Coming from Onshape
Strata’s panel follows Onshape’s Versions and history panel, and its release workflow follows Onshape’s release management. This page maps each Onshape help topic to the Strata tutorial that walks through the same steps in FreeCAD.
Tutorials, side by side
| Onshape help topic | Strata tutorial | What you do |
|---|---|---|
view an earlier state, create versions, restore all or some documents |
||
merge strategy, choice per document, compare with base, undo the merge |
||
Branching and workspaces |
branch to create a workspace, switch, delete |
|
Compare |
feature and parameter differences, 3D overlay |
|
release candidate, approval, reject and resubmit, revision scheme |
||
revision table of a part number, obsolete, re-releasable, export |
||
Keeping designs organized (tech tip) |
part numbers, descriptions and custom properties for all documents in one table |
|
Share and collaborate |
share a project, join, sync |
Words
| Onshape | Strata | Note |
|---|---|---|
Document |
Project |
a folder of FreeCAD documents with version control turned on |
Tab (Part Studio, Assembly) |
Document |
one |
Workspace |
Workspace |
Main is the default one |
Version |
Version |
a named, permanent point in history |
Microversion |
History entry |
recorded on every save |
Release candidate |
Release |
Pending, Released, Rejected, Obsolete |
Revision |
Revision |
per part number; letters or numbers |
Merge strategy |
Merge strategy |
Merge changes, Keep target, Replace with source |
Restore with Keep/Replace per tab |
Restore dialog |
tick the documents to bring back |
Properties panel |
Properties table |
part number, description, company, custom properties |
What works differently
Strata keeps your files on your disk and works without a server. That changes a few things:
-
Merging is per document. Onshape merges feature by feature inside a Part Studio. Strata decides per document: take, keep, keep both, or combine when one side only changed properties.
-
Approvals are by name, not by role. Anyone who opens Releases can approve. There are no approver lists, release workflows with several steps, or notifications.
-
Sharing goes through a folder. A network share, a synced folder or a Git server holds the shared history. There is no browser, no live co-editing, and no follow mode.
-
The Documents page is your file manager. Strata has no labels, Onshape-style folders or search across projects.
-
No BOM table yet. Part numbers and properties are stored in the documents, so FreeCAD’s BOM tools and macros can read them.
These are the gaps against Onshape today. The changelog lists what each release added.