topic Re: Vault Implementation Questions in Vault Forum

Vault Implementation Questions

witzkr — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 09:13:38 GMT

What's up CAD family? I have a few questions regarding Vault. I am a former SW user and am now at a company that uses Inventor. I'm also the only engineer there replacing their last single engineer. Upon starting, I realized there was no PDM system in place and things were randomly organized in a mess of files and folders buried in many different locations resulting in nonstop linking issues.

I suggested we implement Vault Professional as there were already problems with finding files and finding the latest and greatest version of said files.

We finally have everything installed and I've taken the courses through productivityNOW, but I still have a few questions if anyone here could possibly answer for me.

Autodesk recommends creating a "Designs" folder along with a "Content Center Files" folder under C:\Work.

(https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Using-Autodesk-Vault-with-a-Single-Inventor-Project.html#:~:text=Open%20Autodesk%20Inventor%20and%20the,create%20a%20new%20Vault%20Project)

I've done that and created a single project file under the C:\Work to house all of our existing parts, assemblies, and drawing files. I added a single folder to the C:\Work\Designs folder containing one assembly and checked it into Vault with no resolving issues as I ensured all the associated parts were included in the folder with the assembly. I've mapped the project file to the workspace (C:\Work\Designs) per the link as well.

My questions are as follows:

1. We only have one license, I am the administrator. Is there a way for others to at least open and view Vault files without buying another license?

2. Since everything is mapped to my local C:\Work folder, do I need to pull everything in that folder first, then open and check into Vault to get the files inside Vault? Or, possibly, there's a better way to do this.

3. Do I need to organize the files into folders within C:\Work\Designs prior to getting them into Vault?

4. If everything ends up in my local C drive within the "Designs" folder, how can others (shop guys and machinists mostly) view updated files and drawings?

I'd appreciate any insight if anyone has experience with this!

Thanks.

Re: Vault Implementation Questions

DarrenP — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 14:12:10 GMT

1. You can use the thin client read this: https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/vault-thin-client-licensing-faq.html

Re: Vault Implementation Questions

Gabriel_Watson — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 14:26:55 GMT

1) Vault Thin Client: https://help.autodesk.com/view/VAULT/2024/ENU/?guid=GUID-A394FD9E-88EB-4592-B6F9-B41D31C14F7D
2) Autoloader: https://help.autodesk.com/view/VAULT/2024/ENU/?guid=GUID-EA9B2552-30B9-4789-9A5E-6580B8648981
3) Yes. Make sure to establish in your Work "Workspace" folder how things will look like once checked into Vault, and Vault will take care of creating the appropriate folders to match, as the content is moved in. You could check everything into a single folder and then re-arrange later in Vault (which will manage references between the files to keep it all resolved and linked). If moving non-design files into Vault, you can also simply drag and drop all from Windows File Explorer into Vault locations.
4) "Updated" now means "Uploaded" for you and your team. Saving in your local workspace is only good to prevent loss if the application crashes, but to "publish" content to all, keep in mind that you will always need to perform a "Check In" upload operation now. Machinists and shop floor will probably require some sort of release/revision/state on the files to be able to see them in Vault Thin Client too.
Good luck!

Re: Vault Implementation Questions

ihayesjr — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 15:27:06 GMT

@witzkr

Here is an AU class that may also help.

Airing Dirty Laundry: Cleaning and Loading Your Data to Vault | Autodesk University

Re: Vault Implementation Questions

witzkr — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 15:53:43 GMT

Thanks a bunch! I'm taking a look now, this is definitely EXTREMELY helpful!