Drawiing Transfer Procedures

Jeremy Cedotal

 My company is having a difficult time keeping up with the most up-to-date set of drawings.  Is there a way in Bricscad to set up a digital "something" like a signature or watermark?

I need to a way identify that the right drawing are being modified.

thx in advance

Scott McKenzie

I don't think that there is a built in function for this, however, one solution may be subversion management; I have used TortiseSVN in the past, it is pretty simple.  SVN systems work great when it comes to drawings and making revisions to them; when you have completed the changes required for a specific drawing revision (for pricing, for construction, etc.) you can then check the drawing into the system and release your file lock.  At any time a user can go back and view the file's previous versions by picking the required version from a drop down list -  essentially one file in the SVN system now holds all previous versions.

The basic idea is that in order to edit a file you first need to reserve and lock it out - this prevents accidental changes and also logs changes so you now have accountability.  When you reserve a file it is copied to your local computer and you can then open it and change it until the cows come home, saving your progress as you please.  When you are done making your changes you check your changes into the database thereby making this new version available to all users on your system. It is important to note that saving the file is not checking it in; if another user needs to see your progress while editing a file you must check it into the system, upon refreshing their view of the database, the viewer will now be able to see your progress (and as always, all other previous versions of the same file).

Check out the TortiseSVN website for more info: http://tortoisesvn.net/