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Add existing file names to a vault numbering scheme

6 REPLIES 6
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Message 1 of 7
stuarts
1212 Views, 6 Replies

Add existing file names to a vault numbering scheme

Hi,

 

I am not sure whether I am in the right discussion group or not, hopefully I am :smileyhappy:

Product support were unable to help me!

So I am throwing this out to everyone in the discussion groups to see if you can help!

 

The scenario:

 

We have tens of thousands of files in vault that were created or added prior to creating a numbering scheme in vault (Vault Professional 2012)

The issue we have is that the vault numbering scheme will not recognize these files as they were not created with the numbering scheme from vault, so the vault numbering scheme has not indexed these file names/numbers. This means we have issues with the numbering scheme trying to create file names that already exist in the vault.

 

My question to you guys: 

 

Does anyone know of a way of accessing the file, table, or whatever it is that indexes this information and adding to it? Or modifying it?

 

We know a solution is to create another number scheme to get round existing files but we want to try and solve the issue.

 

I am surprised there isn’t a way of getting round this problem, surely there are a lot of customer moving to vault and uploading existing data? For many companies its not just as easy as changing there numbering scheme?

 

Any help on this would be great!

 

Thanks

 

Stuart

6 REPLIES 6
Message 2 of 7
Redmond.D
in reply to: stuarts

So the problem is that the Vault numbering scheme is generating file names that already exist in Vault.

Can you give me an example?

 

If there is an auto-generated component to the numbering scheme, you can set the number range.  For example if TEX-6677.dwg is the existing file with the highest number, you set the numbering scheme to start numbering at 6678.



Doug Redmond
Software Engineer
Autodesk, Inc.

Message 3 of 7
stuarts
in reply to: Redmond.D

Hi Doug,

 

Yes that is correct, the Vault numbering scheme is generating file names that already exist in Vault.

This is because the files were created prior to creating the numbering scheme.

We moved from Vault to Vault Workgroup.

 

The numbering scheme that is being used doesn’t allow us to start from a value like you suggested (We also want to avoid changing it.)


We use the following scheme:

 

Letter to define process: A-M drop down list

Project Number: three digit user defined (this is based on the project folder number)

Separator: Hyphen

Drawing number: Automated 3 Digit number sequence starting at 000

 

So you would get something like the following every time you create a drawing for a project: 

L123-000

L123-001

L123-002

A123-000

A123-001

A123-002....... and so on.

 

We know we can create a new scheme that starts at say 100 for the automated number at the end. We want to avoid this as it would mean the user would have to switch from one scheme to another when working on new designs and existing designs.

 

Like I said in the first post, we would like to find a way of staying with our original scheme.

I imagine there is a file or set of files that index the numbers that have been assigned since creating a numbering scheme. If it were possible to access this we could add the file names that we used prior to creating the numbering scheme.

I imagine that this is an issue for any company moving to vault or upgrading vault with the need to upload files or access and work on existing projects that were in the base vault prior to an upgrade.

 

I have created a video to show the issue on existing data, then after this show creating a new project and the numbering scheme behaving as desired. http://screencast.com/t/sB7x7NoXqLH

 

Any help on this would be great.

 

Thanks


Stuart

Message 4 of 7
Redmond.D
in reply to: stuarts

Thanks for the video.  It shows the issue clearly.  The number is dependent on the inputs, so you don't want to choose one minimum number for all cases.

 

Yes, I think this is something that can be addressed with customization.  This seems like a good use for vLogic, so I wrote up a script that you can try.

 

Instructions:

  1. Install vLogic
  2. Download and unzip the attached file to the Windows folder %ProgramData%\Autodesk\Vault 2012\Extensions\vLogic
  3. Start up Vault Explorer
  4. Go to a Vault folder that contains files whose names need to be synchronized with the numbering scheme.
  5. Under the Tools menu, select vLogic and select the AutoNumberFix command.
  6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each folder that has "old" files in it.

 

The script works by generating numbers in accordance to the existing files in the folder.  The way number schemes work is Vault is they just generate numbers.  The scheme itself doesn't know how or where the numbers will be used. You can even generate numbers and never use them, which this script does.

Likewise files don't know if they were named from a numbering scheme or not.

 

The script is based off the video you posted, so I made a bunch of assumptions.  If there are bugs, or features you need to add, you or somebody who can program can update the script accordingly.

 

Note:  If you use the script on files that are already in sync with a numbering scheme, the script will reserve the next number, meaning you will get gaps in the file numbering if you add more files.

 



Doug Redmond
Software Engineer
Autodesk, Inc.

Message 5 of 7
stuarts
in reply to: Redmond.D

Hi Doug,

 

Thats fantastic, Ill give this a try and let you know how I get on.

 

Thanks for the tool and all your help.

 

Thanks

 

Stuart

Message 6 of 7
D.Ponka
in reply to: stuarts

Apoligies for reviving an old thread but the solution to this issue is no longer valid and I am having a similar issue that this could solve. Is there another way?

 

My issue is that since Copy Design doesn't update the Vault numbering scheme I am not able to use Place iLogic Component in Inventor and use the Vault numbering scheme starting at the next available sequential numberWhat is happening is that the numbering scheme starts at zero when saving the first new part in Inventor after a copy but these components (say 0000.ipt to 0080.ipt) already exist so Place iLogic Component just hangs in Inventor (because 0000.ipt or 0001.ipt etc. exists already). I have to press 'skip' in the numbering selection window which in turn creates a simple -01 file name suffix.

 

Is there another valid way of updating the numbering scheme from copied files now since vLogic hasn't been updated for 2014?

 

Thanks!

 

Message 7 of 7
Redmond.D
in reply to: D.Ponka

Vault Data Standard is the replacement for vlogic.  It lets you do a bunch of interesting things, including the ability to create custom commands using PowerShell.  So it shouldn't be hard to port my vLogic script over to Data Standard. 



Doug Redmond
Software Engineer
Autodesk, Inc.

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