STOP WITH THE DEFAULT AUTOMATIC DRAWING UPDATE ALREADY!!!

[__archiben]

please? it's bad, Bad, BAD. and dangerous.

it's too easy to forget to set a drawing to 'Manual' update. when you open on an already published layout, before you can say supercalifragilisticexbealidocous you've lost the "current" status of that layout. rather than use the publisher to re-issue current drawing sets you have to manually open your archive (if you remembered to make them) copies and print individually . . .

please graphisoft! stop trying to show off all of your new toys and start thinking about how we need to use the application! the only circumstance i can possibly see for having drawings update themselves automatically are for project index sheets.

to my way of thinking, this functionality needs to be OFF by default, however at the very least this command needs to be available and settable in the default tool settings dialogue in order that it's status is applied to any newly placed drawings.

~/archiben

[TomWaltz]

I'd be equally happy if
(A) Updates were a background (second processor) process
(B) The "Stop" button actually worked

(that said, I've never been a person who lets the layouts and the working drawings be out of sync)

[__archiben]

TomWaltz wrote:
(that said, I've never been a person who lets the layouts and the working drawings be out of sync)

do you keep your layouts totally live at all times now then? so that a layout will reflect whatever a person is doing in the model at all times? so that a layout may reflect what is in the model before that model may well be ready for issue? how do you manage your layouts when you need to re-publish the current set of drawings for issue to another party for example? and who pulled on your chain this afternoon, eh?

~/archiben

[Rob]

we are always creating dwg and pdf copies when we are publishing any issue and then sending them electronically if necessary. In case that there is a preliminary issue (an option I should say) which can be reversed back we keep (temporarily) variation drafts (teamwork) or separate files per each option (solo projects).
I am not saying that we should not have an option to turn auto-updating off but in my opinion it's dangerous practice to not keep your model-layouts transparent, especially with big projects.

[TomWaltz]

~/archiben wrote:

TomWaltz wrote:
(that said, I've never been a person who lets the layouts and the working drawings be out of sync)

do you keep your layouts totally live at all times now then? so that a layout will reflect whatever a person is doing in the model at all times? so that a layout may reflect what is in the model before that model may well be ready for issue? how do you manage your layouts when you need to re-publish the current set of drawings for issue to another party for example? and who pulled on your chain this afternoon, eh?

~/archiben

Yep.

Any time a set is at a stopping point, a PDF set is made. Anyone who needs prints in the mean time gets them through the printing department, not the architect.

[Aussie John]

~/archiben wrote:
how do you manage your layouts when you need to re-publish the current set of drawings for issue to another party for example? and who pulled on your chain this afternoon, eh?

~/archiben

Agree with auto update off by default but mainly for performance reasons. Regarding updates and reissuing that is what my previous published PDFs DWGs are for.

[James Murray]

I'm voting essential, for performance reasons, and it's common sense that we should be able to set 'Manual' as a default in the drawing tool.

Looking deeper I can see both sides. No, I don't want my layouts out of sync with the project. But I don't want the layouts spastically sync'ing with a model that is in progress. AC seems to assume that the only reason to open a layout is to print, and it's not.

We need recognition in the software of the "model -> output" workflow. To everything there is a season, a time to model, a time to print. Just because I'm opening a layout doesn't mean my workflow is in 'output' mode. BUT: When I am in output mode, I want the layouts to hop to it.

So how about this: A master 'Suspend Updates' switch. When it's off, the auto and manual updates work individually as now. When it's on, no updating will happen, regardless of the drawings' settings. Then you can observe your layouts without unintentionally updating, and without remembering/forgetting to set the update state in the Drawing Manager.

Suspending updates could also help with CA calls. Manipulating the layouts directly is usually faster than opening a 60-sheet PDF, in my experience.

Stupid?

[Anonymous]

Yeah! What James said!

I particularly like the idea of the master switch.

[Aussie John]

TomWaltz wrote:
(B) The "Stop" button actually worked

the other day I accidentally hit publish without choosing "selected item" but it started publishing the whole subset. Cancelling was a waste of time as was the wait til it was done.
I almost always use select items and wish that option would automatically come up if only part of the subset is selected.

[__archiben]

James wrote:
Stupid?

not at all. whist i was reading your post - and before i got to the switch bit - i was beginning to think that maybe the layouting environment needs extending by another step to issuing. thus model>view>layout>issue>publish

wouldn't it make more sense for another tab in the navigator to handle issuing (where revisioning can also dealt with)? where layouts are taken specifically for issue and archive . . . and where those previously issued and archived layouts can be retrieved again for publishing? i know: file size, right? but what if all the 'issuing' tab is is a database of layout history which can tap into your own archive systems and hierarchy?

anyways. too complicated for now. the switch is great idea until such a time . . .

~/archiben