Simplebim.Engine (version 9)

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This documentation is for Simplebim.Engine version 9.1 SR1

Simplebim.Engine is a component that can be used on a server without a user interface for processing IFC models. With Simplebim.Engine you can run the same automation scripts as with the Simplebim desktop version. This means that you develop and test your automation in a desktop environment and then deploy it on a server.

The price for Simplebim.Engine is determined case-by-case based on the functionality that is needed (import/export IFC, export to Excel, apply templates, run built-in and custom tools...), the type of usage (internal, commercial service...) and the volume of usage. Please contact us at sales@simplebim.com if you want to discuss your specific case with us.

Installation

Simplebim.Engine does not require any registration, which means that it can be run from anywhere on your server. For installing simply unzip the server files to any directory maintaining the directory structure of the zip package.

The installation package contains all the necessary Microsoft C++ Redistributable files. However, severs may have policies that don't allow using such locally installed versions and instead require the C++ Redistributables to be installed using the Microsoft installer. If you get an exception saying that IfcEngine.dll could not be loaded, please download and install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x64) and try again.

License File

For running Simplebim.Engine you need an valid license that is stored in a .lic file and delivered to you by Datacubist. Copy this .lic file to the same directory with the Simplebim.Engine exe or specify the license file parameter when you start Simplebim.Engine. The license contains the following information:

Address of the Simplebim.Engine License Counter service.
License key for the Simplebim.Engine License counter service.
Expiry date.
- Licenses are always time limited. Please make sure well in advance that you have a new license before the current license expires.
Template use permissions
- The use of automation templates can be allowed, limited or prevented
Validation use permissions
White list of assemblies (DLLs) that are loaded by Simplebim.Server from the Modules sub-folder. Any assemblies not on this list will not be loaded.
White list of modules (classes implementing the ITemplateModule interface) that can be loaded from the loaded assemblies. Any modules not in this list will not be loaded.

License Validation

When Simplebim.Engine starts it contacts a Datacubist license server. If your license is limited to a certain number of concurrent operations the license server will register your operation and un-register it once it completes. If your operation fails the license server will automatically un-register your operation after a timeout period expires.

Your operations are logged and you can get a report of your usage of Simplebim.Engine. The log contains the following information.

Start time
Duration
Result; success/failure and if the operation was automatically un-registered after the timeout.
Application and version
Name of script file
Number of models processed
Any additional information you wish as Key-Value pairs. You could for example log the projects that are using your license

You can request the log for a defined time period as a standard format CSV file that you can analyze in e.g. Excel.

Extensions

You can extend Simplebim.Engine by creating your own modules (DLLs) and copying them to the Modules sub-folder of the Simplebim.Engine installation folder. Your own DLLs must have at least one class that implements the ITemplateModule interface, which is the interface for Tools. You can then run your own tool from the script just like you would run any of our built-in tools.

For configuring your own tool the tool class needs to implement the IWithModuleConfiguration interface. When this interface is implemented your tool will get the key-value-pair configuration that is defined in the script for that tool.

The names of the DLLs containing your tool classes and the fully qualified name of each tool class must both be included in the white lists of your license. This means that any extensions you create must be approved by Datacubist to make sure they comply with the license agreement, because the price of your license depends on the functionality it allows. The license agreement may for example allow you to import IFC models and write data into your own back end system.

Usage

You run the server component by running the Simplebim.Engine executable and passing it the necessary parameters. The executable file is Simplebim9.Engine.exe

Simplebim9.Engine.exe <script file> <initialization file> <metadata file> <metadata>

Parameter Example Description

<script file> C:\temp\sample.sbs Simplebim script file with .sbs extension. The syntax of Simplebim script files is explained here.

<initialization file> C:\temp\sample.ini Initialization file with .ini extension (Optional). Simplebim.Engine comes with a default initialization file (DefaultConfiguration.ini) which is used if this parameter is omitted.

<license file> C:\licenses\sample.lic The license file (Optional). If this parameter is omitted, Simplebim.Engine looks for a license file in the same folder where the Simplebim.Engine exe file is located.

<metadata file> C:\temp\metadata.ini
Metadata file with .ini extension. Any metadata in this file will be passed to the license server and is available in reports. The name of the metadata file must contain the word 'metadata' to be recognized as a metadata file (and not a initialization file).

Example

[Default]
Country=Finland
Project=A
[Accounting]
Ref=123

The metadata file (ini file) can have multiple sections. Any items in the [Default] section appear in reports 'as is', for example: Project=A. Any items in other sections appear in reports prefixed with the section name, for example Accounting:Ref=123

<metadata> Project=B In addition to the metadata file you can define any number of metadata items as parameters. The parameters defined in this manner override any parameters with the same name in the metadata file.

If any of the parameters contains spaces it must be enclosed in quotes, for example: "C:\temp\my sample.sbs"

Error Codes

Simplebim9.Engine.exe will return the following error codes if running the script fails

Error Code	Description
0	No error.
-1	Unspecified error.
-2	All concurrent licenses in use. This happens when you try to run a script but all concurrent licenses are already in use. For example if you have one concurrent license and try to run a second script before the first one has completed. In this case you need to wait until the previous script completes (or its timeout period expires) and try again.

If you are running Simplebim.Engine with a batch file you can handle the error codes like this.

"C:\Program Files\Datacubist\Simplebim.Engine 9\Simplebim9.Engine.exe" "Sample-Script.sbs"
echo Off
echo %ERRORLEVEL%
if %ERRORLEVEL%==0 Echo "Everything fine and dandy"
if %ERRORLEVEL%==-1 Echo "Unspecified error"
if %ERRORLEVEL%==-2 Echo "All concurrent licenses in use, try again later"
pause

Un Installation

Simply delete the directory into which you copied the Simplebim.Server files during installation.

Known Limitations

Templates cannot be chained, i.e. it is not possible to apply a template from within another template

Send Email to Simplebim Support

Parameter	Example	Description
<script file>	C:\temp\sample.sbs	Simplebim script file with .sbs extension. The syntax of Simplebim script files is explained here.
<initialization file>	C:\temp\sample.ini	Initialization file with .ini extension (Optional). Simplebim.Engine comes with a default initialization file (DefaultConfiguration.ini) which is used if this parameter is omitted.
<license file>	C:\licenses\sample.lic	The license file (Optional). If this parameter is omitted, Simplebim.Engine looks for a license file in the same folder where the Simplebim.Engine exe file is located.
<metadata file>	C:\temp\metadata.ini	Metadata file with .ini extension. Any metadata in this file will be passed to the license server and is available in reports. The name of the metadata file must contain the word 'metadata' to be recognized as a metadata file (and not a initialization file). Example [Default] Country=Finland Project=A [Accounting] Ref=123 The metadata file (ini file) can have multiple sections. Any items in the [Default] section appear in reports 'as is', for example: Project=A. Any items in other sections appear in reports prefixed with the section name, for example Accounting:Ref=123
<metadata>	Project=B	In addition to the metadata file you can define any number of metadata items as parameters. The parameters defined in this manner override any parameters with the same name in the metadata file.