Some of the more specialized file operations that pertain to draft documents are described in this topic. For basic file operations, see Opening and saving Solid Edge documents. To learn about file operations for managed documents, see Adding Solid Edge documents to a managed library.
You can open a draft document in two different modes: active mode or review mode. Active mode is the default. Review mode reduces the time required to open the document. To open a draft document in review mode, set the Inactivate Drawing Views For Review option in the Open File dialog box.
Active mode vs. review mode
Active mode specifies that a draft document is opened with normal editing capability. All commands are available. Drawing views, parts lists, drawing tables, and other items are checked to determine whether they are out-of-date. Model geometry is live and accessible.
Review mode is intended for drawing review and printing. You can open a large draft document quickly by forgoing out-of-date checking and by limiting functionality. This also is useful when opening a managed draft document with many other documents linked to it.
In review mode:
You can put the finishing touches on a drawing by selecting and moving 3D drawing views, adding and editing dimensions and annotations, changing their scale, and adjusting their properties.
Functions that rely on model-derived data, such as retrieving dimensions, adding centerlines automatically, editing parts lists and model-derived tables, and dimensioning to draft quality views, are disabled.
You can create new views from geometry on the 2D Model sheet. You also can create detail views of 2D Model views. However, commands for creating new 3D drawing views are not available.
You cannot update drawing views.
You can identify a draft document that has been opened in review mode by the Inactive watermark stamped on working sheets and the 2D Model sheet. Another indicator is the document title bar, which displays the following in front of the document name and revision ID: "Draft with Inactive Drawing Views."
Changing drawing view mode within the document
Once a document is open, you can change from one mode to the other. On the Tools tab, in the View Activation group, you can select these commands:
For example, if you open the document in review mode to print a drawing, but then decide you want to add a new view or change drawing view depth, you can select the Activate Drawing Views command. This returns the drawing to normal edit mode for you to make your changes.
Also, if you try to drag a model file into a draft document that is in review mode, a dialog box prompts whether you want to activate the drawing on-the-fly. Click Yes to change the document to active and continue creating the drawing view. Click No to end the drawing view creation command and leave the drawing in review mode.
Specifying a document open preference
You can set a preference for a draft document to open in review mode. Before you click the Open button to open the document, choose one of these options in the Open File dialog box, and then click the Save As Default button:
Activate Drawing Views For Edit
Inactivate Drawing Views For Review
Solid Edge provides a standalone Viewer that allows you to view draft documents without activating Solid Edge. To activate the Viewer from Windows Explorer, right-click the document you want to view, and then choose Viewer on the shortcut menu.
Before you can view a draft document in View and Markup or the Solid Edge Viewer, the metafile data for the document must be generated. You can do this automatically whenever you save a Draft document by setting the Include Draft Viewer Data In File option on the General page of the Options dialog box. To learn how, see Help topic Open a document in View and Markup.