Form Help - Drawings (V6)
You create new Drawings and edit existing Drawings, for your Company and all other Companies on the Project, using this Form. Note for V5 users: This Form is unchanged in V6.
Creating the first Drawing List for a Project
Before starting to create the first Drawing List for a Project, ensure that the Project is in the Projects List and the Company whose drawings you wish to add is a Project Company in the Project Directory.
Select the pull-down Project list in the grey banner at the top of the form and confirm that the Project is not already listed.
Type the Project Number the press the 'Return' key. A dialogue box will appear asking whether you wish to 'Select a Project for which to create a new Drawing List?'. Select 'Yes'. You will be presented with a list of all the Projects. Select the correct Project and this will be inserted, in red text, into the box in the grey banner.
Go immediately to the Company box in the grey banner and start typing the name of the Company for which you wish to create the first Drawing List then press the 'Return' key. A dialogue box will appear asking whether you wish to 'Select a Company for which to create a new Drawing List?'. Select 'Yes'. You will be presented with a list of all the Project Companies. Select the correct Company, checking that you have chosen the correct address if the list shows more than one, and this will be inserted, in red text, into the box in the grey banner.
You must then add the first New Drawing to 'fix' the first Drawing List. If you do not add at least one drawing at this stage, you will have to repeat the process of selecting both Project and Company when you try to add drawings in the future.
Creating a new Drawing List
Before starting to create a new Drawing List, ensure that the Project is in the Projects List and the Company whose drawings you wish to add is a Project Company in the Project Directory.
Select the Project from the pull-down list in the grey banner at the top of the form.
Select the Company from the pull-down list in the grey banner at the top of the form. The list displays only those Companies which already have Drawing Lists.
Start typing the name of the Company for which you wish to create a new Drawing List then press the 'Return' key. A dialogue box will appear asking whether you wish to 'Select a Company for which to create a new Drawing List?'. Select 'Yes'. You will be presented with a list of all the Project Companies. Select the correct Company, checking that you have chosen the correct address if the list shows more than one, and this will be inserted, in red text, into the box in the grey banner.
You must then add the first New Drawing to 'fix' the new Drawing List. If you do not add at least one drawing at this stage, you will have to repeat the process when you try to add drawings in the future.
Creating a new Drawing
Information may be typed directly into the cells on the Form but refer to Data constraints below.
If you wish to add multiple drawings which have very similar information, e.g. ten drawings from a sub-contractor with consecutive numbers and similar titles, you will find it quicker to copy-and-paste using Datasheet View.
Adding revision information
For more information on the concept of 'My Company' refer to the Configuration Table Company Settings.
Note that the Revisions Footer changes when you toggle between 'My Company' and any other Project Company.
'My Company' drawings
Information may be typed directly into the cells on the Form but refer to Data constraints below.
If you enter the new revision letter, select the Revision Status from the list, then use the Tab key to move across the form:
the 'Current' box will be ticked by default and the previous revision will be 'unticked'.
today's date will be inserted in the Revision Date field.
Other company's drawings
The revision footer for other company's drawings is set up on the basis that its primary use is to record the receipt, comment, and return of contractor's and sub-contractor's drawings.
Enter the new revision letter, select the Revision Status from the list, then use the Tab key to move across the form:
the 'Current' box will be ticked by default and the previous revision will be 'unticked'.
today's date will be inserted in the Date Received field.
the Target Return Date will be inserted automatically based on the value inserted in the Project Directory.
Data constraints
Drawing information
Number: This is a 'number' field, not a text field, and therefore does not need to be 'padded' with extra leading zeroes to ensure that it sorts correctly. For example, Drawing number '2' will sort before Drawing number '10' without having to resort to calling it '02'.
Register: This is a non-editable field as the information is automatically inserted by PlanChest.
All other fields are text fields with no specific constraints.
Revision information
Rev: This is a text field, limited to 3 characters. PlanChest requires that 'unrevised' drawings have some identification inserted in this field and it cannot be left blank. The preferred symbol is the hyphen '-'.
Revision Status: This is limited to the list that you create in the Look-Up Table Revision Status.
Comment Status: This is a text field, limited to a single character, and intended for the record of the A/B/C-type status assigned when commenting on contractor's and sub-contractors drawings. This appears only on the 'other company's' revision footer.
Reports
For general information on Reports, refer to the PlanChest Guidance page.
Drawings List: A simple A4 portrait list excluding all revision information.
Reports containing information on drawings are available from other pages in the Document Management section of PlanChest.
Drawings - Frequently asked questions
Why am I allowed to enter duplicate drawing numbers?
This is to allow you to copy-and-paste the information from one or more drawings when creating, or adding to, a drawing list. This function is particularly useful when entering a batch of very similarly named and numbered drawings in Datasheet View. Enter one, copy-and-paste to create the others, then edit the names and numbers. Earlier versions of PlanChest prevented the entering of duplicate drawing numbers, but didn't allow the use of copy-and-paste. We think the current functionality is preferable.