360 Docs - Revision Number and Suitability Status?

[darren.brimble]

Hi All,

Apologies, I assume this issue has come up before but I will ask the question anyway as I can't find a specific answer by searching the forum.

We have recently bought BIM 360 Docs to deliver a BIM Level 2 project, we are aware of it's limitations and will write any work-around information into our BIM Execution Plan. 

My question is with regard to variable information such as Suitability Status and Revision Numbers which are required to comply with PAS1192. We understand this is one of the above mentioned limitations and my understanding is as follows: Docs uses the title block information to define whether the drawing is a new version or new document therefore if we add the "variable"suitability code/revision status to the drawing title when a revision is uploaded the 360 Docs reads a different title and uploads as a new document.

I had assumed that the file name was the controlling factor, which would make more sense. If the file name was the same surely this would be the defining factor in whether the document was a new version or new document.

 As I can gather this leaves us with the following options:

1. Ignore the suitability status code and revision number on the drawing sheet when defining the drawing template and add the Suitability Status/Revision to the file name as the file name doesn't define the version. This may carry with it compliance issues but may be a work-around and may be less susceptible to human error.

2. Alternatively we add 2 drop down menus for the suitability status and revision however this could be open to manual error if the drop down choices don't match the drawing sheet. It could also be subject to unauthorised change.

Ideally an option to add additional fields when defining a title block would solve this issue. These would have to be a variable field type to avoid the issues as mentioned above. If a fix is in the pipeline, I think it is important that this is something that can be added manually, including the title of the field or of it is a pre-set field there should be more than one i.e. revision and suitability status.

Having said the above, to my knowledge this  can only be said of pdf drawings, if a model were uploaded there is no facility to capture a suitability code or revision automatically therefore drop down menus would be the only option in its current form.

 I'm sure this will be a key issue for many UK adopters.

Any feedback or correction on this matter would be welcome.

[mespaillat · Accepted solution]

Hello @darren.brimble,

Thank you for posting to our forums!

We really appreciate you taking the time to describe the issues/limitations one would face when using the Docs Plans folders to manage file versions/numbering, as it pertains to PAS1192 compliance standards. This post would be most beneficial in our BIM 360 Ideas forum. There are several posts from community members requesting enhancements and improvements to help Docs meet the requirements of PAS119. Some of these have already caught the attention of the Docs product team. The benefit of posting to BIM 360 Ideas is you can track the status of your idea as it gains Votes (voted up by community members) and more such as:

Idea Statuses
Our product development teams carefully review ideas on a regular basis and assign a status to each idea which helps show where an idea is on its way to being implemented.

Gathering Support: Default status for all newly submitted ideas. Ready to be voted and commented on, members are encouraged to socialize and gather support for their idea before our Product Managers review them for potential impact, feasibility, and strategic fit.

Under Review: Once the community has had a chance to comment and vote, some ideas will need a deeper dive to determine technical scoping, before potentially moving into a development backlog.

Future Consideration: While we’re generally a fan of these ideas, the timing isn’t quite right for development consideration. As such, they are being put on the back burner to be re-visited at a later date. Please continue to comment and add your support.

Accepted: Not only have these ideas been vetted by the community and our product teams, but we’ve also added them to our development backlog so that they can be considered for future inclusion into a given product or service. Please note: we cannot confirm that ideas with this status will be implemented and/or provide a time frame as to when they might be implemented.

Implemented: These ideas have been developed and is now live in an Autodesk product or service!

Archived: Due to a low strategic fit, technical feasibility, or the support of your peers, ideas with this status are not being considered for implementation at this time. Thank you for your contribution, every idea has merit. We always encourage you to rework and resubmit these ideas based on feedback received.

I recommend reviewing the following posts to see if you expand your idea with any that are applicable. If not, you are also welcome to post re-post this topic as your own idea/contribution for future enhancement consideration by the Docs team.

• https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/bim-360-ideas/downloading-versions-or-automatic-archiving/idi-p/72907...
• https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/bim-360-ideas/version-control-document-versioning-version-numbers-ver...
• https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/bim-360-ideas/bim-360-docs-file-status-categories/idi-p/7432993

I am sure you might have though of this already, but the versioning methods are different when you upload to the Docs Project Files folders. In cases where you are uploading to the Project Files folders, filenames are used to manage versioning.

I hope this response is helpful in getting your ideas in front of the right audience. If you found this response helpful, please click the ACCEPT AS SOLUTION button.

Thank you for choosing Autodesk.

Regards,

mespaillat.

Autodesk Support Team

[anil_mistry]

Hi @darren.brimble,

I'm just checking in to see if you need more help with this. Did the suggestion that @mespaillat provided work for you?

If so, please click Accept as Solution on the posts that helped you so others in the community can find them easily.

[s.odwyer]

Hi Darren,

I have used BIM360 docs as a CDE for BIM Level 2 projects.

The CDE has been audited by BSI and it achieved a BIM Level 2 certification from the same organisation. 

I had status codes all sorted along with revision numbers. 

Regards,

Sean

[darren.brimble]

Hi Sean,

Thanks for the feedback. How did you manage status codes and revision status if you don't mind me asking?

Also, how did you manage approval workflows?

Best Regards,

Darren.

[s.odwyer]

I used a custom folder structure and if files resided in these folders they were of an approval status. 

Also i had folders for each status of the project. Very efficient. 

Sean

[s.odwyer]

Want to organise a video call?

Sean

[darren.brimble]

Hi Sean,

We have done something similar with the folder structure. Seems the only way at the moment. Hopefully if they add a variable revision and other fields can be added this could be automatically captured from information on the title block. Are you using the Plans or Project Files area for your data storage?

Regards,

Darren.

[darren.brimble]

I'm a little snowed under at the moment, some other time perhaps though?

[s.odwyer]

Using the project folder for the minute on both US and EU servers.

Sean

[Chad-Smith]

---

@darren.brimble wrote:

Ideally an option to add additional fields when defining a title block would solve this issue. These would have to be a variable field type to avoid the issues as mentioned above.

---

I don't remember when this was added, but this is now a feature. You first need to add a new Attribute column to the folder, then you can add to the Layout Template. Last time I used this I couldn't add to an existing Layout Template, so you may need a new one.

And, to help conform a little more with the standard, I would like the existing 'Status' attribute to be renamed to 'Review Status', so we can then create a new 'Status' attribute for capturing this data from the PDF title block. I've opened a new Idea for this.

[s.odwyer]

This will only work in plans folder though through title block extraction.

There needs to be a prompter to align to PAS and ISO standards.

Sean

[darren.brimble]

Thanks for pointing that out Sean,

This appears to be a problem which isn't getting resolved. The project files area needs this functionality too as documents will require revision numbers and status codes also. 

The same is true of hyperlinking documents, apparently this can only be done in the plans area. 

Autodesk appear to just go quiet on these things which is going to lose them valuable customers if basic functionality issues aren't resolved.

Darren. 

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

We have come across the same issues, in the plans folder with both vectorised 2D model views, and uploaded PDF views.

- I understand that BIM 360 now offers OCR scan functionality with 2D PDF uploads, where we can add custom attributes to the file and scan these with OCR..

- Although, these attributes can only be viewed in the file folder, not in the drawing browser or drawing compare tools?

-With vectorised 2D model views extracted from a BIM 360 hosted RVT model, we can not define custom attributes at all, so we have no control over the Revision data.

- This is for us crucial, as we need all the functionality of the 'smart' 2D model views! (scale, naming, hyperlinking, snap etc)

- Also any other additional data cannot be extracted to create attributes (drawing status, level etc)

Thanks,

Jamie.