Improvements to Onshape - January 27th, 2015

lougallo

We recently updated Onshape with a number of refinements and some shiny new improvements.  In this update we have streamlined assembly mating, improved manipulator tools and added features for collaboration, security and common workflows.  Let us know what you think in the comments!
Highlights include:

1. Snap mating and an origin have been added to Assemblies as well as keyboard shortcuts for mate flip alignment (a) and axis rotation (q).  
   
   In addition to the origin in Assemblies, you can now use the manipulator to move selections to the origin, rotate 90/180 degrees about any axis or align/anti-align to Z on any manipulator direction.
   
   
   
2. Plane resizing handles (even on default planes)
   
   
3. Transform manipulator
   
   
4. Follow mode, collaborative viewing (double click on a user icon to see what they are doing. Editing rights required).  Below are two users (left/right) taking turns following each other.
   
   
5. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) - Two-factor authentication adds another layer of security to your account. With two-factor authentication your phone provides a security code that you must provide to OnShape in addition to your password in order to sign in. Even if someone obtains your password they cannot sign in unless they also have access to your phone. Learn more about two-factor authentication at Onshape help.
   
   
6. Export to SolidWorks (Translation) of Part Studios
   
   
7. Share with Onshape support link
   

fastwayjim

Brilliant!!!

Ben_

Nice!

Ben_

Snap mate for the win! That rocks..

caradon

COLLABORATIVE VIEWING!!!
That's just plain jaw dropping...

Dries

ingo_knoch

Thanks for your great work!
Nice new staff!

pete_yodis

I love the Follow Mode.  Perfect for meetings.  I think the 2FA is really nice, too.  Peace of mind.

lougallo

Thoughts about the format of the What's New?  Do you like the animations or are they annoying?  I know many of us engineers hate to read to so I am trying to keep the verbiage to a minimum.  I also want to keep the list "skimmable" so you can scroll through and see at a glance what has updated.  I am open to feedback on the format and what makes it best for you to get updates.

Ben_

I like the format. I would add a more in depth list of improvements below on these posts.

Even the 'un-provements' like the middle mouse button changing away from rotate view and being pan now. And yes it bugs me enough to mention it as much a possible here on the forums. So you know I am about to become your proverbial squeaky wheel on this mouse issue....

caradon

But...Where are the drawings??
Sneak peek, perhaps?

Dries

lougallo

@Dries It is coming...the group is sleeplessly working on it to get in your hands.  Need a bit more time.  Promise it is coming.

caradon

Lou_Gallo said:

@Dries It is coming...the group is sleeplessly working on it to get in your hands.  Need a bit more time.  Promise it is coming.

I totally understand. Just getting too impatient...

Dries

traveler_hauptman

@LouGallo‌ I think the current what's new format is really nice for this phase where new features (and us testing and using them) are the important thing.  When more people are doing production I suspect that bug fixes are what will be more important to people and a bullet list of those would be good. You might think that the issue tracker notifications are enough but I think that for every person participating in an issue there are 10 more who are muttering under their breath and finding workarounds because that's all they have time for...

lougallo

@Traveler Hauptman  Thanks for the feedback.  The ticket notifications for specific reported issues.  Granted there are more that might be impacted and sometimes those are specific to the improvements.  The list of fixes is long every sprint, some front facing but not reported, others behind the scenes or in our infrastructure.  I am still working on ways to get that list visible to you where it matters.  I agree there are some who might benefit by knowing all the issues solved every sprint.  I will look at more of a change log - type interface for that info.

traveler_hauptman

@LouGallo I don't think we need to know anything about internal fixes. But bug fixes in the UI and API....

michael_topolovac

Great update you all...especially love the "follow mode"

Mike

Awesome work guys! It's great seeing all the progress and features being added on a daily/weekly basis. Keep it up, also I really like the animations you've added in to show the new features.

Jimmy_Barrera

I love the format and animations.  It's very easy to glance through the enhancements and get the gist of what the new functioanlity involves.  By the way, this is the post [Imporovements in Onshape] I eagerly look forward to when I check the forums.  Fascinating how fast Onsahpe is evolving.  Keep it up guys.

andrew_troup

These advisories are a great way to inform the user of what has changed, and it's good that they have their own category.
 
Unless there is some way I don't know about to pause gif animations, it would be good if they were recorded at maybe half the speed of those on this page. The time it saves by whizzing through at warp speed is more than offset by the number of iterations needed to work out exactly what is happening. (I don't AFAIK have the option of downclocking the OS temporarily, as I'm viewing on a Chromebook)

I would hate to see creation of these handed off to marketing in due course; it would be easy for the emphasis to fall increasingly on "impressing" the user, even to the detriment of "informing" them...

ON EDIT: the third point above, "Transform Manipulator", is too cryptic for me. A bit of explanatory text would have been very helpful, or at least a link to the appropriate help item, if it already covered the change...

jakeramsley

Andrew_Troup said:

ON EDIT: the third point above, "Transform Manipulator", is too cryptic for me. A bit of explanatory text would have been very helpful, or at least a link to the appropriate help item, if it already covered the change...

Before this update there was no graphical manipulator (the thing a user drags to offset/move/rotate/etc) for transform.  Everything was entered numerically.

andrew_troup

jramsley said:

Andrew_Troup said:

ON EDIT: the third point above, "Transform Manipulator", is too cryptic for me. A bit of explanatory text would have been very helpful, or at least a link to the appropriate help item, if it already covered the change...

Before this update there was no graphical manipulator (the thing a user drags to offset/move/rotate/etc) for transform.  Everything was entered numerically.

Thanks for that, understood