Improvements to Onshape - August 23rd, 2016

There's a ton of really cool stuff in this latest update! Please watch the videos and then take a moment to try out these new features and improvements and let us know what you think!

FILTERS, LABELS, AND LIKES 

The Document filters on the left-hand side of the Documents page can now be used to filter your search results, labels can be applied by dragging and dropping Documents, and Public Documents can now be rated and sorted based on the number of likes, links, and copies.

http://onshape.wistia.com/medias/2aacrtbgsg?embedType=async&videoWidth=640

PROFILE IMAGE AND TEAM/COMPANY SEARCH

You can now add an image as part of your profile. This image will display anywhere your name or social cue icon would normally appear - in the top right corner of Onshape, in Teams and Companies, in the Share dialog, and in Comments. A new search field has also been added to Teams and Companies to locate a user faster.

http://onshape.wistia.com/medias/qln42idqij?embedType=async&videoWidth=640

TAB FOLDERS

You can now organize your tabs in your Documents using folders.

http://onshape.wistia.com/medias/ybof27ee3w?embedType=async&videoWidth=640

VERSIONS FROM HISTORY AND VERSION COMMENTS

You can now create a Version from any point in history without having to restore that history point first. You can also create intermediate Versions before existing Versions. Comments can also now be added to existing Versions to document your designs better.

http://onshape.wistia.com/medias/1ji88glb7i?embedType=async&videoWidth=640

FEATURE DIAGNOSTICS

Onshape will now highlight on screen where a feature is failing to help you diagnose what's wrong.

http://onshape.wistia.com/medias/cwxbf3c5bw?embedType=async&videoWidth=640

RESTORE SKETCH

If you press the X button on the sketch dialog to cancel the sketch without saving any changes, a new popup message appears at the top of the Document for 10 seconds, giving you the opportunity to restore the changes to the sketch if you pressed the X button by mistake. Once the message disappears, the sketch will remain as it is.

DRAWINGS

• Flip dimension arrows - arrows on linear, radial and angular dimensions can now be flipped by clicking the orange dot on the arrowhead.
  
  
  
• Explode notes - you can now convert notes on Drawings into Polylines. This is useful when you need to export a drawing to older 2D CAD software or machine controllers that do not support note entities. Select a note, right-click and select Explode.
  
  
• Link dimension property to Drawing value - by default all dimension properties, like the number of decimal places, are linked to the values set in the Properties dialog unless you manually override them with some other value. After a manual modification, you can now link a dimension back to the value in the Properties dialog and any subsequent changes to those values will update the dimension. Simply select the value with (Drawing) next to it to link the value back to the Properties dialog.
  
  
  
• Export Drawing templates - you can now export an Onshape Drawing in DWT format to quickly create a custom drawing template. Sheet 1 of your drawing will be the primary template and Sheet 2 will be the continuation template. Right-click the Drawing tab and select Export.
  
  
  
• Images in templates and exported DWG files - images added to a drawing are now included when exporting to DWG or DWT format.
  
• Feet and inches in custom templates - you can now create new custom drawing templates in feet and inches.
  
  
  

FEATURESCRIPT

• Collaborator name added to cursor - whenever another person makes an edit in a FeatureScript tab, a small popup will appear next to the cursor with the name of the person making the edits. This makes it much easier to determine which user is making edits if there are several people working on the code at the same time.
  
  

• Remember previous search terms - in the search tool within a FeatureScript tab, a drop down arrow next to the search box lists all previous search terms, making it easier to find strings of text over and over again.
  
  

• New queries:
       qFarthestAlong - a query for the entity farthest along a direction in world space.
       qParallelPlanes - a query for all planar face entities parallel to a plane or normal to a vector.
       qWithinRadius - a query for all entities within a specified radius from a point.
       qIntersectsLine - a query for all entities touching a specified infinite line.
  
  

IMPORT FEEDBACK

Several improvements have been made to the import and notification dialogs, including the import tab in the Document, to make it easier to determine whether a file has been translated on import. Imported zip files now list their contents and guidance notes are provided to explain which formats are supported.

ENVIRONMENT PROFILE SETTINGS

You can now store hardware-specific graphics preferences for different combinations of computer and browser. This is useful if you have a computer with a high pixel density display and you want to use a lower resolution for better performance. You can let Onshape determine the best setting for you or you can force or disable high pixel density support. Go to Manage Account, then Preferences.

We hope you enjoy using these new features - as always, all feedback is welcome. Waiting for a particular new feature? Please use the Feedback tool to request it - we're already hard at work on the next round of updates for you!

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.