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Autocad Electrical Project Manager.

5 REPLIES 5
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Message 1 of 6
mikewagstaffe
1609 Views, 5 Replies

Autocad Electrical Project Manager.

This is an absolute long shot... after hours of googling to no avail, I also posted this in the .NET group, and a guy from ADN suggested I posit it here, so I thought I would give it a try on here. Does anybody know how to customise the Autocad Electrical Project manager. What I am trying to achieve is somthing similar to what the Autodesk vault does, (the vault menu is not there unless the vault client is installed) in adding a submenu to the project context menu, for check in check out etc. Does anbody know anythingabout this? I also know that there was something called the super project manager, which I assume is a customised Project Manager.

 

To answer the inevitable question why.... I am trying to integrate our compaines data management system into aautocad electrical and it would be nice to reproduce this setup, as it makes it seamless.

 

Any help is much appreciated.

 

Thanks 

 

Mike

5 REPLIES 5
Message 2 of 6
drathak
in reply to: mikewagstaffe

What version are you on?

 

Subfolders in the Project File (what the Project manager displays) was added in 2013.

 

Here is a quick demo I did for some people at work.  Is this what you are looking for?

https://chronicle.autodesk.com/Main/Details/7c5c1be6-8537-4c26-bdf1-53b2dae99960

 

 

Ok, I re-read your post and I'm not sure what you meant about the check-in check-out part.  Can you post a screenshot of what you are looking at in Vault?

--------------
Joe Weaver
Principle Associate Engineer - Nashville Electric Service
P&C Committee Chair – SDS Industry Consortium
Message 3 of 6

The Super Project Manager is something available from www.ecadconsultant.com. I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to achieve though. Check-in and checkout are definitely Vault functions only.

The built-in Project Manager started allowing for the creation of virtual folders in version 2013. These are not actual file folders you can see on your disk drive. The virtual folder assignment is written to and stored in the project.WDP file and gives the appearance that a project has been subdivided into smaller groups, perhaps according to Installation/Location code, or by drawing discipline; the choice is up to you. This is mainly a visual aid, though you can execute certain project-wide functions against a specific group of drawings by selecting their sub-folder.

The Super Project Manager is an add-in that assists with the creation of up to 9 sub-projects under one "master" project. Each sub-project can have its own unique title block data, including document number, drawn by, checked by, release date, revision level, etc., and even unique page numbering. The standard title block update utility can be executed for each sub-project.



Doug McAlexander


Design Engineer/Consultant/Instructor/Mentor specializing in AutoCAD Electrical training and implementation support

Phone and Web-based Support Plans Available

Phone: (770) 841-8009

www.linkedin.com/in/doug-mcalexander-1a77623




Please Accept as Solution if I helped you. Likes are also much appreciated.
Message 4 of 6

Thanks both for your replies, it does appear though as if you have missed the point of my question, probably my fault so appologies. It is not actually a question about vanilla autocad electrical so to speak. I already know about the virtual folders you can create in an autocad project, in fact we use them, they were a great addition.

 

What I am trying to acheive is the following;

 

With the vault Autodesk vault addin installed, in the project manager when you are logged into the vault.

 

The project manger window changes, you get some symbols to to the left of the project folder icon (attached image: ace_pm). You also get an additional submenu (vault) when you right click on any item, be it main project folder, drawing or virtual folder, that effectivly allows you to perform vault opertaions, (attached image: ace_vaultmenu). You also get a new item on the recent project dropdown list, that says "open project from vault".

 

So all those features are added to the project manager by  installing the vault addin to ACE. What I want to do is replicate those features, to work with my own vault system. I cannot use the Autodesk Vault, (although I would like to.... just no chance). I have complete control over my current vault with .NET so can programme the actions, just want a seamless way to integrate it into ACE, I could do the obvious and add a new toolbar, but really want a seamless integration into the Project Manager.

 

So my choice is to abondon the intgration altgether and just use a toolbar, re-write the entire project manager, (might not be too dificult).

 

The reason I mentioned super project manager was just as an example, as I belive it is a customised Project Manager, so somebody has done something, reading your website, it appears as though I was mistaken, this is a seperate application.

 

Thanks again both.

 

 

 

 

 

Message 5 of 6
drathak
in reply to: mikewagstaffe

Ah...  Now I see.  That's a bit of a tall order.  And as far as I know, you're the first person to look for complete duplicating the functionality of Vault with something else.

 

I presume you have an existing document management system in place that no one else is willing to transition away from.  Understandable.  That would most likely have to be an in-house bit of software.  Or custom made by a third party.  You might get AutoCAD consulting services to tailor one for you, but it won't be cheap.  For one, they aren't cheap to start with and two, you'd be bypassing their software.  (Vault)

 

Depending on your company's overall views on Vault, another solution might be a custom connector between the two document management systems, but that too would be a hefty little project.  Interesting situation.  Have you talked to your Autodesk rep about it?

 

--------------
Joe Weaver
Principle Associate Engineer - Nashville Electric Service
P&C Committee Chair – SDS Industry Consortium
Message 6 of 6
mikewagstaffe
in reply to: drathak

Joe,

 

Thanks thats exactly the situation I'm in. I have been exploring the various options, I have no issue with the development side of things myself. Thats the easy bit in comparision to actually finding out how to do things. I know there is no way I'll get signed off a solution from autodesk, just to give a seamless integration, when there are other ways and means of doing it.

 

I had thought about the idea, of simply using the Autodesk vault, then using its API to push information out into our existing data management system, The API given for the vault looks quite good, although have not looked in any detail. I can then  Lock ACE projects to only allow editing through the Vault. I think that may be the way to go. That way I am basically using our current data management system, as the archive server, and then the vault, can effectivly act as a working folder.

 

Thank you very much for your help and advice.

 

Mike

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