Merge Job into Current Job

About this utility :

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Reasons to merge Jobs :

Normally you should create your entire 3D model as a single Job with a single Fabricator. Following are four scenarios that might cause you to create multiple Jobs for a single project then use Merge Job into Current Job to join the 3D models for those Jobs into a single 3D model.

  • Scenario 1: Your company is contracted to detail a large construction project. You divide the Job into sequences , " Break submaterials apart by sequence ," " Include the sequence in submaterial marks ," and subcontract several of the sequences to outside detailers who also use SDS2 programs. At some point in the development of the project, you merge the different sequences into a single model.
  • Scenario 2: More than one steel fabrication company is used for a single, very large construction project. The Merge Job into Current Job utility lets each steel fabrication company detail and model different sequences of a project separately, then merge the different SDS2 models they have created into a single model. All fabrication companies use the same Fabricator Options file, submaterial piecemarks are " Broken apart by sequence ," and the sequence is " Included in submaterial marks ."
  • Scenario 3: A construction project is very large -- too large to be viewed conveniently as a single SDS2 3D model. Although a single detailing and fabrication company handles the entire project, the project is divided into separate Jobs, each with distinct sequences, and submaterial marks are broken apart by sequence (with the sequence included in each submaterial mark) to make management of the entire project easier.
  • Scenario 4: A project is broken up into separate Jobs for any of the above reasons. Every couple of days, the manager uses Merge Job into Current Job to create a single model made up of all the separate Jobs. The manager does not do any modeling in the merged Job, but uses the merged Job to create erection view details of the entire project, and also to track development of the various sequences using Model > Status Display . Executing the Merge Job into Current Job also reports to the manager incompatibilities in the Job Option files and their shape files. Each time the manager creates a new merged Job, the manager deletes the old merged Job. Modeling is only done in the smaller Jobs.
  • Warning: If you have merged several partial 3D models into a single model and then found that you have to change something in that single model, your change will likely cause inconsistencies in piecemarks unless you have divided the Job into sequences and applied " Break submaterials apart by sequence " and " Include the sequence in submaterial marks ." Be sure to assign distinct sequences to all to-be-merged Jobs sequences BEFORE you merge.

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Tips for merging Jobs :

  • Plan ahead if you are going to divide a project into several SDS2 Jobs and then later merge those Jobs. Before laying out steel, create a single SDS2 Job that includes all column lines ( grid lines ) and all plan views in the entire project; also, configure Home > Project Settings > Job and Fabricator Setup . When you are ready to assign portions of the project to different detailers, use Copy Job , then have the detailers use Delete View to erase those erection views that do not belong in the portion of the project that they will be working on. Have all detailers who work on the project use the same current Fabricator for the same tasks.
  • To avoid same member piecemarks from being assigned to members that are not the same, assign distinct sequences to the separate Jobs, make sure that you check the boxes for both " Break submaterial marks apart by sequence " and " Include sequence in submaterial mark " for ALL of the Jobs.
  • Run Verify and Fix on all of the to-be-merged Jobs. Be sure to check the boxes for " Check database integrity of drawings " and " Check custom properties and GUIDS " along with those options that are checked by default.
  • When you are ready to merge the Jobs, use Copy Job on one of the Jobs. Then Home > click the current Job's name > change the newly copied Job into your current Job. Then use Merge Job into Current Job to combine all of the Jobs into your current Job.

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Step-by-step instructions :

1 . When you are ready to Merge Jobs , do the following:

1a : Run Verify and Fix Member File on all to-be-merged Jobs and take any additional steps that you see as necessary to further clean up those Jobs. Be sure, when running Verify and Fix , to check the boxes for " Check database integrity of drawings " and " Check custom properties and GUIDS " along with those options that are checked by default.

1b : Use Copy Job to copy one of the Jobs you want to merge together, then Home > click your current Job's name to change to a different Job > select the newly copied Job as your current Job . This is the Job that you will merge other Jobs into.

1c : Make sure that all of the Jobs have been set up using the same Fabricator Options and Job Options .

2 . Start up the Merge Jobs utility:

2a : Home > Utilities > Utility Functions > Merge Job into Current Job . If prompted to do so, enter the " Utility Password " that has been set up for your network.

3 . A yes-no warning dialog opens. Read the warnings carefully.

Warning. This is a very dangerous operation.

Recommendations:
1) Merge into a copy of the original Job.
2) Run Verify and Fix on the Job to be merged.

Do you wish to continue?

     

Alternative 1 : Press the " Yes " button and continue to step 3b.

Alternative 2 : Press the " No " button to cancel the merge operation. Do not continue.

3b An ok-cancel warning dialog opens.

All sessions using this job must exit before continuing with the Merge Job operation, or database corruption may result.

In addition, you must confirm that ALL workstations have exited ALL SDS2 windows.

No other users in current job.

     
The " OK " button on this window will be disabled (grayed out) if there are any users in your current Job .

 

In the above warning, ALL means ALL. You need to close all SDS2 windows, including Home , before continuing.

Alternative 1 : Press the " OK " button and go to step 4. Note that the " OK " button can only be pressed when there are no SDS2 programs running your current Job .

Alternative 2 : Press " Cancel " to end this operation and keep your current Job unchanged. You must press " Cancel " when there are login names listed in the dialog pictured above.

4 . A selection dialog opens. If you want to select a Job from a different Job repository, select that different repository on the Job repository menu .

repository
 JOB17044_A
 JOB17044_B
 JOB17098
 JOB17099
 JOB18001
 JOB18002
Typing ' 18 ' to " Find " in this example would automatically select JOB18001 since it is the first item with the character sequence 18 in it.

4a : Double-click the Job you want to copy into your current Job (or select it then press the " OK " button).

5 . Merge Job copies the Job selected in step 4 into your current Job.

5a : A list of warnings opens, notifying you of differences between the two Jobs and of any piecemark changing of submaterials that has taken place. Press the " OK " button.

Note 1: All members that do not occupy the same space as members in your current Job are copied into your current Job.

Note 2: Members in the copied Job that overlap members in the current Job either displace members in your current Job or are not copied.

Note 3: All submaterials in the two Jobs are compared and, if they match and are in the same sequence, are combined into a single submaterial mark . It's for this reason that you need to break submaterials apart by sequence and ensure that submaterials in different sequences are given different marks.

Note 4: Erection views are copied into your current Job regardless of whether or not they occupy the same space. If the erection views have the same name as erection views in your current Job, the copied erection views are renamed. Member details work the same way.

6 . You may at this time want to start up Modeling and review the 3D model.

If you find that you need to do revision work on the merged model, you may want to use tools such as Detail Complete , Model Complete , Change from System Piecemarks to User to prevent the merged Job from changing in unwanted ways.

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