VDF Feature Set

The VDF feature set consists of individual controls and workflows that are necessary for building a consistent, powerful, integrated Autodesk Vault experience within your application.

The most common workflows are available in pre-packaged units such as Log In and Browse the Vault. Some controls are available as stand alone components for when you need to create a more custom experience but retain the look/feel and functionality of the key pieces. Over time, the VDF feature set will continue to grow, offering more advanced workflows.

GUI Features

Several controls are available for customizing the user-interface.

Log in Dialog

Provides functionality for logging into a vault.

Select Entity from Vault Dialog

Allows users to navigate the vault and select an entity for an event.

Vault Browse Control

Displays detailed information about the files, folders, items, and other objects stored within the vault.

Download and Check out

Allows users to obtain a copy of an entity in a vault. The copy can be downloaded to a local working folder, checked out of the vault but not downloaded, or both.

Prompt Dialogs and Management

Presents questions to the user in a uniform interface, and allows them to save their response so that they do not have to respond to the prompt again.

Restriction Dialog

Displays restrictions to the user in a uniform dialog if an operation cannot be completed .

Common Message Box

Provides a standard GUI for showing messages with support for the following features: The ability to customize the action buttons The ability to customize the message text The ability to replace the message text with a custom User Control The ability to display messages for application exceptions.

Progress Dialog

Provides a standard GUI for a progress dialog. The dialog supports a header, a progress indicator, and unlimited rows of properties and/or status text.

Code Features

Implement additional code features to streamline the Vault workflow.

Connection Management
	All connections to a Vault server are tracked by the Connection Manager, providing a central location to interact with them.
Exception Parsing
	The VDF can return more information about some exceptions, such as matching error codes to a description or returning the Restriction that caused the exception.
Application Preferences
	Provides a mechanism for persisting application state.
Configuration
	Provides a mechanism for configuring the VDF so that it can conform to look and feel of the host application. This mechanism includes customization of fonts, icons, colors, preference locations, and integration with the host application's help system.
Extension Handler Infrastructure
	Provides a plug-in framework for resolving references when files are downloaded.
Property Management
	A service which manages information about property definitions and the synchronous or asynchronous retrieval of property values. This service supports System Properties, User-Defined Properties, and Custom Properties. Vault Status and Thumbnails are commonly used properties.
Property Pipeline
	Provides a mechanism for retrieving properties of entities. This mechanism provides hooks at many stages of the process, allowing for flexibility and customization.
Working Folders
	Provides methods for manipulating the mappings between Vault folders and directories on a hard disk.
Category Management
	Provides a set of APIs to efficiently retrieve information about categories and the glyph images associated with them. This set of APIs also provides methods for adding, updating, and deleting categories.
Custom Objects
	Provides a mechanism for creating, modifying, and deleting custom objects.