About the Configuration Assistant

The Configuration Assistant, a companion product for Bentley OpenUtilities Designer (SELECTseries 1), allows administrators to configure the feature types (i.e., objects) used with Bentley OpenUtilities Designer. The way a feature type is configured determines its behavior, such as how it is displayed to end users, which placement rules govern it, how it relates to other feature types, and other characteristics.

Using the Configuration Assistant, administrators can create new feature types, rename feature types, change the definitions of feature types, remove child feature types from parent feature types, and other configuration tasks that normally require direct manipulation of the database. Configuration involves the mapping of tables and table columns to allow Bentley OpenUtilities Designer to interpret each utility's data model and store information about the data in Bentley OpenUtilities Designer's Oracle database.

System Requirements

The system requirements for the Configuration Assistant are the same as those for Bentley OpenUtilities Designer, which was developed for Intel-based systems running Windows NT or Windows 2000 and utilizing an Oracle 8i database.

Installation

Since the Configuration Assistant relies on Bentley OpenUtilities Designer's user settings, it is recommended that Bentley OpenUtilities Designer be installed and configured first.

Security

To start the Configuration Assistant, you must belong to a group that has been assigned the Use Configuration Tools capability. This capability is assigned in Bentley OpenUtilities Designer with the User Manager.

When you start the Configuration Assistant, the application will check to see whether you are logged into the database-either with the Single Database User Account method or OS Authentication. If the authentication fails, an error message will be displayed. If a valid user is detected, the application then verifies that you have the capability to run the Configuration Assistant. If not, an error message will be displayed.

The Main Screen

Double-clicking the Configuration Assistant icon on the desktop opens the application and displays the main screen. The main screen consists of the following elements:

Menu Name	Description
File menu	Save - saves changes. When you launch the application, a transaction is started on the connection. The Save function calls the function that is used to update the database at various points during the use of the application. The Save command then commits the transaction and starts a new one. Exit - closes the application. If you have made unsaved changes prior to clicking the Exit command, you will be prompted to save your changes. You can choose to save the changes or discard them before the application window closes.
Edit Menu	Domain Editor - opens the Domain Editor dialog box. State Editor - opens the State Editor. Rule Message Editor-opens the Ruleset Violation Message Editor. Configuration Setting Editor - opens the Configuration Setting Editor.
Help Menu	About - opens the About Bentley OpenUtilities Designer Configuration Assistant dialog box, which displays version information. Clicking the OK button closes the dialog box. Clicking the System Info button opens a system-generated window that displays detailed system information.

Feature Type Tree

The Feature Type Tree displays all the feature types in the Bentley OpenUtilities Designer database. The selected feature type is highlighted, and its properties are displayed on the property pages to the right of the tree pane.

Compound feature types, which are made up of other feature types, are displayed with nodes that can be expanded and collapsed. To manipulate parent-child relationships, feature types can be moved using a drag-and-drop operation (see Changing Parent-Child Relationships). A right-click during the drag phase opens a shortcut menu with Move, Copy, and Cancel commands.

Color Codes

The names of feature types are color-coded as follows:

Black—regular mapped feature
Blue—Design Only feature

Loading Rules

Feature types are loaded into the tree view using two SQL queries. The first query loads all feature types except children feature types. As feature types are loaded, a second query finds any child feature types and loads them into the tree under the nodes of their parent feature type. Thus, child feature types are not listed at the top level of the tree. Furthermore, any child feature type with more than one parent feature type will be displayed more than once. This tree structure has two implications: (1) to edit a child feature type, you must access it from the parent feature type; (2) any changes to a child feature type will affect any other parent feature types that make use of this child feature type.

Property Pages

The tabs on the main screen provide access the property pages, which display properties of the feature type selected in the Feature Type Tree list. On each property page, required fields are indicated with bold type. The following property pages are used to configure feature types:

Properties (see Properties of Feature Types)
Attributes (see Feature Type Attributes)
Geometries (see Feature Type Geometry)
State Transitions (see States and State Transitions)
Business Rules (see Business Rules)