Syncing Release Management

Required information

Required item	Source
Onshape user	User ID must match Arena user ID
Arena user	User ID must match Onshape user ID

Users and permissions

The required users and their permissions in each product are:

• Onshape - Enterprise user with Sync to Arena global permission

• Arena - Arena user

Synchronization process

The Onshape Arena recommended workflow when releasing parts, Assemblies, and drawings.

1. In Arena:

   1. Go to Changes > Changes and click on the Create menu option:

      

   2. Enter the Category, title, Description and other selections for the change.

   3. Click the Create Change button at the bottom right of the screen to initiate the change:

      

   The change must be Open and unlocked to make it available for selection from a Release candidate in Onshape.

2. In Onshape:

   1. Create a release. Do one of the following:

      1. For parts in a Part Studio, right-click on the part from the parts list and select Release.

      2. For an Assembly, right-click on the top level Assembly in the Instances list or right-click on the Assembly tab and select Release.

      3. For drawings, right-click on the Drawing tab and select Release.

         

         Right-clicking on an Assembly tab and selecting Release

   2. If not already selected, select the Onshape Arena release workflow from the Select release workflow dialog and click OK.

      

      The Create Release candidate dialog opens:

      

   The Arena change needs at least one part or Assembly to be released. If none exist, a red message displays to indicate this is required.

   3. Optionally, click the Add to release button to open the Add Items to Release dialog:

      

      Add any additional parts, Assemblies, or drawings. Then click the Add button at the bottom right of the dialog.

      

   4. If necessary, click the Generate missing part numbers or Generate next part number buttons to assign any missing part numbers to items.

      

   5. Click the Search for Arena change button:

      1. Click the Search Arena field to the right and start typing to locate the open and unlocked Arena change created in Step 1a.

         

      2. Click to select the Arena change from the dropdown list.

         

      Once the Arena change is associated with the Onshape Release candidate, the Release name field auto-populates with the Arena Change Number (and becomes read only), and the Release notes field is auto-populated with the Arena change Title:

      

   Auto-population of these two fields is controlled by the Match release candidate name with Arena change and Sync release notes with Arena properties options. See Arena for more information.

   Selecting the Arena change number allows you to open the Arena change in a separate browser tab.

   6. Click Submit at the bottom right of the dialog. The Onshape release candidate is created and the parts, Assemblies, and drawings are sent over to Arena to be added to the Arena change.

   7. The following 2 notifications display:

      1. Release transitioning. During this stage, the Release is sent to Arena:

         

      2. Release enters the workflow Pending state. During this stage, Onshape awaits approval of the Arena change:

         

3. In Arena:

   1. Open the Arena change and select the Items tab. The Onshape Release candidate objects are displayed as Arena Items.

      

      Items added by Onshape show the Onshape logo icon to the right of the row number. Click the icon to open the item in Onshape in a new browser tab. The Release candidate dialog also opens in a modal window (shown in the second image below):

      

      

   You cannot remove an Onshape added item from the Arena change.

   2. Any associated files are viewable from the Files column. These are PDF files for any included drawings, STEP files for made-to-spec parts, and GLTF thumbnails for parts and Assemblies (shown in the first image below). Click the GO TO FILES VIEW link to open the files in a table (shown in the second image below):

      

      

   3. Arena’s approval process then drives the release of the Onshape parts, Assemblies, and drawings. All required Arena sign-offs are needed to approve the change in order to make the change and the item revisions effective in Arena.

   The Arena review is based on the immutable version in the Onshape release. While the Arena review is in process, the workspace versions of the Onshape parts under review can still be modified in Onshape. You cannot, however, sync these modified parts to Arena until the review is complete:

   

   4. When the change is approved and marked Complete in Arena, this triggers a notification back to Onshape, where the Release candidate is updated to an Approved state. Any drawings synchronized from Onshape to Arena automatically update with the Arena change information and watermarks are removed.

4. In Onshape:

   1. The Release candidate moves from a pending state to an approved state:

      

There may be a situation in which an Onshape Release candidate becomes separated from the Arena change. In these cases, the change moves forward while the Release candidate does not. Administrators can release (approve), reject, or discard the Release candidate by force if the following conditions are met:

• The Onshape Arena release workflow is used

• The Release candidate is in a Pending Arena approval state

Though you can discard a Release candidate when the Arena change is in a state other than Open and unlocked (Effective or Locked, for example), it is not recommended. Arena stores the Release candidate ID, so discarding and adding a new Release candidate creates a situation in which the Release candidate is out of sync with the Arena change. Instead, first remove the Onshape items manually in the Arena change, then discard the Release candidate in Onshape.

If the Arena change is in the Open and unlocked state, the Onshape Release candidate and Arena change are independent of each other, and overriding the Arena approval process by discarding the Release candidate in Onshape does not remove the Items in Arena.

Releasing and Rejecting a Release candidate does not send any notification to Arena. The Onshape Release candidate and Arena change are independent of each other.

• A change rejected in Arena does not automatically reject the Release candidate in Onshape. The Release remains in a Pending state in Onshape. If changes are required to the Onshape items, the Onshape Release candidate must be manually rejected, the items updated, and a new Release candidate created. This new Release candidate is then associated to the existing or new Arena change. Before associating a new Release candidate to the existing Arena change, manually remove the items from the Arena change.