Auto-Change Lifecycle based on Category Assigned

[Anonymous]

Myself and a couple of co-workers were discussing this the other day and realized it would be a nice enhancement to have the option that if you have a file in Vault that is already assigned a Category and thus an associated Lifecycle, if for whatever reason you change the Category of the file, that the Lifecycle tied to the Category would also automatically be assigned to the file.

As it is now, if you change the file's Category, you must also manually change the Lifecycle to that assigned to the Category.

I understand there might be some restrictions or maybe an error or two based on the differences between the Lifecycles and their States, but I'm sure there can be some sort of "prompt" during the process as to which State the file needs to go to in the new Lifecycle you are moving it to.

Thoughts?

[ihayesjr]

If it were to automatically assign the lifecycle because of the change, how would the system determine what state to select?

[Anonymous]

If a same State name is available in the new lifecycle use it. If not, set the state to the default initial value.

I ask for this two years ago without succes. I had to make a seacrh definition to get all files where the lifecyle and category combination aren't correct. Every week I run this search and have to correct hunderts of files as administrator.

Maarten Weers,

Technical Specialist CAD - Parker Hannfin EMEA.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree and whole-heartedly endorse this enhancement request.

[AndrewPawelski]

I endorse this 100%. In our case we are using Vault for the entire project team, not only Engineering. We use lifecycles as a means to secure data to a specific group in WIP state, while using Released state as a sharing mechanism. Therefore, we always have a lifecycle for every category, 1 for 1. This would be a great option. I would vote to select the initial state of the new lifecycle when changing.

[saainsworth]

This is the work flow that would seem to work best for us and I am struggling to implement it.  We have three basic categories:

Reference  --- lifecycle defaults to a read only status.

Working --- these are internal files that are not controlled.  Their lifecycle defaults to a read write status.

Deliverable  --- these are files that will be released to manufacturing or customers.  They have a flexible release lifecycle.

It is not uncommon for working files when sufficiently refined to become Deliverable or on going work produces the need for a reference file to need revision causing it to become Deliverable.

I would like the user to be able to change the category and have the proper lifecycle and state set automatically.

Has anyone found a way to do this?  Has anyone programmed it?

[Anonymous]

OK, this may be more of a bug report which I have already submitted, but I feel this is something that if I get enough "eyes" on it, it might be moved to the top of the fix pile.

Currently in Vault Pro 2017, I have two categories set for our cad files, each with their own lifecycle and revision scheme.

1. Prototype/Development files - these have a Alpha primary revision scheme and a "stripped down" lifecycle.

2. Production files - These have a Numeric Primary revision scheme and a much more entailed lifecycle.

Of course there are times when a Development file will be approved for Production and thus we have it set to change the category from Development to Production and thus the lifecycle for all the required checks and balances as well as following the Production (Numeric) revision scheme.

Simple, right? Common, right?

Problem is if we change the category from Development to Production, the file still retains its Alpha revision scheme. Thus we can have files showing the Production category but with a Development revision. Obviously the difference in revision schemes is to act like a red flag for anyone from the front office to the shop to vendors as to whether the part is approved for production or still in development.

As it stands, our work around is to have the final checker (management) change the category from Development to Production, move it to the Released state, notify the Vault Admin, have him put the file into Quick Change, and set the revision to the proper Numeric (Production) scheme, then put the file back into Released state.

Not good.

[Boorda]

You are correct, after changing a category it doesn't automatically switch over to the default Revision Scheme assigned to the now current category.

We wanted to do the same thing but were told by our consultant that this not how Vault was designed.

As you can imagine that frustrated me quite a bit. Vault should be flexible/configurable enough to work with most companies workflows, not tunnel you into what is assumed to be a common workflow.

I think it would be awesome to make this an Administrator configurable option to auto switch to the default revision scheme of a newly assigned category.

This would need to be an option specific to each Category, not a global thing, so that you can better control when this default is applied. You may want it to happen when placing files in one category, but not another.

@Anonymous ...Great minds think alike....

[cbenner]

Currently using Vault Pro 2017, so maybe this has changed.  

When I change the category on an Item from my Project Cat (default), to Quotes (secondary).  I would like to see the life cycle and revision associated with the new category take effect immediately.  Currently, I have to manually set these using Change Revision and Change State.  I don't actually cycle the State or Revision, but I need to use those commands to tell the newly changed Item that THESE are the schemes it should be using.... even though those schemes are clearly defined in the category settings.

[cbenner]

Thank you to whomever put my new post in here where it belongs.  It was early Monday and I hadn't had my coffee yet and was struggling with this.

Based on @ihayesjr comments above, the sticking point seems to be that the system, on a category change, doesn't know what state to assign.  With the ability to customize work states on Items, this is a real issue.  Another comment posted some time ago suggested that the state be set to the default for that life cycle scheme.  Another possible solution would be a simple prompt on Category change.  Something like: "Select new State for this Item"; with a drop down of the possible choices for the new Category.

So, in other words, when a category is changed, maybe the system automatically calls the Change State and Change Revision commands and prompts the user or Admin to select a new state and new revision, before the category change can be completed.  At the very least this would put it all into one command, one screen... one dialog box even?  It would save us from having to remember that we need to do this, and would certainly save a few mouse clicks.

@Anonymous  Whatcha think?

[Anonymous]

@cbenner, I agree fully with your proposal.

In short, our typical process here is a design will be created in the Prototype group of Engineering. If and when that design gets approved by the customer, it then moves on to the Production group in Engineering, who then takes the design and fine tunes it, gives it an official name, number, etc., details it and has it finalized for production.

Considering our Prototype group works under far less restrictions compared to the Production group, they have their own Category and Lifecycle. Once approved for production, those files need to then be assigned to the Production Category/Lifecycle and go thru the requires checks and balances. This is a major need for us (and I would think many others). Having the process automated or just less manual would be a great help, especially in the very fast paced environment we work in here.

[Gabriel_Watson]

A workaround we currently use is a special iProperty that auto-categorizes design files as they enter Vault (by Check-In via the appropriate design software).

Each department that initializes new design files will have a different templates' folder, with template files carrying their specific "Template Type" property. Two letters in that property are all we need to define whether the design file is a Mechanical Design (MD), Documentation, Advance Process (AP), and so forth kinda file.

The problem is that once those files get copied via Copy Design or by users, they must also change the Template Type property to match the new lifecycle required.

This creates its own set of issues with having people change Categories and not having the Lifecycle Definition follow it.


Just illustrating how this problem stems out a whole set of issues when we are talking about 200+ users in a Vault environment where at least 20 of them are new users, who absolutely need to memorize that:
1) The first time you change category in a file, from Base category to any other, the Lifecycle will match automatically;
2) If the file already has a lifecycle, then changing the category is half of the job... you must also change its Lifecycle Definition... BADLY placed under an almost hidden menu "..." inside the "Change State" window.

Please provide us with a choice for the Lifecycle or Category auto-change one another. Half of my administrative searches are just for spotting Lifecycle-Category mismatches around in our Vault.
Thank you.

[ThomasSwanson]

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/vault-ideas/attatching-revision-schemes-to-vault-lifecycles-and-not/i...

Hey Guys, I made a post here for an idea that will help out with the workflow issue you are describing above.   What I am suggesting is moving the revision scheme from the Category down to the lifecycle.  That way when changing a category it will push the lifecycle and that would change the rev schema.

[Edoardo.Baima]

Has anyone tried to solve this based on customisation?

I noticed with datastandard that when creating a new document, set the category in "Office", the document is created 

with the right category but the lifecycle assigned is the one of default new category lifecycle.

[Anonymous]

Though I have moved on to a far better employer and situation since I posted this request, I still find it as a need.

Moving a file from one Lifecycle to another by way of its Category seems like a common step for any place that has an R&D or Prototype department with differing and typically less stringent Lifecycle states than the Production category. I'd suggest when a file does this change, by default have it moved to the WIP state. To me, that seems like the most logical state upon the move. It can always be changed from there if need be.

I have not attempted to solve this by customization as I no longer have the need as I did back then. But I do know the place I was at is still in need of this function, but then again, a good part of why I left is that they were extremely against any type of change, even beneficial, if it meant changing their habits. "But that's the way we've always done it" is king there.

[Edoardo.Baima]

Thank you for the fast reply @Anonymous

I will try to include lifecycle definition in Datastandard to resolve issue for file newly created.

To solve the issue for existing files, i think is better to post in the Vault customization forum.

I'll try to intercept the event of change category and see from there if is possible to assign the default state of selected category's lifecycle.

I fully understand you situation.

I'm working for a firm passing from Productstream to Vault Professional.

250k Files & 150k items were migrated into vault through customization to fit the historical standards.

"But that's the way we've always done it" is the most common phrase i've been hearing lately 🙂

Also, iI'll try to remeber to post here if some solution comes up.

Cheers

[RobJordan]

Hey,

When changing a file/folder Category in Vault Workgroup or Professional it currently doesn't allow you to change the Lifecycle Definition or Revision Definition at the same time. 

I think it would be great if users had the option to change all at the same time. There would be plenty of ways that Autodesk could achieve this, but here is how I would imagine it could be achieved quite easily. (category state revision.png)

Ticking the lifecycle definition box - could automatically set the lifecycle and choose the default initial state.

Ticking the revision definition box - could automatically set the revision scheme and choose the primary revision value.

Something like that 😉

[ihayesjr]

I have merged a few similar ideas into this one.

[jeremy-morton]

PLEASE MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!