Topic: Dead Files & Drawing Database

[M-dub]

Hey All,
   Like a few of you, we use AMW as our drawing database and have for a number of years now.  I've recently been asked to sort through a bunch of our drawings to figure out which ones are dead files and which are still current.  There are LOTS of drawings that we still have on the system which are old and obsolete, but they're still in the AMW database.  I'd like to know what everyone else does, if anything, about archiving.  Also, does anyone have any experience (b!tches or gripes) with AMW's archival system?  I'm trying to come up with a procedure before starting this daunting task.  Here's what we want:

-  Current database (DWG) to contain only Current drawings
-  Archived database (ARCHIVE) to contain only Archived drawings

Since there are so many drawings in this database, is there a quick way to do this?  It would be nice if there was an 'invert selection' or something like that.
Any input will help...
As always, Thanks A Lot!
Mike

[hendie]

Archiving is relatively simple in AMW.
the biggest problem is deciding which ones to go (as you've discovered)

do you have any kind of flag which defines whether a drawing is current or obsolete ? (maybe project or customer?)
if not, the best I can think of is do a search for all drawings created before a cut-off date

I've just had to do something similar. Luckily we use JDE for our BoM's etc, so I got a list of "current" part numbers from JDE, created a new "JDE" field in AMW, and wrote a lisp which searched for a part number match in Excel and when found, imported a unique JDE key to that card. So by searching that field to see whether it's empty or not I know if a drawing is current or obsolete.

[hendie]

do you keep a "log" in AMW ?
it's kind of hard to think of suggestions without knowing how your DB is set up. If I remember correctly, some of the templates came with a log function ~if you are using that, you could do a search in the memo field, for drawings accessed or saved after a certain date.

another option would be to create a date field, then run a lisp to access (getacadvar DWGLASTCHANGED) and that would tell you the last time the drawing was edited. then you can use that info to populate the field with a date
That may give you somewhere to start at least.

let me know if you need a hand

[M-dub]

Thanks, Hendie!
I think the dwglastchanged option would be the best of your suggestions, but unfortunately, it's very difficult to say what's good and what's bad.  I basically have to physically look at each drawing to tell.  Date doesn't really help a whole lot because I've made changes to drawings created in the 60's...and I mean drawings that haven't even changed SINCE the 60's!  This is an ammonia / fertillizer plant that was built back then, and has since had a few units dismantled, but there are lots of drawings that still exist for those units.  That's what we're MOST interested in archiving, but there are lots of other drawings we need to get rid of as well.  Some people created lots of project specific drawings which were copies of existing drawings that just kinda 'fell off the bus' and rolled to a stop shortly afterward.  Those are gone too.
Anyway, I greatly appreciate your ideas and will keep you in mind when I go to do this.

Thanks again,
Mike

[hendie]

if ti helps any Mike, when you archive in AMW, it is a relatively simple process.
And if you need to, you can restore either the full archive or only selected drawings from the archive. It's quite painless, so I wouldn't worry too much about archiving drawings that may still be "current", you can always restore them in a couple of minutes if needed ~provided you have easy access to the archive file

[M-dub]

Actually, Hendie, do you know if I could create a database field for the drawings that have been archived?  I looked, but I couldn't find one...I don't know what to look for, really...I mean, besides the little blue lock.  I want to be able to search for the archived ones...for now, anyway....

[M-dub]

d'oh!
Those locks are just for frozen drawings...I've only ever used 'locked' or 'unlocked'...never dealt with the freeze or unfreeze.

[hendie]

during the archive process you can choose whether to leave the archived CARDS in the environment, or to remove them. If you leave the Cards in the DB you will still be able to search the data, you just won't have any document to view.

the blue lock hasn't really got anything to do with archived files ~ the blue lock signals a frozen document, normally a superceded revision. it all depends upon who set your system up and how the events are handled.

another option for you, especially if you don't have any way of telling obsolete from current drawings is to create new environment files. perhaps project specific. Then you just have to switch environments.

[hendie]

for what it's worth, I have about 10,000 documents in our database and a full search takes around 8 seconds. I decided that it was hardly worth the effort in archiving.

[M-dub]

I hear ya on the environment thing, but if I create a new environment, do I not need a database file with the same name?  That's actually what I've already kinda started...
DWG.env references DWG.dbf
ARCHIVED.env references ARCHIVED.dbf

I guess I was just trying to think of a way I could export cards to a seperate db.  In other words, as I go through the list, I could mark all of the cards I want to 'archive' and instead of using the AMW Archive tool, just export them to an 'Archived' db & env.  Does that make sense at all?  I know it sounds kinda silly maybe, but there will still be the occasion when someone will come to me, looking for a drawing that has been obsolete for 20 years, but they still need it...  That's why it would be nice to have two seperate env's/db's.
Cheers...again!

[M-dub]

we have almost 14,000 docs in ours and the search time isn't really the issue...it's the revisions and the copies and the confusion and the...you name it.  It's just a pain.  I mean, we've got engineers complaining that they're using the wrong drawings for their projects.  Well, first of all, ...ah..I'm not going to get into it...

[hendie]

Obviously, your environments will have to have different names ~project name or whatever.
It sounds like you've got an issue with how revisions are handled.
I've got mine set up so that as soon as a drawing is revised, it's frozen and moved to a new directory (same "path" but prefixed by REV-) and just so there's no mistake, I've got it set up so that the Autocad start button disappears when viewing the revision drawings.
Additionally, ('cos there's always one...) if a drawing is plotted out from a Revision directory in error, there is a big black OBSOLETE printed diagonally across the page. That way, there can be no mistake.
Then I have created a search tool called "Current Revisions" which my users have access to.
I have these all set up using the events in the env file
I haven't had any problems since I automated all that. and I can still access the revised drawings if I ever need to.

[M-dub]

Ok, could I...
In my original database & environment, select all of the drawings I want to archive, then eventually archive them to an arv file, then start a new environment and restore only those ones?  That would, in theory, leave me with one my archived drawings.  In the original, I would have 'remove the cards and documents after archiving' selected...but only if I can restore them into a different environment.
Does this sound ridiculous to you?  I dunno....I just don't want to get rid of the references to the old drawings completely...just segregate them.

[hendie]

Yeah, you could do that. it's a reasonably simple procedure.

in the env builder, create a new env and select Use Template Environment and browse to your env file. Select that and give your new env a title
this will give you a new env with exactly the same DB fields/layout etc.

Run the Archiving procedure from your current env. ***Make sure you select the settings from the Supervisor menu before you run the archiving process***

Switch to your new env and run Restore, select the arv file and when prompted (the default Action should be Restore) just hit OK. This will bring in all the "archived" drawings, so if you need them, you just need to switch env's.
Note: you cannot switch env files programatically, unfortunately it has to be a manual process.

[hendie]

Mike, I would strongly suggest that you also look into tweaking the env so that your less diligent colleagues can't go using the wrong drawings.
I can help you with the code...
for example, here's what I use to signal a superceded revision

Code: [Select]

(if
(getcardinfo "isfrozen" )  
(documentlabel "OBSOLETE" "Arial" 20 45 16)
)

setting the revision control up isn't so difficult and once it's done, you should cut down on future problems