A drawing is a very important document in the design process as it is the main source of truth for your items. Many other stakeholders in the value chain (such as manufacturers and builders) refer to the drawing to do their job because it contains details of measurements, tolerances, materials, BOMs, assembly instructions, important notes, and anything else that helps to fully describe the physical item. Therefore, it is often the case that a rule is built into release workflows to ensure that certain items contain a drawing before they can be released.

Before you start

Every [filename + file extension] must be unique in Upchain. This is to ensure consistency in the data, and so that CAD and drawing files are not accidentally mixed up between items. The extension is included in the item name, so you can register Part1.sldprt only once, but it is possible to also register Part1.slddrw , Part1.sldasm , Part1.dwg , etc. to the same item or a different item.

By default, it is your responsibility to ensure every file name is unique before registering them into Upchain. However, there is a tenant property named filename.pattern that allows you to specify how your CAD files and drawings will be renamed upon item creation. This gives you control and consistency over the naming convention of all CAD and drawing file names in Upchain. If you add more than one drawing to an item and your file renaming rules do not include a sequence number, a suffix (-2, -3, etc) is added to the additional drawing file names to ensure a unique file name for all drawings.

There are three main methods to attach a drawing to an item using the CAD plugins. They are:

• Method 1 - register the drawing at the same time as its model is registered.
• Method 2 - register a drawing to an item after the model is already registered.
• Method 3 - adding drawings to every item in an assembly at once

Method 1 - register the drawing at the same time as its model is registered.

Before you can proceed with this method, the following must be true:

• Drawing has the same name as the model.
• Drawing is located in the same folder as its associated model on your local computer.
• Drawing references the model.

Remember , each [filename + file extension] must be unique in Upchain. In this scenario, the filename of the model and drawings must be the same eg. Part1.sldprt and Part1.slddrw.

To register a drawing at the same time as its model is registered:

1. Open your model in your CAD program.

2. Refresh cBOM view.

3. Right-click the item.

4. Select Create item.

5. Select the project and/or BOM location within that project for your new item.

6. Click Select

7. Review the CAD Check in window showing that each file will be registered to an item in the BOM.

   Click OK to continue.

The plugin creates the item, uploads the model and drawing and registers them to the item, and places the new item into your chosen BOM location. The model and drawing are now in a checked-out (locked) state.

In the plugin, notice that the drawing icon () is darkened to indicate the drawing has been associated with the item.

In the Web app, notice that the cBOM and Drawing icons are darkened to indicate the item has both a model and a drawing.

The drawing is now available for others to download and/or view and any changes to the model will now be automatically reflected in the drawing upon check in.

Method 2 - register a drawing to an item after the model is already registered.

Before you can proceed with this method, the following must be true:

• Drawing references the registered CAD model.
• Drawing is saved into the same local folder as the registered CAD model (eg. your home folder).

To register a drawing to an item that already has CAD:

1. Download your CAD model from Upchain.

2. Create the drawing such that it references your registered CAD model.

3. Save the drawing into the same local folder that the model was downloaded to.

   Note:

   It is not necessary for the drawing to have the same name as the model, but it might be useful for you to keep them the same so that it is easier to see that they are related to each other.

4. With the drawing open, refresh cBOM (if your BOM is large, you can use Root Refresh here to speed things up). You should see the registered item as the child of the drawing.

5. Right-click the drawing and select Save to save the changes to Upchain without removing the check out lock (or Check in to save your changes and remove the check out lock).

Alternatively, you can perform these steps to register the drawing:

1. Check out your CAD model from Upchain.

2. Create the drawing such that it references your registered CAD model.

3. Save the drawing into the same local folder that the model was downloaded to.

4. With the model open, refresh cBOM (if your BOM is large, you can use Root Refresh here to speed things up).

5. Right-click the item select Save to save the changes to Upchain without removing the check out lock (or Check in to save your changes and remove the check out lock).

The plugin now uploads the drawing and registers it to your chosen item.

In the plugin, notice that the drawing icon () is darkened to indicate the drawing has been associated with the item.

In the Web app, notice that the drawing icon is darkened to indicate the item now has a drawing.

The drawing is now available for others to download and/or view and any changes to the model will now be automatically reflected in the drawing upon check in.

Method 3 - adding drawings to every item in an assembly at once

It might be the case that you have saved drawing creation to the very end of the design process or have contracted out drawing creation to another company. In any case, you may have a number of drawings you wish to register to each item in an assembly at the same time.

Before you can proceed with this method, the following must be true:

• All drawings have the same name as their models.
• All drawings are located in the same folder as the models on your local computer (your home folder).
• Drawings reference the registered models.

Remember , each [filename + file extension] must be unique in Upchain. In this scenario, the filenames of the models and drawings must be the same eg. Part1.sldprt and Part1.slddrw.

To register a drawing to each item in an assembly all at once:

1. Check out the assembly and all components that you will be attaching drawings to.

2. Open the assembly in your CAD program.

3. Refresh the cBOM.

4. Right-click the assembly.

5. Select Save to save the changes to Upchain without removing the check out lock (or Check in to save your changes and remove the check out lock).

The plugin now uploads the drawings and registers them to each item as it checks them in.

In the plugin, notice that the drawing icon () is darkened to indicate the drawing has been associated with the item.

In the Web app, notice that the drawing icon is darkened to indicate the item now has a drawing.

The drawing is now available for others to download and/or view and any changes to the model will now be automatically reflected in the drawing upon check in.