse button to get a settings file.  The Select Document dialog opens.

7. Select a settings file and click OK.

8. [Optional] Select the Add Symbol button to add tokens to the ProjectWise URL.

9. It is also possible to specify an alternate settings file for use with DWG files.  If this is desired, place a check by Use alternate settings file for DWG file and browse to the desired settings file.

10. Select OK to exit the Source File Presentation Settings dialog.

Output File Formats

The Output File Formats component allows you to specify the file type or types that will be created from the selected source documents.

An Output File Format component can contain one or more output file formats such as PDF, CALS, TIFF, or JPEG. Each output file format can be configured before or after they are added.

Creating a PDF Output File Format Component

1. Open ProjectWise Administrator and log in to your datasource.

2. Expand Renditions.

3. Expand Rendition Profile Components.

4. Right-click Output File Formats and select New > Format.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Type in a Name and Description.

6. Since PDF is the default format, click Edit.

7. Configure the format as required and click OK.

8. Add more formats as needed. More than one format can be added.

9. Click OK to close the Output File Formats dialog.

Output File Naming Conventions

The Output File Naming Conventions component allows you to specify how the newly created rendition documents will be named.

Output file naming is quite flexible and can accommodate many common file naming requirements by using a symbol-based naming pattern.

Creating an Output File Naming Convention Component

1. Open ProjectWise Administrator and log in to your datasource.

2. Expand Renditions.

3. Expand Rendition Profile Components.

4. Right-click Output File Naming Conventions, and select New > File Name.  The Output File Naming Conventions dialog opens.

5. Type in a Name and Description.

6. Click Add Symbol.  The Add Symbol dialog opens.

7. Select the desired symbol and click OK.  You can select more than one symbol.

8. Click OK to close the Output File Naming Conventions dialog.

Output Destination Folders

The Output Destination Folders component allows you to specify where in ProjectWise the newly created rendition documents will be stored.

Creating an Output Destination Folders Component

1. Open ProjectWise Administrator and log in to your datasource.

2. Expand Renditions.

3. Expand Rendition Profile Components.

4. Right-click Output Destination Folders and select New > Destination.
The Output Destination Folders dialog opens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Type in a Name and Description.

6. Select the Place rendition in drop-down list box and select a location.  The options will change based on your selection. You can select source file folder as seen in the above dialog.  You can select specified folder.

You can select relative folder from project.

You can select relative folder from source file.

7. Select OK to close the Output Destination Folder dialog.

Rendition Profiles

After the ProjectWise administrator has created the necessary rendition profile components, a rendition profile containing the rendition profile components may be created.

Creating a rendition profile

1. Open ProjectWise Administrator and log in to your datasource.

2. Expand Renditions.

3. Right-click Rendition Profiles and select New > Rendition Profile.  The Rendition Profile dialog opens.

4. Type in a Name and Description for the rendition profile.

5. In the Presentation tab, you can specify whether to include all components as valid selections or specify which components should be included as valid selections. 

If Include all components as valid selections is enabled, all components will be presented to the ProjectWise user.  In addition, any new rendition components added after the rendition profile was created will also be included automatically.

If Include only these components as valid selections: is enabled, you can select which of the components will be presented to the ProjectWise user.  Any new components added after the rendition profile is created will not be available to the user unless the ProjectWise administrator edits the rendition profile and specifically includes the new components.

At the bottom, you can specify which component will be used as the default and enable e-mail notifications if required.

6. The Format tab:



The File Name tab:

7. The Destination tab:

8. Select OK to close the Rendition Profile dialog.

Associating Rendition Profiles with Projects

Rendition profiles can be associated with both new and existing projects. When you create a new project, you can select the rendition profiles that you want associated with that project. When the project is created, you can bring up the properties for that project and add or remove rendition profiles and set a default rendition profile for the project.

You can also set a default rendition profile for a folder by selecting properties and clicking the Renditions Profiles tab.

Associating a rendition profile with a new project

1. In ProjectWise Explorer, start the Create Project Wizard and stop when you get to the Define the project resources dialog.

2. Select Rendition Profile for the Resource Type.
All of the rendition profiles in the datasource are displayed in the list box if the project you are creating is under the Documents folder. For projects created under an existing project (P1), only the profiles that are associated with P1 are displayed in the list box. You can remove some of the rendition profiles from the list by selecting the profile name in the list box and clicking Remove.

3. Click Next or Finish to create the project.

Associating a rendition profile with an existing project

1. In ProjectWise Explorer, right-click on a project and select Properties.

2. Select the Resources tab.

3. Select Rendition Profile from the Resource Type list box.

 

4. Select Add at the bottom of the Resources tab to add a rendition profile.

5. To set a default rendition profile, select the rendition profile from the Default Profile list and click OK.

Use the Remove button at the bottom the Resources tab to remove a rendition profile.

Associating a rendition profile with an existing folder

1. In ProjectWise Explorer, right-click on a folder and select Properties.
2. Select the Rendition Profiles tab.  Select the default profile from the Default Profile: pull-down list.  Select OK to close the folder Properties dialog.

 

Importing and Exporting Rendition Profiles

Using ProjectWise Administrator you can import and export rendition profiles and rendition profile components from one datasource to another.

This means that you do not have to recreate the same set of rendition profiles and rendition profile components for each datasoure. Instead, you can create them in one datasoure, export them to a file on disk (.aam), and then import them into another datasource.

There are several levels for exporting and importing rendition profiles and rendition profile components. The list below describes the level, the menu items for that level and a description of what happens when the menu items are selected.

• Renditions level – Import All/Export All menu items. All of the rendition profiles and rendition profile components are imported or exported.
• Rendition Profiles level – Import Rendition Profiles/Export Rendition Profiles menu items.  All of the rendition profiles and the respective rendition profile components specified in the valid selection lists for those rendition profiles will be imported or exported.
• Rendition Profile Components level – Import Rendition Profile Components/Export Rendition Profile Components menu items. All of the rendition profile components are imported or exported.
• Source File Presentation Settings level – Import Presentations/Export Presentations menu items.  All of the presentation settings are imported or exported.
• Output File Formats level – Import Formats/Export Formats menu items. All of the output file formats are imported or exported.
• Output File Naming Conventions level – Import File Names/Export File Names menu items. All of the output file naming conventions are imported or exported.
• Output Destination Folders level – Import Destinations/Export Destinations menu items. All of the output destination folders are imported or exported.

Exporting all renditions

1. From ProjectWise Administrator, right-click on Renditions and select Export All.
2. Type in the file name for the .aam file and click Save.
3. The Export All dialog will open showing the progress of the export.  Click Close to dismiss the Export dialog.

Importing all renditions

1. From ProjectWise Administrator, right-click on Renditions and select Import All.
2. Browse to the .aam file and click Open.
3. The Import All dialog will open showing the progress of the import.  Click Close to dismiss the Import dialog.

Starting an Interactive Job

Jobs submitted from ProjectWise Explorer are referred to as interactive jobs. To submit an interactive job, log in to ProjectWise Explorer and navigate to the folder containing the source documents.

 

Right click on the DGN file in the folder and select Create Renditions.  The Create Renditions dialog opens.

When you open the Create Renditions dialog, the profile components that populate the dialog are the default rendition profile components for that profile. You can only select the profile components that are configured for the specified profile.   Click Submit.  A dialog displays informing you that the rendition job was submitted.

Creating an Automated Job

In Bentley i-model Composition Server Administrator, you can create an automated job that you can start manually or you can have it scheduled to start at a specific time.

When you create and configure an automated job using Bentley i-model Composition Server Administrator, you can use the same Rendition Profile components that are available when you submit interactive jobs in ProjectWise Explorer.

1. Open Bentley i-model Composition Server Administrator.

2. The Orchestration Framework Administrator V8i (SELECTseries 4) dialog opens.



3. In the Bentley iCS for PDF Browser, right-click Job Definitions and select New.  The ProjectWise Datasource Selection dialog opens.



4. Under ProjectWise DataSource, select the correct ProjectWise Datasource and enter the appropriate ProjectWise Server Username/Password.

5. Select OK.

6. The Job Builder dialog opens.

7. To add input files, click the Add Document icon ( ).  The Select Document To Add dialog opens.

8. Select the appropriate files and click OK.

9. Select the Rendition Settings tab and make sure the Generate renditions radio button is selected.  Select the desired output format from the Rendition format profile component list box.  Select the Add presentation profile component icon ( ) and select the desired presentation settings file.  The system sets it as the default presentation profile component for you.

10. Select the Distribution Settings tab.  Select the File name profile component from the list box. Leave Distribution Targets to ProjectWise Connector.

 

11. Click the Add Distribution Definition icon ( ).  The ProjectWise Distribution Configuration dialog opens.

12. Select a Destination profile component. Click OK to close the ProjectWise Distribution Configuration dialog.

13. Click OK to close the Job Builder dialog.

14. From the Save As dialog, type in a job name and click Save.

Starting an Automated Job

In Bentley i-model Composition Server Administrator, you can manually start an automated job or you can have it scheduled to start at a specific time.

1. Right-click the job and select Monitor.  The Job Monitor dialog opens to allow you to monitor the job.

2. Right-click the job and select Start > Full.  The Confirmation Required dialog opens.

3. Select Yes to continue.  The Job Monitor - Progress tab displays the progress of the job.

The Job Monitor - Details tab displays the details about the job.

 

For more detailed information regarding configuration and setup of iCS, see the Bentley i-model Composition Server for PDF V8i (SELECTseries 4) Help.  For more information regarding rendition profiles and components, see ProjectWise Administrator V8i (SELECTseries 4) Help – Rendition Administration.