Custom Objects Definition Administration

Custom Objects allow Vault administrators to use an extensible system to create new Vault entities to meet the needs of their team, organization, or company. Right out-of-the-box, the administrator can create a Custom Object definition and assign it categories, lifecycles, and properties. Once the Custom Object definition is created, users can create instances of that custom object directly through the user interface. As with files and folders, users can perform many common Vault tasks with custom objects.

Release Availability

The Custom Objects feature is available in certain editions of Autodesk Vault. Refer to the following table to see if your edition supports this feature.

	2012	2013	2014
Autodesk Vault Basic
Autodesk Vault Workgroup
Autodesk Vault Collaboration
Autodesk Vault Professional

Learn About Custom Objects

There are two concepts to the Custom Objects entity class. They are Custom Object definitions and a Custom Object instances.

Custom Object Definition

The Custom Object definition is the type of entity that is being created. For example, an administrator can create a custom object definition called Contacts or Tasks.
Custom Object Definitions are created, edited, and deleted on the Configure Custom Objects Dialog. You can access the Configure Custom Objects Dialog through the Custom Objects Tab on the Vault Settings dialog. You must be an administrator to create and modify custom object definitions.

Custom Object Instance

When the user creates a new custom object based on a definition, this is considered an instance. For example, an administrator creates a custom object definition called Contact. A user could then create an instance of that custom object called Bob Smith.
Users can attach files, folders, and other Vault entities to a custom object with a link.
For example, if a custom object definition has been created called Tasks and a user has created a task called Review John's Design, the task (Review John's Design) can be linked to John's design in the vault.
Custom Object instances can be checked in, checked out, undergo a change state, and managed with many common Vault commands. Similarly, linked objects are also affected, depending on the user's settings for the Vault function.
For example, if a user wants to check out a custom object and the custom object has links to files, folders, items, or change orders; the files associated with that linked data are gathered and checked out as well.

Access the Configure Custom Objects Dialog

In the Vault Settings dialog of the Vault client, the administrator can create, edit, and delete custom object definitions from the Custom Objects tab.

Access

Click Tools > Administration > Vault Settings.
In the Vault Settings dialog box, select the Custom Objects tab.
Choose the Configure button to open the Configure Custom Objects dialog.

Create a New Custom Object Definition

Follow these steps to create a new custom object definition.

In the Autodesk Vault Client, click Tools Administration Vault Settings.
In the Vault Settings dialog box, select the Custom Objects tab and click Configure.
On the Configure Custom Objects dialog, click New.
Enter a new Display name for a Custom Object. This name is used in the Vault User Interface when the new Custom Object is displayed.

Note: Note: A display name and plural display name are required because the Vault uses both contexts throughout the interface. Since there is no universal way to make a name plural, the administrator needs to insert the value upon creation.

By default new custom objects use role-based security. This can be customized by configuring different permissions for individual users and groups. For more information, see Custom Object Security.
New Custom Objects can use any icon file (*.ico). Defining four different sizes of the icon will provide the best looking icons throughout the Vault interface (16x16 , 32x32, 64x64, or 128x128). If only one size is defined, it is stretched or compressed to fit each size. If no icon is available, the Use default Custom Object icon should be selected.

Note: New Custom objects do not appear in the user interface until the user logs out and logs back in after the Custom Object is created.

Preview a Custom Object Definition

Hover the cursor over preview field to preview how the icons appear in the Vault interface. If the images do not show up as clearly as desired, reconfigure the .ico file for a more appropriate image size.

Edit an Existing Custom Object Definition

Once a custom object definition is created, the administrator can navigate back to the Configure Custom Objects dialog and modify the existing settings.

Edit Name

In the Autodesk Vault Client, click Tools Administration Vault Settings.
In the Vault Settings dialog box, select the Custom Objects tab and click Configure.
Select a custom object definition and click Edit.
Modify the value in the Display Name and Plural Display Name fields.
Click OK.

Note: The changes made to the custom object name are seen after logging out and logging back into the Vault client.

Edit Security

In the Autodesk Vault Client, click Tools Administration Vault Settings.
In the Vault Settings dialog box, select the Custom Objects tab and click Configure.
Select a custom object definition and click Edit.
Click Security. .
Make edits to the existing access control entry list.
Select OK.

Edits to the security are made immediately to all instances of the custom object definition.

Edit Icon

The icon associated with a custom object definition can be changed after the definition is created.

In the Autodesk Vault Client, click Tools Administration Vault Settings.
In the Vault Settings dialog box, select the Custom Objects tab and click Configure.
Select a custom object definition and click Edit.
Change the icon by either choosing to use the default icon or browsing to a new .ico file.
Click OK.

Note: The changes made to the custom object icon are seen after logging out and logging back into the Vault client.

Delete a Custom Object Definition

A user can delete an existing Custom Object at any time using the Configure Custom Objects dialog. As long as the custom object is not in use, the definition can be deleted from the Vault.

Note: All instances of a custom object definition have to be removed from the vault before the definition can be deleted.

In the Autodesk Vault Client, click Tools Administration Vault Settings.
In the Vault Settings dialog box, select the Custom Objects tab and click Configure.
On the Configure Custom Objects dialog, select the Custom Object to delete.
Click delete.
Perform one of these tasks:
If no instances of the custom object were created in the Vault:
- Choose Yes on the Confirm Deletion dialog.
If there are instances of the custom object in the Vault:
1. Click OK on the dialog that says the definition is in use.
2. Search the Vault for the custom object instances.
3. Delete the instances.
4. Navigate back to the custom object configuration dialog and select the definition.
5. Click Delete.
6. Click Yes on the Confirm Deletion dialog.

The custom object definition is deleted. A new definition can be created using the same name if desired.

Note: If there are properties associated with the custom object definition, the administrator is restricted from deleting it.

Custom Objects and Categories, Lifecycles, and Properties

Custom objects can be assigned categories, lifecycle states, and properties.

Categories

Categories can be assigned to custom objects in two ways: when the custom object is created and when the user performs a change category event on the custom object. By assigning custom object instances to a category, properties and lifecycle definitions associated with the category are automatically applied to the instance.

See Work with User-Defined Properties for more information.

Lifecycles

Just like files and folders, when a custom object is assigned a category, it automatically inherits the associated lifecycle definition. Lifecycles can be configured to automate certain behaviors based on the custom object's status in the lifecycle. Lifecycle settings are configured by the administrator.

See Lifecycles Administration for more information.

Properties

Categories can also be used to assign user-defined properties to Custom Objects. There are also out-of-the-box properties specific to custom objects, such as Custom Object Name and Custom Object System Name.

See Work with User-Defined Properties for more information.