Best practice for documenting design changes in ORD

Hi all,

I'm reaching out to the community at large to please share some inisght or practical experience with documenting design changes in ORD. We're having some issues on a current major project where the design isn't behaving as it should between corridor re-processing and it is becoming increasingly difficult to track down if it is due to unintentional changes by the designer or whether it is an issue with ORD or the templates.

A previous thread I posted (https://communities.bentley.com/products/road___site_design/f/geopak-inroads-mx-openroads-forum/215324/ord-2020-r3-output-log-similar-to-mx-output-window/655747#655747) was the start of this where we were trying to find the way to track the processing done by ORD but the answers I received confirmed what we thought after we had first searched ORD quite extensively ourselves.

When we used MX, we would document any changes made in the header part of the relevant input file. This changelog was commented out and grew as the input file grew, but it was useful to see who did what when and where in the input file so we could start there to identify any obvious errors (typo's, use of incorrect strings, etc.). The benefit of this method was that the changelog was contained within the input file itself and was part of the design package so it was relatively simple to keep up to date. An example is provided below:

What I'd like to know is how do you all track your design changes? Design History, direct text table or text elements in DGN file, separate Microsoft Word or Excel register? Personally I'm a bit reluctant to use an external file or process as it just adds an extra layer of activity to an already constrained team, so ideally something inside the DGN or within MicroStation would be advantageous. In saying that, if the general consensus is to use an external file or mechanism then I guess we must just bit the bullet and get moving on it!

We are running OpenRoads Designer CONNECT Edition - 2020 Release 3 and we are not using ProjectWise.

Any advice or insight will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Chris

Parents
  • We document items such as what you show here as part of a project log Word or Excel file. Using the external file means that the person who initiates the design change (most often the design engineer or project manager) is responsible for documentation, not the CAD person (QC/QA procedures still apply!!). It also allows for the tracking of changes and requests from the client that may not fit nicely into an input file, as well as a more verbose description for the situations that need it.

    You could certainly track the sort of thing you are doing as text within the design file itself. Create a "Documentation" level with the Plot attribute turned OFF, and add the appropriate text whenever a change is made.

    I would not personally recommend Design history, but I admittedly have little experience with it. It does seem to increase file size as every edit to the drawing is saved into the design history database. There may be great advantages to it that I am unaware of.

    MaryB

    Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918
    Power InRoads 08.11.09.918
    OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2

        

Reply
  • We document items such as what you show here as part of a project log Word or Excel file. Using the external file means that the person who initiates the design change (most often the design engineer or project manager) is responsible for documentation, not the CAD person (QC/QA procedures still apply!!). It also allows for the tracking of changes and requests from the client that may not fit nicely into an input file, as well as a more verbose description for the situations that need it.

    You could certainly track the sort of thing you are doing as text within the design file itself. Create a "Documentation" level with the Plot attribute turned OFF, and add the appropriate text whenever a change is made.

    I would not personally recommend Design history, but I admittedly have little experience with it. It does seem to increase file size as every edit to the drawing is saved into the design history database. There may be great advantages to it that I am unaware of.

    MaryB

    Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918
    Power InRoads 08.11.09.918
    OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2

        

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