Manage Properties

Common Terms

The following table contains terms commonly used with properties.

Term	Definition
Associations	Attribute that determines whether the property is associated with a file, an item, or a change order.
Compliant	The status of a property that meets all property policies and equivalence evaluations.
Data Type	The type of data accepted for the property value. This type can be text, number, boolean, or date.
Database Property	Any property in the database, either user defined or system.
Entity	An entity is the system class with which a file can be associated. Entities are files, items, or change orders.
Equivalent	The status of a mapped property when its value matches the source value.
File Property	A property associated with a file.
Mapped Property	A property from which the propriety being defined gets its value. For example, a UDP can get its value from several different file properties. A file property can get its value from a system property.
Mapping	A set of relationships between the property being defined and a property from which it receives its value. There can be multiple mappings for a given property definition.
Master	The property from which a mapped property gets its value. The master property writes its value to the subordinate property.
Non-compliant	The status of a property when it has failed to meet one or more property policies or its equivalence evaluation.
Non-equivalent	The status of a mapped property when its value does not match the source value.
Property Definition	All attributes and constraints about the property including its name, data type, initial value, mapping, minimum and maximum values, case values, in-use value, and basic search value.
Property Name	The name used in the GUI (graphical user interface) to identify the property.
Property Policy	Depending on the data type, the property policy specifies certain constraints that must be met. The constraints may include a value range, a value type, or a value format must be met. For example, a property policy might be described as follows: the property must have a value and that value must be in the range of 1 to 10. When a property fails to meet its property policies, it is considered non-compliant.
Property Value	The literal content of a property attribute for a specific file version.
Override	Determines whether the property value is overidden by the policy defined by its category.
Subordinate	The mapped property that receives its value from the master property.
System-Defined Property	A property in the database created by the system, which is then assigned to a file.
User-Defined Property (UDP)	A property in the database created by an administrator. The property can be applied to a file when it is added to a vault.

Data Types

Attributes

Properties have attributes that determine how the property is described and the constraints for its value.

Attribute Name	Description
Basic Search	A constraint that determines whether or not the property should be included in basic searches.
Case Sensitivity	A constraint that applies to text data types. This constraint can be set to none, UPPER CASE, lower case, Name Case or Sentence case.
Enforce List of Values	A constraint that determines whether the property must have a value from a list.
Initial Value	An attribute that specifies the initial property value when one isn't specified. Note: Initial values are best used with write mappings. If an initial value is set on a regular read mapping, that read mapping has higher priority and will overwrite the initial value. The only case in which an initial value won't be overwritten by a read mapping is if the value it maps to is blank.
List Values	Displays the List Type dialog box from which you can enter and order values for a list. At least one item must appear in the list.
Minimum Length	The mininum number of characters a property value can have.
Maximum Length	The maximum number of characters a property value can have.
Requires Value	A constraint which determines whether the property must have a value to be compliant.
State	A setting on a property that indicates whether it recognizes the state the file in a lifecycle.
Usage	Indicates the number of files currently using the property. Use this information to determine which properties are used more than others, to help decide which properties can be removed from the vault.

Property Complicance Icons

The main view in the vault client has a Property Compliance column that lists various status icons. The Icons in this column indicate whether a property associated with the file is compliant, non-compliant, pending, or has failed the equivalence evaluation.

Icon	Value	Definition
No icon	Compliant	All properties meet policy requirements and equivalence.
	Non-compliant	One or more properties do not meet property policy requirements or equivalence. Hover your mouse over the icon to learn more about why one or more properties failed compliance.
	Not calculated	There has been a change to one or more properties but equivalence and policy have not been verified yet.
	Pending	Properties are currently being evaluated for equivalence.
	Evaluation failed.	The equivalence evaluation failed. This is a rare situation and can result when the processor enters an evaluation loop. NoteOn the Find dialog, an evaluation failed value is added. This allows you to search for any files for which the evaluation failed.

Manage Properties in the Vault Client with the Properties Grid

You can customize the files in the vault by creating, adding, and removing properties, and modifying property values. The Properties grid lists all properties for a selected file. The tab for the Properties grid appears at the bottom of the right pane when a file is selected from the file list.

Properties are separated based on whether they are system-defined or user-defined. Collapse or expand each group to review the properties for those definitions.

The Properties grid displays the name and value of each property associated with the selected file. You can configure the properties grid to show only certain properties.

NoteThe Properties Grid is available in Vault Workgroup, Vault, Vault Collaboration, and Vault Professional

Hide Properties in the Properties Grid

Restore Properties to the Properties Grid

Manage Properties from the Main View

User-defined properties in a vault can be edited using the Edit Properties command. With the Edit Properties command, you can select any number of files, folders, items, and change orders and edit their properties. With the heterogenious view (introduced in the 2012 release), the properties of multiple object types can be edited at the same time.

Files

Multiple files can be selected at once from the main pane to have properties edited. For example, you can select an Inventor assembly and all of its children from the Uses tab and then use the Property Editing Wizard to edit all the properties for the entire design. The selected files are copied to a temporary location on the local computer, checked out, the properties are updated, and then the files are checked back in to the vault.

For Autodesk Inventor files, including Inventor .dwg files, and Microsoft Office documents, all user-defined properties are available for editing. If a property is missing a value, you can fill it in and it will be added to the file. If the file does not contain the property as a pre-defined object, then a custom property can be created containing the value.

Folders

Folder properties can be viewed and edited in the vault. Any User Defined Properties assigned to folder categories can be edited in the Edit Properties dialog. Select one or several folders and use the Property Edit command to modified the UDP's assigned to the folders.

Items

The user can now edit properties on multiple Items at the same time. The property edit is now performed in the Edit Properties dialog instead of in an Item Edit dialog. This allows the user to select one or more than one item and edit the properties the same way they would for files.

Note

This feature is available only in Vault Professional.

View this link for more on editing items - Edit Items.

Change Orders

Similar to Items, the user is no longer restricted to editing the properties of one Change Order at a time. The user can now select one or multlple Change Orders and edit the properties associated to Change Orders in the Edit Properties dialog.

Note

This feature is available only in Vault Professional.

View this link for more on change order properties - Change Order Administration.

Edit File Properties from the Grid or Main View

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

Select a file or files from the main pane and select Ctrl+E or click the Edit icon in the Properties grid.
The Property Editing dialog lists the file or files that were selected. Click Add to include other files from the vault.
To exclude a file that was selected, select it from the list and then click Remove.
The Name, Author, and Description properties are displayed for the selected files by default. Click Select Columns to select additional properties to edit for the files.
NoteWhen using Select Columns to display in the Edit Properties screen, existing properties can be removed from the list. If a field is removed that contains edited properties, any changes you made are lost. You are prompted to verify the removal of the field before continuing.
To edit the property values:
- Double-click on a cell to edit the value.
- Right-click on a cell to copy or paste a value.
- Click and drag the small black square in the lower right corner of a highlighted cell to fill multiple cells in a column or columns with the same value.
- Right-click on a cell and then select Find to search the property values for a specific string. In the Find and Replace dialog box, enter a text string to locate and then click Find Next to move from one occurrence to the next.
- Right-click on a cell and the select Replace to search for a specific string and replace it with a new value. In the Find and Replace dialog box, enter a text string to locate and a replacement value. Click Find Next repeatedly until you locate the specific occurrence you want to replace with the new value and the click Replace or click Replace All to replace every occurrence with the new value.
- Right-click on a cell and then select Capitalize to use all uppercase characters for the value.
NoteThe new value for a property must be the proper data type for the property value. If a new value is not the proper data type for the property, the entry is flagged as incorrect.
Select OK.
The selected files are copied to a temporary location on the local computer, checked out, the properties are updated, and then the files are checked back in to the vault. A progress bar indicates the user-defined properties are being updated. Click Cancel to stop the process. If Cancel is clicked after some files have been checked back into the vault, those files will contain the edited properties. Any files not checked in will not contain the edited properties.
The Property Edit Results screen summarizes the property edits for each file and which properties were edited successfully.
You can choose to generate a report and save it locally or in the vault by performing one of these options:
Save a Report to a Local Folder
- To save the report locally, click Report.
- On the Preview dialog, select File then Export As. Fill in the options for the file type you selected and then click OK.
- On the Save As dialog, navigate to the folder structure where you want to store the file locally. Enter a name for the report and click Save.
Save a Report in Vault
- To save the report in a vault, Click Send to Vault to display a list of vault folders.
- Select the vault in which you want the report saved and enter a name for the report.
- Select whether you want to save the file as a comma-delimited (.csv) or excel file (.xls) and then click Save.
Select File > Exit to close the Preview dialog.

Edit Properties of multiple object types

The Edit Properties dialog supports objects of all types now. Files, Items, Change Orders, and Folders can all be edited at the same time. This is accomplished using links and saved searches. For more about links, go to the Projects-Links page.

Select a folder that contains links to Change Orders, Files, Folders, or Items.
Multi-select files and some links to other object types. For example, select a few files, links their Items, and links to their Change Orders.
Select Ctrl+E or select Edit Properties from the Edit menu.
The Property Editing dialog lists all of the objects that were selected. The Entity Icon in the first column indicates the entity/file type.
The Name, Author, and Description properties are displayed by default. Click Select Columns to select additional properties to edit.
NoteWhen using Select Columns to display in the Edit Properties screen, existing properties can be removed from the list. If a field is removed that contains edited properties, any changes you made are lost. You are prompted to verify the removal of the field before continuing.
The Customize Fields dialog allows the user to filter the properties by Files, Folders, Items, Change Orders, or All fields. Select the properties that need edit and exit the dialog.
If a User Defined Property is associated with multiple entity types, then it will be available for edit on those entities. Otherwise, find a property that can be edited for each entity in the dialog and make edits.
Select OK to execute the property edit and view the results.

Update Properties (Add-ins Only)

File properties can be mapped to data in Autodesk Vault . If the mapped properties are edited, the data can be updated using the Update File Properties command. This action keeps the data and assigned properties synchronized.

For more information about mapping properties, refer to Properties Administration in the Administrator Tasks's section.

AutoCAD Vault Add-in

Inventor Vault Add-in

Autodesk Vault file properties can be mapped to CAD data in Autodesk Vault. If the mapped properties are edited, the CAD data can be updated using the Update Properties feature in Autodesk Inventor to keep the data and assigned properties synchronized.

The Update Properties feature is integrated with the vault revision table feature so that revision block data is synchronized with vault released information.

Note It is important that you understand properties and vault revision table before doing anything with your files' properties.

Get Latest Properties

Get Latest Properties Settings

NoteFiles must be checked out before getting the latest properties from assigned files.

Access Update Properties

On the Autodesk Inventor toolbar, click Update
In the Get Latest Properties dialog box, the files that are currently checked out and can be updated are listed. Turn off the check box in front of any files you do not want to update.
Click Settings to specify if parents and children of the selected files are also updated.
Click OK.

The vault CAD properties that are mapped to Autodesk Vault properties are updated to reflect any changes made in Autodesk Vault.

Autodesk Vault Office

Other Vault Add-ins

Data Type Name	Description
Boolean	True or False.
Date Type	Can be a specific date or date range expressed by a beginning and end date.
Number	Numbers only.
Text	Letters and numbers.

Manage Properties

See Also