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There is an Easter egg in CadTempo. Can you find it? Shhh...be vewy vewy…

There is an Easter egg in CadTempo. Can you find it? Shhh...be vewy vewy…

Installing CadTempo For Multiple AutoCAD Users

I recently received an email from a potential CadTempo user with questions I thought might help others. He was interested in knowing how to go about setting up CadTempo for 20 AutoCAD users and 3 administrators (supervisory personnel). So here is an abbreviated set of instructions covering the most important installation points.

You will be installing CadTempo from each user's computer - the target machine(s), but you may find it easiest to first create a folder on a shared network drive. Copy (or best, download) the installer to that folder, and execute the network installer copy from the target machines. The example shown is a shared, mapped drive which resolves to a server name.

Shared Folder Example

During installation you will be prompted to select the type of installation. Subsequent prompting will hinge upon your choice. If you are adding additional users un-check the "Initial Installation" checkbox.

Installation Type Prompt

Our next concern is the component installation. For the initial installation you will select "Full Installation" - this will install both the viewer and the logger (CadTempoView.exe and CadTempo.exe). To add an administrator select "Viewer Installation". If you are adding additional users to be monitored then select "Logger Installation". The Installer will display a message to you if an incorrect selection is made based on your installation type.

Component Selection

Most importantly is the location of the program files and the log files that CadTempo will create. Note that in this example the viewer application is showing the drive letter to the shared network folder and the Logger and Data folders display the server name. It is important when browsing for a location that you navigate to the location from the Network node of the selection dialog box. This will populate the field with the server name.

The folder selection options are dependent upon the components selected. This example is showing the Full Installation and therefore asks for all locations. When you perform a Viewer or Logger Installation only those selection options are presented, also you will be selecting the File rather than Folder. The Data Log File Location only appears for the Full Installation.

CadTempo File Locations

When you have completed the Setup you will be prompted to start the program(s). If you will be installing additional users it is best to postpone this final step until all users have had the software installed however, in order for monitoring and logging to begin, each user should log out then back in.

There are additional steps throughout the setup routine. You can view the full installation guide at this link: Multiple User Install Guide.pdf

Finally, keep in mind that CadTempo may not log the activities you are interested in immediately. You may wish to open the viewer program and make adjustments in the Options section. In particular the Applications and File Types tab. CadTempo also is dependent upon monitored file types and applications being opened and closed. If you find after some time goes by and no time values are being displayed it is most likely due to monitored programs continuing to run on the target machines.

CadTempo - Creating Project Reports

Creating reports of your designers and drafters project time involvement is easy as pie. Here I'll show you the steps that are involved.

CadTempo is designed such that if your projects are broken into directories and sub-directories, project time totals can be summed easily by navigating to the desired folder and checking the files in that directory.

In the case I am demonstrating, I recently completed a small AutoCAD design and detail project of a tooling package. The project consisted of an AutoCAD assembly model constructed with 3D solids, the detailed AutoCAD drawings, an isometric drawing of the assembly and an Excel spreadsheet of the Bill of Material.

When you open the CadTempo viewer application it defaults to the file listing of the last folder you had open in the viewer. Navigate to the desired project folder and check the files in that directory. You can filter the displayed files by designating a filter mask then checking the Apply Filter box. Only visible and checked files will be included in the report.

Now, click the Folder Contents button.

Navigate to the Reports - Analytics page to view the report.

For a more detailed report return to the Files page and check the Include User Data box, then click the Folder Contents button once more.

Return to the Reports - Analytics page and you will see each user's time is added to a new spreadsheet page.

From the Reports - Analytics page you can print the report - you will need to print each spreadsheet page individually - or save the report to an Excel spreadsheet. Other save options include an html, rtf, and xml file types.

You can continue to add additional projects to the report - simply return to the Files page and navigate to other folders that you wish to include in your reports. Each time you click the Folder Contents button a new spreadsheet page is created.

So there you have it. Did I say it was easy as pie? Perhaps I understated the case.