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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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Integrating Vault Manufacturing with Microsoft Dynamics GP10
August 25, 2009 03:10 PMby Brian SchanenAutodesk Vault Manufacturing bridges the gap between tracking CAD design tools and ERP (Engineering Resource Procurement) systems with its ability to integrate with Microsoft Dynamics GP 10 without the use of custom programming or third-party integration tools.
This white paper discusses the installation, configuration, testing and basic use of GP 10 and Vault Manufacturing: http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/integrating_vault_mfg_with_ms_gp10.pdf
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Live and Incremental Backup of your Vault data
August 19, 2009 01:30 PMby Brian SchanenBackups are a very important point of maintaining the customer’s installation. Below is an article explaining the extra options found in Vault Collaboration and Vault Manufacturing.
The subject of Backup is something often talked about as the central part of maintaining a working Vault installation. But some recent experiences highlight the need to repeat it again. A customer claimed to have a backup – but found that the routine was not working and they were running on a server where the hard disk was starting to fail. They managed to get the data moved to another server with minimal file loss – but could have lost everything. So the lesson learned is – check up on Vault Backups, and do not always take Yes for answer when asking if backup is running. Check for existence and preferably try to restore the backup on another test machine. It will save time and make everybody sleep more relaxed!
With Vault Collaboration and Manufacturing 2010 we have Hot (a.k.a. Live) and Incremental Backup. Hot backup runs in the background while the ADMS is still operational, handy in a multi-site setup with different time active zones. The result is a regular backup with a full DB and File store, which can be restored directly.
Incremental backup consists of first a full backup and then incremental backups with the full DB, but only the difference (files added or deleted) of the file store. This means a much faster backup and smaller data package to manage. When restoring an incremental backup, all the _IncXX backup data sets back to the last full backup needs to be accessible and left in a structure with all folders on the same level. When restoring you just need to point to the LAST _IncXX backup folder and it will find the history back to the full backup, and restore the database in its entirety.
A detailed description of Incremental backup can be found at: http://mfgcommunity.autodesk.com/blogs/blog/view/5/Incremental_Backup_and_Restore_1/
-Brian Schanen
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Advanced Configuration Guide 2009/2010 posted
August 18, 2009 09:30 AMby Brian SchanenThe Advanced Configuration Guide contains additional information for setting up the Autodesk® Vault Server for Vault/Productstream 2009/2010 products. The topics in this guide relate to the Autodesk Data Management Server and can be used for both Autodesk Vault 2009/2010 and Autodesk Productstream 2009 installations. As these topics cover advanced configurations, some familiarity with IT procedures is assumed. For more information, refer to the Autodesk Data Management Server Implementation and Managing Your Data guides.http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=13267392&linkID=9261341
The following hotfix restores the Print and Markup options in the toolbar for the preview pane within Vault:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=13402994&linkID=9261341
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Export and Import Vault settings
August 14, 2009 09:39 AMby Brian SchanenWith Vault 2010 we now have the possibility to export and import settings of the Vault, saving valuable time and standardizing installations. It is only available from Vault Workgroup and upwards as the settings mainly focuses on the Document Revision side.
The functionality is found in the ADMS Console by right clicking on a Vault. Here a setup can be exported from or Imported to an existing Vault. Likewise a Configuration can be used as base when creating a new Vault, by using the option “Use a custom configuration file” when creating a new Vault:
The type of data objects and settings exported and imported are:DWF publish optionsLifecycle DefinitionsCategoryRevision schemesUser Defined PropertiesThere is no export or import of Category Assignment Rules, or any settings related to Item management. Only objects not already existing in the target Vault are imported. Existing object with same name will not be imported or modified. No Users or Groups set in the Life Cycle Definitions security for the states and the transitions will be imported, but will have to be defined BEFORE import.
This functionality can greatly help shorten the time for the administrator to setup a new Vault and keep a standardized approach, but a few things need to be considered when starting to set the “Base” definition Vault. A Best practice for Export and Import will look like this:
Prepare before Export:Make your modifications in A COPY OF the standard life cycle schemes – or if you already have started – just make a copy before export.Assign Permissions on state and transition security to GROUPS and not individuals. Likewise assign Roles to the Groups rather than individual users.
Create New Vault:Start by Creating the GROUPS (and you need one generic user to be added to the Group) in the new vaultImport the configuration and make any fine tuning of names and needed roles for the specific customer PLUS establishing the Category Assignment Rules.Then you are ready to add files with Autoloader, as the files will then automatically end up in the right categories at load time. Remember also that the Default states (WIP vs. Released) can temporarily be changed if importing a number of already Released files.
Bottom line is – the already defined Life Cycle Scheme settings in Vault goes a long way in satisfying most customer needs, but a little thinking ahead and preparing a number of “standard customized” configurations can save you a lot of time (and increase your service revenue).
-Brian Schanen
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A Tip for Administrators - View by Role
August 12, 2009 09:33 AMby Brian SchanenIt can be challenging to get an overview of the roles for each Vault Group or even by User. Under Administration/Security choose Groups. Use the “View by Role” option and then choose “Print Preview” – from here the overview can be printed or Exported to several formats for use in Documentation etc.
-Brian Schanen
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Videos posted for restricted access users
August 7, 2009 02:29 PMby Brian SchanenAs a response to comments from users with restricted access to the Vault videos on Autodesk's YouTube channel, I have compiled and posted links to the Vault videos for download. These are in wmv format, and some are broken into separate parts. Thanks for the comments thus far, and enjoy these videos!
Automatic File Naming with Autodesk Vault WorkgroupAssigning Categories with Vault WorkgroupCustom Revision Schemes with Autodesk Vault WorkgroupLifecycles in Vault Workgroup video tutorial:Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Mapping Revisions with Vault WorkgroupPart 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
User Defined Properties with Vault Workgroup-Brian Schanen
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Setting up User Defined Properties with Vault Workgroup
August 4, 2009 11:40 AMby Brian SchanenAlong with Lifecycles, Revisions, and Categories, one significant benefit of Autodesk Vault Workgroup is configuring User Defined Properties. These are properties that initially are mapped to certain file properties, but you can create more. Once you have these defined you can optionally make them mandatory, thus enforcing company standards. In the following two part video tutorial, we'll examine a method of mapping UDP's back to Inventor iProperties.
-Brian Schanen
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Autoloader 2010 Whats New
August 3, 2009 11:32 AMby Brian SchanenFor the 2010 Vault Family of Products, Autoloader has some signifcant improvements. These enhanced features will make bulk loading data into your Vault easier, allowing you to get up and running quicker with your Vault implementation.
Direct Folder Mapping
If you are uploading an Autodesk Inventor project, the workspace, libraries, and content center library in the project need to be mapped to folders in the vault. The workspace folder can be mapped directly to the Designs folder in the vault or to any subfolder in the Designs folder. Libraries can be mapped directly to the Libraries folder in the vault or to any subfolder in the Libraries folder. However, Content Libraries are automatically mapped to the vault Content Center Files folder.
In the Browse Vault for Folder dialog box, select either the Designs folder or a subfolder to be mapped to the workspace for the project. This will create a subfolder called Designs under the Designs folder. To map the workspace folder directly to the Designs folder without creating a subfolder, select the Direct Mapping check box.
User Preferences
Duplicates – ‘Find duplicate files during scan’ option, checked by default, enables collecting both duplicate and dependency information during scan; otherwise, only dependency information will be provided. The following duplicate searching criteria can be specified under Settings…:
Compare by· File Attributes – Names and Sizes· Date / Time Stamp – Creation, Modified and AccessedThreshold - Specify a threshold limit to the number of files for scanning to allow halting when the limit has been reached. This number is set at 5,000 by default. User may choose to increase/ decrease this number to a minimum of 1 and maximum of 999,999 files.
Scan Status
A new ‘Status’ group box within the ‘Data Scan & Report’ stage that shows the files’ scan statuses in addition to the progress bar.The following scan information is provided:• Total files: Displays the total files count in the top pane.• Successfully scanned: Displays count of files with ‘Successfully opened‘ status.• Errors in validation: Displays count of files with erroneous/fatal scenarios that warrant a rescan. i.e. ‘Issues with children’…etc.• Warnings in scan: Displays count of files with duplicate status.Stop Scan
A new ‘Stop’ button has been introduced in the Autoloader’s toolbar to facilitate the user to stop the scanning process without exiting the Autoloader application.
The Status frame stops updating when the scanning process is halted. It will be left as it was when the user stops the scanning process. Remaining files will still be checked and subjected for rescanning in a subsequent Scan.
If the user clicks ‘No’ in the above Warning prompt, the scanning process resumes from where it was halted and the Status frame continues to process the status counts.
Offline Usage
File scanning can now be performed without a connection to the Vault. Logging in to the Vault has now been deferred until a connection to the Vault is required.
In the 2010 release, the login/logout command is available in the ‘Map Vault Folders’ page of the Autoloader wizard (i.e. after successful scanning).
Multiple Instances of Autoloader
Previously, multiple Autoloader instances were prevented from running on different machines at the same time. This was enforced by each Autoloader’s instance attempting to check out the BUU.xml file on the server after user had signed in during Autoloader's Welcome stage. Users are blocked from proceeding if this file was already checked out by other Autoloader's instances (or other Vault clients).
BUU.xml file is a system file (hidden by default) located at the root folder of Vault ($). To display it, select Tools > Options > Show hidden files.
With Autoloader 2010, changes have been made so that multiple instances of Autoloader from different machines can run at the same time, this is achieved by:· Delaying of access to BUU.xml to the “Map Vault Folders” stage.· BUU.xml will only be accessed if the user’s dataset contains Inventor files.· BUU.xml will not be checked out unless during the first run of Autoloader whereby users choose to have different workspace and/or library folder name than the default ones.
Hot Tip: A user, usually the administrator, will setup the BUU.xml file by running Autoloader once on a server. During the session, the user may choose to customize both the Design and Library folder names during the “Map Vault Folders” steps. The BUU.xml file is then updated with the latest folder names. After this initial session, multiple Autoloader instances will be able to run concurrently.
NOTE: If users want to run Autoloader concurrently on different machines, it is their responsibility to ensure that the datasets to be uploaded do not overlap else some, or all, of the files might not be able to be uploaded successfully. The usage assumption is made based on the fact that Autoloader users are either power-users or given certain administrative privileges.
It is the user’s responsibility to ensure that they do not add in or remove reference file(s); files already scanned will have their results invalidated if any of these reference file(s) are manipulated.
Open File from Autoloader
This feature is to provide the ability for the user to open any files from user’s dataset during the ‘Data Scan & Report’ stage.
The primary purpose of this feature is to allow the user to resolve the document and its dependency links within the appropriate CAD application. However, this feature shall not be limited to CAD files as users may also use this feature to view files using the registered applications (i.e. .DOC, .TXT files… etc).
Reporting
After triggering the ‘Scan>’ or ‘Find Duplicates’, the user can choose to export report by clicking ‘Export’ in the toolbar.
If the export is successful, the export button in toolbar is disabled.
If there are no problematic files, the option “Only Displayed Problem Files” will be disabled and ‘All Displayed Files’ is automatically selected.
Note: Duplicate files are not categorized as ‘Problem Files’.
In the 2010 release, a new report file type (XML file format) is available for user selection; it has been set as the default file format.
-Brian Schanen