read only components /sub assemblies

[moyesboy]

We are two users here.
My colleague is working on some tooling for calibrating a device.
I want to work on a sub assembly of the device itself.

My colleague added an instance of the device to his assembly.

So when I open my sub assembly it says he has it. I ask him to make the assembly read only.
So now I can get write access to the assembly.
I open a part within my sub assembly.
WTF! he still has write access to that component even though he made the assembly that contains it read only!

Support tels me that when he makes the sub assembly read only it only releases the top level and he retains read access to the individual parts!
Support tell me that each individual component of each individual sub assembly must be made read only one at a time becuase there is no way to select a sub assembly and its parts, or even more than one part at a time and make them read only!!!

So we must fight over the parts. Whoever got them first must close their assembly, or delete the contested sub assembly to let the other have right access to any individual part as there is no reasonable way of releasing write access if your assemblies have even a simple level of complexity.

Surely this is wrong! support must be as dumb as me, and I am missing something?!

I know the best answer to this issue will be solidwrks workgroup PDM - but thats a whole extra layer of complexity - I'd like to work without that for now - there are only two of us and and we are right next to eachother!

 

[JMirisola]

I'm assuming you have 'Enable multi-user environment' selected under Tools->Options->System Options->Collaboration. If not, you should.
Next, if he were to suppress the needed sub-assembly, you could open it with read/write access. He could then unsuppress it with read only access.

That being said, PDM would be a whole lot less complex than what you have going on right now...

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
Design Manager/Senior Designer
M9 Defense
My Blog

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I take it you are using the Tools > Options > System Options > Collaboration > Enable multi-user environment option?

 

[CADFlyer]

Turn on:

Tools > Options > System Options > External References > "Open Referenced documents with Read-Only access"

 

[moyesboy]

'Enable multi-user environment' selected under Tools->Options->System Options->Collaboration

Yes

Tools > Options > System Options > External References > "Open Referenced documents with Read-Only access"

Done


Now when I open an assembly the parts are read only (while I have write access to the assmbly). Thats good.

If I open a part in context it warns me that it will gain write access, unless I choose to open a read only copy. Thats good.

If I click on a part within the assembly and open it not in context, it opens a read only copy without warning me (unless I happen to notice on the top line, which is often truncated so it doesn't show) Thats bad.

When you select a sub assembly to which you have write access and make it read only, you release the sub assembly but retain write access to its constituent parts. Thats a very strange way to function.

Its almost as if they made this functionality counter-intuitive to sell PDM!

 

[NL8]

To me that function isn't counterintuitive at all, it is based on Windows standard read/write rules, where every file is its own discrete entity in reference to Read/Write access. PDM functions no differently when taking/releasing ownership, the only difference being that there is a dialog for taking/releasing ownership of children, which is what you are looking for. Perhaps something in a macro form would give you the functionality that you are looking for.

Joe Hasik,
CSWP/SMTL/MTLS
SW 10 x64, SP 3.0
Dell T3400
Intel Core2 Quad
Q6700 2.66 GHz
3.93 GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4600