Engineering
Document
Manager

INTRODUCTION

EDM is a Document Management program. Document Management is a technology used by corporations to track who has what files, and where they reside in the company's various computer systems.

Why use EDM?

* EDM provides insurance that no two people are editing a file at the same time.

* EDM allows its users to edit files locally, instead of on the file server, which increases performance and reduces load on the network server.

* EDM makes sure that there is always two copies of a file, so that if a file becomes corrupted another one can quickly be restored.

* EDM supports WAN operation (Wide Area Network) so that files can be checked out from remote locations.

* EDM provides system administrators an easy way to archive data.

* EDM provides a history of who worked on specific files, or Transaction tracking.

* EDM provides a consistent view of the data to its users, regardless of where it is stored. Large companies often spread projects across multiple servers, hard drives, or offices.

EDM answers the "who, what, where, and why" questions for all critical data in an organization. Data is an asset to the company, and its managers need to know its assets are safe.

Theory of operation

EDM operates like a librarian at the checkout line at a library. Anyone who wants a book from the library takes the book to the librarian, who checks it out to you. Nobody else can use that book while you have it, and if you don't return it, the librarian knows.

EDM works just like a librarian. It checks files out to you from the network, and when you are done with them you check them back in. While you are editing the file, it is stored on your hard drive.

Starting EDM

EDM is usually set up as an Icon on your desktop. Locate the EDM Icon and launch the program.

EDM 32

Depending on how your system is setup, EDM may ask you to login. If it does, it will display the following box. Enter your network login name into this box if it appears.

FIG. 1 - EDM LOGIN DIALOG

Next, EDM will appear on screen. Most of your interaction with the program will be with the left-most pull down, the File pull-down:

FIG. 2 - EDM FILE PULL-DOWN

Checking Files Out

Select File, Check Out to open the Check Out Dialog:

FIG. 3 - CHECK OUT DIALOG

Most of your use of EDM will take place in the Check Out dialog. The project selection area works just like windows explorer, except that it shows the last three projects you worked on at the top of the list. The 'Database Selector' is not used unless you are working on another office's database across a Wide Area Network. Make sure the correct office is shown in your database selector.

Checking out a file is as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Select the Project and subdirectory you want

2. Select the files you want - use windows ctrl and shift for multiple files

3. Press Check Out!

The files are copied to your work directory, under a job number where you can work on them. The location of your work directory can vary per system, but most are under c:\acad\work.

1. Selecting a project

Your EDM administrator sets up the projects and determines who has access to them.

You must be granted access by the EDM administrator to the project you wish to work on. Your EDM administrator can tell you if you have this access.

Use your mouse to scroll the project selection box up or down till you see the project you are interested in. The last three projects you worked on show up at the top of the list. Click on the 'plus' signs to expand projects as desired. The description of the currently selected project shows up in the 'project/file description editor' window near the bottom of the check out window. Most projects have disciplines or sub-jobs under them, make sure you have the correct one highlighted.

2. Selecting files

After you have selected and highlighted a project, The files in it are displayed on the right. You can pick and choose whatever you want from the file selection window. Use the Ctrl key to pick more than one individual file, use the shift key to select a range of files. The description of the currently selected file shows up in the 'project/file description editor' at the bottom.

3. Check out

Press the Check Out button. The files are then copied to your local hard drive, and marked as in use by you in the EDM database. You can now open the files from your work directory. Be sure to check them in when you are done with them. (See 'Checking in Files' section of this manual).

File Management Toobar

The functions on the file Management Toolbar are: Copy, Rename, Delete, History, Select All, and Clear All:

FIG 5. FILE MANAGEMENT TOOLBAR

Copy

Copy does the same procedure as 'Check Out' but does not lock the file for your exclusive use. Highlight the files you want to copy, and press the copy button. When you use the copy function, it brings up this dialog for each file you have highlighted for copy:

FIG 6. FILE SAVE AS DIALOG

This dialog gives you the opportunity to give the file a different name before saving it to your hard drive. This is useful if you are planning on modifying the file and checking it in later as a new file. Just hit save if you do not want to change the name of the file displayed.

Rename

Rename allows you to rename a file on the server directly. You cannot rename a file that is in use. You can only rename one file at a time. Select the file you want to rename, and press the rename button. Type the new filename into the box provided. When you are done, simply click out of the rename box or press enter. Press Esc to cancel any renaming. Be sure to get the file extension in there, and don't change it unless you really intend to.

Delete

The Delete button allows you to flag files for deletion by the system administrator.

Delete doesn't really delete the files immediately unless you are a system administrator. How do you tell if you are an administrator? If the Admin pull-down is not greyed out in EDM, you have administrator access and your files will be deleted immediately.

To flag a file for deletion, or to delete a file: highlight the files you want to delete, then press the delete button. If you need to check in another file with the same name immediately, you will need to go into the network and delete the file manually from the server using Windows Explorer. Don't delete the file first using explorer, delete it first with EDM then use Explorer on it.

History

The history button allows you to view who has edited a file, when they did it, and what actions they performed on the file. Operations in EDM such as Check Out, Check In, Rename, Delete, etc. are all tracked and can be viewed if there is a problem.

To view the history on any file, highlight the file and press the history button.

Select All and Clear All

The Select all and Clear all buttons are used to highlight or un-highlight files in the file selection area. If there are files checked out and you pick select all, EDM will not highlight those files.

Checking Files In

Files you checked out earlier

1. Make sure none of the files you want to check in are open in any of your programs. If they are, EDM won't be able to access them properly and the check in will fail.

2. Start EDM if it is not running already.

3. Select File, Check In from the EDM pull-down. This will bring up the Check in Screen:

FIG 7. EDM CHECK IN DIALOG

4. Highlight the files you want to check in using your mouse. You can press the 'Select All' button to highlight them all automatically if you wish.

5. Press 'Check In' and they will be copied to the server.

The Update Button

The 'Update' button allows you to update the network master copy with your changes, while keeping the file checked out to you. This is a useful function to do at lunchtime, when you will be coming back to work on the same files but wish to make your changes available to others.

The Abandon Button

The Abandon Button allows you to discard any changes you have made to the selected files. It deletes the file off your hard drive, and makes the original file on the network available for use again.

New Files

New files are files that you create that are not on the network yet, but you want them to be. When checking in new files, you tell EDM where they need to go, and the description of each file. This information is remembered from this point forward, and is an important part of building an accurate picture of the company's files.

To Check in new files, bring up the 'Check in New' screen.

1. From the EDM Menu, select File, Check in New. This will bring up a screen you can use to select the new files you want to check in:

FIG. 8 CHECK IN NEW FIRST SCREEN

2. Pick the files you want to check in using standard windows methods. You can use the Ctrl and Shift keys to pick multiple files. Press 'Open' when ready to proceed to the next screen:

FIG 9. CHECK IN NEW SCREEN

3. Each of the boxes in this window, from top to bottom, must be correctly filled out. It is easy to make a mistake so proceed carefully.

4. File Name: this is the name of the file you are checking in. If you picked more than one file in the previous screen, this will show the first file you selected.

5. Description: This is important and must be filled in with a meaningful description of what you are checking in. If you do not know what a file is, find out so someone else doesn't have to later. This field is one of the most valuable assets EDM provides the company. This description will be used for all drawings selected with 'Check In All'.

6. Project: This is the job number. Make sure it is correct.

7. Discipline: Drop this down and make sure you have selected the correct discipline. If you do not do this, the file checks in to the project root directory. You will need help to correct the situation later if the file should have gone into a subdirectory.

8. Double check your work and make sure you have filled everything out correctly. If so, press 'Check In'. If you selected more than one file for check in, return to step 3.

File Maintenance

Moving Files

To move a file from one project to another, you should do the following steps:

1. Use the Check out 'copy' function to make a copy of the file.

2. Check in new to the desired project or directory.

3. Use Check Out to delete the file from the old project. (See "Delete" for info on this).

Troubleshooting

File copy errors usually indicate that you or someone else may have the file open.

Database errors are more serious. If you get an error, let your CAD lead know so that if there is a problem, it can be assessed and the proper action to take can be determined.

Misc.

See the office EDM administrator for the following:

Adding projects

Adding Disciplines

Modify Project

Archive Project

Process Deleted Files

Reindex Database

Pack Database

Consistency Check

Upgrade Database

Create New Database