Operation Configuration Variables
The following table lists the configuration variables that affect Operation. Each configuration variable expects a valid value. An invalid value will not override a setting. You do not need to close and restart in order for the configuration variable change to take effect.
| Variable | Short name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| MS_APPMEN | Application Menus | Location of application and sidebar menus. |
| MS_AUTORESTORESTATUSBAR | Auto-restore Status Bar | If set to 1, the status bar is restored to its default appearance whenever the pointer is moved within. |
| MS_AUTOUPDATETEXTITEMSSLOWER | AutoUpdate speed for Text items | Slows down the AutoUpdate timer for text items. If set to 1, and if MS_AUTOUPDATETEXTITEMSSUPPORT is set to 1, text items are automatically synchronized with their values at a slower rate. |
| MS_AUTOUPDATETEXTITEMSSUPPORT | AutoUpdate feature for Text items | Turns the AutoUpdate feature on for text items on those dialogs and tool settings that want this feature. "Text items" are text controls or text input fields on dialogs and tool settings windows. If set to 1, text items are automatically synchronized with their values without focusing out. For example, while placing a circle, in the Place Circle tool settings window, if you enter a value in the Diameter text field, the cursor displays the circle with that diameter. If you change the diameter in the text field, the size of the circle changes to the new value automatically. |
| MS_COMMONITEMDIALOG | Common Item Dialog from Microsoft | By default, the newer Common Item Dialog from Microsoft is used for most file open/save dialogs. If the older Microsoft file dialogs are preferred at all times, set this variable to 0. |
| MS_COMPRESS_OPTIONS | Compress Options Selections | Specifies file compression options. If set, the specified options override the selections in the Compress Options dialog. |
| MS_CURSORPROMPT | Cursor Prompt | If set to 1, displays a Cursor Prompt window that follows the mouse. The cursor prompt shows the message displayed in the lower left field of the Status Bar. It guides you step by step as you perform an operation with a tool. |
| MS_DEFAULT_MAINTASKPATH | Default Main Task | Overrides the default Main task. The Main task is now driven by 'Main Task' definitions in DGNLIB's. To upgrade, migrate your existing toolbox definition to a Main task, and set this configuration appropriately. |
| MS_DGNFILE_OPEN_FOR_WRITE_RETRY_LIMIT | DGN Open for Write | If set, shortens delay in opening a DGN that is already open for editing elsewhere. If not set, MicroStation tries 50 times to open the file for editing before displaying an alert for a sharing violation. You can set a value lower than 50 for quicker access to the DGN as a read only file. For example, if set to 10, MicroStation will try 10 times to open the file for editing before displaying an alert message. |
| MS_DGNFILE_OPEN_FOR_READ_RETRY_LIMIT | DGN Open for Read | If set, shortens delay in opening a DGN as read-only. If not set, MicroStation tries 20 times to open the DGN for editing before opening it as read-only. You can set a value lower than 20 for quicker access to the DGN. For example, if set to 10, MicroStation will try 10 times to open the file for editing before displaying an alert message. |
| MS_DISABLE_FILE_ICONS | Disable File Open Icons | If set, the Show File Icons check box is not shown in the File Open, New, and Open dialogs. Also, the setting is turned off thereby preventing the display of file list icons. The effect is not evident until you restart MicroStation. |
| MS_DISABLE_FILE_THUMBNAIL | Disable File Open Thumbnail | If set, thumbnail images of files are not displayed in the File Open and Open dialogs. |
| MS_FILEHISTORY | File History | If set, MicroStation saves the last four files and directories for each file type. |
| MS_FKEYMNU | Function Key Menu | Defines the file name for the default function key menu. The default name is "funckey.mnu" located in the MS_DATA directory. When you create or modify a function key menu, the default function key menu acts as a seed for modification. |
| MS_FULLPATHINTITLEBAR | Full Path in Title Bar | If set, the full file specification of the open file, including path, is displayed in the MicroStation application window title bar. |
| MS_GRAYGROUPHEADERBACKGROUND | Gray Color for Group Headers | By default, the background color of selected Group Headers is blue. "Group Headers" are headers of groups/sections in dialogs like Explorer dialog and Properties dialog. If set to 1, a gray color is used. |
| MS_GROUPPOPUPFADEKEYTIPS | Ribbon Group Popup Fade KeyTips | Not used. |
| MS_GROUPPOPUPFALLBACKWORKFLOW_2D | Fall-back Workflow for pop-up group processing. | Defines the workflow to use when the pop-up group path starts with a "*" and the active workflow does not contain the specified group and the active model is 2D. |
| MS_GROUPPOPUPFALLBACKWORKFLOW_3D | Fall-back Workflow for pop-up group processing. | Defines the workflow to use when the pop-up group path starts with a "*" and the active workflow does not contain the specified group and the active model is to be treated as 3D. |
| MS_IDLETIMEOUT | Exit MicroStation When Idle | If set, specifies the number of minutes of inactivity to wait before exiting an active session of MicroStation. (“Active session” means that a DGN file is open.) The minimum value is 30 minutes. |
| MS_IMMEDIATEUPDATE | Window Immediate Update | If set, view windows will immediately update when other windows are moved or resized over them. |
| MS_INPUT_CONFIGXML | Default Touch Gesture Configuration | Directory containing the inputconfiguration.xml file, which is used to store gesture assignments. |
| MS_KEYBOARDSHORTCUTS | User Keyboard Shortcuts | XML file containing user keyboard shortcuts. |
| MS_KEYBOARDSHORTCUTSEXPAND | Keyboard Shortcuts User Order | If set to 1, the parent nodes will be expanded when the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog is opened. A value of 0 is the default. |
| MS_KEYBOARDSHORTCUTSSEED | Default Keyboard Shortcuts | XML file containing default keyboard shortcuts. This file is used to define keyboard shortcuts if the file defined by MS_KEYBOARDSHORTCUTS is not found. |
| MS_KEYBOARDSHORTCUTSUSERORDER | Keyboard Shortcuts User Order | If set to 1 (the default), the order of the Keyboard Shortcuts in the menu will be the order set by the user. |
| MS_LEGACYTOOLMAPLIST | Path to files that contain Tool Mapping data | Defines list of Tool Map XML files that specify mapping of tools from MicroStation V8i to the current version. |
| MS_LIBRARY_SAVEDVIEW_FILTER | Saved Views Library Filter | Specifies a set of saved views to exclude from the user interface. The filter is applied only to views found in libraries. For filter syntax and string expressions, see Defining and Deleting Filters. |
| MS_MAINMENUDOCKINGBESIDE | Allow Docking Beside Main Menu | If set to 0 or not set (default), the main menu bar spans the entire width of the application window. If set to a value other than zero, toolboxes and dockable dialogs can be docked along the main menu bar. |
| MS_NO_VIEW_ANIMATION | Disable Tile/Cascade Animation | If on, the animation of view tile and cascade is disabled. |
| MS_OPENDWGAEC | Open DWG AEC files | Controls the behavior when opening DWG AEC files of an older version: |
| MS_OPENV7 | Open V7 Files | Controls MicroStation's behavior when opening V7-format design files. If set to 0, the file opens with an alert dialog that provides an option to upgrade the file to V8 DGN format (default). If set to 1, the file is upgraded to V8 DGN format and opened without displaying any alert. If set to 2, the file is opened in read-only mode. |
| MS_POPUPDIALOGCLOSEDELAY | Popup Dialog Close Delay | Specifies the time, in milliseconds, to wait before closing a pop-up dialog. The valid range is 0-120 (0-2 seconds). The default value is 30 (0.5 seconds). |
| MS_READONLY | Read Only | If set, the active DGN file is read-only. |
| MS_RIBBONCOMPONENTPROVIDERS | Ribbon Component Providers AddIn List | List of managed addins that provide their own ribbon content. For example, Baseribbon.cfg file contains an entry for Bentley.Macros.UI.dll. Adding this provides support for the "Macros" ribbon group. |
| MS_RIBBONDIR | Base Path for Ribbon Definitions | Base path where ribbon definitions are located. This path is not used directly but is typically used to define MS_RIBBONRSC, MS_RIBBONXML. |
| MS_RIBBONPREFS | Ribbon Preferences File | Specifies the name of the file containing the current state of the ribbon, such as the active workflow, active tab, and setting for ribbon search. |
| MS_RIBBONPREFSSEED | Ribbon Preferences Seed File | Specifies the seed file for the ribbon preferences file, if not defined for MS_RIBBONPREFS. The file specified by MS_RIBBONPREFSSEED is only used to create the file specified by MS_RIBBONPREFS when that file is not present. This typically only happens when the product is first loaded or when a user has used the command line option -restoredefaults. |
| MS_RIBBONRSCLIST | Ribbon Resource File List | Specifies a list of RSC files containing ribbon components definitions. |
| MS_RIBBONXML | Ribbon XML File List | Specifies a list of XML files containing ribbon components definitions. |
| MS_RIBBON_MAXBUTTONLABELCHARS | Maximum characters for a ribbon label | Specifies the maximum number of characters to display for a ribbon button label. If not set, the default value is 24. The minimum value is 20. The maximum value is 128. |
| MS_RIBBON_NUMEXPANDEDTASKGROUPS | Number of Expanded groups on Active Task tab | Specifies the number of expanded groups in a task tab. Once this limit is hit then all other tasks are placed in an Overflow group. |
| MS_SAVEMENU | Attached Menus | File containing information about attached menus. |
| MS_SOURCENAME_PROPERTY | Save the SOURCE file property | If set, the SOURCE file property can be set to the name of the source file. By default, only the name and extension of the source file are saved. Set to 0 to disable the SOURCE property. Set to FULL to save the full path of the source file. |
| MS_TOOLSETTINGSIGNORETITLEFORWIDTH | Tool Settings Ignore Title when Determining Width | Is set to 1, the title of the tool settings is ignored when determining the width of the tool settings window. |
| MS_UPDATESPLITBUTTONLABELTOSELECTED | Update Split Button Label to Selected | If set to 1, enables updating the label of a split button to match the selected child item. By default, only the image and tooltip are updated. If this option is enabled, the split button, as well as the ribbon groups, will grow and shrink based on the size of the label. |
| MS_VIEWAUTORESIZE | View Resize Behavior | If set to 1, the view windows are resized
proportionally when the main window is resized or when the dialogs are docked
or undocked.
If set to 0, the view window resizes only when the main window border encroaches the view window border. |
| MS_VIEWTOOLBOX2D | View window toolbox for 2D | Overrides for the View window toolboxes for 2D. The value can be the title of a system toolbox or user-defined toolbox. |
| MS_VIEWTOOLBOX3D | View window toolbox for 3D | Overrides for the View window toolboxes for 3D. The value can be the title of a system toolbox or user-defined toolbox. |
| MS_WORKMODE | Work Mode | Workmode activates/disables certain functions in order to produce a more compatible design at the end. Setting this variable to DWG will disable some creation tools that may result in elements that are incompatible with the DWG file format. V7 is deprecated and will open an alert, detailing that the file will open as read-only. Setting it to DGN (default) will gain full functional capacity in creating elements. You must restart MicroStation to see the effect of a changed value. |