Publish i-model

Publishing an i-model from PlantWise is very simple as there are very few settings and files involved.

For information, please see:

https://www.bentley.com/en/i-models

There is one Project Setup variable that pertains to i-models:

i-model Schema file name: The schema with 3D data needed by the i-model publishing function.

It can be found in the EC Data category section of the Project Setup dialog.

The location of the i-model schema file must be in one of the folders specified by the ECSchema_Path environment variable. Since other Bentley applications may need a different folder or search order, this environment variable is set in the batch file that starts PlantWise. The default setting for this environment variable is:

%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\Bentley\Plant V8i\PlantWise\ESchemas\Plant;
%ProgramData%\Bentley\Plant V8i\PlantWise\ESchemas\Plant;
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\Bentley\Plant V8i\AXSYS Projects\ESchemas\Plant;
%ProgramData%\Bentley\Plant V8i\AXSYS Projects\ESchemas\Plant;
%ECSchema_Path%

The result is that when ECFrameWork applications search for schemas the application will look in the PlantWise folder first, followed by the AXSYS folder, followed by the user's environment variable setting.

If you need to change the location or order, you must either edit this line in the batch file that starts PlantWise (...\PlantWise V8i (SELECTseries 5)\bin\PlantWise.bat) or remove this line and set the environment variable another way.

Note: When publishing an i-model, only one Supplemental Units schema can exist in the schema folder. If both Metric and Imperials units files are in the folder, PlantWise will look at the current project settings and offer to move the wrong one schema file out of the way. If you regularly work on projects in both units, it is advisable to set up separate schema folders for either each project or one for Metric projects and another for Imperial based projects.

An i-model published by PlantWise will contain all of the elements that are in the active model when the Publish button is pressed.

The PlantWise i-model Publisher dialog, is opened by choosing the Reports > Export > Publish i-model PlantWise menu item in CAD.

i-model Publishing dialog.

The PlantWise i-model Publisher interface contains a single text field, three check boxes and 3 buttons.

Setting	Description
Output file path	The text field is where the fully qualified path of the output file is specified. By default, this will be filled in with the path to the currently open PlantWise model without an extension. Note: When the i-model is published it will be given a ".i.dgn" extension, so it is not necessary to include the extension in the Output file path text field. The ellipsis [...] button to the right of the Output file path text field allows you to browse to another folder.
Save Settings	When checked, the Save Settings checkbox will save the current view settings to the i-model.
Compress	Reduces the size of the design file by purging empty and unused data resources of the types selected in the Compress Options dialog (File > Compress > Options) and clears the application's undo buffer. Note: The Compress Option Delete Unused Levels should typically NOT be selected.
Overwrite	If the selected output file already exists and this is checked, the file will be replaced without asking permission.
Publish	When the Publish button is pressed, the PlantWise i-model Publisher dialog will disappear and the entire design file will be processed.

As the elements are processed, if an element is a PlantWise object, the Engineering Content data for the element will be obtained and added to the element when it is added to the imodel. The element being processed, and its data, will be output in the CAD Message Center. This can be useful in tracking the progress of the i-model creation and can help locate errors.

i-model CAD Message Center sample output.

For example, the error message shown below will occur if there is an error in the imodel-Equipment-Mapping table.

In this case the table had the PLANTWISE_CLASS_NAME listed as "Gate_Valve", but the User Defined Inline is saved as "Gate Valve" in the equipment library. The clue is that the targetClass is NIL. Whenever errors like this occur, the first things to check are the table entries and the spelling of those entries.

Since only currently in the design file are processed, a useful trouble shooting method is to use the CAD Delete Element command to delete all of the elements except the one that is broken before the i-model is published.

This will not only speed up the process, it will limit the number of messages displayed in the CAD Message Center.

When PlantWise is finished publishing the i-model, the PlantWise i-model Publisher dialog will be displayed again and CAD will now have the i-model as the active design file.

Note: Since the i-model is read-only you can not make any visible changes to the PlantWise model. The PlantWise edit function is still active and you can open the Equipment editor, but any changes you make will not be displayed in CAD.