Add-in - Inventor

Autodesk Vault manages all your engineering files, regardless of the file type. Files can be Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD, FEA, CAM, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or any other file used in the design process. You can organize all your files and keep them in one location for easy access. All file versions are retained, so you never misplace or replace past versions. The vault stores each version of a file, along with all the files dependencies, giving you a living history of the project as you work on it. The vault also stores file properties such as the user name, date, and comments for rapid searching and retrieving.

In a design team, all the files and associated data are stored on the server so all users have access to the information and its history. Each member of a team must have a unique login name and password. Team members check out files to prevent more than one member from editing the same file at the same time. Once a file is checked back into the vault, team members can refresh their local copies of the model file to get the latest version from the vault, so all members of the design team work together.

Autodesk Vault integrates with Autodesk Inventor software using an Autodesk Inventor add-in. The Autodesk Inventor add-in brings the basic file management functionality of Autodesk Vault into the Autodesk Inventor environment. Using Autodesk Vault with Autodesk Inventor, you can store and manage all your Autodesk Inventor files, including:

Factories
Assemblies
Drawings
Parts
Presentations
Project files
Linked documents

When all your Autodesk Inventor files are stored in the vault, you ensure more accurate where-used information, comprehensive searching on all files, and better knowledge of what is the latest version of your designs.

Organizing Files

When working with Autodesk Vault, it is important to understand that the way you currently have your files organized may not be suited for a vaulted environment.

The very nature of a data management system requires that some planning be done to optimize file access and organization. We recommend all users not familiar with data management solutions to contact their Autodesk Authorized Reseller or Autodesk Professional Services for additional advice

Inventor vs. Inventor LT Vault Add-in Behavior

Inventor and Inventor LT share the same Vault Add-in help but Inventor LT does not support project file functionality.These areas include the following :

Project behavior, including mutliple project locations in the local machine and the Inventor Project Files and Vault Options feature are not available in Inventor LT.
· Vaulting any files other than drawings (.DWG), parts (.IPT), Inventor drawings (.IDW), and iFeatures (.IDE) is not available in Inventor LT.
· The workspace path cannot be modified in the Inventor LT when the Vault Add-in is loaded. Unload and uncheck the 'Load Automatically' option for the Inventor Vault Add-In and restart Inventor LT. Once Inventor LT is restarted, you can modify the workspace.

About Autodesk Inventor Project FIles

Note: Inventor LT does not support project files.

Autodesk Inventor provides a multi-user project type for use with the vault. To get started in working with the vault, it is recommended you use Autodesk Autoloader to create the vault project. Autodesk Autoloader uploads an entire Autodesk Inventor project to a vault located on an Autodesk data management server. The vault project file:

Logically structures data into logical projects or products that you design.
Formats search paths in a way that is acceptable for use with the vault.
Stores the location in the vault where the project data is stored:

This vault project must be used any time you want to work with the vault.

To access Autodesk Autoloader: Start > Programs > Autodesk > Autodesk Data Management > Tools > Autodesk Autoloader. Learn more about Autodesk Autoloader by clicking on Help.

Autodesk Inventor Project Rules for Autodesk Vault

Note: Inventor LT does not support project files.

All Autodesk Inventor designs, including vault projects, require a project file to resolve file references. A project file contains search paths that are used to resolve links to referenced documents in the design.

The vault project file type must be used for all vault projects. A vault project file has some important restrictions that must be considered when preparing a design for the vault and require different rules than typical project files do.

The vault project settings help ensure that you have your data organized in a way that is suitable for use with the vault.

Vault Project Rules

You must have a relative workspace. All projects must have a workspace defined that is set to either "." (the same folder as your project file) or to a subfolder underneath that, such as, .\Workspace. You can have as many subfolders under your workspace as needed for organizational purposes, however, you cannot map a search path to them.
Local and workgroup search paths are not allowed. To keep data organized within a single folder structure, project files prevent you from creating these paths.
Library search paths are allowed. You can have library search paths located anywhere on your network or your local computer. For more information, see the section about Libraries.
Included files are not allowed. The vault project file does not allow them since local or workgroup paths can be added to an included file.
Relative paths must be set to true. Absolute paths cannot be used.

When any of these rules are broken, the project file automatically changes its multi-user settings from Vault to Off.

Preparing an Existing Project

The steps to prepare an existing project for inclusion in the vault are similar, regardless of the current working environment (isolated, semi-isolated, or shared).

Assign a designated team member to vault the project, and use the following workflow:

For semi-isolated and shared projects, ensure that all documents are checked in and all users have closed all Autodesk Inventor documents.
For semi-isolated and shared projects, move all nonlibrary documents to a local drive. This ensures that no one can access the documents until they are in the vault. Retain the same folder structure on the local drive.
Edit the project file search paths to point to the local folders. Open the top-level documents and resolve any link errors.

Create a Project for the Vault

When you are ready to create a design that you eventually vault, you must create a project file for it.

To take full advantage of Autodesk Vault, your project file must be configured properly. Autodesk Vault can manage only vault-enabled project files. A project file that was configured for use with Autodesk Vault contains additional settings including the name and location of the vault and the Multi-User setting must be set to Vault. When starting a new Autodesk Inventor model, create the vault-enabled project file before creating any model files.

The key difference in a vault project file is that local and workgroup search paths are not allowed. Consolidate all project folders under the single workspace search path for the project. The workspace is the local folder mapped to the corresponding folder in the vault. The workspace can be a single folder, or can include a hierarchy of subfolders to help organize the project.

Creating a Vault Project File for existing Autodesk Inventor data using Autodesk Autoloader:

To get started in working with the vault, it is recommended you use Autodesk Autoloader to create the vault project. Autodesk Autoloader uploads an entire Autodesk Inventor project to a vault located on an Autodesk data management server.

To access Autodesk Autoloader: Start > Programs > Autodesk > Autodesk Data Management > Tools > Autodesk Autoloader. Learn more about Autodesk Autoloader by clicking on Help.

Creating a Vault Project File for new Autodesk Inventor data using the Project Editor

Start Autodesk Inventor.
In the Open dialog box, click Projects and then click New. The Autodesk Inventor project wizard is displayed. The wizard leads you through the process of creating a vault project in Autodesk Inventor.
Select New Vault Project from the dialog box, and then click Next.
Name the vault project and specify the project location. Make sure it is a new folder that does not contain any data.
Select any existing library search paths from the wizard.
Click Finish.
Click Cancel to close the dialog box.

Note: The virtual folder for the project is specified by using the add-in to map a folder.

Modify Existing Autodesk Inventor Projects

Note: Inventor LT does not support project files.

All Autodesk Inventor project types can be modified to vault projects.

The general process for getting legacy (existing) Autodesk Inventor data into the vault is to consolidate the Autodesk Inventor design files and the associated .ipj file so that it appears to be a single-user project with references only to libraries. File organization is the key factor when vaulting existing projects.

When working with Autodesk Inventor project, you must have all related data to a particular project within a single project file. If you have more than one logical project under a single project file, break them apart. For example, if your company makes two different computers (Computer A and Computer B), you must have two Autodesk Inventor project files, one for each. You can use common parts and library parts, and share and reuse these files between the two designs.

When you are ready to use vault to manage your data, you can use one of two methods:

Use Autodesk Autoloader to format your data for use with the vault (Recommended).
To access Autodesk Autoloader: Start Programs Autodesk Autodesk Data Management Tools Autodesk Autoloader. Learn more about Autodesk Autoloader by clicking on Help.
Alternatively, you can manually modify your project file.

When first modifying data for use with the vault, make sure no one is currently working on the files and one person is designated to modify the file, and add then to the vault for the first time. Once done, you can use the vault to share the files with other users.

Create an Autodesk Inventor Project Using Autodesk Autoloader

(Recommended) To access Autodesk Autoloader: Start > Programs > Autodesk > Autodesk Data Management > Tools > Autodesk Autoloader. Learn more about Autodesk Autoloader by clicking on Help.

Modify Existing Autodesk Inventor Projects Manually

An alternate way to modify an existing project file is to rearrange the folder and files manually. The method is a little more difficult than working with Autodesk Autoloader, but you can organize your data the way you want it.

Take care when modifying project files manually. In many cases, files fail to resolve and you must find the missing references.

Make sure there are no users currently working on the data set or project you want to modify. We also recommend that the project data is moved to a local folder for editing to prevent any users from working on the project while you are modifying it.
Open the existing project file with either the stand-alone project file editor or Autodesk Inventor.
Add a workspace to your project file if you do not already have one. The workspace must either be set to "." (for example, the same folder as the project file) or it must be set to a subfolder relative to the project file (for example, ".\Workspace"). If you plan on having any of your library data local, set your workspace to a relative folder (for example, .\Workspace)
Remove all local and workgroup search paths.
After the search paths are removed, move all folders and files that were referenced from the search paths into the workspace. You can either maintain the same structure as you had originally or you can create a new one. Take care in deciding how to structure the files and folders. They are added to the vault with the same structure.
Note: In most cases, you end up with files that fail to open because of moving these files. To successfully get these files into the vault successfully, resolve the failed references.
All libraries may stay the way they are. Any valid library search path is acceptable to the vault.
Open your files in Autodesk Inventor to resolve any failed references.

Map Vault Folders in Autodesk Inventor

Note: This feature is disabled for the Inventor LT Vault Add-in.

The Autodesk Inventor project file contains folder paths that need to be associated with corresponding folders in the vault. This practice ensures that the proper project structure is maintained when you check Autodesk Inventor files into and out of the vault. When you map a folder in Autodesk Inventor to a vault folder, you are specifying where files are located in the vault relative to where they are located on the physical disk.

It is recommended to use Autodesk Autoloader to automate this process: Start > Programs > Autodesk > Autodesk Data Management > Tools > Autodesk Autoloader. Learn more about Autodesk Autoloader by clicking on Help.

Use the Map Folders dialog box to manually specify where the Autodesk Inventor Vault files are stored. The information is saved in the Autodesk Inventor project file for use by other users.

Vaulted libraries are mapped to a project in much the same way as workspace folders. The difference is that the Library check box must be turned on when creating a library folder. Library folders can only be created directly off the root level of the vault.

Note: You must be assigned the role of either Editor or Administrator to perform this action. Contact your vault administrator to verify your role.

To Manually Map the Project in Autodesk Inventor

Note: To automatically map the project (recommended), use Autodesk Autoloader: Start ► Programs ► Autodesk ►Autodesk Data Management ► Tools ► Autodesk Autoloader. Learn more about Autodesk Autoloader by clicking on Help.

Open an Autodesk Inventor project.
Log into the vault.
Select the drop-down arrow from the Access group on the Autodesk Vault ribbon in Inventor, and then select Map Folders.
In the Map Folders dialog box, local folders that have not been mapped yet are indicated with a question mark icon. Select Project Root and then click Edit. The Browse Vault for Folder dialog box is displayed.
Select an existing vault folder or create a folder in the vault.
Click OK to select the vault folder.
Click OK to map the local folder to the selected vault folder.

Note: The project root and any libraries in use must be mapped to vault folders before adding files to the vault using either Check In or Add Projects in the Autodesk Inventor add-in.

To Create a Folder in the Vault

In the Browse Vault for Folder dialog box, click New Folder. The Create folder in: $ dialog box is displayed.
Enter a name for the folder.
To create a library folder, select the Library check box.
Click OK.

Note: Library folders can only be created directly off the root level of the vault.

To Browse the Workspace in Autodesk Inventor

You can browse the workspace containing the current model in Autodesk Inventor.

Select the drop-down arrow from the Access group on the Autodesk Vault ribbon, and then select Go to Workspace.

Share Project Files Using Autodesk Vault

Note: Inventor LT does not support project files.

It is important to understand how projects are used when working with the vault. When working on a specific design, which is defined by an Autodesk Inventor Project File, you have only one Autodesk Inventor project file. All users who plan on working with a particular design should share or use the same Autodesk Inventor project file.

By sharing the project file, all users are guaranteed to have the correct server, database, and project mappings. This practice minimizes end-user configuration requirements, and ensures that designs are structured in a consistent manner. If users attempt to create their own Autodesk Inventor project file, the vault cannot guarantee that the files are added or resolved to the correct location.

To Share an Autodesk Inventor Project File

After all files (designs) are added to the vault, including the project file, other users can access those files through the vault. Add these files to the vault from within Autodesk Inventor.
Using Autodesk Vault, each user browses to the project file in the vault and gets a copy of it into their working folder. At this time, the user uses the Get Latest Version command to copy the files to the local working folder. See Get Latest Version for more information.
Once users have copies of their designs in their working folder, they can use Autodesk Inventor or Autodesk Vault to check out files that need editing. See Check In, Check Out, and Undo Check Out for more information on these commands.

Using this method, all users can access project files and design data in a protected and collaborative environment.

Essential Vault Skills

Essential Vault skills are shared across many different add-ins as well as the Vault Client. Click on the link for the Command/Function in the list to go to that topic in the help.

Command/Function	Short Description
Go to vault	Launch the Autodesk Vault stand-alone client.
Log in to a vault	Log into the vault.
Log out of a vault	Log out of the vault.
Open from vault	Open a file stored in the Vault.
Place from vault	Places a file from the Vault into the open file.
Go to workspace	Launches the local working folder for Vault files.
Refresh file	Updates the selected file(s) with the properties in the vault.
Check in	Check file in for the first time or check a file back into the vault.
Check out	Checks a file out of the vault. Note: This command only performs a quick check out, so only the latest version of the latest revision is retrieved. To get a particular revision, click Get Revision on the Vault ribbon.
Undo checkout	Undoes a file checkout.
Vault Options	Launches the Vault Options dialog where you can configure your settings for the Vault add-in.
Update Properties	Updates file properties with the properties in the vault.
Change State	Changes the lifecycle state of the file to another valid state in the lifecycle.
Get Revision	Retrieves a specific revision of the file from the vault.
Revise File	Changes the file's revision to the next appropriate increment in the revision scheme.
Manage Ownership	Grants ownership of the selected file to the current workgroup. Note: This command is available in Vault Collaboration and Vault Professional.
Change Category	Changes the category assigned to a file.