To Work With Vault Projects

To create a Vault project

If you are logged in to Vault, you can use the Prospector tree to create a new project in the project database.

You create the project using either the default Sample Project template, or another template you have saved. Project templates provide the capability to create a new project with a predetermined folder structure, where each folder can also contain files of any type. The template folders are found in the Autodesk Civil 3D Project Templates folder on your local disk.

Note: In general, a user who creates a folder or project data can delete it using Autodesk Vault. For this reason, it is recommended that all new projects be created by a system administrator. This will prevent other users from inadvertently deleting a project and associated files.

Note: If you have workgroup replication enabled in Autodesk Vault, your workgroup must have ownership of a folder before you can create a project in it. For more information, see To Request Ownership of a Project Drawing.

1. In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, right-click the Projects collection.
2. Click New.
3. In the New Project dialog box, specify a folder for the project if you want the project to be placed in a subfolder beneath the working folder.
4. Enter a project name.
5. If you want to create your new project from a template, select Use Project Template.
6. On the Project Template list, click the template you want to use.
7. Click OK.

To change the active Vault project

The working folder maps your local copies of project files to the master copies of project files in the Vault database.

The default working folder for Autodesk Vault projects is C:\Users\Public\Documents\Autodesk\Civil 3D Projects. This same default location is also used for data shortcut projects. For ease of management, it is a best practice in most cases to use different working folders for the two project types.

The working folder contains your local copies of files for all the projects stored in a Vault database. If all your projects are stored in the same Vault database, you will use the same working folder for all projects. If you work with projects that are stored in different Vault databases, you can prevent confusion by using a different working folder for each Vault database.

Projects can be created at any level in the hierarchy below the working folder. For example, within the working folder, you could have a folder named for the year, and then you can store projects associated with that year inside that folder.

In general, you should not change your working folder while you have any objects referenced or files checked out from a Vault project. The working folder is used to determine the state of your local copies of files in relation to the master copies in the project database.

Note: The active project is not displayed in the Select Projects To Display dialog box.

1. In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the Projects collection and right-click a project.
2. Click Set Active.

The active project is displayed in bold type in the Prospector tree. It is the default project for the project dialog boxes.

To export a Vault project to a ZIP file

Export a project to a ZIP file for storage, or to move the project to another vault.

When a project is exported, copies of the latest versions of all drawings and other documents are compressed and saved in a ZIP archive. This archive can be reliably imported to a vault, retaining the data references between drawings.

The export operation does not affect the original project documents. They remain in place for ongoing use.

Tip: Label your project files, then export them to archive a copy of the files at a specific milestone.

Tutorial Exercise: Exporting a Vault Project

1. In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, in Master View, expand the Projects node to see the list of projects.
2. Right-click the project to export and click Export to ZIP File.
3. In the Select the Folder to Export to dialogue box, navigate to and select the folder where you want to save the ZIP file, then click Select Folder.

   The system displays a progress bar while the files are compressed and saved.

To import a Vault project from a ZIP file

You can import a Vault project or a project that uses data shortcuts.

Data shortcuts are converted to Vault references during import.

The project to be imported can be in a folder or a ZIP file. If you are importing a project that was previously exported from a vault, it is in a ZIP file.

You cannot import a project if it has the same name as an existing project in the vault.

Note: Only users with the role of either Administrator, Document Editor (Level 1), Document Editor (Level 2), Document Manager (Level 1), or Document Manager (Level 2) can successfully import a Vault project.

Tutorial Exercise: Importing a Project into Vault