Vent: CAD file from an engineer had 47 hidden layers

Got a set of plans this morning from a structural engineer. Opened it up and found 47 hidden layers with random reference lines and duplicate geometry from 3 revisions ago. Does anyone actually clean these up before sending them out or am I the only one doing the purge?

3 comments

3 Comments

green.noah16d agoMost Upvoted

Isn't that basically leaving trash in the shared file lmao?

jana76916d ago

Yeah I used to think "leaving trash" was harsh but honestly this actually changed my mind. When you really look at how much of a mess a shared file can get with all the random comments and edits, it makes sense to clean up after yourself. A little organization goes a long way for everyone else using it.

amyh1216d ago

Oh man, absolutely! It's one of those things where you don't realize how bad it is until you're the one trying to sort through it all. But here's my question though - have you ever come across a file that's so cluttered with deleted stuff and random cross-outs that you just give up and start fresh? Like, at what point does cleaning up after yourself turn into someone else having to do a full rewrite anyway? I feel like there's a line somewhere between "messy but manageable" and "just scrap it and start over." Your mileage may vary for sure, but I've definitely hit that wall a few times.