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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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Managing Items with Vault Manufacturing 2010
September 21, 2009, 11:30 PM Brian SchanenOne of the significant improvements to Vault Manufacturing in 2010 is the introduction of state based document securities. This functionality has been leveraged to manage access to files associated with Released items and introduces a new, more flexible way to manage CAD file access.
From the Tools > Administration dialog > Items tab selecting “Security” displays the Access Control List used to determine permissions for files linked to Items outside of Work-In-Process (I.e. files linked to Items in Released, For Review and Obsolete states).
By default this is configured to permit “Read” only access for “Everybody” but here we will go through the steps required to modify these access permissions to allow a more flexible process to make administrative file changes not constituting item revisions.
While every file, associated to a Released Item, is locked as read only, no changes are possible; this prevents unauthorized or accidental design changes. Using the access control list (ACL) we can now create a specific user permitted to make minor file changes to correct spelling mistakes, add missing dimensions or update title block information. This type of modification could be referred to as “Quick Change”. Create this workflow with the following steps:
Create an Administrative Change user (QC for example) with the correct rights and roles (Doc Editor Level1 at least) – DO NOT include this user in any groups and make sure this user is assigned a password!Remove “Everybody” from the ACL and Add all groups and set them to “Allow” ‘Read’ and “Deny” ‘Modify’ and ‘Delete’Change the QC user access to “Allow” ‘Read’ and ‘Modify’; make sure to “Deny” ‘Delete’.
You can now, as required, log into the Vault through AutoCAD, Inventor, etc. as QC user, make the modifications (Change Title block on Drawings/Migrate Model files etc., add missing dimensions, etc.) while Item consumers still access the latest effective release. When finished with files updates check the file back in and log out of user QC, you now need to update the ITEM.Updating the Item without 'bumping' the Revision
With the file(s) now modified ensure nobody else is logged into Vault during the item(s) update. Log in as a Vault Administrator and go to the Tools > Administration dialog and select the Item tab.
1. Click on “Rules…” and select transition ‘From Released To WIP’; set Bump Revision to None (or Bump Secondary Revision if history needs to be kept)
2. Select the ITEM(s) requiring update, RMB click and select “Change State”; then select “Work In Progress”.
3. Right click again and “Update” the items
4. “Change State” to “Released”
5. Repeat Step 2 to restore the rule on Released -> WIP to “Bump Primary Revision”
You have now made your “Quick Change” to your files over time reducing the need to repeat the sensitive procedure required to change Revision Bumping and Item update. This can be done as a batch process in a very short time space (typically one evening of afterhours work).
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