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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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Vault and Productstream 2009 Background Process White Paper
June 30, 2008 09:40 AMby Brian SchanenAutodesk Vault and Productstream 2009 have several new processes which the user may never see. These processes are one of the features which improve the ADMS performance and functionality. This document contains a list of the background processes, their behavior, and ways to adjust the behaviors: http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/vault_background_processes_whitepaper.pdf
-Brian Schanen
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iFilename for Inventor
June 24, 2008 12:53 AMby Brian SchanenAutomatic naming of Inventor files upon creation is possible with iFilename from Cadspec. This utility works off of existing Item naming schemes within Productstream to ensure not only unique file names are checked into Vault, but they adhere to company standards. Simply start by setting up an Item Numbering scheme:
Add a new scheme and set the length, start number, step size, and any other prefix/suffix data.
With the Add In loaded, creation of new Inventor files from Templates will display a dialog box allowing you to choose one of your existing Item Naming schemes and assign this name to the file.
This utility is ideal for Item Number reservation during part and assembly creation. Multiple numbering schemes can be used for different Item Types. In addition, naming schemes can be generated from an MS Access database. This supports the 2008 and 2009 releases of Inventor and Productstream. Download a 30 day trial here: http://www.cadspec.co.uk/index.php?page=development
-Brian Schanen
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Multiple Instances of Autoloader
June 11, 2008 09:51 PMby Brian SchanenToday we'll outline the steps to set up a 'farm' of machines - each with Autoloader - to populate Autodesk Vault or Productstream. For review, Autoloader 2009 is included with each seat of Vault and Productstream. By default, only one instance of Autoloader can be run against a server at a time, and starting Autoloader on another machine returns an error.
Being a bulk upload utility, one Autoloader is usually enough. For those who have a tight schedule with large amounts of data for the upload, follow these steps to upload from more than one machine:
- Run Autoloader once to establish the folder names, structure, and create the Inventor .ipj. This also creates a hidden file called the BUU.xml. This file holds the Workspace, Libraries, and Project file names.
- Wihile logged in to Autoloader on the first machine, Open the Vault, go to Tools> Options, and check the Show hidden files option.
- Find the buu.xml in the root of Vault Explorer ($ )and Undo Checkout on the first machine.
- Now, log in to Autoloader to the same Vault, from a second machine. Undo the Checkout of the buu.xml only if a third machine is needed.
- Select an upload folder and scan files on the first machine.
- Repeat the folder selection and scan of files on the second machine.
- Map folder on the first machine, then Undo Checkout of the Designs.ipj on the first machine, This is the Inventor Project file that Autoloader provides for you. The name may be different on your machine.
- On the second machine, Map folders and Undo the Checkout of the .ipj only if additional machines are needed.
- Proceed to upload files on all machines.
It is recommended to use this multiple Autoloader method to upload separate datasets that do not overlap files. You may have assemblies that share common library components, and this is typical.
The final progress window and report will display these as Identical files as seen in the above image. This ability to create a farm of Autoloader machines can save time during your Vault or Productstream implementation.
-Brian Schanen
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Using Autodesk Vault with a Single Inventor Project - part 2
June 3, 2008 01:29 PMby Brian SchanenWelcome to part 2 of the Single Project method. In Step 1 of the previous post, we set up the Inventor project file (.ipj), created an initial Vault structure with folders, and set the stage for populating the Vault with Inventor data. This time we'll take a sample dataset and Check it in from Inventor.
Step 2: Add data to the Vault
For this example, use the assembly sample models that install with Inventor. In Windows Explorer, copy a selection of folders under ...Inventor 2009\Samples\Models\Assemblies to C:\Work\Designs. Notice that we didn’t bring the original project file to our new location. We are going to utilize the new Vault project file - which is the active .ipj now - that we created earlier.
The Content Center Files for the Sample Files datasets need to be copied to the Vault Working folder location. Select the en-US folder from ...\Inventor 2009\Samples\STANDARD Parts (also known as Content Center Files) and copy them to C:\Work\Content Center Files. If you're following along at home or work, I am going to focus on the familiar Arbor Press data set.Open Autodesk Inventor. Log into the test Vault created earlier. Go to File>Autodesk Data Management Server>Log in. Open the Arbor_Press.idw drawing from under the Arbor Press folder. In this example, this drawing is our top level file and can be used to add the entire assembly to the vault.
Save the file. This step is very important since the files were moved. When you move files, you can potentially change the way that Inventor resolves related files. Saving these changes now prevents other users who access this data from the vault from having issues with opening the files. In Autodesk Inventor, switch to the Vault browser.
The question mark icons in the Vault browser indicate the files are not in the Vault yet. Right-click on the top level file – the drawing in this example in the Vault browser and select Check In Files.
The Check In Files dialog box is displayed. Note how the vault is displaying the proper folder structure, including the Arbor Press folder. Add any comments as necessary: e.g., Initial Add to Vault, and click OK to copy your files to the Vault.
Open, or switch to Vault Explorer and click the $ folder. On the toolbar, click Refresh to see the newly added files and folders.
The Arbor_Press.idw drawing and all of its children have been added to the Vault. More importantly, the structure has been preserved. Note the creation of the Arbor Press folder and it’s subfolder Components. These are directly replicated from the folder structure found in Windows Explorer.
Other notes
Adding additional Inventor files using the Single Project Method involves creating sub folders under C:\Work\Designs and placing the new Inventor files there. In general, open the top level document and ensure it loads and resolves successfully.
Upon adding files to populate the vault, always verify the structure before adding the files.
It is important that you understand that you will rely less on Windows Explorer and more on Vault Explorer daily to work with Inventor files outside of Inventor. Windows Explorer will still play a minor role in file management when working with Inventor and Vault, but you will end up using it less and less. Your working folder (C:\Work) should be considered a temporary folder for storing files. When you are finished working on a design and you have added the files and folders to the vault, you can clean up your working folder by deleting the files and folders from your workspace.-Brian Schanen