It’s about to be the start of a new year, and I just went through and updated the copyright year on our drawing formats. We have different formats for each customer, so it takes a while. This is something that should be done by macro. Maybe by next time it needs doing I will have created the macro. (I did write down what I do so I have some idea of the steps to look at.)
As we touch drawings that have been previously created, we update the copyright year. Currently we this by replacing/reloading the formats or by editing the text on the format.
I have a macro that will replace all the drawing formats with new ones for everything in a folder (Thanks @gupta9665 ). I could probably modify that to run on the drawing I have open. We use PDM Standard, so we would need to make sure to check out the file we want to modify.
Or I could write something that selects the text with the year in it and then updates the year. It should probably do this off the characters in the text rather than position because we have had a few iterations of formats and I wouldn’t swear that it is in the same location always.
Which direction would you go?
We are mostly on SolidWorks 2024, SP 5.0, but we have one project running 2023. We probably need to go to 2025 soon because of customers starting to use it.
Today is my last work day until January 5, so I won’t see your replies until then.
If you do sheet format replace or just the text replace, for both cases you would need to open the files. And for this case, I would prefer to simply replace the text rather than complete sheet format replacement.
For future, you can simply add a custom property in the drawing which control the copyright year, and then you can simply swap the property value without opening the files using the document manager API. Not sure if this is something that can be done (property update) within PDM standard itself.
Some of the code in this macro may be helpful if you try to write something for finding the year. It lets you edit notes on all sheets of the drawing, including notes on the sheet format, without having to switch pages or actually go into “edit sheet format” mode.
I would probably add a simple Custom Property like Gupta mentioned. So on Solidworks template but not PDM.
A step up in setup complexity, but easier to alter: it could be on a PDM datacard, that would mean you could edit without opening the file (still need to check-out), but doesn’t sound worth it. Maybe worth it if you have a special data card just for templates and sheet formats (which I’d tend to say isn’t worth it).
Copyright implies you are publishing the drawings. So it’s a bit unusual to take that approach. Sharing with a customer isn’t publishing. Normal practice is to say “Proprietary and Confidential” to cover legal butt with machine shops, etc.
We’ve had the copyright year on our drawings since I started here more than 8 years ago. I think part of it is that we do work for customers and then hand them the drawings (and SolidWorks files) as part of a complete design package. We also include other documents like test plans or test results that are more traditional “documents” (made in Word). Ideally, we change the text to just list the customer in the copyright field as we hand things over, but that doesn’t always happen. They do get a letter that says they own the design and documentation.
FWIW I found this with regards engineering drawings. I just wanted to understand the copyright thing better. There is no harm in including a formal copyright notice …except for this issue of changing the year of first publication, and taking up space.
“Copyright Protects: The specific expression and arrangement of lines, symbols, and text in the drawing itself.
Copyright Doesn’t Protect: The underlying mechanical idea, function, or concept; that’s better protected by patents.“
That was a helpful clarification for me.
“When a work is completed, it is automatically protected by common law copyright, but this protection is fairly limited.“ https://www.cgspllc.com You can register with the federal copyright office to help enforce it.
There are some additional protections such as architectural designs affected by the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act. Which mainly seems to add some protections for the more aesthetic features of buildings.