Tracking design projects in Vault

I have previously discussed the merits of saving searches in Vault for immediate reuse of any search conducted with the Vault "Find" command, but there are some interesting combinations that I have recently run across. If you are like most engineers or designers, you probably have multiple jobs or projects you are managing at the same time. This can make it really confusing to keep track of what has been completed, and what still requires additional work.

Using saved searches in Vault with a combination of folder locations and file status can be a great way to quickly see the status of your current designs.

Here is an example of a saved search that locates all of the files still checked out beneath a specific Vault folder structure (core Vault):

Here are all of the WIP files in another Vault location (Vault Workgroup and above):

So whatever level of Vault you are using, there is a search that can help you out with determining project completion, and finding that require additional work.

Contributed by Ben of the Tata Technologies CAD Geeks

How do I search in ACADE?

After I started using AutoCAD Electrical for a few months I came up with the simplest question. How do I find information in my project?

ACADE has 'Find and Replace' commands. I can use the surfer on the symbols if I know where they are but if you check the command line then you'll see that the surfer is your search tool!

Type it to Surf it!

http://www.screencast.com/t/jpod3ugVp

Created by Josh, Yet another CAD Geek

Fast Vault Searching - Directly from your CAD interface

Most people are aware many of the searching techniques that can be used to locate data in Vault, but did you know most of this can also be done directly from AutoCAD or Inventor?

When in the "Open from Vault" dialog box this is Find command in the upper-right corner of the dialog box:






This gives us all of the same searching capability as the Find command in the full Vault client, but can be used directly from the CAD software without switching to another window:





By double-clicking the file located in the Find dialog, it is automatically located and populated in the Open dialog so you can verify the proper file and location:







Contributed by Ben of the CAD Geeks

Finding My Way.....

Sometimes you need a way to find things in your browser quick and easy. It can be quite difficult to peck through all of the items to find what you want when you have a large browser tree. A tool exists for searching the browser that I seldom see people taking advantage of. It offers some pretty powerful ways of locating what you want, when you want it.

Let's Take A Look

John with the CAD Geeks

Enhanced Property Viewing in Vault 2010

One of the new features in the latest Vault 2010 that I am really digging is the addition of the "Properties" tab when viewing the details of a particular file. This new tab makes if much easier to quickly scan all of the meta-data associated with a file, and helps to determine if a general search returned the expected result based on the property data with the file. This will allow us to use much more general searches to locate a group of files rather than using the advanced Find tool to try and narrow the search to a single result.

As an example, check out the search used in these images:






As you can see, the search results show partial property matches in multiple properties to locate the two files returned by the search. This more flexible search is now possible with a new technique using a concept called "search tokens" to be covered in a future data management blog post. Stay tuned.

Contributed by Ben of the CAD Geeks

Configuring Saved searches in Vault

One of the search options added to Vault has been the ability to predefine elements of a search, while still allowing for elements that require new search inputs. We can call this a "Configured Saved Search".

Take a look at this video for an example of setting up a configured search and the workflow to use it.

Watch Video Here

Contributed by Ben of the INCAT CAD Geeks

Vault Viewing - Text Searching Trick

One of my recent finds in the View tab in Vault and Productstream is the ability to do a Text Search within the current visualization file. This allows you to locate specific text on a drawing directly inside the Vault or Productstream interface. Just right click on the view and pick "Search".


Take a look at this short video example:

Watch Video Here

Contributed by Ben of the INCAT CAD Geeks

Current Work saved Vault Search

One of the great uses of Vault searching is the ability to see all the files you currently have checked out (and thereby actively working on). If you are like me, you can't remember what you were working on Friday when you start your day on Monday. A simple saved search folder in Vault can make Monday mornings a little less painful. Check out this video for an example:

Watch Video Here

Contributed by Ben of the INCAT CAD Geeks

How Properties affect Vault Searching

Since the 2009 release of Vault and ProductStream, the properties available for Vault searching now need to be explicitly designated for use in a "Basic" search. This is done in the Property Definition area of the Administration dialog box. This is also used to turn off properties that are not needed and may be cluttering search results with a bunch of unwanted files.

Contributed by Ben of the INCAT CAD Geeks

Finding my way....

A little known searching tool in Inventor can be used to locate all sorts of useful information. I guess that's why it's called Find....It can be accessed in the open dialouge to find files as well as for searching contents of files while you have them open. It offers different options based on what type of file you have open. For instance: If I have a part open, I can search sketches and features that meet certain criteria. If I have an assembly open, there are quite a few options for searching there as well.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

I'm sure you will "find" some way to use this often overlooked but powerful tool.

John with the INCAT CAD Geeks