Custom state transition actions

[Anonymous]

Hi folks, I'm back with another Vault customization question. I'm really just wondering if something is even possible before I bug the programmer in the IT department to see if he can work miracles. Here's the scenario: The engineer currently insert an electronic stamp and signature through a lisp routine just before they change the drawing to the released state. I am wondering if it is possible to add custom actions during this transition of states that will create a PDF file and then find and delete the block name containing _signature? The end result would be a PDF file with the stamp and signature on it but the released file saved in Vault will only have the stamp, no signature. This is only an issue because Vault still allows users to open a released drawing edit it and plot it without actually checking it out or saving it. This means a signed copy of a drawing could possibly be altered and plotted without the engineer ever knowing.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

[Redmond.D]

In Vault 2012, there is the capability to add custom actions before and after a file lifecycle state change. But I'm not sure its a good fit for what you want to do.  The pre and post mechanism is designed more for quick operations.  Altering CAD drawings and creating PDF files is more of a "heavyweight" operation.

Another option is to use the jobserver to make the changes.  You can create a custom job type that fires after a file changes state.  You can then write a custom job handler to make the updates.  Even if the files are released, you can set it up so that only the jobserver has edit permissions.  Everyone else will be locked from making changes.

Anyway, the answer is yes, there are some custom programming options for what you want to do.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Doug for confirming that this is possible, having the job processor perform the job in the background is exactly what I had in mind for this application. Would this be something we could pay Autodesk to create If our IT department is not able to handle the job? I don't think anybody at my company is well versed on the programming language required to create these custom jobs.

Steve

[Redmond.D]

Autodesk Consulting can write this for you.  There are also many resellers that provide custom Vault programming services.