Hi,
In our plot sheets, we have a line of text for the revision number, i.e. 'B'
Waht I'd like to do is to have this revision letter added to the PDF file names, i.e File_name_B.PDF
How can this be done? using V8 2004 and we use PDF.plt driver
Many thanks in advance!
Would appreciate some help on this please...
Bentley, please help.
TIA
Phil Chouinard:it appears that you are looking for is something that seems pretty specific to your processes and workflows
Phil,
I can´t see anything specific in this issue. This is a very usual task we all have to do everytime we issue a new revision.
Thinking about something that is general enough to be implemented by Bentley, IMO a tool for creating file names and/or model names according to ISO 13567 Technical Product Documentation - Organizing and naming of layers for CAD would be of great help.
For those not familiar with ISO 13567, the name of the ISO is somehow misleading. The ISO declares various facets of information which can be incorporated in a combination of file names and layer names. The AEC (UK) CAD Standard is an exemplary implementiation of ISO 13567. You can download the AEC (UK) Advanced Layer Naming Handbook v2.4 and the AEC (UK) Model File Naming Handbook v2.4 from the documents section of the AEC (UK) CAD & BIM Standards Site.
http://www.aec-uk.org/
Especially if the information needed to create the filenames would automatically be written to the document information of the DGN file. Thus we would create not only the desired filenames easily but moreover create valuable Metadata to for use in document management. Moreover this information can be queried by MicroStation fields, so that it can be used in title blocks too. Apparently such a tool thus would create lots of value.
As you know, especially Bentley´s beloved owner operator clients use to enforce standards in this respect. Most of these standards are variations of ISO 13567. Enabling us to comply with these standards easily, would certainly help to reduce the need for tedious work and unnecessary unproductive cost.
HTH
Gunnar
I should have provided more reason for my reply, so my apologies for that. That is useful information (FWIW, I am aware of the standards you refer to), but with all due respect, my reply did not say that there were no "standards" or that this was not a "usual task". It was simply in how such information could exist and how any organization might implement it and expect it to be passed through on output. You bring up one a couple of ways that it could be implemented, but that could also be done through any number of other very varying things (e.g. tags, XML fragments, database, plain text, design history, "other" applications, configuration variables, etc.) Also, how that information gets through (e.g. filenames, "stamps" on output, archives, etc.) could also vary. That is all where the "pretty specific to your processes and workflows" comes in. Some of this is possible today, but trying to account for all the different ways that it could be done is something that probably requires the customization that I inferred.
But, this is not to stifle ideas or discussions on the topic. What do others think about this? What do you do to "track" revisions?
I agree that in detail all standards vary. This is why I referred to ISO 13567. Most CAD standards I know rely on this world wide standard, so this is a good starting point. The point is, that ISO 13567 describes a faceted classification. The variation in the CAD standards is 1. which facets are used 2. which notation is derived from the choosen facets.
Therefore a tool relying on the facets of ISO 13567 could easily manage inumerable different file naming standards when the tables for each facet are configurable by the user (administrator). This is what ISO 13567 for good or for bad allows.
I agree that there are various ways to implement such functionality. However IMHO the range of obvious solutions is not as broad as you indicated.
Obiviously tags and fields have a great potentential to represent the input, because they have a history of serving such purposes.
Not to create metadata for the designfile for document management purposes out of the necessary user input would waste a great chance. A filename has to be specified, but most users miss the opportunity to facilitate document retrieval by creating a set of metadata. This could be done on the fly by a tool like that.
What you speak of is all true -- having been involved with developing, implementing, and "enforcing" standards, it sounds a lot easier than it is. I once heard a statement about standards, they are like toothbrushes... everyone has one, but most do not want to use anyone else's :) Seriously, we are all about standards -- we are involved with a number of them and encourage their use. We have even implemented tools in MicroStation to help in that cause (see this blog post for more regarding that).
Another "twist" in all this is the revision "format" itself. If you go to Help > Contents and search for MS_DESIGN_HISTORY_REVISION_NUMBER_FORMAT, I believe you will see what I mean.
PS - there are other ways to "track" revisions, too, that I did not specify previously. The V8 DGN file has a revision file property and ProjectWise is quite customizable in that aspect.