Template Allocator - Automatically issue drawing numbers and support metadata extraction

What's In this article:

Use Template Allocator 1 (TA1) 

Use Template Allocator 2 (TA2)

Administer Master Templates (Bucket Administrators Only)

Roles required to operate:

• Bucket Administrator (Go to Master Template admin instructions HERE)
• Group Administrator (eg. Project Manager)

RedEyeDMS empowers Project Managers and Administrators to autonomously establish Projects more efficiently by enabling the generation of unique Artefact numbers (drawing numbers) on demand. Workflow can be configured to automatically notify Drafter users (ie. design consultant etc) and allow retrieval of new artefacts for editing upon creation.

We call this tool Template Allocator (TA).

This process also establishes blank (initially) CAD native file artefacts, with title block layout and orientation that meets your organisation's drafting standards and can have title block tags mapped and ready to extract metadata when drafters return their edits to RedEye. Multiple layouts can be offered for selection, to cater for different discipline layout requirements. These layouts are provided to RedEye by your organisation.

Currently, there are two versions of the tool available for use, original version TA1 (early clients) and the new format TA2.

TA1 - Operated from Group's Admin page

TA2 - Operated from Search page

To determine which version your organisation is currently using, select the Search page. If you see a + Add New button, you are using TA2.

Template Allocator 1 (TA1)

WARNINGS!
1. Excel Master Template files are not supported in TA1 - this is a legacy design issue. TA1 does not exclude Excel templates from binary duplicate checking upon creation by TA1 and the process generates a generic error to Support. (TA2 DOES support Excel drawing templates as at 15 Apr 2024)

2. Upload roles affect TA1 function. While both Group and Bucket Admin roles have permissions to operate the TA1 tool, the final generation of the template artefacts requires the creator to also hold a role supported by Upload Role settings (Restrict Upload). Ie. regardless of being an Admin, if that role isn't allowed to use Upload tool then template creation in TA1 will fail.

TA1 generates templates (Based on template layout DWG supplied to RedEye by client) from the group required to host the files initially eg. group created to manage a Project.

As a Group/Bucket Administrator, select Groups from the navigation menu (or access from any live Group pill in search or artefact page) and select the required Group from the list to access the Group Details page. (You can create a group first from the Group page if necessary.)

Next, select Allocate Template tab.

Select a Template (layout) to use, then a Workflow to allocate to the Template artefacts, and the number of Templates to create. If configured, you may also need to select other criteria such as WBS, Area code, Document Type, etc.

Click Allocate to create the Templates into the Group.

The templates will now be accessible in the Search interface and, depending on workflow configuration may notify Group Drafter Users that they are available to Check Out.

Template Allocator 2 (TA2)

TA2 creates templates straight from the search page and so the destination Group must exist first (Create Project Groups article) Artefact numbers are a combination of specified metadata field values and a next sequential unique number.

Terminology:

1. Master Template - this is the base layout used to generate the artefact. Multiple Master Templates, with different layouts and orientations, may be available to select from.

2. Prefix - this is the pre-configured (as specified by your Organisation) combination of existing metadata fields that the artefact number (Drawing Number) prefix will be created from. A next sequential number is appended to the end of the prefix to generate a unique combination eg. Meta1-Meta2-Meta3-0004, Meta1-Meta2-Meta3-0005 etc
   You will be able to select relevant metadata values for each configured Prefix metadata field when creating templates.
   Multiple Prefixes may be available to use, as appropriate

Adding a new Template/s

1. Navigate to the Search Page, you can do this by clicking on Search Icon in the side menu

2. Click +Add New

3. Select File Menu Item

4. Click From Template

   

The Template Number Allocator Modal appears and you can start creating templates.

The Template Allocator Modal has three steps to complete in order to add new Template artefacts to your RedEye bucket:

1. Template step – Where you Select the Master Template (select from available layouts) and Prefix values

2. Metadata step – An Optional step where you can select Optional additional Metadata to populate on created artefacts when the artefact is created

3. Confirm step – Confirm the details and select the number of templates to create.

 

Template Step

This step enables you to select the Master Template and The Prefix values you would like to use as the placeholder artefact Number.

On the Configuration Panel (1)

1. Select the Master Template from the searchable dropdown provided, you can search for the template or scroll through the list.

2. Next, Select the Metadata Prefix. Metadata Prefix’s are set by the bucket Administrator

On the Prefix Value Panel (2)

1. Select the Metadata Value for each prefix element you’d like to use in the Artefact Number. Once you had done this you can progress to next step until you have done this.

   

Metadata Step

This step allows you to populate metadata to the template artefact when it is created. This is an optional activity and you can skip it by clicking the “Skip” button in the bottom left corner. If you’d like to add metadata, please follow the steps below:

1. To add a metadata field, click the corresponding checkbox to the left. To remove it, simply deselect the checkbox.

2. On the right, Apply the metadata by selecting the desired value from the drop down.

3. Once you are happy, Click “Next” to continue or Back to return to the last step.

Confirm Step

This step is where you can select the Group, Workflow and Quantity, then review all the selections before creating your new templates.

1. Select the desired workflow from the dropdown. Then, Select the Group or Groups you’d like the templates to be allocated to. Be sure to click the Confirm Tick before progressing - The group will appear in a grey box.

2. Then, select the desired Quantity of the templates by entering a number or clicking the arrow buttons.

3. When you are ready, Click “Create Artefacts”

You should see a success message confirming that the templates have been created.

Administer Master Templates (Bucket Administrators Only)

Upload Master Templates

1. Navigate to Manage Bucket->Master Template menu
2. Click on New Master Template to upload prepared CAD template file (in DWG or DWT format)
   1. Provide a Logical Name for user to select
   2. Select Artefact Type (only Drawing type available. More artefact types will be available in the future) from drop-down
   3. Click Add File or drag-and-drop to upload the CAD template file.
   4. Save at the bottom of page to commit the Template to the bucket.

Archive Master Templates

To archive Master Templates, navigate to the Manage Bucket->Master Templates menu. Click on any generated templates in the Active section of the Master Template page and an Archive button will appear on the bottom left corner of the pop-up modal. By clicking on the archive button, it moves the template to the Archived section and the template will become unavailable for template generation.

Re-Activate Master Templates

To reactivate templates, click on any generated templates in the Archived section of the Master Template page and a Reactivate button will appear on the bottom left corner of the pop up modal. By clicking on the Reactivate button, it moves the template to the Active section and the template will become available for template generation.