MicroStation® Automation Server

LA Solutions

This article discusses how to adjust the Windows registry to start a particular application as an Automation server. For example, suppose you have installed Bentley Systems' MicroStation V8™ and and later installed Bentley Redline™: you find that Redline has taken the role of the MicroStationDGN.Application Automation server.

  1. Start the Windows registry editor
  2. Search for MicroStation DGN File
  3. You will find the default open command for Windows Explorer
  4. Just after this are the COM entries for MicroStation.Application and MicroStation.Application1 (MicroStation.Application1 is the current version)
  5. These reference a registry key {142fbcb0-7f2e-11ce-b7dc-02608cdc24fa}
  6. Search for this key
  7. The LocalServer sub-key points to the application that Windows Automation invokes to open a MicroStation DGN File
    1. In your case, the recent installation of Redline has copied the location of the Redline EXE here, because it was the most recently-installed Bentley product that supplies a MicroStationDGN.Application Automation server
    2. You can change this key to whatever you want, in your case the MicroStation executable. However, you then have to figure out how to switch back to Redline
  8. You can export the registry setting to a .reg textfile
    1. With the {142fbcb0-7f2e-11ce-b7dc-02608cdc24fa} key selected, choose menu Register|Export Registry File. This creates a short .reg file with the key and its sub-key values
    2. Copy this file and edit the copy. Substitute the executable path with the one you want
    3. Now use the menu Register|Import Registry File with your new .reg file. It changes the Automation server from Redline to MicroStation. Now do the same using the first .reg file to change back
    4. Write a couple of batch files. These will invoke the .reg scripts to set the appropriate Automation server for DGN files. The batch files will look something like this …
      rem Redline.bat sets Redline as an automation server
      rem
      rem Automation server
      regedit.exe /s Redline.reg
      rem

      rem MicroStation.bat sets MicroStation as an automation server
      rem
      rem Automation server
      regedit.exe /s MicroStation.reg
      rem
  9. Now create a new Windows user account for Redline
    1. Edit the account settings to run your Redline.bat file at logon time
    2. Edit your MicroStation user account to run the MicroStation.bat file at logon time
  10. Document all this so you know what's going on in a year's time when it stops working

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Home		 Updated on 20-Apr-2005 Copyright © 2005…2025 Jon Summers