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Common Data Environment - manual filing


Christiaan

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I'm interested in people's experiences implementing a CDE on Dropbox or similar with a manual folder/filing system. As opposed to a dedicated EDMS (Electronic Document Management System).

 

I'm setting up a CDE on Dropbox for a medium sized project and slowly getting my head around the practicalities of manual drawing issue procedures and filing, compliant with ISO 19650. In the past we've typically used a "Current Issue" folder for latest drawings and generally a "Superseded" for everything else. 

 

ISO 19650 on the other hand includes:

  • Work in Progress - drawings/data in progress, accessible only to relevant task team/discipline.
  • Shared Folder - verified drawings/data suitable for sharing with other design team members or approved for sharing with the client. (aka preliminary documents)
  • Published - co-ordinated drawings/data suitable for use by the wider project team. (aka contractual documents)
  • Archive - an archive of the above folders at each milestone (in the UK for example, the RIBA Work Stages)
  1. This works well for data integrity processes but how do we make it straightforward for somebody just looking for the latest drawings?
  2. Why have a Work in Progress area on the CDE for each task team/discipline if that area is only accessible by that task team/discipline?
  3. How do you deal with file/folder names and revision and suitability (status) codes when using a manual folder process on the likes of Dropbox, which doesn't have the metadata features of a dedicated CDE system?
Edited by Christiaan
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  • 2 years later...

After some trial and error I think I've perfected a manual filing system for a CDE in line with ISO 19650.

 

I started off with this folder hierarchy:

  • 010-Design_Team
    • Architecture
      • 01-Document_Register
      • 02-Shared
        • Model
        • Plans
          • yyyymmdd_1000_to_2000_S3_P01
        • Sections
        • Elevations
        • Schedules
        • Details
      • 03-Published
        • Sections
        • Model
        • Plans
          • yyyymmdd_1000_to_2000_A4_C01
        • Sections
        • Elevations
        • Schedules
        • Details
      • 04-Archive

Quick to issue documents but difficult to retrieve documents. Checking the Document Register was critical and latest drawings might located in multiple dated folders.

 

So I added a "Current Issue" folder:

  • 010-Design_Team
    • Architecture
      • 01-Document_Register
      • 02-Shared
        • Model
        • Plans
          • 01_Current_Issue
          • yyyymmdd_1000_to_2000_S3_P01
        • Sections
        • Elevations
        • Schedules
        • Details
      • 03-Published
        • Sections
        • Model
        • Plans
          • 01_Current_Issue
          • yyyymmdd_1000_to_2000_A4_C01
        • Sections
        • Elevations
        • Schedules
        • Details
      • 04-Archive

This made retrieval of the latest drawings easier but it also meant there were two "Current Issue" folders. One for Shared (preliminary) documents and one for Published (contractual) documents. This was good in the sense that it keeps preliminary and contractual documentation well separated (which is one of the main principles of the standard) but it also meant that somebody could be looking at a document that they think is the latest version and it's not.

 

So I flipped the folder hierarchy around:

  • 010-Design_Team
    • Architecture
      • Model
      • Plans
        • 01_Current_Issue
        • 02_Shared
          • yyyymmdd_1000_to_2000_S3_P01
        • 03_Published
          • yyyymmdd_1000_to_2000_A4_C01
      • Sections
      • Elevations
      • Schedules
      • Details
    • Archive

This doesn't have quite as good separation between Shared and Published (a document in Current Issue might be preliminary or contractual) but it's a good compromise and ensures the viewer is looking at the very latest drawing if they're in Current Issue, it removes a level of hierarchy (one less click), and makes it easy to check Shared and Published drawing issues without leaving the drawing set parent folder.

Edited by Christiaan
  • Like 1
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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hello @Christiaan Reminder that when dealing with project files .vwxp that you do not move those around and/or copy them using the Finder or File Explorer.  If you want to make copies be sure to use Save a Copy As in Vectorworks. 

 

Project files have internal IDs in them to keep project sharing connected to them properly and moving the file (changing its file path) without revving this ID with VW can be problematic.

 

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Yes good point, thanks Dave. In the case of the manual filing CDE described never keep Vectorworks files on them. Only PDF, DWG & IFC (and the occasional RVT file).

 

We keep our Vectorworks files internal only in the following locations:

 

  • [company files]
    • Projects
      • [projectname]
        • 010-Design
          • 01-Work-in-Progress
            • XXX-B001-XX-XX-DR-A_Model.vwxp

And it stays there throughout the duration of the project. Each time we issue a new or revised drawing or model we then make a copy of that VWXP file in one of these locations as a VWX file:

  • Projects
    • [projectname]
      • 010-Design
        • 01-Work-in-Progress
        • 02-Shared
          • CAD_Files
            • yyyymmdd
              • XXX-B001-XX-XX-M-A_Model.vwx Copy
        • 03-Published
          • CAD_Files
            • yyyymmdd
              • XXX-B001-XX-XX-M-A_Model.vwx Copy
Edited by Christiaan
  • Like 1
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On 10/23/2019 at 12:02 PM, Christiaan said:
  1. This works well for data integrity processes but how do we make it straightforward for somebody just looking for the latest drawings?
  2. Why have a Work in Progress area on the CDE for each task team/discipline if that area is only accessible by that task team/discipline?
  3. How do you deal with file/folder names and revision and suitability (status) codes when using a manual folder process on the likes of Dropbox, which doesn't have the metadata features of a dedicated CDE system?

I can also answer my original questions now:

 

1. This folder hierarchy deals question 1:

  • 010-Design_Team
    • Architecture
      • Model
      • Plans
        • 01_Current_Issue
        • 02_Shared
          • yyyymmdd_1000_to_2000_S3_P01
        • 03_Published
          • yyyymmdd_1000_to_2000_A4_C01
      • Sections
      • Elevations
      • Schedules
      • Details
    • Archive

2. The short answer—with a manual filing system—is don't bother. Work in Progress is better off on the local volumes of each consultant.

 

3. You can deal with status and revision data in one of two ways. One is to append them to the file name:

  • Plans
    • 02_Shared
      • yyyymmdd_1000_to_2000
        • XXX-B001-XX-XX-D-A-1000-S3_P01.pdf
        • XXX-B001-XX-XX-D-A-2000-S3_P01.pdf

The other is to issue documents in batches with the same revision code and status and then append the status code and revision to the enclosing folder:

  • Plans
    • 02_Shared
      • yyyymmdd_1000_to_2000_S3_P01
        • XXX-B001-XX-XX-D-A-1000.pdf
        • XXX-B001-XX-XX-D-A-2000.pdf

Or you can do both:

  • Plans
    • 02_Shared
      • yyyymmdd_1000_to_2000_S3_P01
        • XXX-B001-XX-XX-D-A-1000-S3_P01.pdf
        • XXX-B001-XX-XX-D-A-2000-S3_P01.pdf
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