I am looking at the new Property Tab Builder and have run
into an issue that seems not uncommon. So I'd like to hear your
opinion. Based on answers will decide how I implement an
improvement to my product, the Template Wizard - but your answers
will probably also be really helpful for other users. So here it
is:
I would prefer to have only one Property Tab (see attached image) so that when a user wants to enter properties they just click on the tab and start entering properties. Therefore, this property tab would start with a Document Type group box that allows the user to select between Part, Assembly, or Drawing. Depending on which is selected would determine the group box that has all of the Part properties in it, another group box that has all of the Assembly properties in it, and finally a group box that has the drawing properties in it. The problem I run into immediately is that you can't have two properties on the Property Tab that are the same. For example, a "Description" property in the Parts Group Box and "Description" property in the Assembly Group Box.
So I can see two possible solutions:
1) Common Properties are in their own Group Box (such as Description, Number, etc) and document type properties are in their own group box (material, finish for parts; drawn by, drawn date for drawings).
2) Use multiple Property Tab files. One for parts, one for assemblies, etc. Doing it this way gives more flexibility for handling different types of parts (purchased parts, weldments, etc) that have different property needs. This has the downside that each time a user wants to enter properties they have to choose the property tab from a list before inspecting/adding/modifying values.
What do you think? Are there other issues to consider?
I've added a poll so that we can see what users prefer...
I would prefer to have only one Property Tab (see attached image) so that when a user wants to enter properties they just click on the tab and start entering properties. Therefore, this property tab would start with a Document Type group box that allows the user to select between Part, Assembly, or Drawing. Depending on which is selected would determine the group box that has all of the Part properties in it, another group box that has all of the Assembly properties in it, and finally a group box that has the drawing properties in it. The problem I run into immediately is that you can't have two properties on the Property Tab that are the same. For example, a "Description" property in the Parts Group Box and "Description" property in the Assembly Group Box.
So I can see two possible solutions:
1) Common Properties are in their own Group Box (such as Description, Number, etc) and document type properties are in their own group box (material, finish for parts; drawn by, drawn date for drawings).
2) Use multiple Property Tab files. One for parts, one for assemblies, etc. Doing it this way gives more flexibility for handling different types of parts (purchased parts, weldments, etc) that have different property needs. This has the downside that each time a user wants to enter properties they have to choose the property tab from a list before inspecting/adding/modifying values.
What do you think? Are there other issues to consider?
I've added a poll so that we can see what users prefer...
!
For those that work with many different customers, who all have different custom properties requirements, it is difficult to capture in one type of property tab.
You will find that there is a limitation on how many radio buttons you can add for a given attribute. 3 is the maximum the system allows you to have with the SW property manager tab.
There was a lot of discussion during Beta on how the property manager should work. Having multiple property tab files with a drop down list was just about the first on everyone's list for improvements to the new feature. That functionality was not included when the property manager was first rolled out to the users.
Cheers,