Parent page: Workspace Content Types
Altium Designer, in conjunction with your connected Workspace, caters for the ability to create and manage Draftsman Document Templates and Draftsman Sheet Templates (Draftsman Template Items) in that Workspace. Such Draftsman templates can be created:
- Through Direct Editing.
- By uploading the relevant Draftsman Document/Sheet Template file (
*.DwfDot/*.DwsDot) to a revision of a target Item.
Once a Draftsman template has been created (and data saved into a revision of it), it can be reused in future board-level design projects, when creating Draftsman documents (*.PCBDwf).
In addition, a Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item can be used as a configuration data item in one or more defined Environment Configurations. An environment configuration is used to constrain a designer's Altium NEXUS working environment to only use company-ratified design elements. Environment configurations are defined and stored within the Team Configuration Center – a service provided through the Workspace, and the facilitator of this concept of Environment Configuration Management. For more information, see Environment Configuration Management (for an Altium 365 Workspace or a NEXUS Server Workspace).
Draftsman is an alternate way to create the graphical documents for board design production. Based on a dedicated file format and set of drawing tools, the Draftsman drawing system provides an interactive approach to bringing together fabrication and assembly drawings with custom templates, annotations, dimensions, callouts, and notes. For more information see
Streamlining Board Design Documentation with Draftsman.
Folder Type
When creating the folder in which to store Draftsman templates, you can specify the folder's type. This has no bearing on the content of the folder – saving a Draftsman Document Template or Draftsman Sheet Template will always result in a corresponding Draftsman Template Item. It simply provides a visual 'clue' as to what is stored in a folder and can be beneficial when browsing a Workspace for particular content. To nominate a folder's use as a container for Draftsman templates, set its Folder Type as Draftsman Templates, when defining the folder properties in the Edit Folder dialog.
Specifying the folder type – its intended use – gives a visual indication of the content of that folder when browsing the Workspace.
Item Naming Scheme
Another important aspect of the parent folder is the Item Naming Scheme employed for it. This defines the format of the unique ID for each Item created in that particular folder. Several default example schemes are available, utilizing the short-form code for either the folder type (DRT – Draftsman Templates) or the content type (DFD – Draftsman Document, DFS – Draftsman Sheet):
$CONTENT_TYPE_CODE-001-{0000} – for example, DFD-001-0001, DFS-001-0001.$CONTENT_TYPE_CODE-001-{A00} – for example, DFD-001-A01, DFS-001-A01.$FOLDER_TYPE_CODE-001-{0000} – for example, DRT-001-0001.$FOLDER_TYPE_CODE-001-{A000} – for example, DRT-001-A001.
Using a default naming scheme, the software will automatically assign the next available unique ID, based on that scheme, having scanned the entire Workspace and identifiers of existing content. This can be a great time-saver when manually creating Draftsman templates.
A custom scheme can also be defined for a folder, simply by typing it within the field, ensuring that the variable portion is enclosed in curly braces (e.g. DraftsmanDOC-TMP-{0000}, or DraftsmanSHEET-TMP-{0000}).
The Item Naming Scheme of the parent folder is applied to the Unique ID for each Item created within that folder.
The Item Naming Scheme employed for the parent folder can be changed at any time. The modified scheme will then be applied to any subsequent newly-created content within that folder.
Content Types
When creating a target Draftsman Template Item in which to store your Draftsman document/sheet template, ensure that its Content Type is set accordingly (in the Create New Item dialog):
- For a Draftsman Document Template Item, set its Content Type to
Draftsman Document Template.
- For a Draftsman Sheet Template Item, set its Content Type to
Draftsman Sheet Template.
If you are creating these Items in a Draftsman Templates type folder, these content types will be available from the right-click context menu when creating the Items.
Creating a Draftsman document template within a Draftsman Templates folder – the correct Content Type is available on the context menu.
Creating a Draftsman sheet template within a Draftsman Templates folder – the correct Content Type is available on the context menu.
Item Lifecycle Definition and Revision Naming
When defining a Draftsman template, be sure to specify the type of lifecycle management to be used for the template, and the naming scheme employed for its revisions, respectively.
Control over which content types can use a particular lifecycle definition or revision naming scheme, can be defined and enabled at a global level from within the Content Types dialog, when defining each schema. The default schemes assigned for use by a Draftsman document/sheet template are: Generic Lifecycle and 1-Level Revision Scheme, respectively.
Once a template definition has been saved into the initial revision of a Draftsman Template Item, these schemes cannot be changed for that particular Item.
Specify the required schemes in the Create New Item dialog, using the Lifecycle Definition and Revision Naming Scheme fields respectively.
If the option to control use of lifecycle definitions and revision naming schemes per content type is enabled for any definitions/schemes, and the Draftsman Document/Sheet Template content type is not set to use a particular definition/scheme, then that definition/scheme will not be available in the applicable drop-down list.
Selecting the Lifecycle Definition and Revision Naming schemes for a manually created Draftsman document/sheet template.
Observing standard revision naming schemes and lifecycle definitions, across the various types of design content in a Workspace ensures smooth, consistent management of this content.
It is a good idea to add a Name and Description as part of the Draftsman template's definition. This information is used when searching the Workspace and enables quick identification of what a Draftsman Document/Sheet Template offers.
Saving a Draftsman Template
Related page: Creating and Editing Content Directly through a Workspace
So far, we've discussed the support for a Draftsman document/sheet template in the Workspace, in terms of related folder and content types. Saving an actual defined template into a revision of a Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item can be performed in a streamlined way.
A Draftsman document/sheet template can be edited and saved into the initial revision of a newly-created Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item, courtesy of the Workspace's support for direct editing. Direct editing frees you from the shackles of separate version-controlled source data. You can simply edit a supported content type using a temporary editor loaded with the latest source direct from the Workspace itself. And once editing is complete, the entity is saved (or re-saved) into a subsequent planned revision of its parent Item, and the temporary editor closed. There are no files on your hard drive, no questioning whether you are working with the correct or latest source, and no having to maintain separate version control software. The Workspace handles it all, with great integrity, and in a manner that greatly expedites changes to your data.
When you create a Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item, you have the option to edit and save a document/sheet template into the initial revision of that Item, after creation. To do so, enable the option Open for editing after creation, at the bottom of the Create New Item dialog (which is enabled by default). The Item will be created and the temporary Draftsman Editor will open, presenting a .DwfDot or .DwsDot document (as applicable) as the active document in the main design window. This document will be named according to the Item-Revision, in the format:
<Item><Revision>.DwfDot (e.g. DFD-0004-1.DwfDot) – for a Draftsman Document Template.<Item><Revision>.DwsDot (e.g. DFS-0007-1.DwsDot) – for a Draftsman Sheet Template.
A Draftsman document relies on a PCB document for context. To be able to define document options for a Draftsman Document Template while direct editing, a temporary PCB document is created (with the same name as the template), to provide this context.
Example of editing the initial revision of a Draftsman document template, directly from the Workspace – the temporary Draftsman Editor provides the document with which to define your document template.
Example of editing the initial revision of a Draftsman sheet template, directly from the Workspace – the temporary Draftsman Editor provides the document with which to define your sheet template.
Use the document to define the template as required. For more information, see Streamlining Board Design Documentation with Draftsman.
There are three relevant controls when direct editing, readily available from the Quick Access Bar (at the top-left of the main application window), or from the Drawing Document Standard toolbar:
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– Save Active Document. Use this button to locally save any changes made to the document. This allows you to save current changes, should you wish to come back at a later stage to make further changes before ultimately saving to the Workspace.
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– Save to Workspace. Use this button to save the defined template document to the Workspace, storing it within the initial (planned) revision of the target Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item. The Edit Revision dialog will appear, in which you can change Name, Description, and add release notes as required. The document and editor will close after the save. The template document, *.DwfDot/*.DwsDot, will be stored in the revision of the Item.
A
Save to Server control is also conveniently provided to the right of the Draftsman document/sheet template's entry, within the
Projects panel itself.
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– Discard Local Changes. Use this button if you wish to cancel editing and discard any changes made. The document and editor will close, and nothing will be saved to the target Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item.
These controls are also available as commands – Save (shortcut: Ctrl+S), Save to Server (shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+S), and Discard Local Changes – from the main File menu and from the right-click menu of the Draftsman template's entry in the Projects panel.
The saved data stored in the Workspace consists of the source template, defined in the Draftsman Document/Sheet Template file (<Item><Revision>.DwfDot/<Item><Revision>.DwsDot).
A new Draftsman document/sheet template can also be created using the
Draftsman Document/
Draftsman Sheet command from the menu of the
Add button or the context menu of the template grid on the
Templates tab of the
Data Management – Templates page of the
Preferences dialog. After selecting the command, click
OK in the
Close Preferences dialog that opens to close the
Preferences dialog and open the temporary Draftsman editor. A planned revision of the new Draftsman document/sheet template will be created automatically in a Workspace folder of the
Draftsman Templates type.
Uploading a Draftsman-related File
You can also upload a Draftsman document/sheet template file into the revision of a Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item. This can be performed in a couple of ways.
Upload Menu
A Draftsman document/sheet template file can be uploaded by right-clicking on the required Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item in the Explorer panel, and choosing the Upload command from the context menu. The Create New Revision dialog will appear, in which you can change Name, Description, and add release notes as required. Use the Sources region of the dialog to load the required Draftsman document/sheet template file. This can be performed by dragging and dropping the file from Windows Explorer, onto the region. Alternatively, click the 
button – the Add Files dialog (a standard Windows open-type dialog) will appear. Use this to browse to, and open, the required file (*.DwfDot/*.DwsDot).
If the Item has no planned revision, upload will be to the next planned revision, created on-the-fly as part of the upload process.
Manually specifying the Draftsman document template file to be uploaded to the target Draftsman Document Template Item. The process is identical for uploading a Draftsman sheet template file to a target Draftsman Sheet Template Item.
Once the desired file is dropped in, or selected and the Open button clicked, an entry for it will appear back in the Sources region. Proceed with the upload by clicking the OK button.
An entry for the chosen file appears in the Sources region – clicking OK will proceed to upload the file to the revision of the target Item.
A Draftsman document/sheet template file can also be uploaded using the
Upload command from the context menu of the selected template on the
Templates tab of the
Data Management – Templates page of the
Preferences dialog. Use the
Open dialog (a standard Windows open-type dialog) that opens to browse to, and open, the required file that will be uploaded into the next revision of the Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item.
Drag and Drop from Windows Explorer
A Draftsman document/sheet template file can also be uploaded by dragging the selected file from a source folder in your Windows Explorer, and dropping onto the required target Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item in the Explorer panel. The Create New Revision dialog will appear, with the dragged file listed in the Sources region. Modify Name (which will be the file name, including extension) and Description (which will be in the format Uploaded from <FileNameandPath>, Size <FileSize>, Created on <FileCreationDate>), and add any Release Notes as required, and then click the OK button.
If the existing Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item has no planned revision, upload will be to the next planned revision, created on-the-fly as part of the upload process. If you drop the dragged file away from an existing Item, a new Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item will be created. The
Create New Item dialog will appear. The
Name of the Item will be the file name, including extension. The
Description will be in the format
Uploaded from <FileNameandPath>, Size <FileSize>, Created on <FileCreationDate>. Change these as required. The
Item ID will be in accordance with the Item Naming scheme defined at the folder level. If the folder has no naming scheme defined, naming will follow the
$CONTENT_TYPE_CODE-{000000} scheme.
Uploading a Draftsman sheet template file using the drag and drop method. The process is identical for uploading a Draftsman document template file to a target Draftsman Document Template Item.
You can also create a new Draftsman document/sheet template using the Load from File command from the menu of the Add button or the Add context menu of the template grid on the Templates tab of the Data Management – Templates page of the Preferences dialog. In the Open dialog (a standard Windows open-type dialog) that opens, select the Draftsman Document File (*.DwfDot)/Draftsman Sheet File (*.DwsDot) option in the drop-down at the right of the File name field and use the dialog to browse to, and open, the required file that will be uploaded into the initial revision of the new Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item created automatically in a Workspace folder of the Draftsman Templates type.
If the required Draftsman document/sheet template file resides in the Local Template folder (denoted at the bottom of the Data Management – Templates page) and is listed under the Local entry of the template grid, it can be migrated to a new Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item by right-clicking on it and selecting the Migrate to Server command. Click the OK button in the Template migration dialog to proceed with the migration process – as stated in this dialog, the original Draftsman document/sheet template file will be added to a Zip archive in the local template folder (and hence it will not be visible under the Local template list).
Reusing a Draftsman Template
Related page: Controlling Access to Workspace Content
Once a Draftsman document/sheet template has been saved to a Workspace, and its lifecycle state set to a level that the organization views as ready for use at the design level, that template can be reused in future board-level design projects.
When you are connected to your Workspace, use of available Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Items is automatic. If there are saved revisions of Draftsman document/sheet templates, then only those available templates – shared with you – will be presented in the following areas where a document template, or sheet template, can be chosen, when working with a Draftsman Document (*.PCBDwf):
New Document Dialog
In the New Document dialog, accessed when adding a new Draftsman document to your design project, only those Draftsman document templates available to you – through your active connection to the Workspace – will be available to use through the dialog's Templates listing.
The latest revision of each available Draftsman document template will be used. In addition the templates are listed in the format <ItemName> (v.<Revision>).
If Draftsman Document Template Items exist, then when actively connected to the Workspace they will be presented under the entry of this Workspace.
Properties Panel
When setting up page-related options for the active Draftsman document – on the Page Options tab of the Properties panel – only those Draftsman sheet templates available to you – through your active connection to the Workspace – will be available to use from the Template drop-down field, in the Formatting and Size region of the tab (when the Template mode is active).
The latest revision of each available Draftsman sheet template will be used. In addition the templates are listed in the format <ItemName> (v.<Revision>).
If Draftsman Sheet Template Items exist, then when actively connected to the Workspace they will be presented under the entry of this Workspace.
If you do not connect to your Workspace you can still work with Altium Designer (under your valid Altium Designer license), but you will not be able to access your organization's Workspace, or any other services it provides. You will therefore not be able to reuse any Workspace-based Draftsman document/sheet templates. You will
only be able to use file-based templates defined locally, and available from the templates folder specified on the
Data Management – Templates page of the
Preferences dialog (if the
Template visibility option is set to
Server & Local on this page).
A saved Draftsman Document/Sheet Template can also be used as a configuration data item in one or more defined
Environment Configurations. An environment configuration is used to constrain a designer's Altium NEXUS working environment to only use company-ratified design elements. Environment configurations are defined and stored within the Team Configuration Center – a service provided through the Workspace. Once you have connected to the Workspace, and chosen (if applicable) from the selection of environment configurations available to you, Altium NEXUS will be configured, with respect to use of Draftsman Document/Sheet Templates. If the chosen environment configuration has one or more defined Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Items, then
only those defined definitions can be used. If the chosen environment configuration applicable to you does not have any Draftsman document/sheet template revisions specified/added, or is set to
Do Not Control, then all available saved template revisions (shared with you) will be available (automatic reuse). If there are no saved revisions of Draftsman document/sheet templates in the Workspace, then you will be able to use local, file-based templates. For more information, see
Environment Configuration Management (for an
Altium 365 Workspace or a
NEXUS Server Workspace).
Re-Saving a Draftsman Template
At any stage, you can come back to any revision of a Draftsman document/sheet template in the Workspace, and edit it directly. Right-click on the revision and choose the Edit command from the context menu. Once again, the temporary editor will open, with the template contained in the revision, opened for editing. Make changes as required, then save the document into the next revision of the template.
Right-clicking on the top-level entry for a Draftsman template itself, will edit the latest revision of that template.
Accessing the command to launch direct editing of an existing Draftsman document/sheet template revision.
A Draftsman document/sheet template can also be edited using the
Edit command from the context menu of the template's entry on the
Templates tab of the
Data Management – Templates page of the
Preferences dialog. After selecting the command, click
OK in the
Close Preferences dialog that opens to close the
Preferences dialog and open the temporary Draftsman editor.
Updating a Draftsman Template
If you need to change the Draftsman document/sheet template stored in a Draftsman Document/Sheet Template Item, and you have the updated Draftsman document/sheet template file, you can upload that file to that Item – the new file will be stored in the next revision of that Item.
Downloading Saved Data
Download the data stored in a revision of a Draftsman document/sheet template by right-clicking on that revision in the Explorer panel and choosing the Operations » Download command from the context menu. The Draftsman document/sheet template file will be downloaded into a sub-folder under the chosen directory, named using the Item Revision ID. The file can be found in the Released folder therein.
Access the Download command from the top-level entry for a Draftsman document/sheet template itself, to download the template file stored in the latest revision of that template.
Click the Explore button in the Download from Server dialog, to quickly explore to the download folder.
The latest revision of a Draftsman document/sheet template can also be downloaded using the
Operations » Download command from the context menu of the template's entry on the
Templates tab of the
Data Management – Templates page of the
Preferences dialog.
Soft Deletion
When connected to a Workspace, flexible functionality is available for removing a Draftsman document/sheet template directly from within Altium Designer:
- From the Explorer panel – right-click on the template's entry in the panel and choose the Delete Item command from the context menu.
- From the Templates tab of the Data Management – Templates page of the Preferences dialog – right-click on the template's entry in the dialog and choose the Delete command from the context menu.
The Delete Items dialog will appear, in which to confirm the deletion. The action is actually a 'soft delete', whereby the template will be moved into the Trash area of the Workspace. The Trash is essentially a recycle bin into which any content within your Workspace can be moved (through a soft delete action). It is isolated from the rest of the Workspace.
With the soft-delete facility, you are able to delete a Draftsman document/sheet template that is currently being used.
Multiple Draftsman document/sheet templates can be deleted in a single action. Select all required Draftsman document/sheet templates using standard multi-select controls (Shift+Click, Ctrl+Click), then right-click and choose the deletion command from the context menu.
Soft deletion of a Draftsman document template and Draftsman sheet template from within the Explorer panel. In each case, the template will be moved to the Workspace's Trash area.
To proceed with the deletion, click the 
button. The template will be removed and a Deletion Summary dialog will confirm successful deletion. If there was an issue with deletion, this will be flagged to you.
All content deleted in this manner can be found on the Trash page of the Workspace's browser interface. Note that you can only view the content that you have personally soft deleted. Administrators will be able to see the full content of the Trash page – so all content that has been soft deleted.
Things to consider in relation to a soft deleted Draftsman document/sheet template:
- The Draftsman document/sheet template will not be available from your design software, or from within the Web interface.
- Anywhere the Draftsman document/sheet template was being used will reflect that the template has been deleted.
- A Draftsman document/sheet template can be restored, or permanently deleted from the Trash page, provided you have editing rights. Permanent deletion is only possible provided it is not being used by a parent Item.
Note that if you have soft deleted a Draftsman document/sheet template – moving it to the Trash – you can create a new Draftsman document/sheet template with that same name again. If you were to subsequently restore the original template, and the original name is taken, an integer suffix will be used, to keep its name unique within the Workspace.
