Menus

Menus are context-sensitive, so that menu options vary according to what user actions have influenced the main workspace. This section describes typical menus only.

Related concepts
Action Bar

File Menu (Alt-F)

The File menu allows you to add new data objects, revert to recently-used objects, save and delete files, and change your password. It also provides one method to exit from the application.

The File > New menu item provides a list of object types that can be selected to add new objects into AssetWise either using a generic form or a specific object class From Template.

The File > Recent menu item likewise offers recall of objects used during the current session.

Edit Menu (Alt-E)

The Edit menu, when appropriate, provides the standard editing options for cut, copy and paste. If a form is displayed in the Content pane, Edit > Clear can be used to blank it.

View Menu (Alt-V)

The View menu opens desktop panes / tabs that may have been closed during a user session. Search (<F3>), Explore (<F6>), System Administration (<F8>), only for users with administration rights), Basket (<F9>), and Publisher (<F10>) options open into the Navigation pane. Results (<F4>), opens the results list in the Content pane. File Transfers (<F7>) pops up a separate window giving information about progress of transfers. The Refresh (<F5>) function is also available from this menu.

Tools Menu (Alt-T)

The Tools menu allows site-specific configuration for adding menu items that call external programs or process specific applications unique to your AssetWise implementation, as well as allowing user-specific choices for display options and customized application layouts.

Customize Layout Dialog

The Customize Layout dialog (Tools > Customize Layout) is used to set user preferences that control the appearance of AssetWise Director.

Note: To customize the layout, you must have the User Information > User Preferences permission.

Layout Tab

This tab lets you define which tab is displayed when AssetWise Director opens, whether or not topics in the Content pane fully expand when opened, and if the standard object banner header should be replaced with the object's class name.

Filters Tab

This tab lets you define the extent of information to be shown in the Explore pane (such as files, object codes, documents and items in virtual item structures), which physical item structure to graphically display, and object Status Filtering (Historic or Latest Approved).

Colors Tab

This tab lets you define the theme color, and which background color to use for various fields, grids, rows, and borders. For example, you might want to change the Mandatory Fields Background color to make it more obvious which fields are required.

To change a color for a particular item, select an option in the list and click the Change button, then select the color to apply from one of the tabs: Palette, Web, or System.

Note: The Restore Defaults button restores all changed values on this tab to the default settings.

Local Path Tab

Settings that affect the general appearance of AssetWise Director are stored in a local file called eB.Application.Director.xml. The default location of this file is:

C:\Users\<user.name>\AppData\Local\Bentley\eB\eB.Application.Director.xml

For example, changes you make on the Layout, Filters, and Colors tabs of the Customize Layout dialog are stored in this file.

If you turn off Use the default Local Application Path, you can specify another folder in which to store the custom settings.

Note: The purpose of this tab is to control the location of the eB.Application.Director.xml file, however it is a known issue that AssetWise Director currently only respects the default location. If you turn off the Use the default Local Application Path setting and specify another location in the New Local Application Path field, a new eB.Application.Director.xml file will be created in that location, however the change is not saved and AssetWise Director will continue saving customization changes to the eB.Application.Director.xml file in the default location.

Options Dialog

The Options dialog (Tools > Options) is used to change default login settings and set other user options.

Login Tab

The settings you specify on the Logon dialog automatically become your default login settings. This tab lets you change your default login settings. Once you change your settings on the Login tab, they will be applied the next time you open AssetWise Director.

Setting	Description
Application Server	By default, this field displays the name of the server hosting the community you are logged in to. Change the server name here if you want to preset the server that you want to log in to the next time you open AssetWise Director.
Data Source	By default, this list displays the name of the community you are logged in to. Clicking this list displays all the communities available on the server specified in the Application Server field. Change the community here if you want to preset the community that you want to log in to the next time you open AssetWise Director.
User Name	If you logged in with anAssetWise account, this field displays the name of that AssetWise user account. Change the user name here if you want to preset the name of the AssetWise user you want to log in as the next time you open AssetWise Director. If you logged in with a Windows or Bentley account, this field will be blank and also disabled from editing. Changing the Authentication type to eB Authentication or eB Authentication (Over Web) will enable this field for editing.
Password	If you logged in with an AssetWise account and also turned on the Remember my User Name and Password option, this field shows a mask in place of the real password AssetWise Director. If you logged in with anAssetWise account but did not turn on the Remember my User Name and Password option, this field will be blank. If you logged in with a Windows or Bentley account, this field will be blank and also disabled from editing. Changing the Authentication type to eB Authentication or eB Authentication (Over Web) will enable this field for editing.
Authentication	By default, the authentication method you used to log in is selected here. Change the authentication method here if you want to preset which type of authentication you want to use to log in with the next time you open AssetWise Director: eB Authentication - used to log in to the selected community using a specific AssetWise user name and password eB Authentication (Over Web) - used to log in to the selected community with a specific AssetWise user name and password, after first signing on with your Bentley Cloud Services credentials. Windows Authentication - used to log in to the selected community using your Windows credentials. Bentley Sign-On - used to log in to the selected community using your Bentley Cloud Services credentials.
Remember my Password	This setting is on by default if you logged in with an AssetWise account and also turned on the Remember my User Name and Password option. If this setting was off, then turning it on and selecting an authentication type (and entering a User Name and Password if one of the eB authentication types was selected) effectively enables automatic log in with the selected authentication type, so that the Logon dialog will be bypassed and you will be automatically logged in with the appropriate credentials the next time you open AssetWise Director.

Note: If you are currently being automatically logged in when you open AssetWise Director and you want to return to being prompted for login credentials, then turn off the Remember my Password option. When it is off, then automatic login is disabled and the Logon dialog will open again the next time you open AssetWise Director.

Files Tab

Note: To edit this tab, you must have the User Information > User Preferences permission.

This tab provides you with choices such as the user’s default directory when checking out electronic source files from AssetWise to an external work area.

Paging Tab

Note: To edit this tab, you must have the User Information > User Preferences permission.

This tab sets the maximum number of rows returned in the Results list (200 rows) and the maximum number of rows returned for the Tree Page size (20 rows). There is currently no size limit on this functionality.

Publish Tab

Note: The setting on this tab does not work and should not be used. Currently, the Publishing Service always uses the publishing path specified in AssetWise System Management Console.

Help Tab

Note: To edit this tab, you must have the System Information > eB System Settings permission.

This tab lets you enter the path to a custom help file of your choosing. Once this is configured, selecting Help > Custom Help opens the specified help file. The custom help file can be one of several file formats such as PDF, DOCX, CHM, or HTM as long as an application is associated with the specified file.

Start Page Tab

This tab allows you to show or not show the generic start page when AssetWise Director opens. You can also specify a custom start page URL (for example, http://www.bentley.com).

To specify a custom start page, turn off Use Default, and then enter the custom start page URL.

Distribution Tab

This tab lets you specify an organization code for automatic distribution. You can either enter the organization code in the Organization field, or drag the organization from the search results into the Organization field.

Viewer Settings Dialog

The Viewer Settings dialog (Tools > Viewer Settings) contains settings that let you customize the applications that are used to view files in AssetWise Director. If other applications need to be launched for specific file types, these can be defined here.

Note: To make changes to these viewer settings, you must have the User Information > User Preferences permission.

General Tab

This tab controls how the other two tabs (Browser types and Launch types) are used. Changing settings on this tab can disable one or both of the other tabs.

Setting	Description
Use Brava! Viewer	Used to enable or disable the use of Brava! viewer (on is enabled, off is disabled). This option will be disabled and grayed out if you did not install the Integrated Brava! Viewer Support option when you installed AssetWise Director.
Use external launched processes	If on, the Launch types tab is enabled, and file types listed on that tab will be launched using external processes (for example, Microsoft Word) when a view request is made. If off, the Launch types tab is disabled and no documents will use external launched processes when viewed.
Use embedded Internet Explorer	If on, the Browser types tab is enabled, and file types listed on that tab will be viewed in an embedded browser window when a view request is made. If this is the only check box turned on, the Launch types tab is disabled and no documents will use external launched processes when viewed.

Browser Types Tab

This tab specifies which file types should be viewed in an embedded browser.

To add a file type to the list, type the file type's extension (for example, .doc) in the text field and click Add.

To remove an extension from the list, select the extension and click Remove.

Note: This tab is disabled if the Use embedded Internet Explorer option is off on the General tab.

Launch Types Tab

This tab specifies which file types should be launched in an external process. Adding and removing items on this tab works just like the Browser types tab.

Note: This tab is disabled if the Use external launched processes option is off on the General tab.

Window Menu (`<Alt+W>`)

The Window menu lets you arrange the open content panes, and contains a list of all open content panes with a checkmark indicating which pane is currently active. Options are:

Setting	Description
Tabbed MDI	MDI stands for multiple document interface. This option is on by default. When on, content panes are shown as tabs. When off, content panes are cascaded.
Close All Forms	Closes the Start page and any AssetWise objects that are open in this form. Selecting View > Start Page or double-clicking an object in the Results pane will reopen the form.
Reset Window Layout	This option is provided because the extreme flexibility of the interface makes it possible for a long session to end up in a situation from which it is not obvious how to recover.

Help Menu

The Help menu has the following items:

Contents (<F1>) - Opens the delivered help, which contains both user and administrator documentation for using AssetWise Director.
Custom Help (<Ctrl+F1>) - This option is used to open your own custom help file. To use this option, you must first specify the location of a local, custom help file using the Help tab of the Options dialog (Tools > Options).
About - Opens a dialog with product version information.