After configuring Workshare at the host and satellite sites, the following tasks are used frequently when you are using Workshare in SmartPlant P&ID. Most of these procedures can also be scheduled for a later time or at a regular interval.
Publishing a Drawing
To share a drawing with another site, you must first publish that drawing. Publishing the drawing does not grant access to the drawing: it only freezes a copy of the drawing in anticipation of ownership being transferred. Between the publication of a drawing and the transfer of ownership, the publishing site still owns the drawing and is free to modify it. Granting subscription access to the drawing gives another site read-only access to the published copy of the drawing. Assigning ownership to the drawing allows the new owner to claim ownership of the drawing and obtain the published copy of the drawing.
Granting Access to a Drawing
After you publish a drawing, you can grant read access to that drawing by using the Subscribe Access command. The designated satellite site will be able to open and view the published drawing, but will not be able to modify it. You can grant write access to a drawing, too, by using the Assign Ownership command. The designated site will then not only be able to open the drawing but also to edit it.
As soon as you use the Assign Ownership command, the selected drawing is automatically published.
Getting the Latest Version of a Drawing
After a site has been granted access to a published drawing, that site must subscribe to the latest version in order to open or edit that drawing. Normally you get the latest version over a Workshare connection from the owner site by using the commands for remote access. You can also get the latest version from a local directory - for instance, if the site has sent you the latest version on CD.
Drawings are never dynamically linked between sites. That is, the version you view is only the latest version you subscribed to or only the latest version left on your site. If another site has modified the drawing since then, you do not see those changes.
Synchronizing Reference Data
Because only the host site may change the reference data, satellite sites need to synchronize the reference data from the host site each time it changes. Synchronizing the reference data involves making sure both the host and satellites are using the same plant schema and data dictionary, plant structure, SmartPlant P&ID schema and data dictionary, and various options settings. Synchronization also involves making sure various data files at the satellite site remain up to date with the files at the host. These files include the rules file, insulation specification file, report and drawing templates, symbology settings, CAD definition file, and so forth.
You can synchronize this data either with the host site or with a copy of the reference data on your local computer or network using the Synchronize Reference Data commands.
-
Reference data at the satellite site must be synchronized with the host reference data before drawings and shared items can be synchronized or transferred.
-
We recommend scheduling synchronization for a time when no users are working in the data.
Synchronizing Shared Items
Some drawing items, such as off-page connectors, instrument loops, and utility connectors, require special handling when using Workshare. Because these items can be shared by more than one drawing, any modifications made to a drawing at another site may have ramifications for the shared items contained in that drawing.
Several of the Workshare commands are available in the SmartPlant P&ID automation layer. For more information about using these Workshare automation commands, see the SmartPlant P&ID Programmer's Guide.