Topic: Revisions of Drawings - Titleblock attribute woes

[Bob]

Hi all,

We have a title block on our standard sheets with attributes. It is linked to our document management software so that if the title changes in the database, the drawing title is updated the next time the drawing is opened.

Great so far. The title sheet is automatically updated in the same way when the drawing goes through the checking and approval route.

The problem arises when somebody creates a revision. As soon as the revisor opens the drawing the drawing management software updates all the fields, clearing the original drawn by, checked by and approved by attributes and replacing the drawn by with the revisors name.

My thoughts

I could separate the attributes into another block. Burst and block them so that they are never changed by the DMS. This is a bit messy.

What I really want is a way to make the attributes read only, once a drawing has been released or published.


Just after some ideas really.


Bob

[Arizona]

Does your DMS use states? And if it does is the final state read-only?
Also just a curiosity question, what DMS system are you using?

[hudster]

we had the same issue with our document management system, I resolved it by renaming the attribute tags for the new revisions.

[Bob]

Our DMS does not use States but it does use stages.

The final state or stage is read only but when you want to revise the drawing, the drawing is then edittable.

It is at this stage when the attributes are cleared.

DMS is CAB-i-NET explorer

[Bob]

Is the renaming of the tags an automatic operation?

I must be thick. I can't how that will help unles somebody intervenes and renames the tags..

Please can you explain.

Thanks

Bob

[hendie]

Never heard of that system but typically EDMS have administrator setting where you define what happens when and where.
For example in Adept I have it set to "never blank data in the database" which menas that even if a user deletes the attribute values, they are still retained in the db.
If you are merely revising a drawing and the ADMS blanks out the original data (author date etc) in the titleblock I would consider that a bug... unless there is a setting somewhere which controls the behaviour

[Bob]

Thanks Hendie,

That makes it a little clearer.

I know that attributes can be 'constant' - is this a potential way through?

[hendie]

I think that if your EDMS is blanking out attributes, it won't really matter if they are set as "constant" or not as that is an internal AutoCAD setting.
Without knowing the ins and outs of your EDMS it's difficult to guess where the problem lies but there must be some control/switch somewhere that controls how the attributes are updated.
What confuses me is that you are making a revision and the EDMS is blanking out data, so data like the author and date drawn etc should not change. So either someone has set a switch incorrectly or there's a serious bug in the software.
Have you looked through the admin settings to see how attrbutes are controlled and how they are mappped ?
What is the process for making a revision in CAB-i-net ?
In Adept I just sign the document out, work on it and sign it in again. Adept automatically makes the new copy current and places the original one step down in the revision ladder, I don't even have to think about it, and it automatically extracts all the attribute values during the sign in process to update the database

[M-dub]

Our drawings are set up with an attributed Title Block and a separate Revision Block or blocks.  Our EDMS (Also Adept) only looks in our Title Block for extraction data.  For the purpose of OUR database, it was not necessary to populate it with items such as 'Drawn By', 'Checked By', or 'Approved By'.  All we extract is four lines of drawing title, Rev, and two other (now meaningless) fields.  This facility has been around for a while and has umpteen different borders, title blocks, attributes, etc. so it makes this process a little more difficult because for each attribute or field, we currently have up to 18 different attribute tags for the first line, revision (etc.) fields.

Sorry for the run on blabbering...
As Hendie mentioned, look for the Administrator's settings (or an administrator) to change the method in which your attributes are 'pulled' or 'pushed' from / to your drawings.  If that isn't possible, Andy's suggestion might be worth looking into.

/ my 2¢

[hudster]

couldn't you just remove the attribute tag names from the edms and let your users manage that data automatically?

[Bob]

I know what you mean but that was the problem in the past.

Checked and approved boxes were never filled in. At least with this system those boxes are always filled in.

Our Plant Inventory people would never accept another step in the publishing of drawings - which is why I'm looking for an automatic solution.

I'm convincing myself that the favoured solution would be to burst then block

[hendie]

if users anren't filling in fields then what makes you think they would burst and block ?

I can't believe there isn't a setting somewhere that controls this behaviour.
I did a search on your edms but couldn't find anything.
Have you contacted the company to find out what the issue may be ?

[M-dub]

First, could you post what Attributes you have in which Blocks along with the Fields your database has?  It sounds like the tag names are duplicated in your EDMS.  /guess

[M-dub]

Have you contacted the company to find out what the issue may be ?

I just got off the phone with Judie.    solved a little annoyance of ours... turned out it was a known bug.

[hendie]

Have you contacted the company to find out what the issue may be ?

I just got off the phone with Judie.    solved a little annoyance of ours... turned out it was a known bug.

aaahhhh... the always dependant Judie ~ she's a real peach. (and quite pretty too !)