6 Replies Latest reply on Feb 27, 2009 2:08 PM by Jason Capriotti

    Changing File type

    Jason Capriotti
    Jason Capriotti Feb 26, 2009 5:51 PM
      Is there a way to change a drawing from one file type to another and retain the history. It is not uncommon for us to have old legacy scanned handrawings or AutoCAD drawings that get recreated in SolidWorks. In our legacy system, a drawing it

      Anyone else needs this requirement? Our thought is that a drawing is the same thing in our system regardless of what format it may be in. Revisions A-C maybe scanned hand drawings, Revisions D-F maybe AutoCAD, then Rev G may be SolidWorks. We have a history with the drawing, not the file type.
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        • Changing File type
          Jeff Sweeney
          Jeff Sweeney Feb 26, 2009 6:47 PM (in response to Jason Capriotti)
          I don't think so...perhaps if you attach the old file to the new, you can see how the file has changed?
          • Changing File type
            Michael Dekoning
            Michael Dekoning Feb 26, 2009 6:49 PM (in response to Jason Capriotti)
            The history is attached to a particular document. I believe that you will actually be replacing the document and the new document will have its own history. If you only wish to preserve the descriptions of prior changes, you could create a field to store the legacy information with the new document. How did you handle it when you went from hand drawings to AutoCAD files?

            Mike
              • Changing File type
                Wayne Tiffany
                Wayne Tiffany Feb 26, 2009 7:17 PM (in response to Michael Dekoning)
                I just tested a theory and it worked as far as my test went.

                I put a jpg file in the vault. Checked it in. Then checked it out, made a change to it, and checked it in, adding a comment as I did. No problem - normal thing to do. Then I checked it out again. Now, out in a tmp folder, I renamed a SW part file that I had sitting there, to match that jpg name, including the extension. Then I picked it up and dropped it into the folder where the original jpg file was. I got the proper warnings that the file already existed, do I want to overwrite. Yes, do it. Then I changed the extension back to sldprt to make it a recognizable SW part file. Then checked it in. Upon looking at the history, all comments and events are still there, therby doing what you are asking for.

                Now that being said, I don't know what would happen with Where-used, Contains, BOMs, etc. - didn't go there.

                WT
                  • Changing File type
                    Jason Stats
                    Jason Stats Feb 27, 2009 1:58 PM (in response to Wayne Tiffany)
                    Wayne's method, does work. However, since the file extension does not revert back to the original extension when you go back to the earlier version, you would want to make sure to put a version comment on the earlier version which lets the user know that the extension needs to be changed (and what extension) in order to view it correctly. Such as ...(Change file extension back to .dwg to view this and earlier versions).
                  • Changing File type
                    Jason Capriotti
                    Jason Capriotti Feb 27, 2009 2:07 PM (in response to Michael Dekoning)
                    Our current system is just a database of history about ECO changes and part numbers. The drawing in the system is just metadata and the type of file is just a field. So when a conversion occurs, we up rev it and change the field to says its now a SolidWorks filetype. This system is old and runs on a mainframe, it does not handle files at all, just metadata.

                    So going to Enterprise, we are trying to figure out how to handle the same situation.

                    We also have cases of multiple files representing one drawing. For example, sheets 1-5 might be in Excel (BOM and selection rules) while sheets 6-10 are in AutoCAD or SolidWorks (Assembly details).