Using Sheet Sets for Revisions tags

[stanovb]

How do you use sheet sets for controlling revisions? I am mostly referring to having text in the titleblock not so much the deltas & the clouds. Do i have to create a new custom property? When i use fields & i select the revision number it works but if i have multiple revisions the all change to whatever current setting is in the sheet set properties. How do most people deal with this? i know some people use attributes but what are the advantages to that versus having text to copy to whatever sheet that you want the revision to be on?

[BlackBox_]

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@stanovb wrote:

How do you use sheet sets for controlling revisions? I am mostly referring to having text in the titleblock not so much the deltas & the clouds. Do i have to create a new custom property? When i use fields & i select the revision number it works but if i have multiple revisions the all change to whatever current setting is in the sheet set properties. How do most people deal with this? i know some people use attributes but what are the advantages to that versus having text to copy to whatever sheet that you want the revision to be on?

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We use an attributed title block that gets inserted into each exhibit, or sheet document's Layout, which is linked via FIELD to both Sheet Set, and Sheet level Properties... Client & Project level information being the former, and sheet-specific content (including revisions) being the latter.

The only real disadvantage being that there's a title block inserted into each-and-every-single exhibit, or sheet drawing (some prefer to XREF). This only presents an issue if you're relpacing a legacy title block with a new, perhaps completely different title block... Which the replacement process could be automated anyway, so to my developer mindset, isn't really an issue.

The advantage, is that I can add or modify any title block information, on any sheet in your plan set from Sheet Set Manager (SSM) without having to even open a single drawing, and then print/publish... The actual revision cloud & annotation(s) (if needed) still require that you open the drawing at least once, but the time savings otherwise is well worth it, IMO. 

It just requires some appropriate planning up-front, both in terms of your title block content (i.e., what is Sheet Set, and what is Sheet-specific), and then of course configuring the appropriate Custom Sheet Set, and Custom Sheet Properties within your project's .DST (and perhaps create one to use as template for all future projects).

SSM is old, and is only really good at a few things... But those few things are done well... I'd still like to see some enhancements made, but we're probably more likely to see that by coding the necessary plug-ins ourselves.

... My $0.02

Cheers

[stanovb]

We use a lisp routine that enters the text into the titleblock drawing file which is an xref. I am using the sheet set manager but i am still learning how to use it. i have a template all set up but when it comes to revisions im not sure what the best way to go about it is. I tried to use the sheet properties in the sheet set manager to add a revision & associate a field with it but when i have multiple revisions it doesnt work. I saw where some people will use attributes & copy them from sheet to sheet but it seems this no better than text. Sometimes i may only want the sheets that changed to have the revision text in the titleblock so i do that in the actual plan drawing instead of the titlesheet file. 

[BlackBox_]

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@stanovb wrote:

We use a lisp routine that enters the text into the titleblock drawing file which is an xref. I am using the sheet set manager but i am still learning how to use it. i have a template all set up but when it comes to revisions im not sure what the best way to go about it is. I tried to use the sheet properties in the sheet set manager to add a revision & associate a field with it but when i have multiple revisions it doesnt work. I saw where some people will use attributes & copy them from sheet to sheet but it seems this no better than text. Sometimes i may only want the sheets that changed to have the revision text in the titleblock so i do that in the actual plan drawing instead of the titlesheet file. 

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SSM's custom Sheet Properties precludes the need to open a drawing to either edit, or copy in, your various revisions notes.

The implied task, being that you'd first need to setup the appropriate attributed title block to break out each revision (and each component of your revision such as: revision number/letter, date, description, and by, etc.) in addition to the corresponding SSM Sheet Properties for same, and then link them by Fields.

Only then, can you use SSM to manage your title block revisions without opening a single drawing.

Hope that make (more?) sense.

Cheers

[stanovb]

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@BlackBox_ wrote:

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@stanovb wrote:

We use a lisp routine that enters the text into the titleblock drawing file which is an xref. I am using the sheet set manager but i am still learning how to use it. i have a template all set up but when it comes to revisions im not sure what the best way to go about it is. I tried to use the sheet properties in the sheet set manager to add a revision & associate a field with it but when i have multiple revisions it doesnt work. I saw where some people will use attributes & copy them from sheet to sheet but it seems this no better than text. Sometimes i may only want the sheets that changed to have the revision text in the titleblock so i do that in the actual plan drawing instead of the titlesheet file. 

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SSM's custom Sheet Properties precludes the need to open a drawing to either edit, or copy in, your various revisions notes.

The implied task, being that you'd first need to setup the appropriate attributed title block to break out each revision (and each component of your revision such as: revision number/letter, date, description, and by, etc.) in addition to the corresponding SSM Sheet Properties for same, and then link them by Fields.

Only then, can you use SSM to manage your title block revisions without opening a single drawing.

Hope that make (more?) sense.

Cheers

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We would typically only need 3 or 4 revisions on most projects. So i would create like 5 different attributes on the titleblock for each component of the revision. 5 seperate attributes for the revision number, 5 seperate attributes for the revision date,description, issued by, etc? Then i would what go to my sheet set manager & right click on the sheet & select on sheet properties or would i create custom properties for all of these components?

[BlackBox_]

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@stanovb wrote:

We would typically only need 3 or 4 revisions on most projects. So i would create like 5 different attributes on the titleblock for each component of the revision. 5 seperate attributes for the revision number, 5 seperate attributes for the revision date,description, issued by, etc? Then i would what go to my sheet set manager & right click on the sheet & select on sheet properties or would i create custom properties for all of these components?

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 Correct, where == means is linked to by FIELD:

Rev1Number Attribute == Rev1Number Custom Sheet Property

Rev1Date Attribute == Rev1Date  Custom Sheet Property

Rev1Description Attribute == Rev1Description  Custom Sheet Property

Rev1IssuedBy Attribute == Rev1IssuedBy Custom Sheet Property

Rev2Number Attribute == Rev2Number Custom Sheet Property
Rev2Date Attribute == Rev2Date Custom Sheet Property
Rev2Description Attribute == Rev2Description Custom Sheet Property
Rev2IssuedBy Attribute == Rev2IssuedBy Custom Sheet Property

Rev3Number Attribute == Rev3Number Custom Sheet Property
Rev3Date Attribute == Rev3Date Custom Sheet Property
Rev3Description Attribute == Rev3Description Custom Sheet Property
Rev3IssuedBy Attribute == Rev3IssuedBy Custom Sheet Property

Rev4Number Attribute == Rev4Number Custom Sheet Property
Rev4Date Attribute == Rev4Date Custom Sheet Property
Rev4Description Attribute == Rev4Description Custom Sheet Property
Rev4IssuedBy Attribute == Rev4IssuedBy Custom Sheet Property

Rev5Number Attribute == Rev5Number Custom Sheet Property
Rev5Date Attribute == Rev5Date Custom Sheet Property
Rev5Description Attribute == Rev5Description Custom Sheet Property
Rev5IssuedBy Attribute == Rev5IssuedBy Custom Sheet Property

[sovby]

Thanks for the help. How would i set the attributes up to not plot until i need them to plot? I would like to have this setup before hand so all i would have to do is update the components in sheet set manager. In other words i dont want them to plot until i have a revision

[BlackBox_ · Accepted solution]

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@sovby wrote:

Thanks for the help. How would i set the attributes up to not plot until i need them to plot? I would like to have this setup before hand so all i would have to do is update the components in sheet set manager. In other words i dont want them to plot until i have a revision

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In SSM Custom Properties, use %% (two percent symbols) as the default value; this will allow your title block's attribute's Field value(s) to be 'transparent' until user replaces with another value.

Cheers

[stanovb]

Looks like its working now. I had to do it a little differently since my titlesheet is an xref. I made a revision block with attributes which is copied from layout to layout & is linked with the sheet custom property. There appears to be a line where the attribute is but it doesnt plot. Is that normal?

[BlackBox_]

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@stanovb wrote:

Looks like its working now. I had to do it a little differently since my titlesheet is an xref. I made a revision block with attributes which is copied from layout to layout & is linked with the sheet custom property.

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Glad to hear that you got it sorted. :beer:

When dealing with Sheet Set, and Sheet level SSM content, one ends up needing to insert the appropriate attributed block(s) into PaperSpace anyway, which is why many choose to do so by way of the entire title block (so it's all in one object)... However, to XREF the title block line work, and insert the attributed block(s) is perfectly fine in order to acheive the desired outcome.

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@stanovb wrote:

There appears to be a line where the attribute is but it doesnt plot. Is that normal?

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I'm not sure that I know what 'line' you mean, could you attach a screenshot?

Cheers

[stanovb]

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@BlackBox_ wrote:

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@stanovb wrote:

Looks like its working now. I had to do it a little differently since my titlesheet is an xref. I made a revision block with attributes which is copied from layout to layout & is linked with the sheet custom property.

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Glad to hear that you got it sorted. :beer:

When dealing with Sheet Set, and Sheet level SSM content, one ends up needing to insert the appropriate attributed block(s) into PaperSpace anyway, which is why many choose to do so by way of the entire title block (so it's all in one object)... However, to XREF the title block line work, and insert the attributed block(s) is perfectly fine in order to acheive the desired outcome.

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@stanovb wrote:

There appears to be a line where the attribute is but it doesnt plot. Is that normal?

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I'm not sure that I know what 'line' you mean, could you attach a screenshot?

Cheers

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When my block is inserted there is a line that appears where each attribute is located. Here is a screenshot & i will post the block too

[BlackBox_]

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@stanovb wrote:

When my block is inserted there is a line that appears where each attribute is located. Here is a screenshot & i will post the block too

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No worries; that just indicates that there is a Field there, that's all... Consider the FIELDDISPLAY system variable if you want to disable the gray Field backgrounds.

Cheers

[stanovb]

Ok, Thanks. Im used to seeing the shade for the field displays. I perfer to leave that turned on so people know there is a field there. I guess maybe it looks differently with block attributes.

[BlackBox_]

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@stanovb wrote:

Ok, Thanks. Im used to seeing the shade for the field displays. I perfer to leave that turned on so people know there is a field there. I guess maybe it looks differently with block attributes.

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Block attributes only display their Field derived value, in this instance we'd consider them to be 'empty', but in reality they're still populated, just using %% (which isn't displayed)... Otherwise you get a group of #### instead.

Cheers