CAD bloke
CADbloke does CAD
& CODE-for-CAD
CAD bloke has been on a mission since the 20th Century to systematize and automate the processes of Broadcast & Data Centre Systems Cable & Equipment documentation.
Cable schedules, Equipment Lists, Cable searches and more from your CAD wiring drawings automatically with 1 click, quickly and accurately. Cable schedules include connector and cable details as well as a changelog for each connection.
CAD wiring diagrams capture the physical reality of your installation. Netbox captures the logical reality of your installation. Their worlds overlap. They have a lot of common data, common changes, common truths, sometimes conflicting truths.CAD & DCIMs need to talk to each other, sort things out, share their respective One Version of the Truth and keep it True.
Precise Searches
Predictable Replacements
Clear Results
Multiple Searches
Multiple Drawings
Command-line Searches
Lisp Commands
Fast!
Developing AutoCAD plugins since 2005 in Lisp & VBA and C# .NET.A Microsoft Partner for many years and also an Open Design Alliance Member.
CADbloke does CAD
but not as you may know it…CAD drawings are more than just diagrams – they are the database of your entire installation. They are what once existed, what now exists and what will exist.That data can be mined and manipulated, collated and corrected, audited and edited, extracted and implanted, exported and imported.The core problem, in my humble opinion, is maintaining One Version of the Truth.How do you put Data in CAD diagrams? Here is a Cable Schedule and a few example drawings & PDF.it’s not all lines and cable numbers.I like to inject a little humour here and there but, rest assured, I take my CAD very seriously.
StackOverflow
StackExchange
or send me an email
My name is Ewen
I am @ this websiteaka "CADbloke" around the Internets.
There is NO AI on this web site, nor in any email I write.
If I couldn't be bothered writing it, why should you bother reading it?
Typos were sent here to test us all. Sorry Dr Ros.
One Version of the Truth
There should only ever be One Version of the Truth, one owner of that truth, in any documentation system, in anything that involves the management of data, especially where the data is timely and subject to change.CADmandment Number One.
"Ignoring this CADmandment will slowly and inevitably break your Documentation System."
Most problems you will have with a data or documentation system can eventually be traced back to this root cause. One Truth, One Owner.What is a "Truth"? It is not necessarily the whole truth about something, it may be as granular as one fact.
As a system gets more complex (have you ever known one to get simpler?) and gathers more participants, a disconcerting number of the changes you make can have loose-ends, inconsistencies, duplicates, orphans and WTF-was-I-thinking moments. The gap between what is documented and what actually exists can widen, as the cracks in your documentation system. Documentation Systems crack and break at the joins. As an aside, remember that adding anything new also counts as a change.It is the natural order for things to flow along the path of least resistance. This is true for water and electricity and it is true for people also. One Version of the Truth is all about laying the foundation to make success inevitable, not failure. If you make it harder to succeed than fail, then fail you inevitably will. Set yourself up for the win. The system should be your servant – not the other way around.
What is "One Version of the Truth" ?
"Do not declare any Truth more than once. Ever."Reference it, of course, but don't conflate those references with the source.
Why?
"There should only be one root-source, one fountain of knowledge."
You may certainly derive a report from The Truth at any time but never regard this report as you would the original Truth. That report is an out-of-date and now-disconnected snapshot of The Truth from the moment it is generated.Spreadsheets, Cable Schedules etc. should be reports generated from the source of the truth – the schematic drawings. The reports should be clearly identified as such. Call it what it is. Reports should be deliberately labelled, even with the exact time they were generated so nobody ever forgets that this report was, at best, a snapshot of the truth. If you are looking for the truth for now then you must either regenerate this report or look elsewhere (in the racks, for instance, where the Real Truth lies). If the message that “This Is A Report From This Time” is explicit then it removes an inevitable gaping opportunity for misunderstanding.The same applies for data mirrored from its source - identify it at a copy from its source so you know it is not canononical and also where to find the canonical source.Again – all reports should be clearly labelled as such so they are not assumed to be the original source. Sooner or later some poor Innocent will manally update an automatically generated report and then disaster will ensue whne that information is lost. Suddenly wiring drawings, their cable schedules and a DCIM all say different things and nobody knows which one is right or wrong. Odds are they are all wrong in their own peculiar ways.By making one place only the source of a truth you can easily find the real truth, and the source for the real truth – there should only be one place where you know you need to look to find the truth. Then, and only then, can you change the truth and be sure it will be, indisputably, the new truth.
Yes, perhaps this Article sounds pretty bullish and know-it-all. Take it from me – I don’t know it all. Also take it from my past mistakes that got me this far, this CADmandment Number One is really important.A special thank-you to Catherine Eibner for introducing me to this concept. She knows stuff – lots of stuff.So, do you agree, disagree or did I just confuse you? Please let me know your thoughts. I am Ewen at this site.More Reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27tRepeatYourselfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SingleSourceof_Truthhttps://www.computerworld.com/article/2573492/business-intelligence--one-version-of-the-truth.html
There is NO AI on this web site, nor in any email I write.
If I can't be bothered writing it, why should you bother reading it?
Typos were sent here to test us all. Sorry Dr Ros.