Vault folder Setup

[Cambo_Slambo]

Hi all,

I hope this hasnt been asked too many times, I did do a search but couldnt find much.

Im my company I am trying to impliment Vault 2014 having previously never used vault here (I have at other companies). I have got it installed and working and I can check files in and out as a test. Cleared the vault so it is empty and ready for our "files" to be uploaded. I am still at a testing stage but want to get a well working folder structure

I was hopeing to have the following structure but am coming into some difficulties with the templates fodler.

I want and think the templates folder has to be outwith the root folder for jobs. However when I try to upload our Drawing, Part etc template files i am unable to have them outwith the jobs folder, it auto checks them in to there. Thinking i could do that then change the template location in the project file to this vault wont let me as its in the jobs folder.

Can anyone with more experience help me out in being able to use the above folder structure? It would be greatly appreciated.

[cbenner]

Are you changing the folder structure on the computer that you are checking the files in form?  Because Vault will follow that folder structure on check in.

[Cambo_Slambo]

Basically we have never used vault in this company so I am trying to get everything setup. I am wanting to set up a single project file system with all jobs being new folders under the "jobs" main folder. I have setup the above folder structure on my C: drive and have the below structure setup in the Vault, with "Vault Explorer ($) set as the root folder.

As mentioned in my first post, I am struggling to understand how to store our drawing,parts etc template files. As it wont let me upload them to the "templates" folder above, it will check it into a new folder in the "jobs" folder but then it wont let me point the templates location in the project file into that folder in "Jobs". Is my only option to have the templates stored on our server as we do currently and not how them within the Vault?

I should mention that I am easily able to check in a "Test Job" into the Jobs folder, thats no problem. Its just how I manage the templates.

[Cambo_Slambo]

To further elaborate. I get this error message.

Now I can check these Drawing Template files into the working folder no problem but this is where I enter a conflict as you are unable to set the "Templates Location" within the project file to a folder withing the "Workspace" so I cant link the "templates Folder" up with the project file.

[mikel_martin]

Here is my suggestion for new users of Vault in order to get things up and running quickly.

Create a new Vault with nothing in it.

Then use Autoloader to load a small assembly.

The reason that I suggest this is that Autoloader will create a folder structure and single project file for you.

Then go and set the project file that was create as your default project file in the admin settings.

This should at least get you up and running with the least amount of issues.

Hope this helps.

[Cambo_Slambo]

Thanks for your reply. I can get jobs data loaded in easy that all works fine. The only problem I am having is with storing the templates. I guess Im just going to have to store our template files on our server and not in vault.

[swalton · Accepted solution]

I find that if I save the templates to the workspace directory (where your normal design files go), I can add them to Vault.  I then use Vault to move them to the Templates folder like you have set up.  I then delete them from the workspace directory and get latest from Vault to put the files in the correct location.

If I ever need to edit the files, I just check them out in the templates location.  Vault allows me to check them back in from there too.

[Cambo_Slambo]

Ah ok, i'll go with that a try. Seems like a bit of a work around but if it works!

[Cambo_Slambo]

swalton - that works. Kinda silly you have to do it that way and you cant just check files into any location within your vault and not just in the "root" folder. Thanks again though.

[bjzhangzx]

I think you have at least 2 other ways to do it:

1. Temporarily uncheck the "Disable check in of design files" option in Vault Settings, and use drag and drop or Add files directly within Vault Explorer.
2. Use the "Check in Project" command found in Inventor main menu, this will do the trick.

Besides, I don't think it's wrong to have templates folder inside the projects folder, on the contrary, it can make it easier to update the templates in the future.

[Steve_Bahr]

I have a similar need and understand how to get the templates into the Vault [Vault Pro 2012].  But how do I get the Inventor app to open the files from the Vault and not each user's local workspace?  See attached.

[Neil_Cross]

You can't get Inventor to look into the Vault for the templates & style library (design data).

That path you're showing there needs to reference the local copy of the templates.

Personally, and this is just me being late to the party here, I find the idea of storing the templates & styles in Vault to be a very bad idea.  It's obviously fine from a functionality perspective as in it will work, but for other reasons that I'll not reel off here I think it's a bad workflow in a multi-user drawing/engineering office.  

[swalton]

Inventor has more than one file open command.  The standard one is hard-coded to look at the local workspace, defined by your project file, when you try to open a file.  You have the option of clicking on the "Browse to a file in Vault and open it" button on the lower left of the Open window.

An other command is found by going to the Big I button and expanding out the Open menu, where you will see an "Open from Vault" option. Train yourself and your users to use that, rather then the regular file open commands.

You can add the Open from Vault button to the Quick Access toolbar at the top of the Inventor window.  Use that instead of the standard File Open command.  In fact, it looks like you can remove the standard File Open command from that toolbar.  You might re-map your keyboard shortcuts from the standard command to the Vault command.

[Steve_Bahr]

Thanks for your reply.  However, I'm finding that allowing a user the opportunity to change the template on a whim is unacceptable.  And I really don't want to put updated copies of the templates on every user's machine.  I'm after document control, which is what Vault Pro is all about, and I need to find a way to control all documents in the Vault.

[Steve_Bahr]

Sorry.  I meant that File---->New should be seeing templates in the Vault.  But thanks for your reply.  That's why I come here for help.

[swalton]

We store the templates, style libraries, and Content Center files in our Vault because the Vault is the only network connection between two remote offices.  My office is 60 miles from the remote site and we use full replication to share both the file store and the database at each site.  There are various reasons that the network infrastructure between the two sites is partitioned as it is, but Vault is a good bridge between the two locations.

[swalton]

Try editing your Vault projects file to point to your Vault template directory. Right now it looks like it is pointing to the default directory.

You might rename your templates to match the stock ones too.

[Neil_Cross]

File > New, this can't look into Vault either.

I agree that having the templates & styles in Vault, with users having a local copy is a bad idea which is what I was originally referring to.  Users are then completely free to clear the 'read only' flags off the files and modify templates & styles to suit their own personal needs which is unacceptable in most drawing offices I've worked in.  Also, users who like to clear their workspace can easily delete the local files, leaving Inventor throwing up alsorts of errors then requiring a new download of everything.

My solution to the multi-site situation is quite deep, but I've implemented this globally.  

Office in the UK, office in Australia, Office in the US.

Put the templates & styles on a network drive and have inventor reference them via UNC such as "\\myserver\inventor"

Enable Microsoft DFS replication on a server at each site, use DFS replication to replicate the templates and styles to each server in each country.

If a CAD administrator modifies a template in UK, the changes replicate immediately to all other sites.  

Each user who accesses the path "\\myserver\inventor" is redirected to their local server folder, DFS does this.

Enable Windows Offline files so a local copy is cached without the user even realising.

The above method is absolutely fail safe and 100% reliable.  Admins can prevent users from modifying the files, all 3 sites use the exact same templates and styles which are fully replicated, and if the network goes down their PCs temporarily revert to using a locally cached version.

[Neil_Cross]

Steve - it works for a lot of people so I'm definitely not poo-poo'ing any one else's setup, but it isn't standard implementation practice to store templates & styles in the Vault.

Templates & styles are resources outside the remit of what Vault is designed to manage (That's why there is no direct integration between Inventor & Vault for application resource paths).  I appreciate the control could be better as well as awareness on this, but in a multi-user drawing office it's best practice to put the templates & styles on a network share so all users are pointing to the same set of templates and styles. 

The share can then be restricted by IT/Admin using standard Windows security/rights management.  

And subsequently as my above post details, the usual concerns regarding network based resources can easily be managed by using Windows offline files and various other standard Windows features.

One could argue why Autodesk haven't designed their own software to manage this, but then you could argue why bother when Windows already does it and does it perfectly well, tried & tested.

[Steve_Bahr]

Thanks Neil and Swalton for your advice.  I've thought about a networked location for the templates and I know it would be easy to do, except for the fact I have over 100 users and, like I mentioned above, I don't want to go into every machine to repoint to that networked location.  Way too much work.  I just thought I could use Vault functionality.  I'll continue to experiment and report back if I achieve success.