Multi-sheet drawing template with views carried over

[sp8472]

Background:
- I've created a custom format file with the title block and some information there which is matched to parameters in my start part, in the &variable format.
- I then created a drawing template which uses this format, and adds in the three standard views, with auto-generated snap-lines, an isometric view in the corner, and preset values for view options such as hidden and phantom line display.

Problem: When I'm creating a drawing from a part, the four views only show up on sheet 1. If I insert a new sheet, the complete title block from the format file comes through just fine, but the four views are not automatically generated.

How can I instruct Pro-E to use the complete Sheet 1 template on every new sheet inserted afterward?

 

[looslib]

Pro/E has formats and templates and sheet 1 can be different than sheet 1+ formats.

Since you have views, you are using templates. Create a template file with the multiple sheets.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[sp8472]

But do I have to make the template X pages long then? Some of my drawing sets are 1 or 2 pages. Others can have 14 pages.
Do I need then need to have a template that is 14+ pages long? Isn't there some way to simply instruct Pro-E, "Use this template's formatting on all subsequent sheets."?

Most of what I know about formats and templates is self-learned; as best as I've interpreted it, formats seem to be better for setting things like title blocks, which can be linked to parameters in a part or assembly file.
A template appears to be required for adding views to a sheet. That way, each new sheet that is added will place the parts in the same place, the same orientation, with the same snap lines and view settings, every time.

So, if I need to create a 10+ page template, so be it. I was mainly hoping that there was some simple little checkbox somewhere for "Use template settings on all subsequent sheets."

 

[looslib]

I have a problem with understanding why you would need that many sheets with a standard set of views? The views in the template must be in the model file for them to populate the drawing. Most drawings have 2-4 standard views that every model uses and then auxillary views that are unique to a model. Unless you named the views the same in every model a template may end up with blank views.



"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[sp8472]

I sometimes do assembly drawings, with each component on a separate sheet.
For example, a sheet metal box my company makes will use 5 different components, each requiring fabrication.

Page 1 is the 3 views of the assembly, with an isometric view in the corner.
age 2 is component 1, with 3 views + iso. Page 3 is the layflat for component 2 (this does not require 3 views).
Page 4 is component 2, with 3 views + iso. Page 5 is the layflat for component 2.
Page 6 is a subassembly, with 3 views + iso. Pages 7-10 are its components.

That way I've got one complete drawing set, documenting the assembly and its components, and how to fabricate them.

Having the 3 views come up in each page would simply save some time, instead of having to place the views each time, add snap lines, set the view options, and so on. They would simply be there each time. And if I don't need extra views, such as for a layflat, then deleting extra views is much quicker than adding them - and the remaining view would already have the snaplines and view settings set, courtesy of the template.

 

[sp8472]

Huh, looks like there's no Edit option in this forum?...oh well.

Anyway, just a quick note to add, concerning the views in each part: I use a standard "start part" for all new parts and assemblies. It has saved front, left, right, top, bottom, and back views, as well as some typical parameter values to fill in, which then propagate over to the title block of the drawing sheets which show that particular model.

 

[looslib]

Are you sending the drawing package outside for manufacturing?
While I do see what you are saying, most CAD systems are designed around the mono-detail paradigm when it comes to drafting. They want a single file related to a single drawing file.

If you are not using a PDM system, then your method may be easier for the drawing, but still has the problem of how to handle the switching of models to the different sheets and the views from a template.

With a single model drawing, your templates would work fine for the assembly and all detail components. When it comes to storing them, just put them all in a single folder for that assembly. This would also make it easier if you change just one component, because you don't have to load a 10+ sheet drawing to make the new drawing rev.




"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[sp8472]

The parts may be made in-house, at another one of our own facilities, or sent out to be made at a fabrication company. Where each batch of parts is to be made depends on a combination of how many we have on-hand, how many are needed, and how soon they are needed.

Switching drawing models is fairly simple. Before adding the next sheet, I add the next model to the drawing, and then add the sheet. The new sheet then contains all information on that model.
And switching model "focus" just requires use of the Set Model drawing option.
If a drawing needs a dimension changed somewhere, either in a component or in the assembly, I'll change the model, and the drawing updates itself. Once we have an assembly that *works*, changing it isn't terribly likely; the next change would probably be something drastic, requiring a whole new model anyway.

Some other background: It's a small company. I'm pretty much THE Pro-E person here now. I keep all of my drawing and model files on our server; only those people who truly need to see the models can venture there - and that consists of a small crowd of only two other people who know anything about Pro-E.

For the "publicly accessible" product entries in our inventory system, I generate a PDF of the finished drawings, and that is the ONLY thing that is entered there. No .prt, .asm, or .drw file are available in the inventory system.
Version control has been an issue in the past, with people hitting up the inventory system, the server, and the engineering department for drawings. We'd end up with several versions of the same part, all slightly different, all flying around at the same time. Then suddenly parts fail to fit together, and no one knows why, because they match the drawing that's in hand at the time.
With the PDF in the inventory system, it's a one-stop-shop for drawings. One monolithic PDF file tells you how to make that "thing" in its entirety, and that's it.

Possibly not THE most efficient system, but it's a heck of a lot better than what was (or wasn't) in place before.

So, in any case, I might just manually make a 10 or 15 page template then. In the event I need more than that, well, it's probably not for a quick/simple project anyway.

 

[dgallup]

The problem with a multi sheet template is it will fill every sheet with the same views of the initial model when you create the drawing. This looks like something Pro/E should fix. Formats work correctly where you have a first sheet & second sheet. The second sheet usually has a simplified title block. The second sheet is used for every sheet after the first. Templates don't work that way. Send in an enhancement request.

You could easily make a mapkey to place 3 or four standard views. Adding snap lines and showing dimensions might take a bit more work. Maybe something for Pro/Program, I've never used it with drawings.