Form Help - Drawing Registers
This form, together with the Drawing Issues form, is at the heart of PlanChest's document management system. Created 'on the fly', from information entered in other forms, the Drawing Register replicates the appearance of traditional spreadsheet-based registers whilst providing vastly enhanced functionality.
About the PlanChest Drawing Registers
The use of the Drawing Registers is entirely optional and some of PlanChest's clients work perfectly satisfactorily using just the Drawings and Drawing Issues forms to manage their projects.
The Drawing Registers do, however, provide a graphic representation of "Who has had What, and When" that is clearly understood by all involved in the Construction Industry and, for this reason alone, most PlanChest clients choose to incorporate them into the project documentation.
Each Register Page displays only the Issues and Contacts relevant to the Drawings shown on that page. For example: On a large project with a large number of Registers, you may have one Register for a series of Fire Strategy drawings and another for a series of External Cladding Details. It is quite possible that these two Registers will have no Drawings, Contacts, or Issues in common and each will show only the information relevant to the particular series of drawings. As you become more familiar with PlanChest you will learn, by experience, how to group Drawings on Registers to maximise the benefits of this particular function. Refer also to the FAQ below.
PlanChest terminology and functions
Register: Each Register is, essentially, a list of the drawings included on it. Indeed, apart from naming and numbering the Register, the only required user-action is to add drawings. There is no requirement for a Drawing to be shown on a Register but, if shown, a Drawing must be on one Register only and the PlanChest software prevents duplication.
Page: Each Register may have any number of Pages. Each Page includes information on fifteen Issues and new pages, after the first, are created automatically by the PlanChest software.
Drawings: and Contacts: To be added to a Register, Drawings must be in the relevant Drawings list. Contacts are added to the Register automatically from the relevant Drawing Issues.
Refresh Register: PlanChest's Drawing Registers are 'virtual forms', created as required from the latest information in the Drawings and Drawing Issues forms. It is therefore necessary to 'refresh' the Registers after changes to these forms. In most instances this is done by the PlanChest software and you will see a dialogue box either informing you that PlanChest is carrying out the 'refresh' process or asking whether you wish PlanChest to carry out the process. For added reassurance that you are looking at the latest information, you may sometimes wish to carry this out manually using the button.
Creating Drawing Registers
Creating the first Drawing Register for a Project
From the Home Page select Drawing Registers then, in the grey banner at the top of the form, select the pull-down Project list and confirm that the Project is not already listed.
Type in the Project Number then press the 'Return' key. A dialogue box will appear asking whether you wish to 'Select a Project for which to create a new Drawing Register?'. Select Yes . You will be presented with a list of all the Projects. Select the correct Project then press the 'Return' key and the Project Number/Name will be inserted, in red text, into the box in the grey banner.
Select the pull-down Company list in the grey banner at the top of the form and confirm that the Company is not already listed.
Type in the Company Name, or part of it, and press the 'Return' key. A dialogue box will appear asking whether you wish to 'Select a Company for which to create a new Drawing Register?'. Select Yes . You will be presented with a list of all the Project Companies. Select the correct Project Company then press the 'Return' key and the Company name will be inserted, in red text, into the box in the grey banner.
Go immediately to the Registers: button, click to open the Registers dialogue box, then select Create a new register: . The Register No. and Register Title boxes will be 'enabled' (they change from grey to white) and you may type-in whatever you wish - the 'No' field will accept characters or numerals. Click Apply changes: and close the Registers dialogue box.
Creating/Editing a Drawing Register
From the Home Page select Drawings Registers then, in the grey banner at the top of the form, select the Project, the Company, and one of the existing Registers.
To create a new Register: Select the Registers: button, click to open the Registers dialogue box, then select Create a new register: . The Register No. and Register Title boxes will be 'enabled' (they change from grey to white) and you may type-in whatever you wish - the 'No' field will accept characters or numerals. Click Apply changes: and close the Registers dialogue box.
To edit an existing Register: Select the Registers: button, click to open the Registers dialogue box, then select Edit an existing register: . The Register No. and Register Title boxes will be 'enabled' (they change from grey to white) and you may edit them as you wish - the 'No' field will accept characters or numerals. Click Apply changes: and close the Registers dialogue box. Note that 'Editing a Register' only allows changes to the No. and Title, adding and/or deleting drawings is a separate function, described below.
Adding/Deleting/Moving Drawings on a Register
Adding Drawings to a Register
Before adding drawings to a Drawing Register, ensure that the Drawings you wish to include are in the Drawings List.
From the Home Page select Drawings Registers then, in the grey banner at the top of the form, select the Project, the Company, and the appropriate Register. Click the button to check that you are viewing the latest information.
Select Add drawings: to view the Add Drawings dialogue box. This displays a list of all the Drawings for the selected Project Company. Double-click the Record Selector for each drawing that you wish to add to the Register. A dialogue box will inform you when each addition is 'Done'.
Close the Add Drawings dialogue box when all the required Drawings have been added then click the button to update the Register with any existing Issue information for the Drawings which have been added.
Deleting Drawings from a Register
From the Home Page select Drawings Registers then, in the grey banner at the top of the form, select the Project, the Company, and the appropriate Register. Click the button to check that you are viewing the latest information.
Select either the Number field, or the Record Selector for the Drawing that you wish to delete, then 'right-click' to select Delete record and left-click to delete the record. Note that this is one of the rare occasions when PlanChest does not prompt before deleting the record. This is because the Drawing is only being removed from the Register, not actually deleted, and may be added-back to the Register at any time in the future.
Click the button to update the Register.
Moving Drawings to another Register
From the Home Page select Drawings Registers then, in the grey banner at the top of the form, select the Project, the Company, and check that both Registers already exist. Select the Register to which the Drawings are to be moved. Click the button to check that you are viewing the latest information.
Select Add drawings: to view the Add Drawings dialogue box. This displays a list of all the Drawings for the selected Project Company. Double-click the Record Selector for the drawing that you wish to move to this Register. A dialogue box will prompt you to confirm the move. Select OK and a further dialogue box will inform you when each move is 'Done'. Repeat for all the Drawings that you wish to move then close the Add Drawings dialogue box.
Click the button to update the Register with any existing Issue information for the Drawings which have been moved.
Reports
For general information on Reports, refer to the PlanChest Guidance page.
There are eight options:
Issue Sheet with Registers: Select any Issue from the pick-list and this option allows the printing of the Issue Sheet, and all the Register pages on which the selected Issue appears. Note: If any Drawing in the selected Issue does not appear on a Register page, this option will cancel and display an error message. To see which Drawings do not appear on a Register page, go to the relevant Drawing Issue.
Issue Sheet only: Generally called from the Drawing Issues form but may be called from this page by selecting the appropriate 'Drawing Issue' from the pick-list.
Registers only: Select any Issue from the pick-list and this option allows the printing of just the Register pages on which the selected Issue appears. Note: If any Drawing in the selected Issue does not appear on a Register page, this option will cancel and display an error message. To see which Drawings do not appear on a Register page, go to the relevant Drawing Issue.
Current Register Page: Exactly what it says. Note: Remember the PlanChest terminology referred to above - a Register may have a number of pages. This report option prints just the current selected page.
All Registers: Exactly what it says. This report option prints all pages of all registers for the selected Project Company.
Issue List (all issues): Generally called from the Drawing Issues form but may be called from this page. Includes the basic issue details for all issues.
Contact Issue History: Help not yet written.
Drawing Issue History: Help not yet written.
Drawing Registers - Frequently asked questions
Help! I've added too many Drawings and each Page prints on more than one A4 sheet.
When designing the PlanChest Drawing Registers, we deliberately chose not to restrict the number of Drawings that could be added to a Register. This allows users the flexibility to adjust the number of Drawings displayed against the number of Contacts displayed (remember that the Contacts are added automatically from the Drawing Issues) to produce a balanced Register Page. However well you plan your set of drawings there will be times when the combination of Drawings and Contacts will cause the 'page' to over-run a single sheet of A4 when printed. You may choose to allow this to continue or, preferably, you will Create new Registers and Move Drawings to produce balanced Register Pages. If you need assistance with this, please contact our Technical Support.
How do I delete a complete Register?
Delete all the Drawings from the Register as described above.
Select the Registers: button and click to open the Registers dialogue box. 'Right-click' on the Register to be deleted, select Delete record and 'left-click' to delete the record. You may ignore the 'Relationships that specify cascading deletes...' message.