How to update the project number in 1,000 sheets

By Keith Dunn and Brian Treacy of Parsons Brinckerhoff, Norfolk, Virginia

What happens when a number used in all the design files in a large project changes when
the project is almost finished? After your heartbeat returns to normal, you get creative.
First, let us explain to you a little about the job and what happened. The project name was
“Route 33 Bridge Replacement, Final Design.” We were replacing two movable bridges
and three miles of roadway through the town of West Point, Virginia. Our client was the
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and we were almost finished. The sheet
count at this point was totaling over 1,000 sheets.

Brian Treacy and Keith Dunn of Parsons Brinckerhoff, Norfolk, Virginia

Now, a PPMS number is a five-digit VDOT contract number, which corresponds to a specific portion of work on a job. As per VDOT’s
CAD standards, every directory and design file must include the PPMS number in the actual directory or file name. Route 33
started out with one PPMS number, but one day our boss came and told us that the contract has been split up into five (thus
needing five different PPMS numbers) and wanted to know how long it would take us to implement the changes.

We told him, truthfully, a few weeks, because the project configuration file, directory names, file names and reference file names
would all need to be changed. That would also mean that we would need to reattach all of the reference files after we made the
changes! Fortunately, we were able to figure out how to accomplish this daunting task in a day! The following is what we did using
Windows Explorer, DOS, Notepad, RefManager and Global File Changer.

Step 1: Fixing the Directory Structure

Using Windows Explorer, we fixed the directory structure by renaming the folders and creating new ones to reflect the new PPMS
numbers. Then we moved the appropriate files into the appropriate directories.

Step 2: Editing the Project Configuration File

Using Notepad, we opened up the project configuration file and changed all of the MS_RFDIR paths to reflect the changes to the
directory names. The MS_RFDIR variable contains the path for locating the directories containing reference files.

Step 3: Renaming the Files

Using the DOS command prompt, we navigated through the directories and changed the files names using the DOS Rename
command. Using this command we were able to replace a portion of the old file name (the old PPMS number) with the new one for
all of the files in the current directory at the same time. Here is an example: (Note: The real project PPMS numbers are not being
used.)

What the names used to be What the names need to be

D12345001.dgn D55555001.dgn
D12345002.dgn D55555002.dgn
D12345003.dgn D55555003.dgn
D12345004.dgn D55555004.dgn

We used the Rename command as follows:

The asterisk is a wildcard. In this example, it is taking the place of the sheet number and the file extension and keeping them safe
from being changed.
After the directories, workspace and file names were all updated, it was time to move on to the contents of each file. All of the
reference files were now lost because their names had to be changed and there was text in each sheet that associated it with the
old PPMS number. We needed to switch out the old reference filenames for the new filenames and we needed to do a global text
replacement to update the PPMS numbers in each file.

Step 4: Fixing the Reference Files

From the Axiom menu we selected RefManager. Instead of fixing the files individually, we used it to fix the reference file names
and paths in a batch process. First, we set the mode to “Modify Reference File Attachments” and the “Modify” dialog box appeared.

RefManager dialog box

RefManager’s “Modify” dialog box

From this dialog box you have access to modify almost all aspects of an attached
reference file, from detaching files, to turning levels on or off, to changing level
symbology, to scaling and rotating a reference file, to replacing one file with another;
even the update sequence can be modified. The only change we needed to make at this
time, however, was to update the old filenames and directories, so from here we selected
“File Name” and the “Modify Reference File Attachment File Name” dialog box appears.
“Modify Reference File Attachment File Name” dialog box

From here we selected “Case Insensitive Substitution” from the “Editing Method” drop-down. We then set “Apply to:” to “Only
Vector Reference Files” since we weren’t using any raster files. Then we turned on “Save Full Path” to catch any files that were not
attached that way. After these selections, it was time to define what would actually be changed, which was every occurrence of the
old PPMS number in each file’s directory, name and logical name. The command that does this looks for two pieces of information:
the old and new text — both separated by a vertical bar with no spaces between them.

The last part of this step consisted of determining which MicroStation files needed the
reference to be fixed. Easy, all of them! This was done by pressing <Edit List> from the
RefManager dialog box, which gave access to the “Edit File List” dialog box, upon which
we simply added all of the files that needed to be modified.
Axiom’s “Edit File List” dialog box

Step 5: Global Text Replacement

Finally it was time to change the PPMS numbers located within each drawing. Each sheet contained the number twice; once at the
top and once at the bottom. In order to change the numbers in all of our drawings, we decided to use Global File Changer from the
Axiom pull-down menu. The reason for using Global File Changer was because of its ability to modify all of the drawings in a batch
process.

Top and bottom screenshots of drawings

From the Global File Changer dialog box, we selected <Edit List>. This is where you
select all the drawings that contain the old PPMS numbers that you want to modify. It is
the exact same dialog box as the “Edit File List” shown in step 4. Once the files were
selected, we needed to be able to select all of the old PPMS numbers in each file and
change them to the correct number. We selected “Modify text” from the Custom pull-
down menu.
Select “Modify text” from Global File Changer’s “Custom” drop-down menu.

From the Modify Text dialog box we had the opportunity to change every aspect of the text, such as scale, rotation and symbology.
But we didn’t need to change any of these attributes, only the contents of the text itself. So, we selected “Text replacement
parameters” from the “Parameters” pull-down menu. This opens the “Replacement Strings” dialog box.

To do the search and replace, we typed the old number in the “Search string” field and the new number in the “Replacement
string” field. We left “String Format” drop-down set to “Wildcard” and pressed <Add> to generate the replacement list.

Finally, after the search and replacement strings were defined and stored in a list, it was time to run Global File Changer by
ing <OK> from the Replacement Strings dialog box and then pressing the <Start>
select

button from the Global File Changer dialog box.

Select “Set text replacement parameters” from

the “Parameters” drop-down menu in the
“Modify Text” dialog box.

“Replacement Strings” dialog box

Conclusion
After everything was complete, to say the least we were a bit amazed. We had just renamed our entire directory structure, all of
our drawing filenames and reference filenames, fixed all of the text in the drawings and fixed all of the reference file attachments
(which should have been the most time-consuming task). Without Global File Changer and RefManager these reference file tasks
would have taken hundreds of monotonous man-hours. With them, it took less than a day!