The Topobase Insiders

The Topobase Links Compendium

You are searching for Topobase related information? Of course you are already on the right website: The Topobase Insiders. But there are plenty of other websites and resources available.

Here are the links:

• Knowledge Base
• Online Help
• Documentation
• Updates and Service Packs
• Discussion Groups
• White Papers
• Subscription Support
• Marketplace
• User Group Switzerland
• User Group Germany

To make it easier to keep all your information in one place – add the Topobase Insiders blog (and other websites) to Outlook – then you’ll always be up to date. Or if you already use another RSS service, add us at http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheTopobaseInsiders

How to add an RSS Feed through the Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Account Settings dialog box:

1.    Copy this URL to the clipboard http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheTopobaseInsiders.
2.    On the Tools menu, click Account Settings.
3.    On the RSS Feeds tab, click New.
4.    In the New RSS Feed dialog box, paste the URL.
5.    Click Add.
6.    On the RSS Feed Options dialog click OK.

Topobase User Group in Switzerland

Yesterday I had a chance to attend the Topobase User Group event in Bern, Switzerland. More than 100 customers participated at the event in the Stade de Suisse:

 

...and no, we didn't play soccer against our customers and partners :-)

We had one customer who showed his Topobase 2010 implementation (pssst! over Citrix), we had partners (CADPartner, MuM, Geobox and Intercad) presenting their solutions and we had Autodesk employees showing the new features of Topobase 2010. I personally liked all the presentations and I thought it was a great event with lots of information shared.

Thanks everybody for making that happen! 

Here are some pictures:

 
Matthias Liechti in action

 

 
Live demo of Topobase 2010 Electric CE

 

 

The Geospatial Navigator

There is a new geospatial blog in the web! Some weeks ago two of our colleagues at Autodesk, Matthias Liechti and Markus Briglmeir started their own odyssey with their new (german) blog The Geospatial Navigator.

We wish all the best and a long future! Please do me a favour and visit them right now.

 
From left to right: Derrick, Matthias, Markus, Andreas
 

Topobase in the News - Helping Utilities

An interesting article showed up on the October cover of Utility Products magazine highlighting how computers and software enable progress for utilities. Topobase, as well as Autodesk Utility Design and AutoCAD Map 3D are highlighted in the article.

The article examines the role computers and software play in the progression of utilities through their incorporation into daily work. The article also highlights how Autodesk solutions are driving progress in new infrastructure design, aging assets management and improvements for grid modernization.

Key Quotes:

·         Ask anybody who is trying to design new infrastructure, manage aging network assets, or plan improvements for grid modernization and the great challenge in many communities is to know what is already in place. Without that information, progress is difficult. Utilities need to minimize backlogs quickly and easily, and they need access to a unified view of infrastructure data. Help from Autodesk to achieve these goals has been praised frequently.

·         They (Utilities) are using Autodesk software tools to create and maintain maps, network layouts, and facility information. With such accurate information the workers of tomorrow will have far fewer difficulties than they have seen in recent decades. The software gets the work done more quickly and reduces errors.

·         The design qualities that may have been inferior in the past can now be first rate. Using this software, utilities have reported reduced project backlogs, with some work being accomplished 10 to 15 times faster!

·         With Autodesk (one of the most popular quiet helpers with 9 million professionals using it in 180+ countries) utilities are bridging the gap between CAD and GIS to improve design efficiency and extend the accuracy, precision, and value of infrastructure information in order to design and manage networks more efficiently than ever before.

MailTo Button

Here's an easy way to facilitate sending an email from a Topobase form that contains some of the current record attribute values .

Just create a script button that forms a mailto: URL and let the default handling of the operating system take over. This can be accomplished with script similar to the following:

Public Overrides Sub Button_Click()

   dim mail as string
   dim subject as string
   dim body as string
   dim circuit_cfg as string
   dim start_date as string
   dim url as string

   mail = "Fictitious Person <fictitious.person@gmail.com>"
   subject = "Circuit Status"
   if (me.BoolValue ("IS_CIRCUIT_CONFIGURED")) then
      circuit_cfg = "not configured"
   else
      circuit_cfg = "configured"
   end if
   if (me.IsNull ("DATE_STARTUP")) then
      start_date = " today"
   else
      start_date = " on " & me.StrValue ("DATE_STARTUP")
   end if
   body = "The circuit is " & circuit_cfg & start_date & "."
  
   subject = System.Uri.EscapeUriString(subject)
   body = System.Uri.EscapeUriString(body)

   url = "mailto:" & mail & "?subject=" & subject & "&body=" & body 
   me.Application.OpenUrl(url)

End Sub

The mailto: protocol is described in RFC 2368 and on MSDN.

Basically the code forms a single line URL by concatenating various values from the current record of the form. The one trick is to escape the strings to form a valid mailto: URL. Then the URL is passed to the operating system via OpenUrl() which (if there is a mail client configured) will prepare an email for sending. The user need only press the Send button.

Logging Events

Two years ago I wrote about the event log of Topobase. We introduced this new feature with Topobase 2008. For every Topobase crash which happens we add an entry in the log file: /log/ApplicationLog.xml. You find further details in the original blog post.

But the log is not only for crashes, we can also use it to log warnings, information messages or debug information. If you need to trace down a problem on customer side the answer could be in this file.

I'll try to explain how you can also log your events into the log file. Because like every other built-in Topobase functionality you can also access this one from your own plug-in!

First of all you have to add the log4net.dll as a reference to the solution. You find this assembly in the bin directory of the Topobase Client or Administrator. After you have done that you can get the log instance from the LogManager:

  using log4net;

  ILog log = LogManager.GetLogger(GetType());

The log instance now provides different logging methods. You can either log fatal events, errors, warnings, information events or debug events. Here is an example how to log an information message (with the formatting option applied):

  log.InfoFormat("Date of today is: {0}", DateTime.Now);

That's it!

You should be aware that the user defines what should be logged and what not. Depending on the log level this message will now be written into the log file. In this case (an INFO event) the user has to set the log level as high as either ALL, DEBUG or INFO. If the log level is set to ERROR for instance, this message is not written to the log file. That's why you can (and should because of performance) check if the event will be written at all:

  if (log.IsInfoEnabled)
  { 
    log.InfoFormat("Date of today is: {0}", DateTime.Now);
  }

If you need more information about the log4net API you find it in the log4net SDK reference: http://logging.apache.org/log4net/release/sdk/index.html