CRF-05-gb-CADFinder.pdf

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COPRA® RF CADFinder - 
Document Management System
COPRA® RF Software
User Manual
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH  
 
 
© Copyright data M Software GmbH 
 
 
 
 
 
Unlawful reproduction, in any way, of this manual and its contents is strictly prohibited. 
 
data M Software GmbH makes no warranty, either expressed or implied, regarding 
these materials and makes these materials available solely on an "As is" basis. In 
no event shall data M Software GmbH be liable to anyone for special, collateral, 
incidental, or consequential damages in connection with the use of the materials 
provided. 
 
The sole liability to data M Software GmbH shall not exceed the purchase price of 
the materials described herein. 
 
Information in the manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a 
commitment on the part of the vendor. The software described in this manual is furnished 
under a license agreement and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms 
of the agreement. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright© data M Software GmbH 
All Rights Reserved 
data M Software GmbH 
Am Marschallfeld 17 
D-83626 Valley/Oberlaindern 
Germany 
www.datam.de  
Contents 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH  
 
I 
Contents 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
1 
1. Introduction 
1 
2. The COPRA® RF CADFinder Project-Manager 
2 
3. Overview about the Operating Mode 
3 
3.1. Project- and Document Structure 
3 
4. Projects in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
4 
4.1. The COPRA® RF CADFinder Root Directory 
4 
4.2. Working with Projects 
4 
4.2.1. The commands “New Project" and “New COPRA®-Project" 
5 
4.2.2. The commands “Convert to COPRA®” and “Remove COPRA®-Status” 
6 
4.2.3. The command ”Adapt COPRA®-CPM-file" 
6 
4.2.4. The command  “Adapt COPRA®-Main directory” 
6 
4.2.5. The command “New Document” 
7 
4.2.6. The command “Delete” 
7 
4.2.7. The command “Properties” 
7 
5. Documents in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
8 
5.1. Working with documents in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
8 
5.1.1. The command “New” 
8 
5.1.2. The command “Document” 
9 
5.1.2.1. The submenu “Open” 
9 
5.1.2.2. The submenu “Delete” 
9 
5.1.2.3. The submenu “Remove” 
9 
5.1.2.4. The submenu “Print” 
9 
5.1.2.5. The submenu “Revisions” 
9 
5.1.2.6. The submenu “Comment” 
9 
5.1.3. The submenu “Workflow” 
10 
5.1.3.1. The submenu “Project linked” 
10 
5.1.4. The command “New Revision” 
10 
5.1.5. The command “Edit” 
10 
5.1.6. The command “Title Block” 
11 
5.1.7. The menu item “Copy” 
11 
5.1.8. The menu item “Insert” 
11 
5.1.9. The menu item “Link to file” 
11 
5.1.10. The menu item “CADFinder Link” 
12 
5.1.11. The menu item “dwg-Preview” 
12 
5.2. Drag & Drop-Functionality in the Document View 
12 
6. Revisions in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
13 
6.1. Working with the Revision Management in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
13 
6.1.1. The button “Set Current” 
14 
6.1.2. The button “Copy” 
14 
6.1.3. The button “Open” 
14 
6.1.4. The button “Delete” 
14 
6.1.5. The button “Comment” 
14 
7. The COPRA® RF CADFinder Retrieve Functions 
15 
7.1. Working with COPRA® RF CADFinder-Search Function 
15 
7.1.1. The button “New Search” 
16 
7.1.2. The button “Add Search” 
16 
7.1.3. The button “Delete” 
17 
7.1.4. The button “Save” 
17 
Contents 
II 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH  
7.1.5. The button “Load” 
17 
8. The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
17 
8.1.1. The Table tdynSheet 
19 
8.1.2. The Table tdynRevision 
20 
8.1.3. The Table tdynDocNr 
20 
8.1.4. The Table tdynDocNr2Project 
21 
8.1.5. The Table tstatAttributes 
21 
8.1.6. The Table tdynSubProject 
22 
8.1.7. The Table tstatCustomer 
22 
8.1.8. The tables tdynPrimProject and tdynProj2Customer 
22 
8.1.9. The Table tstatUsers 
23 
8.1.10. The Table tstatWorkflow 
23 
8.1.11. The Table tstatUserGroups 
24 
8.1.12. The Table tstatRootInfo 
24 
8.1.13. The Table tdynSubProj2Attr 
24 
8.1.14. The Table tdynSheet2Attr 
25 
8.1.15. The Table statAttrGroup 
25 
8.2. Administrative Modifications in the COPRA® RF CADFinder data base 
26 
8.2.1. User Groups and Affiliation of Users to User Groups 
26 
8.2.2. Attributes and Attribute-Groups 
27 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
Introduction 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
1 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
1. Introduction 
COPRA® RF CADFinder is a document management system that allows to organize any files 
independent from a defined file structure on a storage device. To do so the user creates a 
nested project structure. The documents can then be assigned to a project in this structure 
via a document number. The organization of the documents and the assignment to the 
physical file path is done by a data base server (e.g. MS SQL Server or an alternative data 
base with SQL and ODBC support for the multi user version or the MSDE data base in a 
single user environment). 
Furthermore user defined attributes can be linked with projects and documents. This en-
sures a fast retrieving of documents via specific search functions. These attributes in the 
COPRA® version of CAD-Finder may also be used to complete the title block information in 
an AutoCAD template. 
 
Also a structured view of projects (project manager) and belonging documents as any num-
ber of flexible working catalogues are available for displaying different search results. From 
here the individual documents can be opened, modified, completed with new attributes, 
copied and moved very easy and comfortable. The design of the structured view is similar to 
the Microsoft Windows-Explorer in order to guarantee an intuitive working in a well known 
environment.   
 
A revision control and workflow system is also available for the individual documents. So an 
older version of a document may be – if desired – saved before modifying in order to have 
access to previous releases of this document. The history of a file may be saved. The link to 
the respective project is maintained. So for a document multiple work situations may be  
 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder Project-Manager 
2 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
2. The COPRA® RF CADFinder Project-Manager 
 
 
Fig.1  The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Project-manager  
 
We will give you a general explanation about the COPRA® RF CADFinder Project-Manager 
for a better understanding of the working principle of the system. This way the basic principle 
of use can be easily explained.  
 
The structure view shows, like the Microsoft Windows Explorer, on the left the project struc-
ture (not the directory!). On the right part of the view the documents belonging to the respec-
tive projects are shown.  
 
The available projects are shown on the left side in project view. They may have any number 
of subprojects in any depth. Base projects (here “Customer_1" and “Customer_2") can be 
created under the top element (here “COPRA® RF CADFinderDB"). It is not possible to save 
documents in these projects. This is only possible in the next level (here eg. customer data). 
The icons next to the projects indicate the type of a project. Grey icons are the base ele-
ments and base projects. The yellow folders are COPRA® RF CADFinder-Projects.  
 
Projects with a blue “C" are COPRA® RF projects. COPRA® projects can be handled as 
normal COPRA® RF CADFinder-Projects, but they contain specific files of a COPRA® RF 
project. When a COPRA® project (or a subfolder of it) is being selected, the COPRA® project 
will be loaded automatically (if COPRA® RF CADFinder is active). 
 
The icons at the very left in the document list show the file type. Double clicking on a docu-
ment will open it write protected with the application belonging to the file type (eg. Word, 
Excel, AutoCAD etc.). 
 
Attention!  
Before starting to work with COPRA® CADFinder a detailed project structure should be 
developed, e.g. in a discussion with the colleagues. Two possibilities would be a structure 
based on customers or based on profile types.  
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
Overview about the Operating Mode 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
3 
3. Overview about the Operating Mode 
In the following a short overview about the operating mode of the COPRA® RF CADFinder 
System can be found. 
 
Fig.2   
3.1. Project- and Document Structure  
The interrelationship between project, document number, document and belonging revisions 
in COPRA® RF CADFinder are shown in the figure above.  
The link between documents and projects is made via the document number. To simplify 
matters in the CADFinder Project manager only projects and documents are visible. As 
described at a later point also other elements may be shown and modified.  
An unlimited number of document numbers may be assigned to a project as shown above. A 
document number may be associated with any number of projects. A document number may 
contain any number of documents, but a document is only linked to one single document 
number.  
In turn a document may have an unlimited number of revisions (processing states), but a 
revision itself is associated with only one document. A revision is equal to one file on the 
storage device in reality.  
The following dependencies show the behaviour when deleting elements in COPRA® RF 
CADFinder: 
¾ A single revision may be deleted without any effect on other elements. 
¾ When deleting a document all the belonging revisions will be deleted, too.  
 
If a project is deleted, all document numbers including the belonging documents and revi-
sions that are exclusively linked with this project will be deleted. Document numbers that are 
also linked to other projects will be preserved with all related documents and revisions.  
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
Projects in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
4 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
4. Projects in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
4.1. The COPRA® RF CADFinder Root Directory 
A right mouse key click on the base element in the project view and selecting the menu item 
"Set Root Directory" will open the following dialogue in which the root directory may be 
defined.  
 
 
Fig.3  Dialogue to define the project root directory 
 
The dialogue shows the current path of the COPRA® RF CADFinder root directory. You may 
change the root directory using the button on the right side next to the path.  
The root directory specifies the path where the COPRA® RF CADFinder files will be 
saved to; later all subdirectories for the individual projects will be created under this 
path. This path will be used as standard setting, but single projects may be saved to 
directories being different to the standard path (also on different drives).  
If multiple users are working with COPRA® RF CADFinder on a network, it is very 
important to pay attention that all users are using the same Windows-disk drive letter.  
The root directory is identical for all users; if it is changed by a single user, this will 
affect all other users. Changing the root directory is usually not necessary in the daily 
work  and should be applied with highest care. 
4.2. Working with Projects 
A right mouse key click on a project will open the following context menu showing different 
commands that are available for an individual project handling: 
 
 
Fig.4  Context menu in project view 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
Projects in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
5 
In the following points the individual positions of this menu are described in detail. 
4.2.1. The commands “New Project" and “New COPRA®-Project" 
With this command a new general project or COPRA® project can be created. The following 
dialog appears: 
 
 
Fig.5  Dialogue to create a new project  
In the first line of the dialogue the name of the project is entered. In the next line the project 
path is shown consisting of the following parts  in the default setting: 
 <COPRA® RF CADFinder-root directory>\<current COPRA® RF CADFinder-project structure> 
 
This path can be changed at any time by using the file selection button next to it, so that it is 
no problem if individual projects can be found in different directories or even disk drives. 
The path being shown after a project name has been defined is only a suggestion; if the 
suggestion is accepted, the structure on the hard disk in the COPRA® RF CADFinder root 
directory and the project structure in COPRA® RF CADFinder will be the same. 
 
In the next lines below a comment for the project and a prefix or postfix for the document 
number saved in the project can be entered (more information on that will be later given). 
Confirming this dialogue with "OK" will open another dialogue for the definition of additional 
attributes: 
 
Fig.6  Project attributes 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
Projects in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
6 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
Here additional attributes can be defined which can later be used as default values for docu-
ments saved in this project. 
In addition data required by COPRA® projects may be defined here. As soon as the dialogue 
is confirmed with “OK” the creation of a new project is finished and the new project appears 
in the COPRA®  RF project manager. 
4.2.2. The commands “Convert to COPRA®” and “Remove COPRA®-Status” 
This command allows to convert a standard CADFinder project into a COPRA® RF Project or 
a COPRA® RF project into a standard CADFinder project. If a standard CADFinder project is 
converted into a COPRA®  RF project, the attribute dialogue comes up (Fig. 6) so that 
probably missing parameters can be completed. 
4.2.3. The command ”Adapt COPRA®-CPM-file" 
This command allows to bind a COPRA® project created with an earlier COPRA® RF version 
into the structure of the new COPRA® RF CADFinder project manager. 
When using the command a dialogue for file selection is being opened in which the path and 
the required *.cpm file may be selected. This COPRA® project is now available as a subpro-
ject of the current project selected in COPRA® RF project manager. However, it remains in 
the original directory of the respective volume. 
If this command is used more than once for the same project multiple COPRA® RF CAD-
Finder projects will be available but linked to the same COPRA® project.  
4.2.4. The command  “Adapt COPRA®-Main directory” 
The previous COPRA® RF project manager was built on project main directories and project 
directories. This way an unlimited number of projects could be linked to a main project direc-
tory in order to have a certain structure. This command allows to link / load all projects of a 
main project directory in one step in the new COPRA® RF project manager. 
After selecting this command a dialogue appears to select the directory in which the original  
main project directory is located. As soon as the “Select” button is chosen the COPRA® 
projects located in this main project directory will be loaded into the new COPRA® RF project 
manager. In this case the COPRA® project also remains in the same physical storage direc-
tory. 
 
Attention: 
Before using this command a detailed project structure should be developed, e.g. in a dis-
cussion with the colleagues. Two possibilities would be a structure based on customers or 
based on profile types.  
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
Projects in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
7 
4.2.5. The command “New Document” 
This point allows to link a document to a project. The settings necessary for that can be 
made in the following dialogue: 
 
 
Fig.7  Dialogue "Add document" 
In the upper line the drawing number with which the document will be linked to the project is 
defined and the revision number can be entered. If the document number entered is already 
existing in COPRA®  RF CADFinder a query comes up asking if this document should be 
assigned to the existing document number. If not a different document number needs to be 
defined.  
Should the document be assigned to the existing document number, the document number 
will be linked to the selected project; the just registered document therefore appears in all 
projects which are linked to the mentioned document number. 
In the lower area the document to be linked to the COPRA® RF CADFinder can be defined 
via a choice dialogue and the desired destination path may be fixed for the COPRA® RF 
CADFinder document. This destination path is automatically preset on the project path. 
After confirming with "OK" a dialogue similar to Fig. 6 appears, in which attributes for the file 
can be defined.  These attributes may already be predefined by the attributes of the superior 
project. Additional possibilities to link documents to COPRA® RF CADFinder can be found in 
chapter 5.1.7.  
4.2.6. The command “Delete” 
With this command an existing project can be deleted.  
ATTENTION: 
Please be aware that all documents exclusively assigned to this project will also be deleted 
(also physically, i.e. on the hard disk!). Documents linked to more than one project will not be 
removed.  
In addition a project can not be deleted if any of its documents is set to an other workflow 
status than "Released". A warning appears if a document is not released and the function 
will be cancelled.  
4.2.7. The command “Properties” 
Here the attributes, paths as well as the name of the project can be changed. The attributes 
and paths of the documents recumbent under it are not touched by this change. 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
Documents in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
8 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
5. Documents in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
A “Document” in COPRA® RF CADFinder does not necessarily mean that it is only one file 
on the hard disc. A document may include (as shown in figure 2) various revision numbers. 
For an easier handling a document is handled like a file in the project manager. The docu-
ment always corresponds to the latest revision, i.e. the status of the latest saved version.  
5.1. Working with documents in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
The right window of the COPRA® RF Project Manager shows the documents linked to the 
current project. A right mouse key click on one of the listed documents will open a context 
menu including commands with available document operations.  
Some of these menu items are only available if the workflow status of the chosen document 
allows the operation or if the user has got administrator rights in COPRA® RF CADFinder. 
 
 
Fig.8  Context menu in document view 
 
In the following these commands are explained more in detail: 
5.1.1. The command “New” 
This command is only available in the COPRA® Version of CADFinder and includes only one 
secondary point: Save current drawing. The command allows to save the current AutoCAD 
drawing in COPRA® RF CADFinder. To do so it is necessary to enter at least a document 
number in the following dialogue. The remaining specifications are optional.  
 
 
Fig.9  Dialogue to enter primary document data 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
Documents in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
9 
If the document number entered is already existing, an inquiry occurs, if a new document 
(sheet) shall be added to the available number. If this is not the case an alternative, not yet 
existing document number must be defined. After confirmation with "OK" the COPRA® RF 
CADFinder entry will be created and the file (in this case the AutoCAD drawing) will be saved 
to  the directory of the current project. 
As soon as the document has been created the respective document attributes may be 
defined and modified (title block entries).  
5.1.2.  The command “Document” 
If the menu item "document" is selected, a context menu with further menu items will be 
displayed (see Fig.8).  
5.1.2.1. The submenu “Open” 
Using this command will open the current revision of the selected document for inspection, 
i.e. write protected. Modifications made can not be saved.  
5.1.2.2. The submenu “Delete” 
This command allows to delete single or multiple documents. At this all revisions that are 
linked to the document will be deleted in COPRA® RF CADFinder as well as physically from 
the connected volume.  
5.1.2.3. The submenu “Remove” 
With this command documents can be removed from a project (all documents with the cur-
rent document number). At this only the links of the document number to the current project 
will be deleted (see Fig.2). The respective files are still available on the hard disc (or any 
other media you saved them to) and the links to other projects persist. A warning will come 
up if a document that is exclusively linked to the current project should be deleted, because 
in this case the “Remove” command would permanently remove the document. This is to 
avoid that files are still on the hard disc that are not linked to any project. There would be no 
possibility to find these files again with CADFinder, but of course they would require some 
disc space on the data media.  
5.1.2.4. The submenu “Print” 
Files of the most popular file formats (like MS Office, dwg, dxf etc.) can directly be sent to 
the default printer defined in Windows.  
5.1.2.5. The submenu “Revisions” 
This command allows to have a look into the revisions of a document and to execute several 
operations with these revisions. You will find more detailed information about revisions in 
chapter 6 of this documentation.  
5.1.2.6. The submenu “Comment” 
Allows to enter a comment to the current document or to have a look at an existing one. The 
comment will be opened in the Windows current set standard-editor for text files. The com-
ment refers to the current revision and can be modified and displayed in the revision man-
agement (see chapter 6. of this documentation). 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
Documents in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
10 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
5.1.3. The submenu “Workflow” 
The workflow status of marked documents may be changed here. More information on work-
ing with COPRA® RF CADFinder-Workflow is written under point 7. 
5.1.3.1. The submenu “Project linked” 
This command opens a list showing to which projects the selected document is linked.  
5.1.4. The command “New Revision” 
This command allows to open the selected document for editing by creating a new revision. 
The workflow status of the document will automatically be set to “Amendment” to show all 
other users that currently changes are applied, and it is blocked for the other users.  
 
 
Fig.10  Dialogue for creating a new revision 
 
The specifications for the new revisions can be entered via the dialogue above. The title bar 
shows the name of the document, in the lines below the New Revision Number and a revi-
sion description for the current document may be entered.   
The reason for the changes as well as the revision number are available to update the title 
block information. Marking the check box “Save old Revision” means that the last version of 
the document before the modification should also be saved. This allows to build a complete 
document history with a documentation of all changes applied.  
 
After definition of these parameters the document is opened without write protection 
 
When the changes have been done you may save the document with the “Save”- button of 
the respective application. To again allow other users to access the document the workflow 
status needs to be changed again. It has to be set back to “Released” when all changes 
have been applied.  
 
5.1.5. The command “Edit” 
This command allows to modify a document without creating a new revision (see the de-
scription of the command above).  
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
Documents in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
11 
5.1.6. The command “Title Block” 
This command allows to modify or complete the title block information with the “Edit” func-
tion, for editing the document attributes (Template data). 
On the other hand allows the second point (‚fill") that the template of the document is filled 
with the attributes from COPRA® RF CADFinder. Therefore the file needs to be opened in 
AutoCAD. If it is actually not active it will be set active. The function does not act on non-
AutoCAD-drawings.   
 
Fig.11  Dialogue for entering document attributes (Template data) 
The attributes may be changed by a click in the second column of the list.  
5.1.7. The menu item “Copy” 
This command allows to copy highlighted documents into the Windows clipboard. They may 
later be inserted in Windows-explorer or in COPRA® RF CADFinder at a different position.  
5.1.8. The menu item “Insert” 
Using this function files copied with the function “Copy” may be inserted into the current 
COPRA® CADFinder project. Thereby an actual copy of the document will be created. Dia-
logues for entering a document number and the document attributes will appear. All files 
from the clipboard will be taken over as documents (sheets) of the current document number 
into COPRA® CADFinder. 
5.1.9. The menu item “Link to file” 
A file maybe linked to COPRA® CADFinder while the original document stays in its home 
location. To do so the file needs to be copied into the clipboard via the Windows-Explorer 
with a right mouse click. Then this command can be chosen to create the link.  
 
ATTENTION!  
This function needs to be carefully used. If a revision of the linked file will be created later 
the file name will be changed if the toggle “Save old Revision” is enabled.  If other programs 
try to use the file problems might occur.  
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
Documents in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
12 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
5.1.10. The menu item “CADFinder Link” 
This command allows to link a CADFinder document number with one or more projects. To 
do so the respective documents will be copied into the clipboard via the “Copy” command of 
CADFinder in the document view or with the retrieve function. In the next step the project the 
documents should be linked to needs to be selected and the menu item “CADFinder-Link” 
in the document view is to be selected via a right mouse click. This way the selected docu-
ment is available in this project, too.  
5.1.11. The menu item “dwg-Preview” 
This function shows a preview of the selected AutoCAD drawing in a small window. This 
feature is only available in the AutoCAD- based version of COPRA® RF CADFinder. 
 
5.2. Drag & Drop-Functionality in the Document View 
A drag & drop functionality is implemented in the document view. This means that if one or 
more documents are highlighted and the left mouse key is kept pushed over one of those 
documents it is possible to drag them over the screen. When the left mouse button is re-
leased the highlighted documents may be copied to the Windows-Explorer or the Autodesk 
Batch-Plot-Manager of.  
If the documents are dragged into the project area of COPRA® RF CADFinder and released 
over one of the projects, a context menu with the available operations is shown. 
 
Within this menu you may chose what to do with the highlighted files: 
 
a) Create Link: 
the documents will be linked to this project, i.e. that all documents of the selected document 
number are also visible in this project. Please consider that the documents are actually only 
linked; the location of the document on the storage device is not changed. In addition a 
modification of this document – regardless out of which project done – will always affect the 
same file. The modifications are therefore visible in all projects this file is linked to. 
 
b) Move here: 
the documents of the selected document number will be moved into the selected project. 
This happens in the COPRA® RF CADFinder structure as well as on the storage device. This 
way the documents are no longer visible in the project they have been selected from. In case 
the documents are also linked to other projects these links will be maintained. 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
Revisions in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
13 
6. Revisions in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
Revisions are different design situations of a document that maybe saved before each fur-
ther modification. The saved revisions may be loaded for inspection at any time. Only the 
currently valid version may be modified. In addition comments can be linked to any revision 
via a text file to eg. document the reasons why the file has been changed. This allows to 
create a complete history of a file from the very first sketch to the latest status including all 
information about modifications.  
6.1. Working with the Revision Management in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
The revision management of a document can be accessed via the context menu that opens 
on a right mouse click on a document in the document area. ( -> Document -> Revisions; s. 
chapter 5.1.2.5. of this documentation). 
For an easy handling the user interface of the revision management was designed as Win-
dows dialogue: 
 
 
Fig.12  Dialogue for revision management 
The list shows the revisions among each other. The rows show the elementary data of each 
revision.  
 
Following you can find an explanation about the entities and the functionality of this dialogue: 
 
• 
No.: 
 
consecutive number of a revision 
• 
RevNo: 
the revision number or revision letter (any user defined text) 
• 
Path: 
 
the actual path in which the file is saved on the storage device 
• 
Filename: 
the actual file name of the revision on the storage device 
• 
RevDate: 
the creation date of the revision 
• 
User:  
the user that created the revision 
• 
Reason: 
a short comment why changes have been applied 
 
The respective current revision in the list is marked by using a red colouration of the text. 
Also the revision data of a document (e.g. revision number, revision date, user and revision 
reason) may be transferred to the template of an AutoCAD drawing.  
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
Revisions in COPRA® RF CADFinder 
14 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
The buttons left of the list allow to execute operations with the highlighted revisions. Thereby 
only those buttons are enabled whose functionality may be used for the marked revision file. 
As an example the current revision cannot be deleted. 
 
Following an explanation of the functionality being at the bottom of the buttons: 
6.1.1. The button “Set Current” 
Using this button allows to set a revision status to be the current one. This means that the 
highlighted revision will be set to the end of the revision list and can now be modified. Please 
note that the previous current revision will be saved; for further modifications only the manu-
ally set current older revision is available. If an older revision should be modified and the 
actual current revision should be maintained, then the revision of the document to be modi-
fied needs to be copied with the “Copy” button and pasted again as a new document (new 
sheet) in the document view.  
This way a second document is available that has got an independent revision number from 
the first document in the revision management. This allows to modify both documents inde-
pendently.  
6.1.2. The button “Copy” 
This command allows to copy a document that is linked to this revision into the Windows clip 
board. It then can be inserted e.g. in the Microsoft Windows-Explorer or into the document 
view of COPRA® RF CADFinder at any position (as explained in the next step). 
6.1.3. The button “Open” 
This command opens the selected revision with the application registered for the respective 
file type.  
6.1.4. The button “Delete” 
Allows to delete revisions from the COPRA® RF CADFinder data base as well as from the 
storage device. 
6.1.5. The button “Comment” 
Allows to add or open a comment to the respective revision. The comments will be saved as 
*.txt-file and can be opened in Windows with the registered standard text editor. 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder Retrieve 
Functions 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
15 
7. The COPRA® RF CADFinder Retrieve Functions 
COPRA® RF CADFinder provides several possibilities for the user to retrieve documents. On 
one hand of course the simple retrieval via the project links in the COPRA® RF CADFinder-
project manager, but you may also define more detailed search criteria.  
Thereby it is possible to search for project membership, document number, name, the docu-
ment attributes (template entries) or e.g. the user who has created or last modified the docu-
ment. Furthermore all the criteria mentioned above may be combined with a logical "AND" 
combination. This way only documents will be found that match with all the defined criteria.  
The documents found will be listed in a result catalogue, which is similar to the document 
view in the COPRA® RF CADFinder project manager and allows a similar handling with the 
documents. Any number of result catalogues may be open at the same time and can be 
managed via a dialogue. In addition it is possible to delete single entries from result cata-
logues or to add a new search with modified criteria. This gives the user the possibility to 
create a catalogue of often required documents in order to save it for a later use.  
7.1. Working with COPRA® RF CADFinder-Search Function 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder retrieval shows a dialogue that also includes the result dia-
logue: 
 
 
Fig.13  Dialogue with COPRA® RF CADFinder-Result dialogue 
 
The retrieval catalogue in the figure above already includes results of a retrieval. Via the 
index card above this catalogue may be switched between the individual retrieval results.  
The figure shows also the context menu that comes up on a right mouse click on the docu-
ment. The content and functionality matches mostly to the menu in the document view of the 
COPRA® RF CADFinder project manager (see chapter 5.1 and following of this documenta-
tion) 
Only the menu item ‚Delete" is new. Highlighted documents may be deleted from the result 
catalogue, but the document itself and its links remain. Different operation may be done with 
the catalogues by using the buttons below the document list as explained in the following: 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder Retrieve 
Functions 
16 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
7.1.1. The button “New Search” 
Using this button a new retrieval is defined, executed and the result being displayed.  
In the first step the retrieval criteria need to be defined. This is done in the following dia-
logue: 
 
 
Fig.14  Dialogue for document retrieval 
On the top left side in the text field “Search Categories” the name of the retrieval catalogue 
is defined. The text defined here is later visible on the index cards and indicates the respec-
tive catalogue.  
Below that the definition of the search criteria begins. The document number and the sheet 
name. In the list below the project attributes to be retrieved for may be defined.  
The button “Details” allows to fade in and out the right side of the dialogue. On the right side 
a structure view including the project structure is visible. If a project is chosen here, the 
retrieval will only be done in this project, if nothing or the base element is selected 
(“COPRA® RF CADFinderDB") the retrieval will go through all projects.  
The toggle below the structure view defines if the retrieval shall be done only in the specified 
project or also in the subprojects.  
The search may be limited to documents created by a specific user by selecting one in the 
list box “Created by”. 
The dialogue will be closed after confirmation with the “Find”- button. The retrieval result will 
be shown in the retrieval catalogue index card with the previously defined name.  
 
Important! – Please be aware that all given retrieval criteria are linked with AND, so only 
documents, which really fulfil all criteria, will be found and displayed. If a search gives no 
result, it is advisable to search with fewer criterions to achieve a result. 
7.1.2. The button “Add Search” 
Via a new defined search further documents may be added to the current catalogue. The 
previously described dialogue will come up. The search result will be added to the already 
existing dialogue.  
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
17 
7.1.3. The button “Delete” 
The currently loaded catalogue will be closed when using this button.  
7.1.4. The button “Save” 
With this button a catalogue may be saved in order to reload it later with the same specifica-
tion. After clicking this button a dialogue will open for defining a path as well as a file name 
under which the catalogue will be saved as *.cfc-File. 
7.1.5. The button “Load” 
The catalogues being saved as described above may be loaded with this function. 
 
8. The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
The core component of the COPRA® RF CADFinder-System is a data base which runs 
either on a server in the network version or on the respective PC in the single user version. 
For the network version Microsoft SQL server is used. It should be possible to use any other 
standard SQL:1999-able data base server, too provided that a Microsoft Windows-ODBC-
driver is available. Because of the variety of products offered in this field the desired data 
base server must be checked carefully before using it in combination with COPRA® RF 
CADFinder.  
In the single user license the MSDE- Database from Microsoft is used as database server. It 
is a version of the Microsoft SQL-Servers with reduced functionality for single user PCs that 
is available free of charge.  
The control and enquiry of the database takes place exclusively via SQL:1999-conformable 
methods, this provides the advantage that the COPRA® RF CADFinder System does not 
depend on one special database product.  
By modifications in the COPRA® RF CADFinder data base various parameters of the 
COPRA® RF CADFinder-System can be controlled, the document- and project attributes 
may be extended and the COPRA® RF CADFinder users may get specific rights.  
 
Important! Please make sure that before applying any changes to the data base a backup 
copy should be made, because changes may cause an inconsistency of the data base and 
therefore may cause the loss of the data stored. For the same reason changes in the data 
base should only be done by persons that have got the necessary and required 
knowledge in this field. 
 
The following chapter explains the functionality and the connectivity between the various 
tables in the data base. I addition it will be explained which table needs to be modified for 
getting a specific result.  
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
18 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
 
Fig.15   Composition of the database tables 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
19 
Explanation of the Data Base Tables 
In the following the individual tables of the COPRA® RF CADFinder Data Base are intro-
duced briefly and the most important columns of these tables will be explained more in de-
tail. The columns not further described are either for internal management or created for a 
later extension of the functionality. They may not modified manually! 
The dependencies and assignments are listed - they are partly displayed in Figure 15. 
 
Also the tables and columns described here should not be modified when it is not absolutely 
necessary and first of all not without knowing the assignments within this database. Before 
doing any manual changes the user should exactly know what to do and the user should be 
aware of the risk to get an inconsistent, no longer working system as result. In any case a 
safety copy needs to be made before applying any changes! 
 
8.1.1. The Table tdynSheet 
Primary Key: Sheet_ID 
Foreign Key:  
Creator_ID 
(tstatUsers ► User_ID) 
Workflow_ID 
(tstatWorkflow ► Workflow_ID) 
DocNr_ID 
(tdynDocNr ► DocNr_ID 
 
In this table the data of a sheet are bein saved. One sheet (or several sheets) is respectively 
linked to an individual document number. (tdynDocNr).  
In addition a sheet has at least one revision (tdynRevision); this revision is equal to a file on 
the storage device.  
 
 
Explanation of the most important columns: 
 
Sheet_ID:  
The primary key that clearly identifies a sheet.  
Sheet_Title: 
The title of a sheet (for drawings: the nomination) 
CreatorID: 
The ID of the user (in tstatUsers) who created the drawing  
CreationDate: 
The date on which the drawing was created.  
SheetNo: 
The number of the sheet within the document number.  
DocNr_ID: 
The ID of the document number (in tdynDocNr) that is linked to 
the sheet.  
Workflow_ID: 
The ID of the current Workflow-Status (in tstatWorkflow) of the 
sheet 
Work-
flow_user_ID: 
The User ID (in tstatUsers), that did the last modifications in 
workflow status  
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
20 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
8.1.2. The Table tdynRevision 
Primary Key : 
Rev_ID 
Foreign Key:  
Sheet_ID (tdynSheet ► Sheet_ID) 
This table includes the data of a revision. A sheet (tdynSheet) has got at least one revision. 
One line in this table is equal to one file on the storage device. It is referenced with an abso-
lute path and a file name.  
 
Explanation of the most important columns: 
 
Rev_ID:  
The primary key that clearly identifies the revision.  
Sheet_ID:  
The sheet ID (in tdynSheet), that is linked to the revision. 
Rev_FileName: 
The name of the file that is linked to the revision.  
Rev_FilePath_1: 
The absolut path of the file that is linked with the revision.  
Rev_RevNr: 
The revision number (or revision letter) of th revision. 
LastChangeDate: The date the revision was created on or rather has been chan-
ged.  
LastChanger_ID: 
The user ID of the user (in tstatUsers) who has created the 
revision or rather has changed it.  
Rev_Reason: 
A short text giving information or a reason (comment) why 
changes have been done.  
 
 
8.1.3. The Table tdynDocNr 
Primary Key:  DocNr_ID 
Foreign Key: -- 
In this table the data of a document are saved that may include any number of sheets 
(tdynSheet) and may be linked (via tdynDocNr2Project) to any number of projects (tdyn-
SubProject). 
 
Explanation of the most important columns: 
 
DocNr_ID:  
The primary key that clearly identifies the document number.  
DocNr_Name:  
The document number as text exactly as entered by user.  
 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
21 
8.1.4. The Table tdynDocNr2Project 
Primary Key : 
SP_ID 
 
 
 
DocNr_ID 
 
Foreign Key:  
 
 
SP_ID 
(tdynSubProject ► SP_ID) 
DocNr_ID (tdynDocNr ► DocNr_ID) 
 
This intermediate table connects a document number (tdynDocNr) with a COPRA® RF 
CADFinder project (tdynSubProject). The connection is done via entering the ID of the 
entities. 
8.1.5. The Table tstatAttributes 
Primary Key:  Attr_ID 
Foreign Key: -- 
In this  table the attributes for files and projects are defined. It may be defined whether the 
attributes should be available for sheets, projects, both or none of it. The attributes are 
linked to sheets via the intermediate table tdynSheet2Attrib and to projects via the table 
tdynSubProj2Attr. Furthermore may attributes be grouped and sorted within this group.  
Any number of attributes may be added, but the entries that where available at installation 
must be maintained. These may also be grouped (via assignment in tstatAttrGroup) and 
assigned in any way.  
 
 
Explanation of the most important columns: 
 
Attr_ID: 
The primary Key that clearly identifies the attribute. 
Attr_Name: 
The name of an attribute under which the attributes is visible in 
the input mask for sheet-/ project-attributes or search criteria.  
ProjectAttr: 
Defines i the attribute may be assigned to projects (if = 1) 
COPRA®Attr: 
Defines if the attribute may be assigned to sheets (if = 0) 
AttrSchrfName: 
The name of the variable for the template entry in CAD-System 
AttrGroup_ID: 
Assignment of the attribute to a group in tstatAttrGroup 
Attr_Order: 
For defining a sequence within the assigned group. The numbers 
do not necessarily need to be successive it is only differed with < 
or > . 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
22 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
8.1.6. The Table tdynSubProject 
Primary Key: SP_ID 
Foreign Key: -- 
This table contains the data of a COPRA® RF CADFinder project. The COPRA® RF CAD-
Finder project is connected via the tables tdynPrimProject and tdynProj2Customer with 
the table tstatCustomer, which indicates a primary project. 
A project is assigned via the table tdynDocNr2Project to a document number (tdynDocNr) 
and so assigned to the sheets linked to this document number.  
 
 
Explanation of the most important columns: 
 
SP_ID: 
the Primary Key, uniquely identifying a project  
ParentSP_ID: 
the ID of the superior project from the same table  
SP_Path: 
The path used as default when a document is saved in this 
project  
SP_Name: 
The name of the project 
SP_Comment: 
A text that may contain a short comment to this project 
DocNr_Prefix: 
A text provided as default document number (Pre- or Postfix for 
supplementation) if a document is saved in this project 
IsCOPRA®Project: Contains the information if the relevant project is a COPRA®-
Project (if yes = 1) 
User_ID: 
the ID of the user (in tstatUsers) that has created this project 
Creation_Date: 
The creation date of the project 
 
 
8.1.7. The Table tstatCustomer 
Primary Key: KD_ID 
Foreign Key: -- 
In this table the data of a primary project are located (in the COPRA® RF CADFinder-Project 
display the elements following directly the base element) 
 
Explanation of the most important columns: 
 
KD_ID: 
the Primary Key, allowing to uniquely identifying the project  
KD_Name:  
the name des of the primary project 
 
8.1.8. The tables tdynPrimProject and tdynProj2Customer 
These tables are connecting COPRA® RF CADFinder projects (tdynSubProject) with pri-
mary projects (tstatCustomer) and must not be changed manually. 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
23 
8.1.9. The Table tstatUsers 
Primary Key: User_ID 
Foreign Key: -- 
This table contains the data of the COPRA® RF CADFinder user. In here also the respective 
membership to user groups (to COPRA® RF CADFinder, not to the actual data base !) can 
be defined. 
 
Explanation of the most important columns: 
 
User_ID: 
the Primary Key, allowing to uniquely identify the user  
User_Name: 
the name of the COPRA® RF CADFinder user (corresponds with 
the login name of the user on his PC) 
UserGroup_ID: 
the ID of the user group (in tstatUserGroups) the user is belonging 
to 
 
 
8.1.10. The Table tstatWorkflow 
Primary Key: Workflow_ID 
Foreign Key: -- 
 
Here the workflow states available in COPRA® RF CADFinder are defined. Also in this table 
the entries made during the installation must be maintained, but the number of new entries is 
not limited. 
 
Explanation of the most important columns: 
 
Workflow_ID: 
the Primary Key, allowing to uniquely identify the user 
Workfl_Name: 
The identification of the workflow state as used in 
COPRA® RF CADFinder  
Workfl_CAD_Name: 
The name of the workflow state as it should be entered in 
the title block  
Locked_Document: 
Defines if a document should be locked for other users in 
this workflow state (yes if = 1) 
 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
24 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
8.1.11. The Table tstatUserGroups 
Primary Key: UserGroup_ID 
Foreign Key: -- 
This table allows to define a user group with specified rights. At the moment it is only possi-
ble to define if a user group should have administrative rights with COPRA® RF CADFinder 
(not with the data base itself !). 
 
Explanation of the most important columns: 
 
UserGroup_ID: 
the Primary Key, allowing to uniquely identify the user  
UserGroupName: 
The name for a user group 
IsAdmin: 
This value defines if a user group has administrative rights 
(remove locks made by other users etc.) 
 
 
8.1.12. The Table tstatRootInfo 
In this table information about the COPRA® RF CADFinder root directory is located. This 
table includes only one line in which the current root directory (row: RootDir) and the network 
name of the computer containing this directory (row: RootServName) is lodged. 
These values are recalled at each start of COPRA® RF CADFinder to avoid that a user is 
mounting his network drives with a different character. The result would be that the COPRA® 
RF CADFinder files are written to a wrong storage device. 
 
 
8.1.13. The Table tdynSubProj2Attr 
Primary Key: Attr_ID 
 
 
 
SP_ID 
Foreign Key: 
Attr_ID 
(tstatAttributes ► Attr_ID) 
SP_ID 
(tdynSubProjects ► SP_ID) 
 
This table connects an attribute (tstatAttributes) with a project (tdynSubProject) via the 
ID’s of the respective entities and allocates a text to the combinations of the respective ID’s. 
 
Explanation of the most important columns: 
 
Attr_ID:  
the ID of the attribute 
SP_ID:  
the ID of the COPRA® RF CADFinder project 
Text:  
the text being allocated to this combination of COPRA® RF CADFinder 
Project-ID and Attribute-ID 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
25 
8.1.14. The Table tdynSheet2Attr 
Primary Key: Attr_ID 
 
 
    Sheet_ID 
Foreign Key:  
Attr_ID 
(tstatAttributes ► Attr_ID) 
Sheet _ID (tdynSheet ► Sheet_ID) 
 
This table links an attribute (tstatAttributes) to a sheet (tdynSheet) via the IDs of the re-
spective entities and allocates a text to this combination of ID’s. 
 
Explanation of the most important columns: 
 
Attr_ID:  
the ID of the attribute 
Sheet_ID:  
the ID of the sheet 
Text:  
the text being allocated to this combination of sheet-ID and attribute-ID 
 
8.1.15. The Table statAttrGroup 
Primary Key: AttrGroup_ID 
 
This table allows to define groups of document- or project attributes. This table can be modi-
fied in any way and influences the display of the attributes in the dialogues for the definition 
or retrieval of document and project attributes. 
The attributes (tstatAttributes) will be assigned to a group via AttrGroup_ID. 
 
Explanation of the most important columns: 
 
AttrGroup_ID:  
the ID of the attribute group 
AttrGroup_Name:  
the name of the attribute group as being displayed in the 
COPRA® RF CADFinder dialogues 
 
 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
26 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
8.2. Administrative Modifications in the COPRA® RF CADFinder data base 
Manual changes in the database may absolutely be reasonable in the following cases: 
 
Also here, on this occasion, it should be considered that such changes may cause an incon-
sistent system in the worst case if they are not carried out well-considered and professional. 
As in the above described cases a safety copy of the system should be made before apply-
ing such manual changes. 
 
8.2.1. User Groups and Affiliation of Users to User Groups 
You need to have a closer look at the tables tstatUsers (for the users) and tstatUser-
Groups (for user groups) for modifications of user groups and the assignments of users to 
individual user groups.   
 
 
Fig.16   The tables tstatUsers and tstatUserGroups 
 
In Fig.16 a user group named "Admins" is available (in the table tstatUserGroups on top). 
The entry that may be changed here is the column ‚IsAdmin". If the value in this column is 
set to “1” members of this user group may change the workflow state even if they do have 
not have it defined on their own. In addition they may change documents being used or 
blocked by other users and they may set or modify the COPRA® RF CADFinder root direc-
tory.  
 
Important! – User groups that do not have the status ‚IsAdmin" may only change enabled 
documents and they may not change the root directory.  
 
In the lower table tstatUsers the users being registered in this COPRA® RF CADFinder-
System are shown. Here you can see that user user “peters” is assigned to the user group 1 
(Admins) and has this way the administrative rights of this group. Opposite to that the user 
“wanninger” is not member of a group and is therefore a “normal” COPRA® RF CADFinder-
user. 
 
User groups may be defined in any number, but groups defined once may not be deleted. 
 
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
 
27 
8.2.2. Attributes and Attribute-Groups 
If the attributes in the table tstatAttributes are linked with the table tstatAttrGroup they 
may be assigned to different groups and be sorted within this groups.  
 
Fig.17  The tables tstatAttributes and tstatAttrGroup 
 
In the first table tstatAttributes the columns ‚AttrGroup_ID" and ‚Attr_Order" need to be 
modified in order to create a link of the attribute to a group or to modify the link. Via entering 
an ID in ‚AttrGroup_ID" the attribute is linked to the respective group in the table below 
tstatAttrGroups. The column ‚Attr_Order" in tstatAttributes defines the order of entries 
within the respective group.  
The entries in the column do not necessarily need to be directly successive numbers, they 
are differing by the height of its value. The entries in the lower table tstatAttrGroup may 
discretionally be defined. You need to take care that Group-Ids for which attributes are al-
ready defined are maintained. Changing the name of the group is possible at any time with-
out problems. 
The columns ‚ProjectAttr" and ‚COPRA®Attr" in the table tstatAttribute define whether a 
user may enter values for this attributes in projects, sheets, both or for none of it.  
COPRA® RF CADFinder 
 
 
The COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database 
28 
 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
The table may be enabled with the values 1 (TRUE) or 0 (FALSE). The following table shows 
some entries with their result: 
 
ProjectAttr 
COPRA®Attr 
Sichtbar Dokumente 
Sichtbar Projekte 
0 
0 
yes 
no 
0 
1 
no 
no 
1 
0 
yes 
yes 
1 
1 
no 
yes 
Fig.18  Assignment of attributes to documents and projects 
 
The input mask for document attributes shown in the next figure shows the groups of docu-
ments, as defined in Fig.17; the principle of the groups and sorting of attributes is obviously 
if you compare Fig.17 with Fig.19: 
 
 
Fig.19  Grouped and sorted (document) attributes 
 
 
Index 
© Copyright by data M Software GmbH 
A 
Administrative Modifications  26 
C 
Converted in a COPRA®-Project  6 
G 
Graphical Display of Data Base Structure / 
Tables  18 
L 
Link/ load all projects of a main directory at 
once into COPRA® RF CADFinder  See 
O 
operating mode of the COPRA® RF 
CADFinder-system  See 
R 
red marked text  See 
T 
Tables in COPRA® RF CADFinder-Database  
19 
take earlier created projects into COPRA® RF 
CADFinder  6 
to define search criteria  16