Automatic updating of outgoing CAD folders

One of the ENGDAT Workstation functions is the ability to automatically update outgoing CAD folders with the latest version of any CAD drawings. This is done using the Copy and Refresh Folder action.

This action will produce a newly created copy of the selected folder, with a newly generated exchange reference and creation date, including all of the exchanged files contained in the original folder. The difference between this and the standard copy action is that all files contained in the folder are sent from their original locations to the server.

For an example of where this action is useful, consider the scenario where revisions of the same CAD drawing are being sent to a trading partner. The CAD drawing is created and added to a new ENGDAT folder. When the folder is saved, the CAD drawing file is copied and sent from the ENGDAT Workstation client to the Server and stored by the Server. The folder containing the first version of the CAD drawing is then scheduled and transmitted. At a later date, revisions are made to the CAD drawing and the new version must be sent to the trading partner in a new folder.

Rather than creating a brand new folder for the revised CAD drawing and entering all of the details again, the existing folder can be copied and any necessary changes to the ENGDAT message details can be made. Using the standard folder copy action would result in a new folder being created that contained a copy of the original CAD file before the revisions were made, since the file is copied from the version stored by the Server. Using the ‘Copy and Refresh Folder’ action, the folder is copied in the same way, but the updated CAD file is re-sent to the server from its original location. This results in the creation of a new copy of the folder, containing the updated CAD file.

ENGDAT Whitepaper

For further information on the ENGDAT message, please see our ENGDAT Whitepaper