Thin Client - View but not download files

[dariuszm]

Autodesk Vault is able to add permission for Read/Write/Delete/Download. It will be good if users for Autodesk TC will have permission to View preview of file (Autodesk Viewer of PDF/dwf) but if they don't have download permissions option for downloading should be disable for them. Now if users permissions are configured for only read permissions, then can't view preview of files and getting error:

More details form Autodesk support:

[ihayesjr]

Thank you for posting the idea.

However, the download permission is there to protect the viewing and downloading of the file. 

There is no real security on the file content if you are still able to view the file. Users could grab screenshots of the view and create their own files.

[dariuszm]

And this is the idea - view files but don't download. If someone do a screenshot it's not our problem.

[ihayesjr]

Ok, what problem are you trying to solve by preventing them from download the file to view it?

[dariuszm]

The problem is that user can take a 3D dwf file (downloaded as visualization dwf file) and  copy somewhere - Administators of Vault want to avoid situation when users can download file and view in some another machine.

[dariuszm]

Please change status of this idea, because users report me, that they can't vote for this idea.

[ihayesjr]

Archived: Due to a low strategic fit, technical feasibility, or the support of your peers, ideas with this status are not being considered for implementation at this time. Thank you for your contribution, every idea has merit. We always encourage you to rework and resubmit these ideas based on feedback received.

[ihayesjr]

@dariuszm 

What version of Vault are you using?

For the users that you don’t want to download the DWF, what Vault client are they using?

[dariuszm]

2023

[dariuszm]

Maybe the idea should be: I would like to be able to configure Vault Thin Client as Administrator to block download files (dwf, pdf and all other files) for specific group of users. It should be able to configure what files can be downloaded and what not (by category or file extension). But next part of this idea is to give users access to view files by forge viewer.

Summary: View files but not download in Autodesk TC.

[dariuszm]

@ihayesjr what about this idea? What should be done to proceed this cases? Some another users asks me why this case is archived and can't vote on it.

[ihayesjr]

@dariuszm 

As previously stated.

Archived: Due to a low strategic fit, technical feasibility, or the support of your peers, ideas with this status are not being considered for implementation at this time. Thank you for your contribution, every idea has merit. We always encourage you to rework and resubmit these ideas based on feedback received.

[ihayesjr]

@dariuszm 

If I allowed the administrator to disable the download button in the Thin Client, will that be enough?

[KWarrenCA]

I'm also looking for the option to not allow users to download the files but be able to view it from the Thin Client. This would minimize the shop from downloading the pdf to their computer and have an out dated print on the shop rather than them building from the latest file in the thin client.

[yw_seo]

Since Autodesk View (Forge) came in as a thin client, the download permission and preview permission have been changed to be the same. In the previous version, there was an item that gave download permission as an option in Thin Client. In normal cases, functions or options can be added, but the existing function is gone, and I don't know why. Currently, this problem is becoming an issue with many customers, and some do not use Thin Client because of this problem. This is a must-have option in the current version.

[ihayesjr]

@yw_seo 

In the old Thin Client, an administrator could configure it only to allow the download of the visualization file if it existed. This prevented any user from downloading the parent CAD file. Let's go through an example.

Part1.ipt and part1.dwf are in Vault.

• The administrator sets the Thin Client configuration as previously stated. The Thin Client user goes to this file and is now able to download the part1.dwf file only. In earlier releases of Vault, the DWF file would open in the browser. In other releases, the DWF file had to be downloaded and opened in Autodesk Design Review (ADR).
• If the administrator did not configure this option, the Thin Client user could download both the IPT and DWF files.
• All users are affected by this configuration.

The Thin Client download option was removed in the new Thin Client since we added the download permission directly on the files. Let's take the same example.

Part1.ipt and part1.dwf are in Vault. We have two groups, "Shopfloor" and "Designers".

Designers are allowed to download the IPT and DWF files. ShopFloor only has permission to download the DWF file.

• A member of the Designers group uses the Thin Client. This user will have the option to download the IPT and DWF file.
• A member of the ShopFloor group uses the Thin Client. This user will only be able to download the DWF file.
• Now the Thin Client can enable the download based on the user and not a setting for all users. More flexibility is achieved this way.

In both cases, for a user to "View" the DWF file, the DWF file has to be downloaded by the browser. It is downloaded in the Browser's temp cache.

• In the old Thin Client, ADR could open the DWF in the browser with the browser extension. Later, when the extension no longer worked, it had to be downloaded to be opened in the ADR desktop app.
• The DWF file still needs to be downloaded in the new Thin Client. Then it is translated using the new built-in Autodesk Viewer and displayed to the users in the browser. Also, the user can download the DWF file and opened in ADR if they want to.

You have not lost this functionality with the new Thin Client. What @dariuszm is asking for is to hide the download button. If we implement that, all users will be affected and unable to download the DWF file locally.

[dariuszm]

I thnik, that Autodesk don't want to do this option in thin client - don't understand why. How  @KWarrenCA  sad - this should minimalize risk of downloading old documentation on shopfloor from downloading the pdf to their computer and have an out dated print on the shop rather than them building from the latest file in the thin client.

There is workoround on this - you can directly modify ThinClient files on server and do some changes in thinclient @yw_seo  @KWarrenCA. You should modify code of thinclient in "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Vault Thin Client 2023\Web"

[ihayesjr]

@dariuszm 

I asked you a question previously, and you did not answer it. 

If I allowed the administrator to disable the download button in the Thin Client, will that be enough?

[ihayesjr]

FYI, if you modify the Thin Client code, you are no longer supported for any issues.

[dariuszm]

I miss this question- sorry for that. @ihayesjr disabling this option this is exactly what we are doing. It's enough because users on shop floor aren't familiar with editing source of site. But in my opinion from security it's not the best solution, but enough. 

We were disable main download button and download from context menu button fyi.

[ihayesjr]

If we decide to implement this solution, it will only be disabling the download buttons in the app. The Download permission is still needed to view the file.