Most companies I run across all agree that they want to have completely unique file names for their CAD and engineering data, but few actually use the proper tools to achieve this. Lets look at the "find duplicates" tool and the related "Enforce unique file names" setting in Vault.
If your company already has a naming convention and every time you save a file you know what the final file name should be, you could likely turn on the "Enforce Unique File Names" option so that nobody accidentally uses the same file name. This setting would usually be used in conjunction with some time of "file name log" that is being tracked through another database, spreadsheet, or business system.
On the other hand, if your company adds descriptive file names into Vault and renames them later, the "Find duplicates" tool might be just what you need. This tool will allow you to immediately see a list of all the files in the vault that have the same file name used in multiple vault locations. After seeing this list, the rename tool can easily be used in Vault to remedy the situation.
Contributed by Ben of the CAD Geeks
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