Share individual tabs

bryan_lagrange

This has probably been discussed previously but in case it hasn't I will bring up the topic.

Is it possible and if not can it be added as an enhancement to have the ability to share individual tabs in an Onshape document.

If you have an Onshape document with multiple part, assembly, drawing, and folder tabs, it can get confusing for non CAD users trying to access information that they need or pertain to them. 

Sales does not need to review the same information as the press brake operator, fabricator, machinist, etc.

It would be nice when sharing an Onshape document to share individual tabs with people. 

I was thinking you can either individually click on a tab and set permissions or hold shift and click on multiple tabs if you need to share more than one. When that individual would open on the share link either only the tabs shared would appeared or tabs that or not shared would be grayed out and could not be accessed.

brucebartlett

Onshape docs are very confusing for the unfamiliar to navigate especially when adding versions and tabs into the mix, we need improvement here as this is a turn off for using Onshape I have customers which just want their drawing saved out to Dropbox as Onshape just confuses them.

Sharing permission on tabs may help, but also might become more frustrating for people to get the information needed.

NeilCooke

In the meantime, if you select the tab you want them to see BEFORE opening the share dialog and adding their email, that is the tab that will open by default when they click the link (in case you didn't know). The other option would be to link the tabs you want into another Document (or move them temporarily to a new doc), then share that Doc. Of course, it would be easier if you could select which tabs to share....

brucebartlett

Thanks, @NeilCooke, I tend to try and share links to specific tabs after the global share to a person, this works but is not ideal as they still have access to the whole doc.  To limit this I have tried using another Document with links but these are hard work with the versions now involved and you can't get assemblies in at the top level maintain original structure without a move and moving temporarily gets real messy. I have also tried branching a doc, linking all parts to be shared on the new branch back to a version on the main branch then moving the new branched components to a new document for sharing, this works but is also hard work. 

"In the meantime" sounds like this is being worked on! I hope so because it is a real problem when trying to use the Onshape data. Ideally, for me, I want to be able to share a top-level assy and have my customer/manufacturer be able to see the product structure and version history of individual parts, assemblies and related drawings from this list or share just a specific part or drawing tab and nothing else. No Onshape documents involved apart from maybe an initial share, version history laid out per part/assembly/drawing in simple easy to manage PDM style system.  

tyler_pope

When we share a file for viewing/approval with a customer we always create a "View" document and copy in just the file and version that we want them to see. That way we can delete everything else from the doc so they don't get confused. Plus it won't change until we create a new version and update the "View" doc. 

We also prefer that they don't see the feature tree of the real file until they paid for the work. 

stephen_cuddihy

New to onshape, coming from solidworks.

Trying to set up a simple structure that myself and sister company can work around.

I am the main designer/administrator......the sister company being the main contractor quoting/pricing and in charge of manufacture. Generally (besides being involved in product design reviews) all they need is access to the final pdfs.

So echoing bryan above "It would be nice when sharing an Onshape document to share individual tabs with people. I was thinking you can either individually click on a tab and set permissions or hold shift and click on multiple tabs if you need to share more than one. When that individual would open on the share link either only the tabs shared would appeared or tabs that or not shared would be grayed out and could not be accessed".

Is this work in progress, and/or is there a simple work around I haven't yet worked out.

Steve

EvanReese

We do what others describe above. Just make a new document that's meant for sharing and link in the important stuff. In our case, since the end use is always just viewing and exporting, we tend to only bring in a top level assembly or two. I also made this video that we send to recipients in order to help people orient themselves at various levels of technical skill (anything from just moving around, up to measuring stuff, doing draft analysis, sections, viewing exploded views, etc). I personally like that it's partitioned in a separate document so I know nobody will ever accidentally be given access to something they shouldn't have and it only updates when I want it to. Sharing individual tabs sounds like it would get hairy really quickly.

tim_hess427

This may be taking things too far, but for read-only cases, what if it were possible to create links to specific parts, drawings, and assemblies? I envision being able to just right click on a part, click share, and generate a link to that part at that micro-version. It would a similar read-only view to what we have today, but the feature tree and other bodies in the part studio or assembly tab would be hidden. Bonus points would be given for the ability to add comments and markup. Essentially, this would automate what @Evan_Reese is doing manually by creating a new document. I haven't decided if this would be better or not...

Ohr_Zorea

Itim_hess427 said:

This may be taking things too far, but for read-only cases, what if it were possible to create links to specific parts, drawings, and assemblies? I envision being able to just right click on a part, click share, and generate a link to that part at that micro-version. It would a similar read-only view to what we have today, but the feature tree and other bodies in the part studio or assembly tab would be hidden. Bonus points would be given for the ability to add comments and markup. Essentially, this would automate what @Evan_Reese is doing manually by creating a new document. I haven't decided if this would be better or not...

I would very welcome that. My use case is not even outside the company, it's inside where everyone has access (even if it's only for viewing). I'm linking my designs in my documentations and i can't grab specific tabs, that's very confusing for my colleagues who are not necessarily familiar with Onshape.