Cloud Based Blocks

The cloud-based block system allows us to add new blocks across the entire system, but not force every single user to download them all with each update.
Also, the irrigation system includes many different symbol families, so it prevents you from downloading and maintaining many thousands of extraneous symbols.
So it's just simply a more efficient system to download blocks on demand.
You certainly can download all irrigation blocks from our update system, but that is going to result in you downloading some 6,000+ symbols. And then as we add new symbols, there will still be surprises as new blocks are downloaded -- for instance if a user picks a different symbol family for a Bubbler.
It's always going to take vigilance to maintain custom symbols, but I'm not sure downloading all of our blocks is the best step.

I would offer that a better procedure, that will help to prevent multiple surprises, would be to always generate a schedule at the beginning of a project, with the option for "Entire Palette". This will result in a handy list of all the symbols that will be used in the project, and give the designer a chance to confirm they are all accurate, as well as familiarize himself with any that are a little foreign.

--J

Jeremiah,

Having the cloud based blocks on demand does make sense, especially to users who do not customize their blocks. Having many options is valuable. I think that you hit the nail on the head in talking about thousands of extraneous symbols. Why are there 6000+ irrigation related blocks? A quick count of our block library and we have less than 250 symbols. I understand the redundancy and multiple families, but a project rarely needs to have, for example, Hunter spray sprinklers alongside Rain Bird spray sprinklers alongside Toro spray sprinklers. I understand being able to have some options, but 6000+ is excessive.

We can try generating a schedule at the beginning of a project and see if that helps. Having a usable irrigation template would help this because it would give a base to start with and not have to add the exact same types of equipment every project. If I spend 15 minutes adding equipment every project that adds up over the course of the year and can cause design conformance and clarity issues between designers.

There are 6000+ symbols because we need to account for every manufacturer, every nozzle, and times multiple symbol family options.

So like I said, if you generate a schedule at the beginning of each project, you can confirm the symbols are correct, and be on your way.

While I could appreciate a 15 minute loss for each project, that is a bit of an overstatement. The last project I see you assembled a few days ago, there was barely 5 minutes spent assembling the equipment. With the massive savings across the rest of the project lifespan, that 5 minutes is well spent in guaranteeing accurate data.
Here's a classic example, also quite recent -- just yesterday we modified the performance data for the Rain Bird SQ nozzles. Although the catalog has data for them at 40 and 50 psi, that was causing issues with them being bundled with the 1800's. So the question is, if we had some sort of "managed template" for users, what would happen to the SQ nozzles in existing templates? I mention that, as it immediately becomes a vastly complicated situation. Another classic example, perhaps a user wants to maintain a template that has the older Hunter nozzle numbers, as they are a distributor and that is what is in stock. Meanwhile, other uses want their I-40 nozzles to reflect the latest data.

So the template thing is just quite complicated, that will necessitate an incredible amount of work. In the meantime, 5 minutes per project is all we ask.

--J

The only reason it took 5 minutes last time (and it feels quite Big Brother-ish with you watching over our shoulders - who else sees all our data?) is that we have created a starting base 'template' (to the best we can) that we import at the start of every project. It brings in the following:



Spray Sprinkers
Side Strips
MP Rotators
Short Radius Rotors
Long Radius Rotor
Remote Control Valves
Drip Valves
Drip Flush Caps
Quick Couplers
Controller
Backflow Preventer
Meter
Master Valve
Flow Sensor
Booster Pump
Weather Station
Pressure Regulating Valve
Soil Moisture Sensor
Zone Control Valve
Point of Connection
Drip Operation Indicator
Check Valve
Drain Valve
Bubblers
Inline Drip Tubing



If I had to start *blank* and insert all of that and select the manufacturer, model, select the symbol and adjust and other parameters I'd be hard pressed to do that in 300 seconds. It really takes longer than that to get all the equipment in and select the correct blocks.

I still think 6000+ blocks is ridiculous and how software gets bloated.