About collaborative design (Quick Reference)

Access:
	Click the Project Manager tool. Click Projects Project Project Manager.

Right-click menu

Project Selection menu

Buttons

Projects

Displays all the open projects in a list. You can have as many projects open as you need, but only one project can be active at a time. The active project appears in bold text and is always found at the top of the list. Right-click the project name to display the following project editing options:
Descriptions	Edits the existing project descriptions. Displays unlimited lines describing the project. Descriptions can then be included in report headers and title blocks.
Title Block Update	Automates updating title block information for the active drawing or for the entire project drawing set.
Drawing List Report	Generates a report that lists project drawing information from the title blocks such as drawing descriptions, section, and file names. On the Drawing List Report dialog box, select to run a new report, redisplay the previously-run report or select a format .set file to use for the report.
New Drawing	Creates a new drawing file and adds it to the active project.
Add Drawings	Adds one or more drawings to the active project. When prompted, specify whether to apply the project default values to the drawing settings (in the WD_M block definition).
Add Active Drawing	Adds an active drawing to the active project. The new drawing appears at the end of the project drawing list. When prompted, specify whether to apply the project default values to the drawing settings (in the WD_M block definition).
Reorder Drawings	Moves drawings up or down in the project's drawing list. The order determines how the drawings are processed for project-wide tagging and cross-referencing operations.
Remove Drawings	Removes one or more drawings from the current project. NoteThe drawing file is not deleted, just the reference to the drawing.
Task List	Performs pending updates on any drawing files inside of the active project that have been modified.
Publish	Launches dialog boxes to plot the project, publish to the Web, publish to DWF, or create a zip file of the project.
Settings	Displays the project's settings and information about the AutoCAD Electrical environment.
Exception List	Displays a list of drawing file(s) that have different settings from the project definition file (*.WDP). If all drawing files match the .wdp, the dialog box indicates that there are no exceptions. You can then use the Settings Compare tool to display the differences.
Properties	Controls project-wide settings including tagging, component cross-referencing options, and catalog lookup file preferences.
Activate	Makes an open project the active project in the AutoCAD Electrical session. This also sends the project list to the top of the dialog.
Close	Closes an open project. NoteYou cannot close the active project; you must first activate another project in the list.
Vault	You must be logged into the vault to see this menu in the Project Manager. The status of the selected object determines which vault commands are available for selection.
	Check In All	Adds the project definition file (.wdp) along with its drawing files to the vault. You can vault just the project file using the Project Check In command or you can vault the project file along with its drawing files using the project Check In All command. Note Files used to support the project (such as .wdl and *.wdt) appear in the Vault Check In All dialog box if they share the same file name as the project.
	Check Out All	Reserves and locks the project definition file along with the associated drawing files listed in the Project Manager. If the project definition file is unavailable for check out, you can still check out the drawings available for editing.
	Check In	Adds the project definition file to the vault and creates a new version of the file. Use this if you want to check in only the project definition file and none of its drawing file dependencies; otherwise use Check In All. Note Files used to support the project (such as .wdl and .wdt) will appear in the Vault Check In dialog box if they share the same file name as the project.
	Check Out	Reserves and locks the master project definition file. Retrieves an updated copy, if necessary. Use this if you want to check out only the project definition file and none of its drawing file dependencies; otherwise use Check Out All.
	Undo Check Out/Undo Check Out All	Removes the reservation/lock from the master project definition file. The master file is now available for others to check out. Any modifications made to the local copy are not checked back into the vault. Undo Check Out All removes the lock from all of the checked out drawing files and project definition file listed inside of the Project Manager for the selected project.
	Get Latest/Get Latest All	Retrieves the latest master copy from the vault and copies it into your working folder. Older files are indicated by the status indicator displaying a red background.

Project Drawing List

Displays the drawings associated with a project. You can select multiple drawings from the project list to open, close, remove, apply project defaults, or paste properties all at once. You cannot select multiple drawings from two or more projects. The active drawing appears in bold text in the list. By default, the selected drawing highlights in the project drawing list regardless if the Project Manager is active or not. You can turn this off by clicking the Drawing List Display Configuration button and selecting Show selection highlight only when active.
	Indicates that the file is a drawing file.
	Indicates that a drawing file is a reference drawing. To make a drawing a reference drawing, right-click on the drawing name and select Properties Drawing Properties.
Right-click the drawing name to display the following drawing editing options:
Open	Opens the selected drawing in a new window. You can also double-click a drawing name or select a drawing name and press Enter to open the drawing.
Close	Closes the selected drawing.
Copy To	Copies the selected drawing into the same or another open project. Select the folder to copy the drawing to, enter a new file name and select the project to save the drawing to. When prompted, specify whether to apply the project default values to the drawing settings (in the WD_M block definition).
Remove	Removes the selected drawing from the current project.
Replace	Replaces the selected drawing with one that you select from a file selection dialog box.
Rename	Renames the selected drawing directly in the drawing list.
Drawing Properties	Assigns, edits, and removes section and subsection coding for a drawing. Assigns drawing descriptions to the drawing files.
Apply Project Defaults	Applies project settings to new drawing files where the project default settings for the drawing(s) were not applied at creation time.
Copy	Copies the drawing settings and options from one drawing to be applied to one or more drawing(s). NoteDrawing-specific information (found on the Drawing Properties Drawing Settings tab) cannot be copied from one drawing to another.
Paste	Applies the copied drawing settings and options from one drawing to the selected drawing(s).
Settings Compare	Displays differences between all drawing settings and their associated defaults in the project definition file.
Check In	(you must be logged into the vault) Adds a file to the vault and creates a new version of the file. For a first time check in of a drawing file, the project definition file is forced to be checked in at the same time since it needs to be vaulted first to establish a location in the Vault database.
Check Out	(you must be logged into the vault) Reserves and locks the master drawing file. Retrieves an updated copy, if necessary. Checks out the drawing files when the project file is under Vault control.
Undo Check Out	(you must be logged into the vault) Removes the reservation/lock from the master drawing file. The master file is now available for others to check out. Any modifications made to the local copy are not checked back into the vault.
Get Latest	(you must be logged into the vault) Retrieves the latest master copy from the vault and copies it into your working folder. Older files are indicated by the status indicator displaying a red background.

NoteTwo projects can reference the same drawing file, however doing so can lead to conflicts if both projects try to modify the same drawing with a project-wide tagging or cross-referencing function.

Details

Vault Status Icons

(you must be logged into the vault) The Vault Status Icons indicate the status of your local copy of the files as compared against the master copy of those same files in the vault.

The Vault Status indicate when the local copy is in sync with the master and when it's not. The tooltips help guide you to the next logical steps - especially when the local copy is no longer in sync with the master. These icons are crucial to the overall understanding of how to work in a vaulted environment.

Icon	Meaning
	File is not in the vault.
	File is in the vault in a checked-in state, and the version you are working on is the same as in the vault. Also referred to as the Latest Version.
	File is in the vault in a checked-in state, but the version you are working on is newer than the master file in the vault. This typically means that your local file was changed without checking it out. The blank icon indicates that the master file is available for check out. If you want to save these changes, check the file out, and then select the Don't get local copy option.
	File is in the vault in a checked-in state, but the version you are working on is older than the latest version in the vault. This typically means that another user made changes since your last update. Use Reload to update to the latest available version.
	The master file is checked out to you and the version you are working on is the same as in the vault.
	File is checked out to you, but the version you are working on is newer than the latest version in the vault. This typically means that you made changes to the model since the last time you checked out the file, but have not checked it back in.
	File is checked out to you, but the version you are working on is older than the master file in the vault. This typically means that you started with a version for the vault that was older than the latest, and checked it out to promote it to the latest.
	File is checked out to another user, and the version you are working on is the same as in the vault. Also referred to as the Latest Version. This typically happens if the other user did not check changes back into the vault.
	File is checked out to another user, and the version you are working on is newer than the file in the vault. This typically happens if the user checked in changes to the vault, but kept the file checked out. Use Refresh from Vault to update to the latest available version.
	File is checked out to another user, but the version you are working on is older than the latest version in the vault, and another user checked out this file. Use Refresh from Vault to update to the latest available version.
	File is locked and the local copy of the file is the same as the master file in the vault.
	File is locked and the local copy of the file is newer than the master file in the vault.
	File is locked and the local copy of the file is older than the master file in the vault.

New Project	Creates a new project. Once created, the new project automatically becomes the active project.
New Drawing	Creates a new drawing file and adds it to the active project. The new drawing displays at the bottom of the project drawing list for the active project.

Recent	Opens a different project from a list of recent projects or from a file selection dialog box.
New Project	Creates a new project. Once created, the new project automatically becomes the active project.
Open Project	Opens a different project from a file selection dialog box. In the Select Project File dialog box, navigate to the project to open and select it.
Open Project from Vault	(you must be logged into the vault) Allows you to browse to the vault to open a project and make it active inside of the Project Manager. In the Select Project dialog box, navigate to the project to open and select it. Click the arrow next to the Open button and select one of the following options: Open (Check Out), Open (Check Out All), or Open Read-Only.

	New Project	Creates a new project. Once created, the new project automatically becomes the active project.
	New Drawing	Creates a new drawing file and adds it to the active project.
	Refresh	Refreshes the drawing list inside of the Project Manager. For Vault: Checks for changes in external file references and updates the Vault icons in the Project Manager. Files that have changed and are currently checked out to you are not updated. Files that are checked out to another user are updated to their current version. Files that are checked out to another user are updated to their current version on your local drive. If the Vault version is newer, then the Vault icon indicates that the file needs reloading (the Vault icon turns red).
	Project Task List	Performs pending updates on any drawing files inside of the active project that have been modified.
	Project-Wide Update/Retag	Updates the related line reference numbers, cross-reference text, device tagging, and signal reference updates on the selected drawing files inside of the active project.
	Drawing List Display Configuration	Configures the display options. There are 10 values that can be associated with the drawings listed so you can display the information based on your requirements.
	Publish/Plot	Batch plots one or more drawings in the active project.

Details	Displays project and drawing detail based on what is highlighted in the Project pane. Information that is listed includes the status, file name, file location, file size, last saved date, and the name of the last user who modified the file.
Preview	Displays the last saved thumbnail view for the highlighted drawing in the drawing list.