Sister projects in CADMATIC

Sister Project Management enables the intelligent, repeatable transfer of design data from a source project to a target project. Typically, the source project is an older project, and the target project is a newer one that can utilize a large portion of the design features implemented in the older project. Both projects must exist in COS, use the same library database, and have matching project settings.

The Sister Project Management process begins when the project administrator creates the target project using a base project export file. This file, exported from the source project, specifies the data that will be included in repeated transfers from the source to the target project.

The sister project data includes:

• Selected 3D model objects and groups – The project administrator forms a sister project model query that selects the 3D model objects and groups for inclusion in Sister Project Management.

• Documents – All Plant Modeller documents are automatically included: Plant Modeller Drawings, Duct Main Documents, Duct Spool Drawings, Pipe Main Documents, Pipe Spool Drawings, and Piping Isometrics.

• Systems, Lines – All Systems and Lines referenced by the source project are automatically included. Optionally, unreferenced Systems and Lines can also be included, making them available to CADMATIC P&ID users in the early stages of the target project.

Note: P&ID documents are not included in sister project data. A diagram document created in the source project can only be copied to the target project via the Manage Diagrams dialog, using the Export to sister project command for the export, which ensures that necessary Systems and Lines are included, and normal Import from CX File for the import. For more details, see Linking sister project and integration objects.

The sister project data is transferred from one project to another by exporting a Sister Project Export file (.sse) from the source project and importing it into the target project. The export file specifies the intended target project and cannot be imported into any other project. In both projects, the project administrators are responsible for creating the necessary setup and then exporting or importing data as needed. As the projects progress, the project administrators can perform the data transfer cycle from the source to the target as often as needed.

In the target project, the objects and drawings that originate in the source project are referred to as "linked objects" and "linked drawings". They are native CADMATIC objects, so the users of the target project can see them and view their properties, but they cannot edit the data due to Sister Project Management restrictions.

Linked objects and drawings can be unlinked in the target project so that they no longer participate in the data transfer process. An unlinked object is then like any object created in the target project: designers can check it out, edit it, assign it to groups, give it attributes, and also delete it. Accordingly, you can unlink individual objects if you need to replace a non-editable sister project object with a locally editable object. Generally, you should only unlink objects and drawings when you no longer expect new changes to the source project and you are ready to generate documents from the target project. Preferably, do this as late as possible, to allow all the latest changes to be transferred between the projects. However, because all unlinked objects remember the link they used to have, you can also link unlinked objects back to the scope of Sister Project Management.

Any changes made to the scope of Sister Project Management in the source project will take effect during the next data transfer cycle. This occurs when the source project's administrator performs a sister project export and the target project's administrator imports the new data.

Important: If a sister project model query is modified after it has been used for exporting sister project data, any objects that were included in the previous query, but are not included in the revised one, will no longer be exported. Consequently, these objects will be removed from the target project in the next export–import cycle, unless they have been unlinked from Sister Project Management in the target project.