Working with Level of Detail and Vault Files

When opening an Autodesk Inventor assembly, you can choose a level of detail to open for the model. If you are opening an assembly from a vault, only files necessary to open the specified level of detail to the local workspace are downloaded. Components suppressed by the level of detail are not downloaded.

Not all Vault commands work with suppressed components. The following commands are not available in the Vault browser context menu when a suppressed file is selected. To use these commands, the files must first be unsuppressed.

Check Out
Undo Check Out
Find in Window

Note: The Property Write-Back command is not available for suppressed files.

Checking out files

A suppressed file cannot be checked out. A file that has suppressed children can be checked out; however, the suppressed children are not checked out. Suppressed components are not listed in the Check Out or Check In dialog boxes.

Getting the latest version of files

Files suppressed by an LOD are not downloaded from the vault. When the files are loaded into Autodesk Inventor, the suppression rules are followed. The suppressed subassembly is displayed in the Vault browser using the strikethrough font, but the subassembly or its children are not loaded into Autodesk Inventor.

Note: Depending on how the managed prompts are configured, you may be prompted to verify that local files can be replaced when getting the latest version of files from the vault.

Checking in files

Components suppressed by the active LOD cannot be checked in. If a suppressed component requires check in you must change the active LOD where the component is unsuppressed before check in. Suppressed components are excluded from the Check-in dialog box.

Note: Detail IDs are not included in the BOM if one or more files are suppressed when an assembly is checked into the vault.

Checking in Factory Files

Members can be checked in from factory files. Members using the default file name and path are supported for inclusion on check in. Members that are checked out or that do not reside in the vault at the time of check in must be checked in from the Check in dialog.

Note: There are no dependency constraints when checking in member files from a factory.

Undoing checked out files

The Undo Check Out operation can be performed on an assembly with suppressed children. However, the suppressed files are not listed in the Undo Check Out dialog box. The Replace local copy option does not apply to the suppressed files.

Opening and placing files from the vault with suppressed children

When opening or placing a file from the vault, the same rules as getting the latest version applies to suppressed files. The latest versions of the specified file and all of its children are retrieved from the vault first and then the necessary files are checked out. The level of detail suppression is honored once the file is opened or placed in Autodesk Inventor.

Adding files to the vault

Suppressed files cannot be added (checked in) to a vault. If a file has one or more new children that are suppressed, the children must be unsuppressed before they can be added to the vault. These files must be unsuppressed before they can be added.

Assembly File - Open/Place from Vault Options

When opening an Autodesk Inventor assembly, you can choose what level of detail to load for the model. When a level of detail is specified we minimize file download of only unsuppressed components.

Note: For more information on levels of detail, see Learn about level of detail representations in the Autodesk Inventor Help.

In the File Open Options dialog, select Open Express to open an assembly in express mode.
Note: This feature is available in Autodesk Vault 2014.
Refer to the Inventor help for more information about express mode.
In the File Open Options dialog, select the Representation:
- Design View Representation: Click the arrow to open the file with a specified Design View representation. Design Views affect several display attributes of the assembly, such as component visibility, color, enable status, browser state, sections, and camera orientation.
- Positional Representation: Click the arrow to open the file with a specified Positional representation. Positional representations may include alternate constraint values, component positions, or other attributes that affect component positions.
- Level of Detail Representation: Click the arrow to open the file with a specified Level of Detail representation. Level of Detail representations reduce memory use by component suppression.
To create an association between the selected file and the active file, select the Associative checkbox. You assign a Design View representation to a subassembly at any level in the assembly hierarchy and make it associative. Changes to the Design View are represented in higher-level assemblies that contain the subassembly.
Click OK.

Drawing File–Open from Vault Options

Select the Defer Updates checkbox to prevent the drawing file (.idw) from being updated when changes are made to files associated with the selected drawing file.