Application Integration
Meridian includes application links for the most popular applications used for engineering. The links provide specific Meridian functionality within each application for working with that application's data. This functionality is in addition to the functionality provided by Meridian Application Integration described in the Application Links section.
Application Integrations are application-independent and configurable by each user so that they can conveniently work with vault documents. Because the links work with application data, the application links can be configured by a System Administrator so that the data is managed in the same way for all Meridian users in the organization.
See our Document Synchronization Methods Overview to learn about the three methods you can use to synchronize document contents, title blocks, and references with PowerWeb.
Important!
After files have been imported to a vault, document properties that were not explicitly set during the import (from title blocks, default property assignments, and so on) contain no values. Those properties will not be synchronized to the imported content files by the Meridian application links. This is by design to prevent overwriting existing values.
The properties can be synchronized from the imported content files. Such properties must be set in the vault to an explicit value at least once before the properties will be synchronized to the content files.
Meridian integrates extensively with popular CAD applications. The CAD application links support powerful features such as automatic bidirectional title block data exchange, sheet sets, external reference management, building information modeling (BIM) file structures, advanced viewing capabilities, and more.
Due to the complexity and special needs of BIM projects, we recommend the following best practices when configuring the vault:
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Create dedicated document types for each BIM application model type (Revit, AutoCAD Civil 3D, and so on).
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Store master model files either permanently in a special project folder or in a separate branch inside the vault where users can modify them.
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Master model files should never be released as as-built documents. Release only the exported 2D drawing sheets instead.
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Some models, like those produced by Revit, benefit from shared workspaces to allow concurrent use.
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Simple folder structures are often better in projects than complicated ones and give the project teams some freedom to organize files as they see fit based on the project requirements.
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Do not use hybrid document types for anything other than hybrid documents, for example, to link 2D drawings to 3D models. Exploiting hybrid document types for any other business purpose typically causes unforeseen problems.
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Minimize the number of custom workflows by making them flexible enough to handle multiple business processes, if possible. Multiple workflows often complicate the configuration unnecessarily.
Meridian also integrates well with the Microsoft Office family of products. Users can store files created in any of the Office applications in a Meridian vault, even Outlook email messages and attachments, and view most of them without the need for the Office applications themselves or special viewers. The Microsoft Office link adds commands to the Office applications for viewing and synchronizing document properties such as Author, Title, Subject, and Keywords with the Meridian vault. Hyperlinks between Office documents are maintained throughout the document life cycle.
The application links synchronize vault properties to and from documents whenever they are opened and again when they are saved. This can add to the time that it takes to perform these actions. The amount of time is determined by many factors but primarily by the number of vault properties to be synchronized.
To minimize this time, carefully consider modifying the RedrawFieldsOnUpdate setting, the DisablePropertiesUpdate settings (there are separate settings for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word), and the DisableTitleBlockUpdate setting.
Depending on your overall computing environment, using many custom properties can cause poor system performance, particularly when application links are enabled. For information about optimizing performance of application links with empty properties, see Configure Empty Property Synchronization.
Accruent technical support for specific versions of linked applications is limited. Review the Supported Software section for this version of Meridian to determine if the application links that your organization uses are fully supported.
Integrations with CAD Applications