"I was impressed but not surprised that this after-hours event was filled beyond capacity," said Chouinard. "Based on the remarkable response from attendees, it reinforces that we are doing what our users want."

Bentley co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Keith Bentley had whetted the appetite of Bentley software users in his earlier keynote address when he said the company was committed to making MicroStation V8 "the best application platform anywhere." A key element in the upgrade will be the first-ever-significant change to the DGN file format used to store data in MicroStation.

MicroStation V8 users will use this 'wide DGN' format for new work but will be able to read in DGN files from any previous version of MicroStation as necessary. For sharing data with users of previous versions of MicroStation, V8 will offer 'Save As' functionality to other DGN formats. The new file format, along with other structural changes, will allow MicroStation V8 to read/write DWG files as a supported internal file format.

There was a big round of applause when it was announced that the public testing period for MicroStation V8 -known as the product development beta cycle - will last for six months. "This will be the largest beta in MicroStation's history," Chouinard said.

Any MicroStation user who is also a Bentley SELECT subscriber is eligible to participate in the testing process. Test software will be distributed online from the Bentley SELECT Web site and available for delivery on CD-ROM using Bentley's MySELECT CD option. EDP members and Bentley Integrators and resellers will also be eligible for the beta.

Discussing the potential impacts of the new version on users, Chouinard said that product relicensing will not be required for MicroStation V8, that workspace and directory structures remain the same and that all existing font and linestyle resources will be compatible with V8. MDL applications will need to be re-compiled for use in V8, as will programs written in MicroStation BASIC and JMDL. Some user commands will need to be converted into MicroStation BASIC or MDL applications.

PFT

(012) 664 3771

pieter@pft.co.za

Bentley Africa

(011) 482 3262

www.bentley.com