Connecting Your AutoCAD Workflows to the Cloud Using Autodesk Docs

MORGAN SMITH: Hello and welcome. Today, we're going to talk about collaborating with AutoCAD using Autodesk Docs. My name is Morgan Smith, Implementation Consultant at Autodesk. I'm a civil designer by trade with 25 years experience in design technology and the AEC industries. As an Implementation Consultant, I help Autodesk customers scale solutions across their organization to achieve meaningful business results.

Today we're going to talk about AutoCAD 2022, Autodesk Docs, and Desktop Connector. We're going to go over the essentials on how to get started and being comfortable when collaborating with AutoCAD. We'll also talk about how to maximize project performance and how to navigate issues as they occur.

And with the learning objectives, today, we're going to learn how to connect your existing workflows to the Autodesk Construction Cloud Platform, learn how to connect AutoCAD data using Autodesk Docs and Desktop Connector. Learn how to work efficiently, maximize project performance, and how to navigate issues when they occur. And we're also going to make ensure you how the entire project team has access to the most up-to-date design data and documentation.

So if I was to sum it up, today's focus is all about getting started and collaborating on your first project. We're going to be working with DWG files. We're going to learn tips for keeping your project healthy, know how to access your files wherever you'll go, and remember, please refer to your handout for more detail. As time is limited today, and we are just covering the basics.

All right, first objective, connecting your workflow to the Autodesk Construction Cloud Platform. So the best way to explain this is we're going to use the concept of working from anywhere. So before we started working from anywhere, project teams relied on-premise service located in their offices to host their project files. Then, people started working from anywhere. So IT departments start setting up VPN connections to the office network for project teams. So they could have continued access to that file.

Then over time has elapsed, IT departments started looking at cost effective solutions, due to the cost electricity bills, specialized skillsets to maintain those servers, as well as hardware expenditures to keep these servers running. So they then turned to Cloud Document-- they then turn to document collaboration tools in the cloud.

So the Autodesk Construction Cloud is very similar to other document collaboration tools, like Docs, OneDrive. The main difference is Autodesk Construction Cloud can host and view your CAD files from within the platform. In addition, you're able to leverage other tools on the platform to enhance this productivity. Then, of course, we had of COVID-19 pandemic, exposed a lot of shortfalls of hosting project files on premise.

So that broadband connection, a lot of our wired connections and stuff like that-- or modeling workflows, they started slowing to a crawl. So what that ended up doing was increasing that acceleration of those adopted cloud workflows. So with the Autodesk Construction Cloud, all project files are stored in the servers maintained by Autodesk. And it allows users to access the data directly, instead of VPN connections.

So as we've seen, projects that have been created and managed on a local server. And this setup can work well for teams that are all working under the one roof. However, as we've seen a project team that includes stakeholders working in another office, or another state, or even from home, the local server restriction makes it challenging for those workers to access the project files and assure everyone on the team is working from the current design.

So this is where Autodesk Doc comes in. So it allows AutoCAD projects to be hosted in the cloud and allowing those distributed teams to easily access and edit live models in addition to the other cloud-based projects that are managed virtually at the same time as traditional projects as hosted on a local server, making it easy for users to shift to this new system.

So the other thing I should mention is the Autodesk Construction Cloud, as we've seen, it connects data, workflows, and teams through the whole building lifecycle, so from your design operations-- from design to operations across headquarters, office, and the job site. So earlier this year, Autodesk announced three new additions to the Autodesk Construction Cloud, Autodesk Build, Autodesk Takeoff, and Autodesk BIM Collaborate. This is all built on what they call a new, unified platform and a common data environment.

And these modules now enable teams to work together and to drive better business outcomes. So where we're going to focus today is we're going to talk about Autodesk Docs, the common data environment for the unified platform. So when we're collaborating with AutoCAD, there'll be three parts that we'll talk about today. One is Autodesk Docs, the second one, Autodesk Desktop Connector, and the third, AutoCAD, of course.

So you can see on this graphic, I've got more than one data source-- common data environment here. So I'll just sort of talk about one of them. So Autodesk has what they call Autodesk Drive. And it's for simple file sharing. However, if you need more than just simple file sharing, you can use either BIM 360 Docs or Autodesk Docs, which is what we're going to talk about today.

Both allow you to collaborate on a project. But you say what is the difference between Docs and BIM 360 Docs? In terms of functionality, there is definitely some overlap there. But the differences essentially lie in which platform the common data environment for your project uses. So to get started with collaboration with AutoCAD, there's for essentials you need to know. The first one is how to prepare your project for a collaboration, creating a project, inviting the project members, and creating the folders and permissions.

Then from there, we need to make sure that our computer is set up correctly, latest versions, hot fixes, and for our audience that are still using AutoCAD 2020 and 2021, install the file locking app. Then from there, we'll jump into our workflows. We'll show a bit about Desktop Connector, preparing for your project, things that you need to consider when working with collaboration with AutoCAD, working with DWG, and we'll also give you some tips on how to collaborate as well. And then finally, step four, managing our project in the web. So we'll talk about reviewing drawings and documents, how to track those, resolve issues, and those sort of things.

All right, objective number two, so this is where we're getting to the good stuff, sharing AutoCAD data with Autodesk Docs and the Desktop Connector. So as I stated earlier, the first step is we need to prepare. So we need to prepare for our project for collaboration. So there's four steps in doing that. One, we need to create a project in Autodesk Docs and activate our projects, manage our project members. So notice that there's a very specific order here.

Create a folder structure, make sure it's matching our company standards. And also, assign folder permissions, so granting access to those who need access to the data. So let's go through our first video here. So what I'm showing here is I'm accessing what we call is our project browser. I'm selecting the unified platform where Autodesk Docs is hosted.

First thing I'm going to take you through is talk about project templates. I'm going to open up an existing one here. And we're going to run through the files. So what I'm looking at here is these are the folder structures that are available to me when I'm using Desktop Connector and AutoCAD. And as you browse through it, and you can see that I've replicated a fairly standard folder structure there.

Let's go back to our project list again. And this time, what we're going to do is we're going to create an template from an existing one. So let's give it a name. So unique name, this one, Project Template AU 2021. Then the account that I've got my hosted. And then the project that I want to inherit the folder structure from. Autodesk Docs will then create that template. And then what it does is it goes to that actual project.

So what we're going to do is we're going to jump back into our list of projects again. So we can see that it's populated. And we're going to browse the contents of it. So if I go-- now go into the files, you'll see that the folder structure that I inherited the folders from are now all there populated it. So as the project evolves, we want to add new folders. So it's nothing stopping us from doing that. So we add the new folder, this case, 03 External. That's now part of our template.

When we go back to our projects, we can now start a new project using that template. So as you normally would, you go through and ensure your project details. All of these are pretty straightforward. The minimum is just the ones with the asterisks next to them. Now, once you've created your project, you can always come back and re-enter that data later. So we've gone through there. We've entered our details. Here is our template that we want to use.

Then from there, we can select our start date. So I'm going to choose AU this year. So we've got the 6th. And let's finish a couple of days later. So we'll choose the 7th. All right, from there, this project is large and very valuable. So let's enter a big value. And then we create our project. Once the project is created, by default, it will take us to the project admin console. And from here, we set up the first role for the project admin.

So in this case, this is myself, because I set up the project. I go through, assign a company, a role. I'm the project administrator. And I also make sure that I have a Docs entitlement there. So once we've finished adding the project admin, we then go through and then start adding the other members. So what I'm doing here is here's a couple of my colleagues that are working with me on this project. I'm assigning them project member, and I'm also giving the Docs entitlement.

Once that user has been added, I just keep on repeating the same process until I've completed that. Now, what I'm doing is I'm going back to the project. So if I jump into my project folder now, and what we're going to do is we're going to now add all the preferences. So because I'm a project admin, I have the necessary rights to add and remove folders, and also assign permissions.

So from here, I will go through and start adding my colleagues. So I just go through, add my project members, assign them the right permissions, and then add them to that. And then that folder structure will then inherit those permissions. Then I browse to another part of my project. And I can repeat the same process.

I can go through, add another user. And this time, I'm going to add a role. And it's a lot easier to control users by role, because all I have to do is if I have five engineers, all I have to do is just add engineer. I don't need to add every individual user. So you can see there in the category, that user lists up there. So as I add others, they will also show up.

Installing, so this is the second part, very important. Make sure that we have the latest versions installed on the machine. At this time, I recommend AutoCAD 2022.1 onwards. And also the July edition of Desktop Connector has got some great improvements in there. When the new patches come out, or the new updates, make sure you take the time to review the release notes, because there's always, quite often, some important information there that can relate to your workflow. So in terms of file locking, or of the transfer of files, how fast that occurs, those sorts of things.

The other one is the Desktop Connector release notes, because this also includes the downloads. Then in terms of software, you should already be familiar with this. Get AutoCAD from Autodesk Account and also desktop app if you're using that. Desktop Connector, it's also available on Autodesk Account. Or you can go to the release notes, as indicated earlier.

Now, we're going to show some love to our AutoCAD 2020 and 2021 users. So if you don't have AutoCAD 2022 yet, you can download a file locking app from the Autodesk app store. And what it does is it locks the DWGs and the DWTs when you open. Now unfortunately, it doesn't give you the nice home screen in 2022. But what it does allow is it allows that file locking capability.

So if you do want to use the Home screen by default without having to install the app, you must use 2022 onwards. Now, if you're using Civil 3D, it's been available since 2020.2 update. So it's got its own file locking and doesn't require that. Now, one quick tip, if you do have AutoCAD 2020 and 2021 side by side with 2022, make sure you install the-- make sure you install version 2.2.0. It's necessary in order to make sure that the file locking works on all three versions.

All right, we get into our design phase. This is getting to the exciting part. So we're going to talk about getting started with the Desktop Connector if you're not familiar with the Desktop Connector, it basically allows the users to upload your files and access, edit, delete those cloud stored files on your computer without actually accessing web browser. Once it's installed, you'll see what they call a connected drive. And in that, you'll see your hub, your project name, and the folder structure and all the file placeholders that are created in that local drive.

Now, one thing that you'll see with Desktop Connector is it only downloads files when it's opened by the user or when it's manually sent on demand. So that's the key. It's on demand. So it functions a little bit differently to OneDrive. Then from there, if you must work offline, you can. You can upload the changes when you're back. Now, if you do decide to use this workflow, just be aware that you need to lock the files before going offline.

If you don't, users can still edit the files in the cloud. And when you come back online, you, of course, will want to upload your changes. But because the team have moved on, it'll be difficult to incorporate those changes. So make sure that you do that. And then the other one is Desktop Connector also works with other products within the Autodesk environment, including Navisworks and Revit.

So let's talk a little bit about getting started with Desktop Connector. So what I'm going to do here is I'm just going to go to the system tray. This is where Autodesk Desktop Connector is hiding. I'm using, currently, the latest release. Now, if we need to find out the help, or we need to go to the release notes, we can right click, go to the Help, and then from there, we can navigate the release notes. Now notice, I have the August version. And I've also downloaded it from here.

So let's go to the web. And we'll go and access our project again. So let's navigate there. Now, what I'll show you first is we're going to talk about the folder structure. So on the left there, we've got our project. And then on the right, I've opened up Windows Explorer. And you can see that I've got my connected drive. I navigate to my project. And when I do that, you can see that the folder structure is the same on the left and is on the right.

Now, if I navigate further into my folder structure, and do the same on both sides, you can see the folder structure is exactly replicated. Now if I want to look at my drawings, I just navigate to the folder. And you can see that the same information is there. Now, if I was to create a folder on my desktop, you can see it's created there. If I go to my browser, it's not there. So let's refresh my browser.

And now, you can see that the new folder is there. So, of course, I can do the reverse. If I want to delete that folder, I can click Delete. Ask me what I want to confirm. Then from there, notice it's disappeared. Now depending on the speed of your internet connection and a couple of other factors, this may take a little while to sync back the other direction. So just be aware of that.

OK, so a couple of tips when preparing for collaboration. If you're starting with the new project, I personally recommend that you start with the new project rather than troubleshoot existing projects. Existing projects seem to have their own baggage. As time goes on, you do inherit issues. And sometimes, it's better to start with a clean project.

So for me, when you start with the new project-- and these do apply to everyday projects that you do now, we always plan ahead. We make sure we're using the right workflows. We talk to each other. The communication is the key. We discuss those project workflows when we collaborate. Also if you can't access a project, always check your permissions. And you should-- I'm hoping that you do this already, keep your drawings clean and working. And that will help you with the speed of the transfers and the files.

Now, of course, what happens if we use an existing project? So I use the term migrate or migration, because that is what you're doing. You're actually taking an existing project, and actually modifying it, and uploading it into the cloud. So it's a migration process. So if you want to attempt one of these, I recommend starting with a small project, with a small number of files references and experiment with that there. Now, if when you go to do this, these are some of the recommendations that need your attention. So watch your file paths. So make sure your folder structure is not too deep.

Always use relative paths instead of absolute. There may be broken links. So when you're working with the cloud, make sure that all your data is stored in the one location. Make sure it's not pointing to a server drive, or the local, or whatever like that. And then also, remove any duplicate or unused data. So if you're using duplicate files in any other folders, just remove those before you do. So the most important thing, and this applies to working on a file server, drawing maintenance and file management is critical to minimize the time it takes to migrate and access your data. So that applies to both new projects and to existing.

Now, working with what AutoCAD files, pretty simple. We start from the AutoCAD Start tab or the application menu. When we select on a file, sometimes it takes a few moments to open. So think about how big your files are, how many references it has. That will take time. Then from there, likewise, when we're saving back to the cloud, when we save for the first time, you have to be a little bit patient. Because Desktop Connector is gathering all the references and all the files that are linked to that. And then it's pushing those up to the cloud. So just be aware that when it does that, it does take time to sync and propagate for other users.

Then, the other important aspect is when a user opens a drawing, it is locked to other users. So that user has exclusive use of that file until they close that and it uploads back to the cloud. The other one is that with collaborating with AutoCAD, file locking does not allow what I call simultaneous editing. Or only one person can edit the drawing at any time.

And then the other one that you'll discuss is versioning and syncing. Every time you save a file and it is synced to the cloud, it creates a new file version. Or if you save it and then close your AutoCAD, it will do the same thing. Now, also when you're saving a file, so if you think about when you create a new drawing and you save it, it will create a temporary lock file as that information is uploaded to Docs. So just be aware of that one.

All right, let's start exploring the workflow. So what we're doing here, we're on our home screen. I'm just going to quickly run through a couple of features if you may not be familiar with it. So on the Recent tab, we have the details and the thumbnails. The same information is pretty much displayed. We have the file names, where the files are stored, and those sort of things.

We have our traditional Open, our New. There's our Recent. If we go explore the Recent tab a little bit more, we have the ellipsis button, where we can explore some options. We can see where the file is hosted. When we go back to the details, the same information's there, just don't get a pretty picture. So from there, we have the file name, where it's located, and we have the exactly the same options, just located in a different location.

All right, now if we go across to Autodesk Docs, you'll see the format is the same. Up the top, we have the ability to navigate through our project. So we have the hub and then the project name. And then from there we've got our details and our thumbnails. So just like before, you have all the different options, we can see who's got access to the file or who it's locked.

Now, in the details, this is important. We have more information here. And from here, we can review the current information around that document. So whether it's synced, or cached to my hard drive, what the version number is. And I can go through and I can turn columns on and off. So I can get feedback on the current state of my files. Now, let's go and create a new drawing.

So what I'm doing here is I'm going to browse to Autodesk Docs, where I have my template stored. So I browse to my hub, then my project. Just widen this out, so we can see a little bit more information. So this is my project. Then we go into our project files and we navigate to our template.

Now, as we open our template, notice it did a quick sync there. And it's now created a new drawing using my template. Now, what I want to show you here is I'm going to actually resize my AutoCAD. And I'm going to perform a Save. So that way, you can see what Desktop Connector is actually doing when I perform that save. So I'll just resize my AutoCAD here. I'll go down to my Desktop Connector. And I'll select the pending actions.

Now, what I tend to do is I have this up on my second screen. So that way, I can monitor Desktop Connector just to see if any issues come up if they do occur. So from here, I go back. And I'm browsing where I want to save the file. Now, one tip here as you're working in this file dialog box, the columns that we saw on the Home screen, they also show up in your file dialog box.

So any time you go file open or anything like that, you can right click, add those columns in there, and you can see who has access to what. Now, the cool thing about it is you can right click on those and perform actions, just like you would in the connected drive. So let's go enter our file name. So in this case, it's our standard details.

And when I hit the Save button, it initiates the sync and the lock. So you can see it's going up there. There's the name of the file, locking the file, and then it's doing the sync. So that's now saved in the cloud. So if I hover over the tab, it will show that it's now hosted in the cloud.

So the next step we do when we create a drawing is we're always going to add our standard details. So let's go attach some references. So again, these references, I've already pre-populated in the cloud. So just like I did with my template, I've created those files, saved them into the folder structure. And now I'm going to add them to my drawings. So I should change it from images to drawings.

So let's look for our references. And the first one we're going to do is I'm going to insert our base. Again, there's Desktop Connector. So here we go, overlay and relative path very important. Once we've done, the file's attached. And then we can go set up the rest of our drawing. So I can jump into Paperspace, attach our title block, again, overlay and relative. And then place that in there.

I'll go back and change the page setup later on. But you get the idea. So as we go through, it's just all the same. And now what I've done is I've hit Save. And now my completed drawing is now being uploaded to the cloud. So it remembers that all the references are there as well.

Now, if we go back to our Home screen and we scroll down, we can see that we have the drawing open. It's currently locked to myself. And also the status, it says that it's synced, and the version number. Now, what we're going to do here is we're going to look at the same file. So here, it is it says that it's locked. And they match each other.

So what we're going to do now is we're just going to close this drawing. And from here, you can see that it then initiates the save. It synchs the file. And then once it's completed, it then unlocks the file. So now, if I go back down to my home screen, you can see that it hasn't updated yet. So I'll just hit the Refresh button. That gets the latest information from the cloud. And you can see that the lock has been released.

And if I go back to my web browser and refresh that, you will see that also those changes will reflect. Now, like I said before, it's dependent on your file sizes and also the speed of your internet connection. Now here, what we're going to do is we're going to open up a reference file.

So I'm going to simulate another user has updated the file. So I've taken a copy of the drawing, added a whole series of tennis courts, and I've placed it on my desktop. And then I'm going to upload that file to the web browser to simulate that someone has updated a new version of that file. So here, I'm just going to drag and drop into my browser. It uploads the file. And then once that's done, that file is then available for editing and also viewing. Just wait for that finish processing.

OK, so that's ready to go. So if I go back to AutoCAD now, you'll notice that the xref was updated. But I didn't receive a notification. So what we need to do here is there's a number of ways we can do this. We can go back to our start screen. And we can review some changes. And you can see that that's still the same as before.

If I go back to my references, you can see that it's version 2, but it's stale, which means it's out of date. So what I need to do here is I can go through and I have to manually refresh it. Now to do that, there's a couple of ways that I can do that. So I can browse to my Windows Explorer and refresh it there. Or we can do another way. And as long as the file is cached there, so we can just sort of right click, and we can go reload.

And then that will go and search for the latest version, and pull it down, and then reload that into my drawing. And then that reference file is updated. So probably the difference between the two is just be aware that you won't get automatically notified when that file is updated.

So I'm going to move on the quickly now. So we're going to talk about working efficiency, maximizing performance, and navigating your issues. So probably the important one is when you're working with references, it's really important that you get this one right, because it's fundamental to the use of AutoCAD and also drawing management. So when-- if you follow the best practices, I recommend that when you're using your references, you always must save or upload your references to Autodesk first, then attach.

Always use overlay. Now the reason for that is you may have experienced circular references before. If you do that in the cloud workflows, it will slow down Desktop Connector dramatically. So if you suspect that there is an issue, just check for your overlays and things like that. Always use relative paths, because if you have a fixed path, then when the user is using the files, it will have the wrong path in it. So I always recommend relative path, because it ties it to the folder structure. Again, when you're working with files to improve performance, use things like XCLIPs, partial loading, those sort of things.

The other one is drawing maintenance. Make sure your drawings stay pretty clean. So an optimized drawing will always run faster. You'll have decreased load time. And it also reduces the chance of drawing corruption. So you should be familiar with these tools. If not, I recommend that you look them up after today's class.

The other one, tips when collaborating. So as you saw before, when I was navigating through the interface, we have visual tools that you can leverage to better understand the current state of your files. So on the Start tab, we saw the versions. In Desktop Connector, they have the Pending Actions dialog box, and then also your connected drive. So there's the Status column there, so whether it's stale or synced, those sort of things like that. Also down the bottom right there, I just have some of the icons from your home screen. So you know what the status of that is.

As you observed in the video, the xref notification will not pop up when a reference drawing is saved on Autodesk Docs. So if another user has updated something, you have to then check the status of it and then download that on demand. So my recommendation is that if you're looking to see if a file has been updated or not, go to the Start tab. And if it's stale, then you can go to the reference manager and reload it, like I did in the video, or you can go to Windows Explorer, browse to connected drive, right click and go sync. Or the other option is that you can save, close, and reopen the drawing.

So from there, other things you need to be aware of, I think these are the last tips. Know your system variables. There's one special one that's called Cloud Collab Modified Option. Make sure it's set to 0. What that does is that locks the file before it starts transferring the information. And if you are missing your Start tab in 2022, make sure STARTMODE is set to 1. And then once you've changed those, you'll always have to restart AutoCAD to make those settings take effect.

Now, one thing that I do have to address is that not all workflows are supported by Desktop Connector. You can use Sheet Set Manager. But it's not what I call optimized to work with the environment of the cloud collaboration. So what I've done here is I've provided a link. So if you must use Sheet Set Manager with the AutoCAD collaboration workflows, I recommend you read that documentation. It provides you guidance on how to do that.

Now, one thing I did notice that when I was using Sheet Set Manager, that when you open a drawing that's connected to a DST file, it will download and sync all the files, including references, that are within that sheet set. So the first time that you do that, it will be slow. So thought I'd just warn you on that one.

And then the other one, when we're talking about support files, we're talking about printer, PC3 files, line styles, shapefiles, all those sort of things, they use support files. I recommend that you just store them locally, as you would do, instead of in the cloud. Last but not least, troubleshooting techniques. If you're not sure why things are going wrong, or they're just not behaving as you expected, I recommend you try the following.

There's a tool within Desktop Connector that's called the File Explorer. And what that allows you to do is inspect the files to see if you have any circular references or any missing files. And then the other one, if you're having any trouble, always have look at the Pending Actions. See if there's a log jam in there. Clear that and allow Desktop Connector to start syncing again. And then the other one is Reference Explorer, which is our screen capture there on the right, visualize the relationships of the files.

And then, of course, if you do need more help, there's the diagnostic logs, the Autodesk support team. They quite often will request that. And they'll inspect those. And just to give you some ideas about potentially troubleshoot some events that are going on on your machine.

All right, so last but not least, objective four, ensuring your project team has the most up-to-date design documentation. So we're going to talk about two products here. So up until now, we've been using Autodesk Docs as the CDE, or the Common Data Environment. And so what we're going to do is we're going to quickly explore some of the other features that make Autodesk Docs unique for managing your data.

So some of the things that you can do is that not only can we share our AutoCAD files, but it also works with Revit, or Revit Cloud Work Sharing. In the web browser, you can view your files without having to install desktop software. You can view all the versions or the design changes in each of the files. We can also have a document approval process. So if we need to go through a chain of approvals, we can also set that up. And then, if we need to send to file to another project member, we can also do that as well.

Now, if you do have a BIM Collaborate or BIM Pro subscription or entitlement, there is a tool called Design Collaboration. And what that allows you to do is teams can actually use Design Collaboration to share reference files, and external references, and anything associated with them with other project teams. So that way, you can share those files at key milestones and then manage that process. And then the teams that you work with, they can consume them as they go.

So I'm not going to cover this. I'm going to put a little bit in the handout. But I've just got some bits here on just if you want to review how Design Collaboration works with Autodesk Docs and AutoCAD. OK, finally, our fourth step, if we talk about Autodesk Docs, I'm just going to briefly cover some of the features that are available to us.

So as you've seen, Autodesk Docs is the common data environment. It enables the collaboration, the data management, and also the single source of truth. So a big part of that is the files. So here, we can view and share files. We can set our folder permissions. So that way we can grant or restrict whoever we want to those files. Quickly search, locate the files that we need, and then as a project admin, we can go through and then start adding custom attributes.

So if we're doing any ISO workflows, we can do that, project name and standards, and other advanced tasks, as well. Then as we move further down into the product, we have our approval reviews. So that's the automate of the reviewing of drawings, and documents, and models. And we can do that before we publish and share them. Transmittals, they're easy to create. And what we can do is when we share those, we have full audit trail of that.

Issues, this allows us to identify and prioritize any issues that occur. And then we can assign those to other users. And they can work through those as we go. And then, of course, running in projects, running reports, we can go through, create and schedule those to make sure that everything is running as well as we should.

All right, so what we're going to do here is going to cover a couple of quick videos on some of the content of this. So the first thing we're going to do here is there are a number of files, a number of supported file types within Docs. This example here, I'm opening up a Word document. I can actually edit that natively in the browser. Important that you have the web entitlement stitched on for Office 365, or I think it's Microsoft 365 now.

And then once you've finished doing that, we can go through, quickly view our drawings, so we're going to go through, review a PDF here, going to do some markups in a particular area. So we can view that, markup some details, put some text in there, change the color to suit our needs, depending on what we're doing. And then what we've done there is we've just made that a personal one. And we've unpublished that.

Then from there, we can also go back to our folder. And we can share a file. Now this one here is up to yourselves how you manage this one. You can send it to any project member. Or if there's one particular file that you need to share publicly, you can set it to expire. So they only have access to it for a short amount of time.

The other ones we have, obviously, is our permissions. Here, this one here is a little bit more complex than the others. But we can go through, as we saw earlier, we can go through, add it by company, assign those permissions, and making sure that we have the right people accessing the project.

And then from there, other files that we need to look for, so if you look at our coordination folder, I'll just dismiss that. If there's a particular file that we look for, we can go through and set up a filter. So as projects grow, so do the number of files. We can go through and then start changing different things that we're looking for.

And then our next video here, we're just going to cover reviews, transmittals, and issues, and things like that. So I talked about before, approval workflows. So when we're in reviews, we can set up a multi-step review process. And we just select that, walk through the wizard, and then we go through, assign the name, see what the approval process is, who it's going to be assigned to, and the like.

Then from there, we also can-- when we create a review, we can select particular files. So here, we select our approval workflow that we set up earlier. Then from there, we can go through, this is the transmittal feature, we can go through, select the particular documents that we're interested in sending. Enter our recipients that are going to receive the data, and then from there, we've got a full audit history of those there. And at any time, we can just go through and run reports or review the details on those particular items.

Then finally, creating reports, where you can go through and run those. All right, so thank you everybody for listening to today's talk. If you have any further questions or anything like that, feel free to reach out. Otherwise, make sure you check the handout. Thank you.