Revision Control

[LesPaul82]

'm having a problem with revisions. We only use one letter A-Z for our revisions and a new drawing doesn't have a revision letter. In our PDMWorks options I use a '-' as the revision before 'A'. I also use '+' for the Working Copy. A drawing can get checked in multiple times before it's complete as the lifecycle 'In Progress' and the revision level shows up as '-+'. When this drawing is finished, it gets checked in and the lifecycle gets changed to 'Approved' but the revision level stays at '-+'. That seems to be OK but once a revision is done later on and checked back in at 'A', you can no longer view the original copy '-+' anymore.

If this doesn't make any sense I can clarify.

Thanks in advance.

Sean
Carmanah Design and Manufacturing
Vancouver, BC, Canada

http://www.carmanahdesign.com

 

[CADFlyer]

We have a similar setup, but the way i understand it the "+" for working copy gets added to the last released Rev level...so the working copy between rev B & C would be B++.
That being said, we use "PR" (Prototype) before it gets to "-" status followed by 01,02,03 etc...

We have our PDM Lifecycle set the 'Approved' status to Primary rev status only, so when you release a drawing the working copy "+" goes away

 

[ctopher]

When you open the file from PDMWorks, you should have the option to select which revision you want to open.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Apr 30, 2008)

 

[LesPaul82]

We also have our 'Approved' status to Primary only but the '+' doesn't go away.

I can pick which Rev to open but it only gives me the option of Rev 'A' or 'B'. Rev '-' is no longer available. (I've attached a screenshot)

Sean
Carmanah Design and Manufacturing
Vancouver, BC, Canada
www.carmanahdesign.com

 

[cadmgr2004]

It is my understanding that working copies are not preserved once the revision is incremented to the next revision level. This applies to all working copies, whether the revision is '-+', 01+, A+, A.01+, etc. For example: Current revision is A. Change is made and part is checked in at A+. Approval is obtained to release the part, which typically would be incremented to B. At that point revisions A and B could be loaded, but not revision A+.

An important side note: Because working copies are not preserved, it is impossible to rollback to a working copy. For example: Current revision is C and you wish to rollback to an earlier revision. You can rollback to A or B but not A+ or B+.

Colleagues, please correct if I am mistaken.
Marc

 

[fcsuper]

Are you working from a list of Revisions for your scheme where - is the first?

(Also, not your question, but just a reminder not to use the letters I, O, Q, S, X and Z for revisions or any identifiers on drawings per ASME Y14.35, because even though we live a the digital world, these characters (except for X) can still be confused with numbers and can be transcribed incorrectly at any human step...and X just looks like an unfilled field.)

Matt Lorono
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group
and Mechnical.Engineering Yahoo! Group

 

[LesPaul82]

cadmgr2004: I'm fine with working copies not being preserved. I just need to be able to go back and see all major Rev levels. (-,A,B....) I can go back and look at A and anything after. My problem is going back to earlier than A. The first Approved first version '-' is the one that I can't see.

fcsuper: Yes I'm working from a list of Revisions and '-' is the first. I've attached a few screenshots of our VaultAdmin settings. The two lifecycle screens shows the two status' I'm talking about. 'In Progress' is where the working copy should be used but once it moves to 'Approved' then it should have it's first Rev level '-'.

Sean
Carmanah Design and Manufacturing
Vancouver, BC, Canada
www.carmanahdesign.com