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Best Of
Improvements to Onshape - August 25th 2020
Just like that, another three weeks has gone by. Welcome to another new release of Onshape!
Additionally, a new administrative setting has been introduced to prevent a release candidate from being created if there is an outstanding task (a comment with a tagged user, and the box ticked to "Assign") that is directly referencing an element in the tab you are releasing from. Only once the task is resolved, from either the comment itself or the action items list, can the release candidate be submitted. While the video below shows this example on a re-release action, it is important to note this option affects all release candidates.
The revision suffix accepts multiple characters and spaces which allows you to create the exact suffix that fits your company requirements.
You many now also open a document URL from the home page, without needing to sign in. This works if you tap the link to a public document, or any link shared via email or other application you may have on your phone.
Onshape Surface Modeling is the last course in the new learning pathway: Advanced Part and Surfacing Design. This Pathway is composed of courses that teach advanced geometry modeling techniques. Onshape Surface Modeling caps off this pathway that explores Onshape surfacing workflows.
These courses are available to Standard, Professional, Enterprise, and all Educational subscriptions.
The existing permissions of the shared-in user are honored with regards to any buttons or filters shown on a shared report.
Instead of writing:
you may now simply write:
The syntax is:
Further documentation can be found here.
Please take a moment to try out these new features and improvements and leave your comments below. For a detailed list of all the changes in this update, please see the changelog.
CAD IMPROVEMENTS
HOLE CALLOUT IMPROVEMENTS
Hole callout features now include the same fly-out panel available in the dimensions tool, allowing you to add additional text to the callout as well as change the units independently of the drawing properties.IMPROVED SELECTION HIGHLIGHTING FOR MATES
Selecting a mate from the mate features list will now outline the two parts involved and highlight the associated faces on those parts that have been used to define the mate connectors. This will make it easier to understand how the mate was created without having to right-click and select the edit mate dialog.ANIMATE PLAYBACK TYPES FOR MATES
When animating a mate, you now will find additional playback types, including Single, Reciprocate, or Loop.CONSOLIDATED SEARCH & FILTER IN THE TAB MANAGER
The Tab Manager (activated by Alt + T) has a consolidated menu including new expandable buttons for Search, Sort and Filter functions. You can also toggle between List and Detailed view types as you normally could.CONFIGURATION TOOLTIP IN SHEETS PANEL
A tooltip has been added to the sheets panel in drawings. When hovering over a configured reference, you will now see information about which configuration is being shown.RELEASE MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENTS
RE-RELEASE AN EXISTING PART NUMBER
PREVENT A RELEASE CANDIDATE IF TAB HAS OPEN TASK
You may now re-release an element at the same revision level with the same part number. This is most commonly used when a small error or typo is identified in a released drawing that needs to be corrected but does not warrant creating an entirely new revision. You must first obsolete the existing revision, making use of a new setting (in the obsoletion dialog) to allow re-release, before you'll be able to compete the release again at the same revision.Additionally, a new administrative setting has been introduced to prevent a release candidate from being created if there is an outstanding task (a comment with a tagged user, and the box ticked to "Assign") that is directly referencing an element in the tab you are releasing from. Only once the task is resolved, from either the comment itself or the action items list, can the release candidate be submitted. While the video below shows this example on a re-release action, it is important to note this option affects all release candidates.
REVISION TABLE IMPROVEMENTS
You may now manually edit the header columns for a revision table. You can also customize the default revision suffix which is applied to the unreleased line of the revision table from the release management settings.The revision suffix accepts multiple characters and spaces which allows you to create the exact suffix that fits your company requirements.
iOS IMPROVEMENTS
SIMPLIFIED NAVIGATION & INTERFACE
When accessing documents with view-only permission on an iOS device, you will now see a similar interface to the simplified view-only menu in a browser window.You many now also open a document URL from the home page, without needing to sign in. This works if you tap the link to a public document, or any link shared via email or other application you may have on your phone.
LEARNING CENTER IMPROVEMENTS
ONSHAPE SURFACE MODELING SELF-PACED COURSE AND LEARNING PATHWAY
A new course and Learning Pathway are available to Onshape users in the Learning Center.Onshape Surface Modeling is the last course in the new learning pathway: Advanced Part and Surfacing Design. This Pathway is composed of courses that teach advanced geometry modeling techniques. Onshape Surface Modeling caps off this pathway that explores Onshape surfacing workflows.
These courses are available to Standard, Professional, Enterprise, and all Educational subscriptions.
ENTERPRISE IMPROVEMENTS
SHARE DASHBOARDS & ANALYTICS
Custom reports or dashboards saved to the "My analytics" tab can now be directly shared with individuals or teams via a familiar "Share" button. Users can be given view, edit, or edit and share permissions to the report or dashboard.The existing permissions of the shared-in user are honored with regards to any buttons or filters shown on a shared report.
NEW DEFAULT DASHBOARDS
Three new default dashboards have been created, geared towards showing activity of the current user. These dashboards are "My Activity", "My Projects and Documents" and "My Releases".CUSTOM WORKFLOWS - CHANGE APPROVER ON PENDING RELEASE CANDIDATE
For customized workflows, you now can allow the creator of a release candidate to change the approvers while it is still pending. Previously, you would have to discard the candidate and re-submit it with the correct approvers.FEATURESCRIPT IMPROVEMENTS
SYNTAX FOR CHAINED ARGUMENTS
FeatureScript now allows using an arrow -> to make a function call, where the first argument is to the left of the arrow. So a->myFunction(b) is equivalent to myFunction(a, b). This lets you chain calls rather than nest them and can simplify the readability of query filters.Instead of writing:
qGeometry(qOwnedByBody(bodyQuery, EntityType.FACE), GeometryType.PLANE)
you may now simply write:
bodyQuery->qOwnedByBody(EntityType.FACE)->qGeometry(GeometryType.PLANE)
DEBUG WITH MULTIPLE COLORS
You may now apply a custom color in the debug argument. This will make it easier for you to differentiate between different features when debugging.The syntax is:
debug(context, facesToHighlight, DebugColor.GREEN)
Further documentation can be found here.
Remember: The updates listed here are now live for all users when creating new Documents and over the next few days these features will also be available in Documents created before the date of this update.
Re: Improvements to Onshape - July 31st 2020
... but only if the time is right.MBartlett21 said:The time is ripe...
Re: Locking a released file
This is definitely one the things that has come up several times around here and can take some trial and error to figure out. There's a lot of different options for organizing things so it can be tricky to find the best approach. However, generally, there are some guidelines that have been advised by Onshape and other users (although there can definitely be exceptions based on your own project and goals):
One other thing to consider is multiple approaches. During an early, heavy "design" phase of a project, you may want all of your parts/assemblies/drawings in one document for a clear project overview, then when you're ready to release things, clean things up and move all of your parts/assemblies into separate documents to release them and start with clean history trees.
- Generally keep one part/assembly per document. This makes the history and releases easier understand and navigate. You can then create a drawing for that part in the same document as the model. The main exception to this is if there are more than one parts that have geometry that is highly dependent on each other, in which case it makes sense to create multiple parts in one part studio. Examples might be a linkage with several parts all driven by one layout sketch or complex parts that need to fit together (I've got two plastic parts that are modeled as one body and then split to create two separate parts - these are in the same part studio).
- I generally tend to release the part and drawing at the same time. This way, the drawing can always refer to the latest model in the workspace, but your released part and model will in sync. Same goes for assemblies and assembly drawings.
One other thing to consider is multiple approaches. During an early, heavy "design" phase of a project, you may want all of your parts/assemblies/drawings in one document for a clear project overview, then when you're ready to release things, clean things up and move all of your parts/assemblies into separate documents to release them and start with clean history trees.
Re: Cabling, do we really need another featurescript?
Version 5 Adds gravity & wire gauge.
more cable info
So cables should droop based on gravity and trying to add that look becomes tedious. By calculating the distance between anchor points, you can automatically add the droop caused by gravity.
Telephone wires without gravity:
And now, add gravity to the cable:
It just makes it more realistic.
Thanks Theo for the suggestion, adding wire gauge:
more cable info
So cables should droop based on gravity and trying to add that look becomes tedious. By calculating the distance between anchor points, you can automatically add the droop caused by gravity.
Telephone wires without gravity:
And now, add gravity to the cable:
It just makes it more realistic.
Thanks Theo for the suggestion, adding wire gauge:
billy2
5
Re: "change to version" in drawing gone...
Once a drawing is referencing a version, I think you need to click "Update Linked Document" in the RMB menu.
Once you click this, you can go back to referencing the "workspace" or a specific version.
Once you click this, you can go back to referencing the "workspace" or a specific version.
Re: Recover previous files
If you sign in to cad.onshape.com you should be able to access all your old documents. You can then right-click and transfer ownership to the enterprise account.
Re: Creative ideas to join up these two parts?
I would definitely start with a loft from a path then tweak the start and end geometries until the result accomplished my goals. This also seems like a cool application for a generative design tool, though the results might not be ideal for 3d printing or your desired aesthetic