& Construction
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Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
& Manufacturing
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Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
In this lesson, we’ll review where to view item attributes, including the attributes provided by default. We’ll map item attributes to CAD properties so that attributes can be linked directly to CAD files, and we’ll discuss how to create custom item attributes to suit your business needs.
Review what attributes are provided by Upchain already under the Common section and determine if there are others that you will need for your organization.
In this video, we’ll explore the Item attributes page of the Administration section of Upchain, and demonstrate how to configure CAD mappings for an attribute to link it directly to a CAD file.
Transcript
00:08
In this video, we'll explore the item attributes page of the administration section of Upchain,
00:14
and demonstrate how to configure CAD mappings for an attribute to link it directly to a CAD file.
00:20
So, let's take a look.
00:24
Item attributes are the additional information that helps to describe the item in more detail.
00:31
You are provided with many default item attributes known as common attributes.
00:37
And you can configure your own custom item attributes as well to suit your business needs.
00:45
All default item attributes are listed under the "Common Attributes" tab.
00:50
This table includes information about each attribute including its name, description, status, data type, attribute type,
01:01
whether it is quick searchable or not in the web application, whether it's a common attribute or not,
01:08
whether it's included in your workflows, and what the CAD mapping type is.
01:15
In this table, you can also sort and filter the item attribute list by any of these columns.
01:27
Clicking on an item attribute opens its details on the right-hand side,
01:32
where you can see the same information and is where you can edit the item attribute.
01:45
These item attributes are visible throughout Upchain, including the bill of materials table within a project.
01:52
Many of these columns are the item attributes.
01:59
In the item details view on the right-hand side in the web application,
02:04
you can see them sorted according to common attributes or whether they're custom attributes.
02:13
And within the CAD plugin, in the item view and within the lower panes of the BOM views,
02:20
again, you can see the attributes sorted by whether they are common or custom.
02:34
Most of the details for the attributes found in the common attributes list cannot be edited.
02:40
This is because these attributes provide the key information for each item.
02:46
The exception to that are the CAD mappings at the bottom.
02:51
CAD mappings allow you to link the attribute with the CAD file associated with the item.
02:58
This can be useful if you want to share the CAD files with external stakeholders or users who do not have Upchain access.
03:05
A lot of the information that is also stored in Upchain regarding the item can be stored in the CAD file as well.
03:14
There are two mapping options.
03:20
The read mapping means the value for the attribute is read from the CAD file and saved into Upchain.
03:29
The write mapping means the value for the attribute is set in Upchain and written to the CAD file.
03:38
In other words, if the mapping is set to read, then the CAD file is the master of the attribute,
03:45
and if the mapping is set to write, then Upchain is the master of the attribute.
03:57
Let's set the mapping for the material attribute.
04:02
We're going to set it to "Read" because the CAD file is what contains this information and we simply want to bring that in to Upchain.
04:11
To set a CAD mapping, first load the "Item Details View" on the right-hand side, then click the "Edit" button.
04:23
Now tick the box beside the desired mapping.
04:28
In our case we're going to choose "Read" because again we want the material to be read from the CAD file and saved into Upchain.
04:38
Click the "Add Mapping" button.
04:42
From the drop-down menu, select the CAD software that your CAD files will be coming from.
04:48
We'll choose "SolidWorks" in our case.
04:53
If the mapping is set to "Read", then type in the name of the property exactly as it is shown in the CAD file.
05:00
This is case sensitive.
05:03
If the mapping is set to right, then you would type in the name of the property as you would like it to be written to the CAD file.
05:16
You can also add more than one line if you're using more than one CAD system.
05:26
Once you're happy with your settings, click the "Save" button.
05:36
You can now see the mapping type in the attribute, details panel as well as in the table.
05:43
And you can now filter the table by the CAD mapping type to see all attributes with read or write mappings or none at all.
05:53
Let's repeat this for the revision note.
05:57
This is something that the user will set in Upchain and we simply want to make sure that this is written to the CAD files as well,
06:05
so that someone reviewing the properties in the CAD file can see what revisions were made.
06:11
Note that when setting the CAD mappings, you cannot choose both read and write.
06:18
It has to be one or the other.
06:21
We've chosen the write property mapping property here for SolidWorks,
06:25
and we simply type in how we want that property to be written to the SolidWorks CAD file.
06:40
CAD users can see the mappings that are set in the CAD plug in within the CAD plug in settings.
06:52
You'll find this by scrolling down to the CAD attribute mappings section.
06:59
This table does not indicate which type of mapping is set for each one,
07:05
but it at least gives some clues as to which attributes they should watch out for,
07:10
when working with these attributes on items they have checked out.
07:19
The left column is how the attribute is read or written to the CAD file,
07:29
and the right column indicates the corresponding item attribute name in Upchain.
07:42
Users can further determine which mapping type it is based on whether the attribute is editable in the CAD plugin while the item is checked out.
07:53
For example, if we look at the revision note, this text field is editable which means it must be a right mapping.
08:08
Whereas the material is not an editable field which means it must be reading that value from the CAD file.
08:26
Let's demonstrate how these mappings work.
08:30
Let's explore the material attribute first.
08:35
The material attribute is set to read and here we want to make sure that the name of the property matches what we've also typed into Upchain.
08:48
We'll set the material now and ensure that it is saved into our custom properties table.
09:07
And it is.
09:22
Now, when we do a save or a check-in, Upchain is going to read the value of that property and insert it into the material attribute.
09:40
And there you can see that it has indeed pulled in the value of the material and inserted it into the material attribute field.
09:52
Let's explore this with the revision note.
09:58
This one was set to a right mapping which means that up chain is the master of this value.
10:04
So, we'll type in what we want into that text field.
10:12
And again, when we do a save or a check-in, Upchain is going to take that value that we've typed in and write it to the CAD file.
10:29
And here you can see that the property name matches what we configured in the administration page,
10:35
and it has written the value that we typed into Upchain.
10:44
This should give you a good understanding of how CAD mappings determine the interaction,
10:48
between an item's attributes and its associated CAD file properties.
10:53
Explore the list of common attributes and test out these mappings for yourself.
Video transcript
00:08
In this video, we'll explore the item attributes page of the administration section of Upchain,
00:14
and demonstrate how to configure CAD mappings for an attribute to link it directly to a CAD file.
00:20
So, let's take a look.
00:24
Item attributes are the additional information that helps to describe the item in more detail.
00:31
You are provided with many default item attributes known as common attributes.
00:37
And you can configure your own custom item attributes as well to suit your business needs.
00:45
All default item attributes are listed under the "Common Attributes" tab.
00:50
This table includes information about each attribute including its name, description, status, data type, attribute type,
01:01
whether it is quick searchable or not in the web application, whether it's a common attribute or not,
01:08
whether it's included in your workflows, and what the CAD mapping type is.
01:15
In this table, you can also sort and filter the item attribute list by any of these columns.
01:27
Clicking on an item attribute opens its details on the right-hand side,
01:32
where you can see the same information and is where you can edit the item attribute.
01:45
These item attributes are visible throughout Upchain, including the bill of materials table within a project.
01:52
Many of these columns are the item attributes.
01:59
In the item details view on the right-hand side in the web application,
02:04
you can see them sorted according to common attributes or whether they're custom attributes.
02:13
And within the CAD plugin, in the item view and within the lower panes of the BOM views,
02:20
again, you can see the attributes sorted by whether they are common or custom.
02:34
Most of the details for the attributes found in the common attributes list cannot be edited.
02:40
This is because these attributes provide the key information for each item.
02:46
The exception to that are the CAD mappings at the bottom.
02:51
CAD mappings allow you to link the attribute with the CAD file associated with the item.
02:58
This can be useful if you want to share the CAD files with external stakeholders or users who do not have Upchain access.
03:05
A lot of the information that is also stored in Upchain regarding the item can be stored in the CAD file as well.
03:14
There are two mapping options.
03:20
The read mapping means the value for the attribute is read from the CAD file and saved into Upchain.
03:29
The write mapping means the value for the attribute is set in Upchain and written to the CAD file.
03:38
In other words, if the mapping is set to read, then the CAD file is the master of the attribute,
03:45
and if the mapping is set to write, then Upchain is the master of the attribute.
03:57
Let's set the mapping for the material attribute.
04:02
We're going to set it to "Read" because the CAD file is what contains this information and we simply want to bring that in to Upchain.
04:11
To set a CAD mapping, first load the "Item Details View" on the right-hand side, then click the "Edit" button.
04:23
Now tick the box beside the desired mapping.
04:28
In our case we're going to choose "Read" because again we want the material to be read from the CAD file and saved into Upchain.
04:38
Click the "Add Mapping" button.
04:42
From the drop-down menu, select the CAD software that your CAD files will be coming from.
04:48
We'll choose "SolidWorks" in our case.
04:53
If the mapping is set to "Read", then type in the name of the property exactly as it is shown in the CAD file.
05:00
This is case sensitive.
05:03
If the mapping is set to right, then you would type in the name of the property as you would like it to be written to the CAD file.
05:16
You can also add more than one line if you're using more than one CAD system.
05:26
Once you're happy with your settings, click the "Save" button.
05:36
You can now see the mapping type in the attribute, details panel as well as in the table.
05:43
And you can now filter the table by the CAD mapping type to see all attributes with read or write mappings or none at all.
05:53
Let's repeat this for the revision note.
05:57
This is something that the user will set in Upchain and we simply want to make sure that this is written to the CAD files as well,
06:05
so that someone reviewing the properties in the CAD file can see what revisions were made.
06:11
Note that when setting the CAD mappings, you cannot choose both read and write.
06:18
It has to be one or the other.
06:21
We've chosen the write property mapping property here for SolidWorks,
06:25
and we simply type in how we want that property to be written to the SolidWorks CAD file.
06:40
CAD users can see the mappings that are set in the CAD plug in within the CAD plug in settings.
06:52
You'll find this by scrolling down to the CAD attribute mappings section.
06:59
This table does not indicate which type of mapping is set for each one,
07:05
but it at least gives some clues as to which attributes they should watch out for,
07:10
when working with these attributes on items they have checked out.
07:19
The left column is how the attribute is read or written to the CAD file,
07:29
and the right column indicates the corresponding item attribute name in Upchain.
07:42
Users can further determine which mapping type it is based on whether the attribute is editable in the CAD plugin while the item is checked out.
07:53
For example, if we look at the revision note, this text field is editable which means it must be a right mapping.
08:08
Whereas the material is not an editable field which means it must be reading that value from the CAD file.
08:26
Let's demonstrate how these mappings work.
08:30
Let's explore the material attribute first.
08:35
The material attribute is set to read and here we want to make sure that the name of the property matches what we've also typed into Upchain.
08:48
We'll set the material now and ensure that it is saved into our custom properties table.
09:07
And it is.
09:22
Now, when we do a save or a check-in, Upchain is going to read the value of that property and insert it into the material attribute.
09:40
And there you can see that it has indeed pulled in the value of the material and inserted it into the material attribute field.
09:52
Let's explore this with the revision note.
09:58
This one was set to a right mapping which means that up chain is the master of this value.
10:04
So, we'll type in what we want into that text field.
10:12
And again, when we do a save or a check-in, Upchain is going to take that value that we've typed in and write it to the CAD file.
10:29
And here you can see that the property name matches what we configured in the administration page,
10:35
and it has written the value that we typed into Upchain.
10:44
This should give you a good understanding of how CAD mappings determine the interaction,
10:48
between an item's attributes and its associated CAD file properties.
10:53
Explore the list of common attributes and test out these mappings for yourself.
In this video, we’ll demonstrate how you can create custom attributes to capture the additional information that your organization needs to fully describe the items.
Transcript
00:08
In this video, we'll demonstrate how you can create custom attributes,
00:12
to capture the additional information that your organization needs to fully describe the items.
00:17
So, let's take a look.
00:21
Though Upchain provides you with many default item attributes,
00:25
it is often the case that your organization has additional information that you wish to capture for your items.
00:33
These custom attributes may be the additional descriptors you need to further classify the purpose or function of the item,
00:41
information regarding the physical aspects of the item, or perhaps even additional identifiers for the item.
00:49
Consider what information you may wish to capture from your CAD files and for your items in general.
00:58
These custom item attributes are visible throughout Upchain, again, including the bill of materials table within a project, the item details view.
01:10
At the very bottom, there's a section for custom attributes.
01:15
And in the CAD plugin in both the item view and the lower panes of the BOM views, at the very bottom again, there's a section for custom attributes.
01:29
For our example company, we will be using Upchain to manage our electrical bill of materials and data.
01:36
One of the attributes we need to include is a reference designator.
01:43
Let's create this attribute.
01:47
In the custom attributes tab or in the all-attributes tab, click the add new attribute button.
01:58
Type in a name for your attributes.
02:01
We'll type in designator.
02:06
You can add in a description for the attribute if desired.
02:10
This is only visible to other tenant admins, and you can use this as a way to remind yourself and others what this attribute is for.
02:20
Select the data type for the attribute.
02:24
The default is text, meaning the attribute appears as a text field,
02:28
but you can see that there are many other options to choose from depending on what the purpose of your attribute is.
02:37
Please note if you choose pick list, you need to reach out to Upchain support to create that pick list for you.
02:47
Select the status of the attribute.
02:50
By default, it's set to active, but if you're not ready yet to make it active,
02:55
you can change this to disabled to hide it from your end users for now.
03:02
Decide if you wish to include this attribute as a way to locate the item through the quick search function.
03:11
Decide if you wish to include this attribute in your workflows.
03:15
You may find this useful when configuring your own workflows to check items for specific attributes.
03:26
Once you're happy with all of that information, click the "Save" button.
03:32
The attribute is now added to your custom attributes list and is in an active state in our case since that's how we left the status.
03:44
You can still edit these attribute details at any time to change its name, description, status, searchability,
03:52
inclusion in workflows, and its CAD mappings.
03:57
Any changes you make, and as soon as you click save, will take effect right away.
04:03
Your end users may just need to log out and log back in again for them to for them to see the changes.
04:11
For our mechanical CAD data, we also want to be able to save information on the density, mass, and volume into Upchain.
04:22
This should all be read from the CAD file since the design is what drives this information.
04:29
For example, these are the values we want to bring into up chain.
04:36
Let's go ahead and create those attributes.
04:41
The process is the same as before.
04:57
Now, we'll set the mapping.
04:59
Remember, we want to read this information from the CAD file and bring it into Upchain.
05:06
The text we type in here must match the property name in the CAD file.
05:14
Let's repeat this for the mass and volume.
05:51
Lastly, let's configure an attribute that identifies whether the item needs a label or not.
05:58
In this case, we're going to set the CAD mapping property to the right option so that we can save this information to the CAD file.
06:20
For this option, we could choose picklist since it would be a typical yes or no response.
06:28
If we do choose "Picklist", we are presented with a drop-down menu of available picklist to choose from, that are already created for our tenant.
06:39
But you must reach out to Upchain Support to have a specific picklist created for you.
06:49
To keep it simple, we will just create this as a text-based attribute.
07:14
This should now give you a good understanding of how you can create your own custom item attributes and set their CAD mappings if required.
Video transcript
00:08
In this video, we'll demonstrate how you can create custom attributes,
00:12
to capture the additional information that your organization needs to fully describe the items.
00:17
So, let's take a look.
00:21
Though Upchain provides you with many default item attributes,
00:25
it is often the case that your organization has additional information that you wish to capture for your items.
00:33
These custom attributes may be the additional descriptors you need to further classify the purpose or function of the item,
00:41
information regarding the physical aspects of the item, or perhaps even additional identifiers for the item.
00:49
Consider what information you may wish to capture from your CAD files and for your items in general.
00:58
These custom item attributes are visible throughout Upchain, again, including the bill of materials table within a project, the item details view.
01:10
At the very bottom, there's a section for custom attributes.
01:15
And in the CAD plugin in both the item view and the lower panes of the BOM views, at the very bottom again, there's a section for custom attributes.
01:29
For our example company, we will be using Upchain to manage our electrical bill of materials and data.
01:36
One of the attributes we need to include is a reference designator.
01:43
Let's create this attribute.
01:47
In the custom attributes tab or in the all-attributes tab, click the add new attribute button.
01:58
Type in a name for your attributes.
02:01
We'll type in designator.
02:06
You can add in a description for the attribute if desired.
02:10
This is only visible to other tenant admins, and you can use this as a way to remind yourself and others what this attribute is for.
02:20
Select the data type for the attribute.
02:24
The default is text, meaning the attribute appears as a text field,
02:28
but you can see that there are many other options to choose from depending on what the purpose of your attribute is.
02:37
Please note if you choose pick list, you need to reach out to Upchain support to create that pick list for you.
02:47
Select the status of the attribute.
02:50
By default, it's set to active, but if you're not ready yet to make it active,
02:55
you can change this to disabled to hide it from your end users for now.
03:02
Decide if you wish to include this attribute as a way to locate the item through the quick search function.
03:11
Decide if you wish to include this attribute in your workflows.
03:15
You may find this useful when configuring your own workflows to check items for specific attributes.
03:26
Once you're happy with all of that information, click the "Save" button.
03:32
The attribute is now added to your custom attributes list and is in an active state in our case since that's how we left the status.
03:44
You can still edit these attribute details at any time to change its name, description, status, searchability,
03:52
inclusion in workflows, and its CAD mappings.
03:57
Any changes you make, and as soon as you click save, will take effect right away.
04:03
Your end users may just need to log out and log back in again for them to for them to see the changes.
04:11
For our mechanical CAD data, we also want to be able to save information on the density, mass, and volume into Upchain.
04:22
This should all be read from the CAD file since the design is what drives this information.
04:29
For example, these are the values we want to bring into up chain.
04:36
Let's go ahead and create those attributes.
04:41
The process is the same as before.
04:57
Now, we'll set the mapping.
04:59
Remember, we want to read this information from the CAD file and bring it into Upchain.
05:06
The text we type in here must match the property name in the CAD file.
05:14
Let's repeat this for the mass and volume.
05:51
Lastly, let's configure an attribute that identifies whether the item needs a label or not.
05:58
In this case, we're going to set the CAD mapping property to the right option so that we can save this information to the CAD file.
06:20
For this option, we could choose picklist since it would be a typical yes or no response.
06:28
If we do choose "Picklist", we are presented with a drop-down menu of available picklist to choose from, that are already created for our tenant.
06:39
But you must reach out to Upchain Support to have a specific picklist created for you.
06:49
To keep it simple, we will just create this as a text-based attribute.
07:14
This should now give you a good understanding of how you can create your own custom item attributes and set their CAD mappings if required.
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