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Keeping printables (PDF) up to date
martin_kopplow
Member Posts: 638 PRO
There are non-CAD people. For those, it is a proven strategy to keep a collection of drawings in the form of PDF files available, so they can simply view, email and print them, whenever they need a reference. There is a constant fear, though, of forgetting to update them.
Now if an unsuspecting user should ever right-click a PDFs tab, he'd find an "Update" menu item, suggesting he could get the latest version here, but then he's directed towards a file selector to upload from his own computer, which makes sense for the CAD-people, though it is clearly a dead end in this context.
How cool would it be, if PDFs created within the Onshape document (such as PDFed drawings) could be updated to the latest release at any time, or even automatically update? Maybe this could be configured on a per-folder basis? Or is there any recommendable other tool that can do this?
Comments
that update option is confusing indeed.
Since Drawings may break upon updating geometry (loosing references etc), automating this wouldn't be the way to go, i.m.h.o. because it needs checking by a (CAD) human.
when you create a version, onshape requires you to update all drawings (and enables you to do so with one click). I think this is already great.
non-CAD people should preferably only access versioned CAD data, then all this is solved. also prevents them from checking into a CAD model that may be rolled back and looks broken to them.
this could be enforced through publications, and only giving them access through those..
all this is a little more work, and more formal but is a built in way to prevent issues you mentioned.
Haven't got much experience with publications yet, so far I've taken the informal route. (with the drawbacks mentioned)
I would definitely look at publications in this case. It will take some effort on the CAD creators end, but it is a really good way to gather things that are released together without a lot of other confusing tabs.
I thought about publications, but as was already mentioned, that'd be quite some extra task to do. If I had to create a new publication for each step (which might be a release, but could only be a version, depending on project stage) I could just as well create a folder of PDFs somewhere on a web drive and replace it on a regular basis.
My goal is to provide on-demand basic info for all involved, without them having to call me all the time, and also automate the PDF creation. Both in order to save time so I can focus on my primary objectives.
If there was a tool that could track down a PDF I already exported (maybe to a certain folder) and check if there was a newer version in the original place in OS, I could image it would already go a long way. It bothers me that all referencing stops as exports are involved.
Next time, I might try reorganizing data structure, creating a dedicated place for drawings (Tab/Folder) and then provide access to that place for those who need it. See where it goes.
I have a fear, though, that people will create their own stache of PDFs and loose track of which is valid. Been there in the pre cloud age and don't acually want to revisit.