How to create App Data Folder Deployment in Open Utilities Substation Connect


 Product(s):OpenUtilities CONNECT
 Version(s):Through 10.07.XX.XX
 Environment:N/A
 Area:Installation_Configuration
 Subarea:N/A

Background

Substation will support having predefined templates for the AppData\Roaming profile stored in a local Program Data folder.

On startup, Substation will search for predefined templates in the Program Data folder and copy them to the AppData\Roaming folder following certain rules described in this document. From that point, Substation will operate normally, either using the files in AppData\Roaming or creating new files if any are missing.

Steps to Accomplish

  1. Configure / Setup the desired dialogs. I.E. Parts Database Manager, Insert Symbol By Device ID, By Part Number, etc. You can drag/drop the fields to change field order and use Column Chooser to add/remove fields. These types of changes are stored the active user’s AppData Roaming folder.

  2. On same machine; using same windows login, open the active user’s Appdata folder using Windows File Explorer.

  3. Open another Windows File Explorer session. Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Bentley\OpenUtilities Substation CONNECT Edition\Configuration\Datasets folder. Create a New “Templates” folder if it does not exist.

  4. Open the Templates folder.
  5. Create New Folder called “AppdataRoaming”
  6. Open AppdataRoaming folder
  7. Copy following from C:\Users\Bentley\AppData\Roaming\Bentley\Substation: Layout folder, dialogs.config, and grids.config to Templates\AppdataRoaming folder.

  8. Create a new XML file called “Appdata.xml” in Templates\AppdataRoaming folder.



  9. Open the Appdata.xml file using notepad.


  10. Add the below 2 lines to Appdata.xml and save changes.

            <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

            <AppData ProductName="Substation" Version="1" Options="" />

               Example Result:

                

    

            11.  If desired, you can set/change the Options value.

         Comma separated list of options that will be applied to the copy operation. Only the values from the Template folder are used (values present in the file in the AppData folder are ignored.) Possible values             are listed here. These values can be combined to achieve various effects. If no options are specified, then files will be copied based on a comparison of Version.

 Ignore Version: Ignore the version comparison. Must be used in conjunction with Timestamp or Overwrite, otherwise no action will be taken.
Timestamp: Compare files based on the modified time. If the modified time of the template file is later than the modified time of the AppData file, then the AppData file will be overwritten by the template     file.
 Force: Every time the software starts, the Template files will be copied to and overwrite the AppData files.
 NoOverwrite: Existing AppData files will not be overwritten.

   12. If no options are set, software will copy files from Templates\AppdataRoaming folder when the version value in Templates\AppdataRoaming \Appdata.xml is greater than the version value in user’s Appdata           Roaming folder.


                  Note: Software will automatically copy Appdata.xml to user’s roaming folder. This is how the software knows what the version value is for the user.

            13. Deployment to additional machines: Copy C:\ProgramData\Bentley\OpenUtilities Substation CONNECT Edition\Configuration\Datasets\Substation\Templates\AppDataRoaming folder to each use's    machine.

 Original Author:Avanti Khandalkar