Vault fileid and Thin Client hyperlink

[gary.belisle]

I've been tasked with creating a custom Vault extension that will create a hyperlink to the viewable file in the Thin Client browser. This will take you right to the vizualization file when you click the hyperlink.

Example: "http://yourservernamehere/autodeskdm/webclient/Forms/DwfFileView.aspx?fileid=560002312703"

The intended use is to copy this link into other documents. So in Vault, I right click on a file, and run the command. The command copies this hyperlink to the clipboard so it can then be pasted into another program.

I have some reservations doing this. For one, does the fileid stay persistant? Will it ever change? I want to avoid having to go back and update a bunch of dead links in the future.

Is there an alternative to the fileid? Keeping in mind this is to be opened via Thin Client, not the Vault Client.

[Redmond.D · Accepted solution]

There is already an app that does what you want, Hyperlink Maestro.  But it hasn't been updated since Vault 2012.

The app supports links to the thin client, among other things.  You might find it easiest to just grab the source code and update to the version of Vault that you are using.  Or you can just use the code as a reference.

Regarding the file ID, you are correct to have doubts.  File IDs are not guaranteed to be persistant, but it's unlikely that they will change.  Another problem is that the IDs are to a specific version of a file.  So if the file gets updated, the link still points to an older version.  If the version gets purged, then it would result in a broken link.

At the moment, file ID is the only way to link to a file in the thin client.  There is not a more stable form of link.

[gary.belisle]

Thanks Doug,

Your Hyperlink Maestro is very cool. That will work great for emailing links to files for quick communication. However, I'm not going to use the links to insert into our ERP system or other documents en-masse if they will not remain static.

[Redmond.D]

If you don't know about the Persistent ID feature, then have a look at this article I just posted.  You can't use these IDs in hyperlinks, but it does give you a reliable way to store a reference to a Vault entity.

[gary.belisle]

Thanks Doug.

Your articles are always helpful for me.

In theory, could a vault exe app be created using the persistant ID as a command line argument in order to look up the FileID and then launch a hyperlink string directly in a web browser?

[Redmond.D]

Yes you would write the app.  However, it would need to log in to Vault and stuff.

[gavbath]

Hi guys,

Just thought I'd mention that we will very soon be updating Hyperlink Maestro for 2015 (with persistent ids) and it will be available on the Autodesk Vault App Exchange.

Cheers, Gav

[jeamy.baena]

Hi, Gavin

Excellent news!.

The persistent id feature it will be very helpful. I have the same issue here.

Will you update this app. to Vault 2014 version with this feature or only for Vault 2015?

Please let us know when this application is launched!

Thanks!

[Maxim-CADman77]

I woner if there a way to generate not a direck ink but rather link to advanced find results (ex. file by name as EQUAL).

I see it is not a problem to generate basic search iquery as an url but what about advanced? 

[Boorda]

@Maxim-CADman77, that is a great idea. Most sites that I use that are related to pulling info from a database have features built in that users can specify a field by name or id and query info via the URL. I have a situation right now where in an enterprise environment we have several systems that need to hook into Vault to pull released drawings. Our integration would be so much simpler if all we had to do was dynamically build a URL including a file name or id that the Vault thin client could query. Please, Please give us that feature.