Issue #1 - January 2008
This is the inaugural newsletter for this new domain project of mine, and it's basically the culmination of a long period of thinking to myself that I really would like to write something that can hopefully
- pass on the answers to questions that I hear a lot
- keep everyone informed of new stuff coming down the pipe
- post code snippets that could be useful
- identify MicroStation tips & tricks that maybe aren't documented so well...
- identify MicroStation shortcomings that maybe aren't documented so well... (forgive me, Bentley)
- share some of my thoughts on personal leadership and self-development
If you have questions that you need answered, MicroStation things that just don't seem to work the way they're supposed to, or whatever, head to our Discussion Board page and post them there. If I run across any really good ones, you can expect to see them here in the next newsletter. If I don't get some good ones, you'll be seeing pictures of my family vacations and hearing about my day... and for heaven's sake, you don't want that!!
I'll be posting newsletters every roughly when I feel like it, so stay tuned. Don't expect more than one per month, though. Let's get on with it!
-- Shawn Rose
BE Conference 2008
The annual Bentley Empowered conference is coming up from May 28-30, 2008 in Baltimore, Maryland. This is the only one
happening this year (none in Europe) so it's being referred to as a 'global conference'. I've been to two of these, including
last year's in Los Angeles, and there's definitely lots of opportunities to get a good look at what's coming in future, what's
been accomplished by other users, and to get direct access to many of the researchers and developers behind MicroStation and
its vertical applications.
Go to http://www.be.org/en-US/BE+Conference/ for the complete information.
Tips & Tricks
A good way to set up your multi-user workspaces is to place them on a central server, and then put the following line into
your <Bentley_install_dir>Workspace\Standards\standards.cfg file:
"%include <server_path>*.cfg".
This will tell MicroStation, as it's loading, to divert to that path and load any .cfg files that are there. These configuration
files can then override many of the primary configuration variables that refer to workspace settings, like:
- _USTN_WORKSPACEROOT
- _USTN_HOMEROOT
- _USTN_HOMEPREFS
- _USTN_USER
- or any others that you want to override
Are you Keeping Up?
Which version of MicroStation are you using?
In my experience, most large commercial/government-agency operations are either using MicroStation SE (yes, there are a few),
or MicroStation V8/2004 Edition in V7 mode. Some few are actually working full-blown in V8. I don't know any as of yet that are
actually using XM, or even doing feasibility testing on it yet...
MicroStation 'Athens' was discussed at last year's BE and is in beta-test phase right now. It's getting difficult to keep up
with the changes. In my next newsletter, I'll discuss some of the major differences between the versions.
Thoughts on Leadership
I know, you're thinking "what the heck is this about?". Well, I happen to be a student of leadership and human dynamics, and if
there's something that makes the biggest difference in the workplace, these are it. It doesn't matter how good you are at what you do,
if you can become good at leadership and dealing with people, you become a rare commodity indeed.
I've been recently re-reading an excellent book by Patrick Lencioni called 'The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable',
as well as its accompanying workbook. The book is written as a 'corporate fable', meaning that it follows the efforts of a fictional CEO
in a fictional tech company and her efforts to correct some fundamental issues within the management team. The story is not a Pollyanna feel-good story,
it doesn't necessarily end up with the same team as it started with, but it is realistic and it demonstrates how a company (ie. team) can change
core habits and develop a code of conduct that will allow them to function at a much higher level. I've found that this book is suitable for teams of people that operate in corporations,
churches, and volunteer organizations... the challenges are pretty much the same when you're dealing with human beings.
I highly recommend this book to anyone that is trying to lead or work with a team of people (which is probably all of us). (ISBN 0787960756)
I'll be setting up a discussion forum on the topic of leadership and human relations, so please feel free to get involved.