Search through vault folder

[CAD-e-Shack]

I'm using the free Vault that doesn't have a batch print option so I've been writing some code that does the trick.

The code lists open drawings, assemblies and parts, and depending onwhich is selected, displays a list of all the drawings associated with the file and it's sub-components.

Everything is good except that when the list of drawings is populated I am only able to search through the working folder for drawings. This means that if the drawing has been modified by another, or the drawing has not been opened on the local computer, it will not print (or print the old version).

Is there a way to pull the latest files from vault into the working folder automatically? Currently the only way this is possible is by selecting "Get/Checkout" in vault and downloading the files.

[cwhetten]

Are you writing VBA code for Inventor, or for Vault?  I ask because as far as I know, vault commands are not available through the Inventor API.

Cameron Whetten
Inventor 2012

[CAD-e-Shack]

The code is in Inventor. And I've run into problems before with VBA and Vault. What would be nice is if I could update the drawings by looking through the vault folder from my computer without going through vault. For example, our vault folder is located on $/Designs/ But whenever I try to access the hidden network drive it cannot be found.

I can find the path to the vault folder from my computer, but what I can't do is access the files that are there to update them with the working folder.

[cwhetten]

The only way to access vaulted files is through the vault client application.  And, (as far as I know), there's no way to tell Inventor to get the latest version from the vault through the API.  I don't know much about VBA, but maybe you could use an external VB program that bridges the gap between the Inventor and Vault APIs?

Cameron Whetten
Inventor 2012

[CAD-e-Shack]

Any suggestion which progroms would do that?

I have really only dealt with VBA as I'm pretty much self taught and havent had the gumption to learn a new language.

[cwhetten]

No, sorry.  I meant you might have to write a VB program that is separate from Inventor or Vault that can access the APIs for both.  I'm not very good at VBA, either.  I can find may way around enough to get my iLogic rules to work, but that's about it.

Cameron Whetten
Inventor 2012

[mrattray]

I would write this as a standalone VB.net application. This would also allow you to use the Inventor Apprentice utility, which is nifty. This will not be an easy task for a novice, however.

You can download visual studio express directly from Microsoft for free: http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/products/visual-studio-express-products

You may want to search around or post in the Inventor Customization forum about this: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Autodesk-Inventor-Customization/bd-p/120

I think your best bet will be to explore the customization forum for something pre-existing.

Good luck.

[swhite]

If nothing else can you compare versions from your hard drive to the vault and if different notify you that an update is needed before printing? Not a perfect solution, but at least outdated docs would not get printed by mistake.

[CAD-e-Shack]

That would be an alternative workaround, but wouldn't that include accessing the vault server? This was the initial problem I was having. I need a way to access vault from within the Inventor VBA. Or at least access the files stored on the vault server.