Updating parts - because Vault says so

[Winks87]

I have parts in an assembly that the Vault says need updated.  I didnt change anything in these parts.  I seem to recall that this may have something to do with making work planes associative or visible?  This makes the Vault think the part has been changed.  Does this sound correct?  Any ideas why vault thinks parts have changed?

Thanks & best regards

-Jim

Inv. Sim 2010

[JimSteinmeyer]

I don't know for certain, but I think you have the right idea. to us the parts are surfaces and planes, to the vault they are 1s and 0s. If you turn the visability on or off some of the 1s and 0s are changes causing the vault to think things need to be updated.

Jjim

[Infoseeker]

If you checked out a part to your machine, opened it, checked it back in to vault, other machines local version will be older than a version in vault and vault will prompt for refreshing.

[Winks87]

Thanks all, I will try to remember to only check out parts that require work.  This is not always the case, as some parts not checked out require updating as a result of other parts in an assembly that were checked out and modified.  However, I am curious if anyone has heard of the work planes causing Vault to see a part as requiring updating.  Anyone?

[jletcher]

One of the reasons I hate vault............

[CelticDesignServices]

Winks,

As stated above, anything you do to a dataset, changinf visibility of axis, planes, etc. causes an update of the files status by default. This is the case in numerous PDM's, not just Vault. The file has changed according to the PDM (Vault) program which is always attempting to synchronize shared properties.

The file has been modified from its previous version in Vault, thus the need to update those properties, not just for you, but everywhere that file is being used. Think of working in a concurrent environment where 10 people all have the same top assembly file open (not checked out) and are working on a specific part or subassembly (checked out) used in that top level assembly. As each person updates their files and in turn updates the Vault version, everyone with that top level assembly open will then see the changes that were made and in turn can react that much quicker to any type of design issues (interference, fit-ups, etc.). In short, a change is a change in the eyes of the PDM system. Vault is doing its job by letting you know it has noticed a file has been modified in some way and it is prompting you to do something about it.

The typical workflow would be to only check out the files you need to change (read out the others if need be). Make you changes and update the Vaulted version, move on to the next file. If you are the only one working on an assembly and it's made of a few parts that only you will be using, check out all if you think you need to. Just remember, as long as you have these files checked out to you, no one else can modify them if they need to.

Another issue I've seen at checkin is you'll have a list of files that were involved in an assembly and that list will have a "yes" or "no" toggle question on if you want to update Vault with them. Note that even though they are listed and no changes were made, the default status for that question is "No". I know a lot of users that blindly just select the "Yes to all" button and because you don't have those files checked out, Vault pitches a fit because you are telling it to update a file you don't have checked out. Is this making any sense? I can provide pictures of an example if that'll help clarify things.

[Winks87]

Jim, that makes perfect sense - I have seen that before and learned quickly not to select yes to all.  What I have noticed is that I was the only one in an assembly, modified parts (that were checked out) went to check in and had additional parts requiring updating.  I know I didn't change these parts, hence the work plane theory.   Something about auto-resizing?  Visible/not visible?  Odd that if the part wasn't modified that the work plane would change, but again, just something I seem to remember.  I will have to keep my eyes open and try various methods to eliminate this if possible.  Thanks to all...

[CelticDesignServices · Accepted solution]

Winks,

Gotcha!

Yes, if the workplanes were changed (visibility, resized, etc.) that would cause the request for a properties update at the least.

I recall a few releases back (may still be true today) that if you simply opened a file and zoomed in or out, Vault saw that as a change to the file.