Sharing Custom templates within Onshape.

steve_maietta

I know I can email my DWT file to my students and have them import it every time they want to use it, but is there a way to have the DWT shareable?  

I suppose I could create an empty "part" with the DWT already loaded as the template for "drawing 1"  but sharing the basic DWT or custom template seems like a more flexible solution.

thanks for any ideas.
~Steve

john_mccullough

Importing the DWT into a shared document is the recommended workflow. You can create companies/teams under Manage account and add to them the accounts which should have access to that specific document. The shared templates will show up in the Create Drawings template list for each of your students.

steve_maietta

Thanks!
Sharing a doc with a team, so they can find the template list sounds fine..
~Steve

owen_sparks

Would changes made to the template be rolled back into existing documents that used that template?

This could be good or bad depending on whether the document template is itself a controlled document requiring a revision...

Owen S.

john_mccullough

Owen, drawing templates are currently just a time saver for drawing creation and promotion of uniformity. There is no link maintained between a template and the drawings created with it.

brucebartlett

john_mccullough said:

Owen, drawing templates are currently just a time saver for drawing creation and promotion of uniformity. There is no link maintained between a template and the drawings created with it.

John is this on the radar to be included? I would hope that sometime soon a linked drawing template would be included. Things have got better for templates over the last few releases with the inclusion of a image, save a dwt with onshape and the linked properties but a locked down updatable template is where I think we need to be. 

john_mccullough

Bruce, 

We are continuing to make progress in this area, but I don't expect template update anytime soon. I don't recall seeing any customer requests for associative templates yet. Being able to change the template of an existing drawing would probably come first, for which we have some requests.

-John

PeteYodis

@brucebartlett @owen_sparks  John is correct about the priorities here. 

With regards to linked templates... Can you explain the need or desire a little bit more for having templates remain attached and potentially have an ability to update drawings spawned from them?  I have personally seen some horror stories in that scenario, so I'd like to hear your thoughts and expectations here.   

brucebartlett

@peteyodis @john_mccullough  I would like to be able to update a old template with a newer version. For example when I open a drawing with an old template without my logo graphic and linked notes, I'd like to be able to update the entire template to my newer version. 

Another issue I often find is change of paper size, hence also the template, is there a way or going to be an easy way to manage this?

owen_sparks

@peteyodis @john_mccullough Hi gents.

Similar scenario to @brucebartlett 's workflow.

Possible scenarios in no particular order for wishing to update the template:-
(a) Marketing department releases new company logo and insists it's on all documentation overnight...
(b) Being new to OS I make a first attempt at a drawing template but come up with a better idea in a few months time.
(c) We move factories and need the address to change and don't want to up revision all the drawings.
(d) I make a quick sketch for a product to use in house but then develop it into something more formal for external use later.

This is low priority for me but it'd be on the "nice to have one day" pile.

One feature that I'd really like is to be able to tell how many documents are referencing a particular template.  So if I need to make a radical change to a different new template (not an update tweak to an existing one) I can see what still points to anything obsolete, so I can see what still need to be addressed and to prevent anything slipping through cracks.  Possibly similar or incorporated into the new tag system, so a drawing template could be a tag, and we can then view all with that tag.

Cheers,
Owen S.

PeteYodis

@brucebartlett @owen_sparks Currently documents don't reference a template, they have been created from them and as such there is no dynamic link.  I think the scenarios you are describing point to the need to be able to quickly change information visible on the drawing that was originally defined in a template.  Templates contain visible information, but also the rules/properties about how drawings are to behave.  I think we can accomplish what you want here without a template reload - which would also entail all of the properties as well.

@brucebartlett  We released a sheet size change functionality under properties of the sheet.  If you are not able to see this, then submit a ticket and we can help you through it.  There is a bug affecting drawings made from older templates not being able to access this new function.  

owen_sparks

Great, thanks @pete_yodis, Cheers, Owen S.

brucebartlett

Thanks @peteyodis, What is the best work flow for updating old templates?

and I still can not seem find the sheet size change function on any of my old drawings, I will however look for it in future new drawings. 

PeteYodis

@brucebartlett We are working towards not needing to do anything regarding drawings made from older/custom templates.  You are now attached to (via a ticket) an issue we are working on.  For updating your old templates, it might be difficult to say exactly without seeing it, but as a first pass I would make a drawing from it, perform any tweaks in the drawing, then export that drawing as a template (dwt).