Content Center is making me lose my mind....

[Jef_E]

Hi!

We are a company with +10 Inventor users and we use autodesk vault to manage our files. To manage the content center we were advised to put out library .idcl file in vault, check it out when there are changes and check it back in into vault when done. All the other users can get the latest edition and use the c/c locally.

I made a change recently to a column that first had text into it and now I just had values so I could map these to user-parameters. This change got trough for a few user ( I checked by getting the latest .idcl on some computers ). A few days later there was a user complaining that something was causing an error, which worked fine for me. I check the c/c family at that persons computer and the column still has text in it.. Strange because he did GET the last version of the .idcl but I didn't check it there.

Now I made another change to the c/c for another family, I added a column and again check the file in. Now the first user that I checked doesn't have the new column.. ( this is a different user then the one that has the previous problem ). Then I checked other users they all have the new column available, and the user with the previous error does too ( but there the previous error still persists ).

What can I do to solve this? I need ALL users to have the SAME content center available without a doubt. How can I get their c/c the same as mine and all other users? What is causing this problem?

This problem is interfering with the automation tools we made.. 

I'm getting really crazy by the content center behavior...

Please help.. i'm at a loss here.

[Mark.Lancaster]

First of all..  Whoever told you to check in your .idcl files into Vault shouldn't have..    That is the a worst workflow ever...

Let Vault (ADMS) console control your content center.  Then you can assign roles to individuals to better control your content center libraries and then there's no need to check in and out these libraries to make changes.

So to solve your problem..  Stop what you're doing and let Vault manage your libraries.

If you need assistance place let me know...

[Jef_E]

Hmmppfff so never trust a Autodesk platinum partner ? They screwed me on so many things and now this.. really... well best not to say names and blame I guess?

Do you have a workflow on how-to get the c/c into vault and how to manage it? Is there some documentation floating about?

[Mark.Lancaster]

First of all (since I don't want to assume )...  What version of Vault are you on?

[Jef_E]

Basic, ofcourse? What else can possible be bought with my magical beans?  So the assumption is correct.

*May I add that live cycles of products is not a requirement as we build once in a lifetime items in the past 5 years I had the pleasure of making the same project twice and that was due to some catastrophic event that cannot be accounted for.

[Mark.Lancaster]

No I meant what (release) version of Vault?  2013, 14, 15, 16 or 17

[Jef_E]

oh 😄 my bad...

[Mark.Lancaster]

@Jef_E

Launch the ADMS console on the Vault server and in the left window pane, expand libraries.  Is there anything there?  If so take a screen shot and share it here.

[Jef_E]

Hi a bit delayed but I managed to check the vault and the folder is empty I took a screenshot to confirm I'm looking in the right directory.

[Roelof.Feijen]

Hi Jef,

I really would like to know who told you to put your .idcl file into the Vault.

Please send me a private message.

If you are working with Vault please convert your Desktop Content Center library to a Vault Content Center library.

Everyone with access to the Vault then uses the same Content Center library, so change to your Content Center library are immediately effective for all Vault users. Once you have convert your Desktop Content to Vault Content, change the settings in the application options (Tools > Application Options > Content Center tab > Access Options > Autodesk Vault).

[Mark.Lancaster]

@Jef_E

Since it's empty (the libraries)..  You will have to run the Vault server installation again to install the standard 2014 content center libraries.  I can't remember in 2014 if they were located under the tools/utilities or the normal installation steps.  Do you still have access to the 2014 Vault Server media.  Once that's completed then you can follow the steps that @Roelof.Feijen has indicated.

[Jef_E]

Is it required to have these standard libraries? We don't use them as we made all content we use into our own library with proper descriptions etc to our liking.

Or is it required to have them to be able to copy them to create our own version of the family?

[Mark.Lancaster]

@Jef_E

Did you use those standard libraries and copy info from them to your custom library?

If you did, what copy workflow did you use?

If it was the blue dashed arrow workflow than you created a link copy between your custom library and the standard library.  So you need the related standard libraries installed

If if was the red solid arrow workflow than you create a non-linked copy and it doesn't required the standard libraries installed.

[Jef_E]

It was the red one.

[Anonymous]

Wow....I gotta say, I've never, ever seen that type of workflow for CC.

I too would love to know who recommended you do such (send me a private note as well if you don't mind. I used to work for a reseller).

Looks like Mark has you covered, you're in good hands with him on this matter.

But from what it sounds like you are in the same type of boat as I am with CC parts. We only use inch versions and we rename them accordingly.

Eventually once you get things squared away you'll end up having to copy the original CC parts you'll use to a custom library, at least that's what I'm doing here.

But once you have CC on the Vault, as soon as you (or anyone with the permissions to edit the CC parts) save your changes to the CC parts and publish them to the library, every user with access to Vault will have the latest and greatest version.

Just be sure as already mentioned here though that you go into your applications Options and change the path to point to Vault as opposed to the local drive for the CC parts, then clear the local CC parts off their HD's to avoid someone inadvertently selecting them, etc., plus it'll free up their disk space.

[swalton]

As an aside, we actually use Desktop CC with Vault Pro (all 2014 versions).  It works ok for our setup, but I can see how it could be painful for others.

In our case:

• We only make changes to CC when we migrate Inventor and Vault (every 2-3 years)
• We really only use CC to place "As Custom" structural steel shapes
• We strip out all CC families except our own custom copies
• We post the idcl files to a server and have each user copy them to the local machine
• We have 5 users at two different sites that share data through Full Replication with Vault

We started out with Vault-managed CC, but ran into issues.  As I recall, Place From CC was slow and I think that sometimes the CC window would be empty when I opened it.  Once we went to desktop CC at each workstation, the issues ceased.  I think the issues were related to the Replicated environment.

[Jef_E]

Hi @Roelof.Feijen 

I don't think that it really matters who told it, what is that is and the best way to proceed is forward. I managed to find some time to try your method out, but I did not managed to make it work.

I'm hitting this error

and here is a copy of the error log, it really does not say much...

-----Content Center 2014 Library Transfer 15/12/2016-----

Transfer from Inventor Desktop Content to Autodesk Vault Server
Desktop Content Location of Libraries: C:\VaultWorkspace\Desktop Content\
Vault Server: SV12M07

Transferred Libraries: 

EM - Content Center
Transfer Failed.
Library transfer of EM - Content Center(EM - Content Center) failed:

Library Transfer Guide has encountered an unexpected problem.

-----Transfer Summary-----
1 libraries has been processed out of which 0 library(ies) successfully transferred, 1 library(ies) failed.

Only difference I see between your move and my setup is the server address but this is the address used to login as also the database so that should work. Or is it required to be a IP address?

[Mark.Lancaster]

@Jef_E

For starters..  Has your vault account been assigned the Content Center Admin Role?

[Roelof.Feijen]

@Jef_E,

Can I call you tomorrow at 9:00? Or whatever suites you.

We can setup a Teamviewer session to solve this.

[Jef_E]

I would presume yes as I logged into vault as administrator