standards lock in

[Kernal_CAD_Monkey]

dumb question.

I have one user who consistently alters the support file paths, templates, plot styles, blocks, everything, away from the cad standards on the network, to his own locally saved (and altered) set.
This stubborn PitA is making making unnecessary hassle for everyone else.

I've searched on-line, but I can't find how to lock Autocad so that it cannot be altered from the standards set.

Any help?

[Opie]

You could have a reactor added to your acaddoc.lsp file to check for access to a network file. If the file is no longer available, then write the information out to another network file. On your machine, have another reactor checking the time stamp on the second network file for changes.

Of course, this does not prevent the changes your user is making, but it gives you notification of it occurring.

You could also have the acad.lsp file reset these values upon startup. I guess you could also have the reactor I mentioned above do this as well as notify you.

[Ed Jobe]

This is a discipline problem, not a cad problem.

[cadtag]

Agree completely with Ed. Management problems are not amenable to technical solutions - they need to be addressed with a management solution., Otherwise it just goes underground and festers like a boil.

Alternatively -- possibly discovering _why_ the user feels this extra step is important would be worthwhile. Perhaps his methodology is superior, and toeing the line (while it might be gratifying to the Cad Manager) would cost the organization much more time and money.

If you're going to be a Cad Manager, you need to park your ego at the door on the way into work.

[dgorsman]

Alternatively -- possibly discovering _why_ the user feels this extra step is important would be worthwhile. Perhaps his methodology is superior, and toeing the line (while it might be gratifying to the Cad Manager) would cost the organization much more time and money.

Parking the ego goes both ways: "My way is better" is also a fequent justification for bypassing standards. And even if their methodology is superior it may bypass critical logging, data manipulation, and client standards which they aren't aware of or don't care about, creating the aforementioned problems. Sometimes it does come down to STFU, this *IS* the way we do it.

[Kernal_CAD_Monkey]

This particular chap complains about the industry having moved away from manual drafting to CAD and the end of BS308. Mind you, this company wasn't even aware that 308 had been replaced with BS8888.

This is my first job as cad manager (does it tell?) and I really just want to do the best job I can, I'm not after conflict, but this guy is a real hold out of the I've always done it this way and I'm not going to be the one to change. I think partly it's because I'm much younger than he is, but have been brought in as boss.
I would ignore it, but his stubbornness is causing problems for everyone else who has to work on the same drawings. I'd prefer this not to become a disciplinary matter.

The standards files are on a read only network drive. I'm setting acad.lsp to reset to those on start-up, so he'll at least have to change the settings every day.

why is it the most eager run faster face first into the brick wall?

[cadtag]

This particular chap complains about the industry having moved away from manual drafting to CAD and the end of BS308. Mind you, this company wasn't even aware that 308 had been replaced with BS8888..... I would ignore it, but his stubbornness is causing problems for everyone else who has to work on the same drawings. I'd prefer this not to become a disciplinary matter.

Ouch, my sympathy, Being classically trained as a drafter, I can empathize with his attitude, but I can't condone it in a workplace. If he really wants to maintain his personal skills at manual drawing, he can do that at home as a hobbyist.

Sound like the best advice is from dgorsman. So don't worry about avoiding disciplinary issues via technical subterfuge, and meet them head on. That's part of what management means, dealing with people to get their best work out of them.

[Paul.84958]

Well almost anything is possible with AutoCAD. I have previously created created a .net app for a large engineering company that intercepts the "Options" command and at the start of the command captures various settings etc. It then waits for the command to finish and then programmably changes them all back. Therefore Users cannot change the profile, reset thier acad lisp or various other items that are built in.

But as others have suggested this is a man management issue rather than a technical issue. This solution would be a major overkill for your situation One of the hardest parts of CAD management is dealing with the Users. Carrot and whip need to be applied but communication is key. If the individual will not respond then you need to take it up the ladder and tell the management the affect this is having on productivity and the other members of the team.

Good luck

Paul