Design Manager

Getting Started and

Installation Guide

Contents
LICENCE AGREEMENT ......................................................................... 2
WHAT IS A DESMAN? ............................................................................. 5
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 7

WHAT IS TECHNICAL DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT? ........................ 7

GENERAL PRINCIPLES .......................................................................... 9
INSTALLATION .......................................................................................13

CHOOSING THE CONFIGURATION .................................................. 13

DESKTOP INSTALLATION ............................................................. 14
Preparation ............................................................................. 14
Setup ........................................................................................ 14
Starting Design Manager 6 for the first time .......................... 17
CLIENT/SERVER INSTALLATION ................................................... 18
UPGRADING FROM A PREVIOUS VERSION .................................... 20
USER SETTINGS ............................................................................ 21
UPDATE ........................................................................................ 23
MODIFICATIONS ........................................................................... 23
WORKFLOW ................................................................................. 23
USER NAMES................................................................................ 24
DOC TYPE .................................................................................... 24
TUTORIAL ................................................................................................26

SEARCHING FOR DOCUMENTS ...................................................... 26

VIEWING DOCUMENTS ................................................................. 27
Annotating drawings (RedLining) ........................................... 28
CREATING NEW DOCUMENTS....................................................... 29
MOVING THE DOCUMENT THROUGH THE WORKFLOW .................. 30
ORGANISING USING PROJECTS...................................................... 33
YEAR 2000 COMPLIANCE .....................................................................36

Licence Agreement
DEFINITIONS
The term 'Software' as used in this agreement means
the computer programs contained in the CD/Disks
provided, together with any updates subsequently
provided by Curve Design Solutions The term 'Software
Copies' means the actual copies of all or any portion of
the Software, including any back-ups, updates, merged
or partial copies permitted thereunder or subsequently
supplied by Curve Design Solutions. The term 'Related
Materials' means all of the printed material supplied by
Curve Design Solutions for use with the Software.
PERMITTED USES
Customer may:
Load into RAM and use the Software on a single
terminal or a single workstation of a computer (or its
replacement). Site licence holders are exempt from this
clause. Install the Software onto a permanent storage
device (a hard disk drive) Make and maintain up to two
back-up copies provided they are used only for back-up
purposes, and Customer keeps possession of the backups. In addition, all the information appearing on the
original disk labels (including the copyright notice) must
be copied onto the back-up labels. This licence gives the
Customer limited rights to use the Software, Software
Copies and Related Materials. Customer does not
become the owner of and Curve Design Solutions
retains title to: all the Software, Software copies and
Related Materials. In addition Customer agrees to use
reasonable efforts to protect the Software from
unauthorised use,
reproduction,
distribution or

publication. All rights not specifically granted in this

licence are reserved by Curve Design Solutions.
USES NOT PERMITTED
Customer may not:
Make copies of the Related Materials. Educational users
are exempt from this clause providing such copies are
only used as teaching material and credit is given as to
the source. Use the Software in a network or multiple
user arrangement unless Customer pays for and obtains
a separate licensed Software package for each terminal
or work station from which the Software will actually be
accessed or has a site licence. Rent, lease, lend, sublicence, sell, time-share or transfer the Software Copies,
Related Materials or rights under this agreement, except
with prior written authorisation from Curve Design
Solutions.
Alter, decompile, disassemble, reverse
engineer the Software or produce Software which
performs in a manner similar to the Software produced
by Curve Design Solutions Limited. Remove or obscure
the Curve Design Solutions copyright and trademark
notices.
Resell the Software, Software Copies or
Related Materials without the prior written authorisation
of Curve Design Solutions.
DURATION
This Agreement is effective immediately. Customer
Licence continues for twenty-five years or until all
Software Copies and Related Materials are returned to
Curve Design Solutions, whichever is the sooner. If
customer breaches this agreement, Curve Design
Solutions can terminate this licence upon notifying

Customer in writing. Customer will be required to return

all Software Copies and Related Materials.
Curve Design Solutions can also enforce their other legal
rights.
GENERAL
This Agreement represents the entire understanding and
agreement between Curve Design Solutions and
Customer, regarding Software, Software Copies and
Related Materials and supersedes any prior proposal,
representation or agreement, written or oral. This
Licence may only be modified in a written amendment
signed by an authorised Curve Design Solutions Officer.
If any provision of this agreement shall be
unlawful,void,or for any reason unenforceable. It shall
be deemed severable from, and shall in no way affect
the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions
of this agreement.
DISCLAIMER
The Software is intended to assist with product design
and should be used only by persons with mechanical
engineering experience. Persons using the Software
should maintain adequate backup procedures, as Curve
Design Solutions shall not be liable for loss of data in the
event that the Software malfunctions.
RETURNS
Once the Security Codes have been issued for the
Software Curve Design Solutions expects payment in full
within the due date of the invoice the Software CANNOT
be returned for any reason for a refund or credit against
any outstanding invoice.

What is a Desman?
Most of our users use the nickname Desman for
Design Manager, it happens that there actually is a
creature called a Desman.
Desman
Common name for certain mammals in the mole family
that lead a semiaquatic existence beside ponds and
streams, feeding on insects, fish, and molluscs. The socalled Russian desman occurs in the drainage basins of
the rivers of Russia and Kazakhstan. It has a long,
flared, flexible snout and grows to a length of about 20
cm (8 in), with a laterally compressed tail of nearly equal
length. Its front paws are partially webbed, and its rear
paws are fully webbed. The burrows of desmans have
underwater entrances. Scent glands give the animals an
odour like that of muskrats, but their beautiful reddish
brown fur has made them an endangered species. The
Pyrenean desman is smaller; one variety occurs in the
Pyrenees, the other in mountains of Portugal.
Scientific classification: Desmans belong to the family
Talpidae. The Russian desman is classified as Desmana
moschata, the Pyrenean desman as Galemys
pyrenaicus.
"Desman," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia. (c)
1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. (c)
Funk & Wagnalls Corporation. All rights reserved.

Introduction
This manual is intended as a Getting Started Guide, for
detailed information about Design Manager functions
please refer to the On-Line help system.

What is Technical Document Management?

There are many aspects to document management, but
they can be divided into five main areas:

Additional information Design documents and

drawings are stored by filename with little indication
of what they might contain. Although summary
information may be available within the file it is often
time consuming to search through this data. The
document management system stores this extra
information in an easily and quickly searchable
database. Information about related documents is
also an important consideration, for instance
architectural walk-through or maintenance manuals.

Finding documents It is rare in a Design

Environment to find new projects that do not contain
elements of other designs, but finding the drawings,
specifications or calculations for these can be time
consuming. So much so that in many cases parts are
re-designed unnecessarily. What is required is a fast
and simple way to mine the information contained in
drawings and other design documents. Using the
additional information mentioned above, related
documents can be quickly located for modification,

used as the starting point for new designs or just for

reference.

Organisation A design project contains many

documents and parts, these may be logically or
arbitrarily related to one another. Design Manager
gives you a powerful method of building projects and
identifying the status of objects contained in them.

Control
With the increasing importance of
ISO9000 and BS6760, both quality and traceability
have become part of the design process. No matter
how the documents are created subjects such as
Issue control and modification logging are vital to the
successful implementation and maintenance of a
quality standard.

Sharing of Information In most cases design is a

team activity and members of the team need to know
the status of documents and information that they
interact with. This is a fundamental requirement of
the concurrent engineering approach. These days
design teams no longer share the same space and
time; they may work on different sites and in other
time zones. The design information they require must
be easily visible to them and they must be notified at
key points in a design documents life cycle.

These are all aspects that are addressed by the Design

Manager system.

General Principles
Design Manager maintains a database of information
about your documents; this information includes a link to
the document and the application that created it. Instead
of hunting around in your systems file system for
documents you can use powerful database searches to
locate them. It is capable of centralising information
about documents that may be scattered among many
storage resources on your system.

Design Manager also takes care of the status of

documents, this includes who is working on them, what
revision/issue they are, what changes have been made
and who they have been sent to.
Documents are generally stored on a network server, we
call the area in which they are stored the vault because
they are maintained in a read only state. When editing is
required they are copied to a working area, when the
editing is complete they are moved back to the vault.
Getting documents from the vault is known as 'Checking
Out' putting them back as 'Checking In'.
To work with a document you first find it in the database
using a simple but powerful search dialog, the
information is then presented using a tabbed dialog
similar to a card index. The results of many searches
can be viewed simultaneously, this makes comparison
simple. If several documents are found that meet the
search criteria they are displayed in a grid on the dialog.
Selecting from the grid will display the additional
information held for that document plus the status of that
document.
Searches produce groups of documents that are related
by some common criteria Projects are groups of
documents related arbitrarily, i.e. they are related
because you say they are related. This means that you
can for instance relate documents such as
specifications, calculations, videos and drawings or
combine parts into a Bill of Materials.

10

Colours and a Document WorkFlow Progress panel

indicate document status.
When visible this panel shows the current MileStone that
the document has reached.

Pressing the Milestones will take you to the

corresponding action tab on the current search; this
action does not change the milestone that the document
has reached. Pressing the arrows (the cursor changes to
a hand when over these) will move the documents to the
next milestone.
Selected documents may be Opened or Viewed and
their associated records Edited or Deleted.
When a Document is complete it may be checked,
Issued, distributed and modified.
Optionally E-mail can be sent to the rest of the team
informing them and requesting actions. Documents may
also be attached to E-mail and dispatched to non
Design Manager users. Design Manager also monitors
incoming E-mail for those related to documents and then
allows you to read and action them.

11

Note: Be aware that using E-mail over the Internet may

not be secure, if your documents are of a confidential
nature you may wish to investigate some form of
encryption. If you are concerned about the possibility of
Virus attachments to E-mail you should consider using
Digital ID's.

12

Installation
Design Manager can be installed in either DeskTop or
Client/Server configurations. In DeskTop mode the
'DataBase Engine' is located on each workstation and
the 'DataBase Files' on a Server. The Server may be a
dedicated machine or a shared computer on the
network. In Client/Server Mode the 'DataBase Engine'
and the 'DataBase Files' reside on the server, and the
workstation makes requests for information to the Server
over the network.
If you are upgrading from a previous version of Design
Manager follow the DeskTop installation and then see
the Upgrading from a Previous Version section of this
guide.

Choosing the configuration

There are no 'hard and fast' rules for which is the best
configuration but here are some guidelines.

Try the DeskTop configuration first and see if the

performance is acceptable, if not you can then set up
the Client/Server mode. There is no downside to
doing this as the difference between DeskTop and
Client/Server on a workstation is a single file that is
easily replaced. The Server setup is a separate task.

If your workstation(s) are well specified (usual for

CAD systems) and your server is not, choose the
DeskTop configuration.

13

If you have a powerful Server, the network is busy

and your workstations are poorly specified, choose
Client/Server.

If you require the extra security and database

integrity
that
Client/Server
offers,
choose
Client/Server.

Because a workstation installation is required for both

configurations the DeskTop installation is covered first.

DeskTop Installation
Preparation
Ensure that you can log onto the workstation with
administrator privileges and that a minimum of 20mb of
space is available (10mb if not all options are installed).
As you will either be installing a central database or
attaching to an existing one, make sure that you know
the network path to this. Check with your system
administrator if you are unsure of the network path to
use. Look at General Principles for more information on
how Design Manager works.

Setup
Place the Design Manager CDRom in the workstation
drive, if the installation does not automatically execute
use the Windows Start menu Run option to run the
Master Setup from the CDRom (ie. enter
'D:\MASTER.EXE), now proceed as follows:

14

Choose Design Manager from the master setup screen.

Note: the CDRom also contains copies of our
Mechanical Designer Application and several useful
database utilities..
Read the ReadMe file, this has the latest information
about the software which may not be documented
elsewhere. Press the OK button when you have finished.
The Welcome screen is displayed; this has a check box
for the installation of tutorial files. The tutorial files
consist of a set of drawings and a Design Manager
database which refers to these. If you install the tutorial
files they are easily removed when you have finished
with them, you will not need to re- install Design
Manager. Press the Next button to continue.
Select a destination folder for the workstation files, the
default is C:\DESMAN but they can go anywhere on your
system. Be aware however that if you are installing the
tutorial files the registration information for these
documents may be incorrect if you install to a different
directory. Press the Next button to continue.
Select the path to the Central Database folder, this is
where the general database files will be located, user
databases may be elsewhere. If in doubt check with your
system administrator for guidance. Press the Next
button to continue.
The next screen is for Installation Options, Choose the
DeskTop configuration. (If Client/Server is disabled it is
not available on this CDRom). The other option is to

15

'Disable Save As in the Drawing Viewer' . The drawing

viewer in Design Manager has the capability of saving a
drawing to any previous version of AutoCAD .DWG or
DFX and also as a Drawing Web Format file (DWF). To
increase system security and protect the integrity of your
drawings you may wish to disable this feature. Press the
Next button to continue.
Now choose a program group to install Icons and short
cuts into or select the default. ShortCuts will also be
added to your DeskTop for Design Manager, the
Design Manager Floating Toolbar, the DataBase
upgrade program and the UnInstall program.
You are then asked if you are 'Ready to Install', if you
want to review your settings you can use the Back
button, if not press the Next button and the files will be
installed. During the installation a check will be made for
previous versions of Design Manager on your system,
this may take a few minutes depending on the size and
speed of your local hard disk drives. If a previous version
is found its location is logged for use in the UpGrade
program.
The Last screen indicates that the installation is
complete. After you press the Finish button you may be
informed that your system needs to be shut down and
restarted before you run the application. If you answer
Yes this will be done automatically for you.
If upgrading from a previous version of Design Manager
you should now refer to the UpGrading from a

16

Previous Version section of

attempting to start the application.

this

guide

before

Starting Design Manager 6 for the first time

Double click the Design Manager icon on your
DeskTop, you will see a splash screen whilst the integrity
of the database files is checked and then a registration
screen will be displayed.
If you are installing for a 'Test Drive' of Design Manager
press the Demo button, otherwise proceed as follows:
If your Name and Company are registered with the
operating system these will be shown, you may amend
the entries if you wish. Enter your Design Manager
serial number, it can be found on a label attached to the
CDRom case or enclosed in the box.
You will now need to contact Curve Design Solutions for
a release code quoting the reference number shown on
the screen. If you cannot do this at this time make a note
of the number and then use the Demo button to
continue. In Demo mode you are restricted to 46
documents but can complete your setup. Curve Design
Solutions can be contacted as follows:
Phone:
+44 (0) 1462-896222
Fax:
+44 (0) 1462-896916
Email: [email protected]

17

You can now install on any other workstations as

required, although you will be asked where the central
database is the previously installed files will not be over
written.

Client/Server Installation
The TCP/IP protocol must be set up on your network
workstations to utilise the Client/Server configuration,
check your Windows documentation for further
information on this.
The Server program is installed and run on the machine
designated as your Server, this can be a dedicated
machine running Windows 2000/NT, Windows
2000/NT Server or Windows 96/98. For good
performance it should be a highly specified machine, we
recommend a minimum of a 600mhz with 128mb of
memory and a fast high capacity hard drive.
Load the CDRom and select Server from the master
installation screen. Dismiss the Welcome screen and
then select a folder for the installation, select Next and
then Next again from the Ready to Install Screen.
When complete, an icon group will have been set up with
short cuts to the Apollo Server, the Apollo Server
Manager utility and the Help files. Double click the
Apollo Server icon to start the Database Server. Once
the server is running the select Run Apollo Server
Manager from the Tools menu. A login screen will be

18

displayed, use the User Name SYSDBA and the

password masterkey. It is now necessary to set-up the
databases, for a basic single database installation three
entries are required. Select the Database tab on the
manager and then select Add , enter the name of your
primary database in the Alias Name box (the default
name for this is MAIN) you can now browse for the data
path folder where you installed the database files. Finally
select OK. Repeat this procedure twice more using the
alias names GENERAL and then SEARCH and
entering the same data path as for MAIN. After this
procedure your entries should be similar to that shown
below:

Now install at least one workstation as described above

in DeskTop Installation but selecting the Client/Server
configuration.

19

When you press the Next button after choosing

Client/Server on the Options screen an additional dialog
is displayed for you to enter the Design Manager
Database Server information. You only need enter the
ServerID on this dialog unless a password has been
configured on the server. The ServerID is the Tc/IP
address (eg 192.9.3.8) or a hostname alias for the server
(this is defined in the Servers Hosts file, normally found
in the Windows directory). Do not change the ProcessID
unless this conflicts with another process on the server
(Unlikely) and you have used the Apollo Server
Manager utility to change the server configuration.
This information is stored and will be displayed on
subsequent workstation installations.
Complete the installation as for DeskTop Installation.

UpGrading from a Previous Version

Design Manager 6 has a different database structure
from previous versions; it also stores modification history
in a different way. Your previous database will not be
over-written by the DeskTop installation described
above.
Use the DmDbMaint application to upgrade the
DataBase and Modification data, an icon for this will
have been installed on your DeskTop for this. When you
run this application you will see that it has its own help

20

button. See DataBase Update if you require more

information on this utility at this time.
Notes: It is only necessary to carry out the update
once, ignore this step when installing subsequent
workstations.
The DmDbMaint program cannot be run in
Client/Server configuration, set up a DeskTop

User Settings
All other settings can be done from within the Design
Manager environment, please refer to Setup Options for
further information.

21

DataBase Update
Design Manager Version 5/6 have a different database
structure to previous versions. The DataBase Update
Utility can be used to make the database tables
compatible.
Because the Filter (now called Search) and User tables
are so radically different and their data is easily reentered the utility does not update these files.
When you install Design Manager 6 and a previous
installation is detected the existing database(s) are
added to the setup. If you then try to run Design
Manager with this database(s) it will fail to initialise. On
execution the utility will check the Design Manager 6
setup and load the table definition file (dmindex.ini).
All users should be logged out of Design Manager
before using this utility and the database files backed
up. Some operations can take a long time on large
tables so be prepared to leave the process running.
The DataBase Update utility is used to update databases
prior to Version 6 and to maintain current databases. If a
database prior to Version 5 is detected when the utility is
started the Import from Version 4 tab is displayed.
Five options are available:

22

Update
This option will change your existing tables to be
compatible with Design Manager 6.

Modifications
Prior to Design Manager version 6, modification/change
history was stored in text files associated with a
document file, the files can be identified by a .MOD
extension.
In
Design
Manager
version
6,
modification/change history is stored in a database table.
The Modification button on the Update utility will convert
the individual .MOD files into database records. If you
did not use the modification system in a previous version
of Design Manager there is no need to run this option.
When the import of Modifications is complete you should
check that the expected changes are logged against
documents by referring to the Change tab on a suitable
search dialog in Design Manager. If all is well the .MOD
files can be removed from your Drawing/Document
directories. We suggest you archive the .MOD files prior
to deletion.

Workflow
Versions prior to 5/6 had no implicit workflow, use the
Workflow option to interpret the existing data and set
workflow values. Note that if Issue Control was not
correctly used in previous versions the workflow values

23

may not be correct and the data may require further

processing by Curve Design Solutions personnel.

User Names
Use the User Names function to convert user
information into the new format. You can select the
names you want to convert but we recommend that in
the first instance you use the Add All button.

Doc Type
In the past many users did not utilise the doctypes field
in the database for its default purpose and therefore it
may contain values that are not recognised. If this is so
the defined field for Document type should be changed
in the Design Manager properties dialog (see the help
file for details). The Doc Type button can be used to
ensure that the designated field contains DWG as the
document type.
If your database is large these functions may take some
time to execute.

24

25

Tutorial
If you elected to install the Tutorial DataBase and
Documents you can follow this tutorial, it is a detailed
button by button description of the main principles of
Design Manager Operation. This document is also
available in the Design Manager help file, which contains
links that will take you to more detailed information about
individual topics. The CD Rom also contains a selfrunning demonstration that you may like to watch before
continuing with this tutorial.
Remember that all the buttons and other controls have
pop up hints (tool tips) on them so if you are not sure of
the function just 'hover' the cursor over the control.
Start Design Manager and log in as Guest.

Searching for Documents

Select New from the Search drop down menu on the
Search Dialog you will see that Doc. No. is selected in
the top fields box and Starts With in the Condition box,
enter CF in the Criteria box and press the OK button. All
the documents with a number starting with CF will be
shown in a search results window. You have just carried
out your first search!
Choose Edit from the Search drop down menu, you will
see that the search dialog is just as you left it. In the
second row select Title from the Fields drop down list,
select Contains from the Condition drop down list and
enter Soldier in the Criteria box.

26

In the Search Name box enter CF series Soldiers.

Press the OK button and the search results window will
show documents with Soldier in the title whose number
starts with CF. The Search Toolbar box should show CF
series Soldiers.
Make sure that the Move Tab to Position in Workflow
box is checked and then select various documents, you
will notice that the tab on the dialog for the next action is
displayed.

Viewing Documents
Use the Search Toolbar drop down list to select the
saved search All.
Scroll down the list of documents on the Search results
window until you find a drawing document that shows a
thumbnail view, (CF-GA-001 for instance) right click and
select the eye icon. A Drawing Viewer window will open,
right click in this window and select Zoom Window,
select a corner for the window and then drag to the other
corner, the section you have selected will be expanded
to the full window size. Right click again, select Extents
and you will see the whole drawing. The right click menu
also has a Pan control on it, to use this click and then
drag to the new position. Panning can also be carried out
using the arrow buttons on the toolbar.

27

Annotating drawings (RedLining)

RedLining allows you to add lines, circles and text to a
drawing; it does not alter the drawing but maintains a
separate file with the associated red entities.
Select Create RedLine from the RedLine drop down
menu or using the button on the toolbar, once this is
done the other RedLine options become available.
Select RedLine from the RedLine drop down or using
the RedLine button. Click on the drawing at the position
you want the line to start and drag to the end point. Now
select RedText, enter some text in the dialog that pops
up, press OK and then pick a point for the start of the
text on the drawing, drag to indicate that angle of the
text.
Close the drawing view by clicking on the X in the top
right corner. Note: the RedLine file is automatically
saved.
At the top of the list of Documents choose number ABC184 and then right click and select the eye icon, the
AVI viewer will pop up, press the > button on the left of
the toolbar. The movie will now be played, if you have a
sound card you will also hear the music. The other
controls allow you pause and to step through the frames
of the movie.
The documents called WATCH and OSCAR are a .GIF
and a .JPG file respectively; try viewing these files on
your own.

28

Creating New Documents

Document creation is similar for all document types; here
we will create an AutoCAD drawing. There are several
ways to invoke the New Document Dialog but we will use
the Workflow Progress Tool Window, if this is not visible
invoke it now from the Toolbars drop down menu.
Select Drawing Number ABC-188 (titled Gearbox) from
the Search Results Window and then using the New
button on the WorkFlow Toolbar choose Current
Record as Template, the new document dialog will be
displayed. Notice that some of the fields have been
'primed' with the information from the existing Gearbox
drawing. The Doc. No. field should show Scheme 1 this
is because the existing gearbox drawing used this
automatic drawing number scheme. Press the Red Tick
button and the next Document number in the sequence
will be generated, this number and file location is now
yours and cannot be used by another.
In the Title box add Mark II to the entry, now press the
Next button on the bottom right of the dialog and fill in
fields as required. Notice that on some fields you can
drop down lists of pre-defined entries. Keep pressing the
Next button and filling in information until you get to the
Prototype tab. The location box on the prototype tab will
have the file path for the existing Gearbox entered, in
this instance we do not want this because we are going
to start with a drawing border. On the Search Results
window select MS-PROTO sheet A3, if you now look at
the prototype tab on the New Document dialog it will
show the information for this drawing.

29

Make sure the 'Open when Complete' box is checked

and press the OK button. If you do not already have
AutoCAD running it will be started and when the new
drawing has loaded the New Document dialog will
disappear. If AutoCAD has not come to the fore on your
DeskTop select it from the Windows TaskBar. You will
see that you have a drawing border and that the title
block has been completed for you.
If you return to Design Manager, select your new
drawing from the Search Results Window the In
Progress tab will show that the document is Checked
Out By and Open for Edit by you.
Add a few entities to the AutoCAD drawing and then
return to Design Manager, leave AutoCAD open.

Moving the Document through the workflow

We are now ready to submit the document (in this case a
drawing) for checking, issuing and distribution.
Make sure that your new document is selected in the
Search Result window and then select 'Std' from the
Issue Scheme drop down list, this scheme defines the
Issue/Revision numbering, the list of checkers, the issuer
and templates for the E-mails that can optionally be sent.
Press the 'OK Complete > button'. If you did not save
your changes in AutoCAD you will be prompted to do so,
the Document will then be closed and Checked In and
the Request Check Tab will be shown.

30

If the WorkFlow Progress window is visible you will see

that the status has changed to Request Check.
Note: You can also use the Arrows on the WorkFlow
Progress window to progress documents.
This tab shows the list of Checkers and the Subject and
body of the E-Mail that will be sent to them if you tick the
Send E-mail box. You may edit both the subject and the
body text; the subject is automatically prefixed with the
document details. If you are connected to an E-mail
system that allows you to send Internet mail you can
check the Send E-mail box. The 'Std' issue scheme has
Curve Design Solutions E-mail addresses. Select the OK
Check > button and the Check tab will be displayed.
The left panel shows a list of the designated checkers.
Normally you would only be able to tick the box with your
name against it but the user Guest has administrator
rights so you can tick all of the boxes. Note that on
names other than your own a message is displayed
suggesting you add to the E-mail message to say why
you are checking for others. When all the required
boxes have been ticked the OK Approve > button and
the E-mail panels will be enabled. If you tick the Reject
box the < OK Reject and the rejection E-mail is shown,
un-check this and then press the OK Approve > button.
The Issue tab will be displayed, the left panel shows the
previous issue information, as this is a new drawing it will
have no entries. The right panel shows the current issue
information; the drop down list can be used to select
between Internal/External numbering. The OK Issue >

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will add the Issuers name and the Issue/Revision

number to the document record. This document is now
issued and cannot be edited; it must be placed 'Under
Modification' if you want to change it.
The Distribution tab is now displayed; the left panel
allows you to select a distribution scheme and shows the
names on the list. Scroll the box to the right to see the
persons Department and the quantity they will be
allocated. The right panel allows you to edit the
Distribution E-mail, this will be sent if the Send E-mail
box is checked. Tick the Send E-mail box now and you
will notice that the Attach Email box becomes active if
you check this the document will be attached to the Email. Because this is a drawing the As DWF box will also
be active, if checked Design Manager will create a
.DWF file and attach this. (DWF is Drawing Web Format
and can be viewed in a Web Browser that has the free
plug in from AutoDesk; it is a read-only format). When
the OK Distribute > button is pressed the E-mail is sent
(if selected) and the peoples names added to the
Distribution History file.
Note: Distribution notes and Distribution History reports
are available.
The Change tab will be displayed because it is the next
possible action and the Workflow will show Completed.
Let us assume that a few changes have become
necessary and we want to put the drawing 'Under
Modification'. Press the New Mod button you can then
enter a Subject line for the change in the top edit box,

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perhaps something like 'Bolt hole changed to 16mm'.

Optionally, also add further details of the change in the
Details box. The Ref 1 and Ref 2 boxes are for
information such as a Change Note number and a
drawing grid reference.
Note: the subject has a fixed length but the details can
be any length. The subject is the brief note you might put
on a drawing. Modification notes can be inserted on
drawings using the Insert Modification item on the
AutoCAD menu.
When you have entered the change information press
the OK Modify > button the tab will not change because
you may want to add further modifications, the Workflow
will show Under Change. You will also notice that the 'In
Progress' tab now says Under Change and OK
Complete button is enabled. You could now Check Out
and Open the drawing, make the changes and then
move the drawing through checking, issue and
distribution as described above.

Organising using Projects

Unlike searches that group documents by some common
attribute, Projects group documents arbitrarily. You
define the relationship. Projects can also be used to
build Bills of Materials.
From the Project toolbar drop down list select the main
database, a Project window will be displayed. From the
Project menu select New Root Node, a node will be

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created and placed in edit mode. Type My Project for

the name of the new root node, now use the New Child
Node option to create an Assemblies, a Details and a
Specification node below My Project.
Root Nodes usually represent a new project but you can
use them to represent any element of information you
want to organise.
We are now ready to populate the Project Tree; this can
be done by creating new documents below a node using
the New Project Document menu option or by dragging
them from a Search Results Window. Creating a new
Project document is exactly the same as described
above except that the document is placed below the
selected node after creation.
Make sure you have a Search Results window
displayed; arrange the windows so that the left panel on
both can be seen. Select a Drawing from the Search
window, double click and drag over to the Assemblies
node in the Project window and drop it. A new node will
be created to represent this drawing, if you now select
the node the document information will be displayed.
Populate the project tree as required.
When you have created your Project you can manipulate
the documents in just the same way as from a Search
Results view. Be aware though that a document node in
a Project View is only a reference to the document. If
you remove a document node only the reference link is
broken, the document will still be visible from a Search
Results view. Conversely, if you delete a document any

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node that references it in a Project View is not removed,

it is up to you to update the project.
See Working with Projects in the on-line help for more
detail on moving, copying and deleting nodes in a
Project View and Reporting for information on printing
tree views.

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Year 2000 Compliance

Design Manager Version 6 saves and displays dates but does
not carry out any date arithmetic. The date fields in the
database are 10 characters in length and therefore capable of
storing the full year and century. Dates that are automatically
entered by Design Manager are generated by the operating
system, therefore if the operating system is year 2000
compliant no problems will be encountered.
We recommend you set your operating system to show dates
with the year and century.

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