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Brian Schanen joined Autodesk in 2005 as a Product Designer and currently is a Customer Success Engineer for Autodesk’s Data Management products. Brian has taught at Autodesk University numerous times and has authored white papers on Vault and Productstream. He works with customers to implement a complete digital prototyping solution specializing in Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Vault and Productstream. Brian lives near Detroit, Michigan.
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AU 2008 Buddy Pass Promotion
October 29, 2008 09:25 PMby Brian SchanenIt’s the time of year to be thinking about Autodesk University. And there’s a new promotion that you may want to take a look at if you’re not already registered - the AU 2008 Buddy Pass.Now, if you are registered and looking for the Vault and Productstream classes, here are some that I highly recommend:-
ML101-3 Looking into the Crystal Ball: A Sneak Peek at Document Management with Autodesk Vault
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CD111-1 The Basics of Autodesk Vault
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MA205-1 Nothing is Permanent but Change: Using Autodesk Productstream to Control and Manage Project Data
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MA211-1 From Engineering to Manufacturing with Autodesk Productstream
- EC311-1 Setting Up Autodesk Productstream for AutoCAD Electrical
- ML405-1 The Proper Care and Feeding of Your Vault
See you at AU.
-Brian Schanen
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Productstream Web Client Tips and Tricks
October 24, 2008 03:23 PMby Brian SchanenIntroducing a recent hotfix for improved performance in the Bill of Material with Productstream’s web client (known to some as Productstream Explorer). This hotfix improves the performance of displaying BOM in Productstream Explorer on files with a highly structured BOM.
http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/ts1089066.zip
Since we’re talking Productstream Web Client, here is a tip regarding printing a Parts List from Productstream’s Web client. When selecting Print View from the bill of Materials, the columns can run off the page to the right depending on how many are displayed. You can configure the width to a set value that matches the print destination. You can do the quick fix by locating PrintPreview.css in …\WebClient\styles\.
Under body.psbody, change width from 100% to something smaller like 11in. Then change griddiv from 100% to 9.9in for example. Save this and check the Print View, then page setup. Using the Print Preview, modify these values depending on the orientation and paper size you print to.
-Brian Schanen
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This isn’t where I parked my car…
October 16, 2008 08:35 PMby Brian SchanenA Ford Shelby GT500, designed using Autodesk software, was hoisted into the Autodesk Gallery at One Market Street in San Francisco on August 17, 2008. Watch the process here: -
Database Maintenance - Purging Versions in Vault
October 8, 2008 09:38 PMby Brian SchanenAs part of the ongoing care for Vault database, Administrators should be versed on the use of backup scripts, maintenance plans (database defragmentation) in addition to regular health checks which may include reviewing backup and vault logs and database size.
This last check can be an issue for some sites under strict controls for their data footprint or looking to extend the use of their current hardware in a prolific design environment. To address this, manual purging can be carried out at the end of the design cycle to periodically manage file versions. From Vault Explorer, you can right click any file and select Purge from the context menu.
In addition, from the ADMS Console, a purge can be run across all versions on a per-Vault basis. Right click on a database under Vaults and select Purge. Like the client side wizard, there are options for number of versions to keep, age of versions, and exclusions based on comments.
Finally, this can be scheduled to run as a batch operation month to month or as an Administrator sees fit. Much like the backup command line utility, the purge command is executed with a series of switches as indicated in the example below:
Connectivity.ADMSConsole.exe -Opurge –N<VaultName> –KEEPVERS<Number to keep> -MINAGE<Purge older than in days> -EXCLCMT<Exclude files with this comment> -VUadministrator –VP<Password for administrator> -S
Note that it is optional as to whether you put in one or all of the three purge options KEEPVERS, MINAGE and EXCLCMT. This script can then be added to a batch file *.bat and run from the Windows Task Scheduler similarly to your backup script (with lower frequency). Please refer to the ADMS Console Help, ‘Server Console’ chapter, ‘Command Line Server Console’ for more details.
It is worth noting that aggressive file purging is no substitute for the correct data storage plan and in fact may limit the version functionality in the design environment, but used sensibly this process can compliment your other maintenance tasks.
-Brian Schanen