Manage Items

1.  Right-click a file in a vault folder and then select Go To Item.
2. If the file is associated to multiple item, the Go To Item dialog is displayed listing all the items associated with the selected DWG file. Select an item from the list and then click OK. 

 Rules for editing an item:

• The item must be in the Work in Progress state.
• No other user can be editing the item.
• If the item is on a change order, the change administrator must have enabled Allow Edits. In this circumstance, the lifecycle state of the item can not be edited.
• Only an Item Editor Level 2 or administrator has rights to edit an item.

Edit opens an item record so you can:

• Modify the title and description fields.
• Add, remove, and modify user-defined properties.
• Attach and modify attachments. 

Edit an Item

NoteAn item cannot be opened for editing if it is being edited by another user. You must have Item Editor Level 2 permissions to edit an item.

1. Right-click an item in the item master, and then select Edit from the context menu.

   The Item Record dialog box displays all attributes and properties of the selected item.

   NoteA file and its dependents must be checked into the vault to edit the corresponding items.
2. The following item attributes can be edited within the Item Record dialog box:
   • Item Title text
   • Item Description text
   • Item Category: Click the drop-down arrow, and then select from the list.
   • File attachments: Click Attachments to attach a file to the item.
   • Add or delete properties to the item, right-click in the Properties list and then select Modify Attached Properties. In the Modify Attached Properties dialog, specify which properties to add or remove. The property values can be edited if the item is not associated with a file.
   • BOM: To make changes to the BOM, click the BOM tab.
3. Click Save and Close to update the item master.

Create non-model file-based items using the New Item command. Creating new items allows tracking of items that are not modeled yet are required to fully describe the finished product such as purchased parts, consumables (for example: grease, fluids, and so on), documentation, and packaging. You can enter item attributes and attach files managed by the vault to the new item. Items can be added to the BOM of another item using the BOM editing functionality.

User-defined items can be designated as one of the following:

• Part: Indicates a part without an associated CAD file. Select when creating non-modeled parts.
• Assembly: Indicates a grouping. For example, to create groupings of parts, such as a repair kit that is shipped with a product.
• Document: Indicates the item represents information that needs to be tracked, such as a specification or set of instructions.
• Purchased: Indicates the item represents a part to be purchased
• General: Groups items that do not meet another classification.
• Process: Indicates a process, such as heat treatment where an attached file has the specification.
• Product: Indicates a grouping of items that represent an entire product.
• Electrical Project: Indicates an AutoCAD Electrical project.
• Electrical: Indicates a component of an AutoCAD Electrical project.

An item number based on the default item number format is generated. The item number can be edited after the item has been created in the item master.

Create a New Item

1. Right-click Item Master in the navigation pane, and then select New Item from the context menu. A blank item record is displayed and an item number is automatically generated based on the default item number format.
2. The default item category is "Document". To change the item category, click the drop-down arrow, and then select one of the following:
   • Part
   • Assembly
   • Document
   • Purchased
   • General
   • Process
   • Product
   • Electrical Project
   • Electrical
3. In the Item Title text box, enter an item title.
4. In the Item Description text box, enter a brief description of the item.
5. From the Units drop-down list, select the default units for the item.
6. From the Actions menu, select Attachments to attach files in the vault to the item and then click OK. The files attached to the item are displayed in the Associated Files list.
7. Right-click in the Properties list and then select Modify Attached Properties to attach properties to the new item.
8. Click Save and Close to save the new item

1. To attach a property to an existing item, right-click the item in the Item Master, and then select Edit.

   To attach a property to a new item, right-click Item Master in the browser, and then select New Item.

2. Select the General tab.
3. In the Properties list, right-click and then select Modify Attached Properties.
4. The Modify Attached Properties dialog box displays the list of properties that can either be attached to the item or removed from the item. Properties attached to the item are indicated with a check mark. You can create new properties using the Administration dialog box.
   • Select a property from the list and then click Add.
   • To remove a property attached to the item, select the property from the list and then click Remove.
5. Click OK.

Attach Properties by Using Add or Remove Properties

1. Select an Item in the Item Master.
2. From the Actions menu select Add or Remove Property.
3. The Add or Remove Property dialog box is displayed.
   • Select a property from the list and then click Add.
   • To remove a property attached to the item, select the property from the list and then click Remove.
4. Click OK.

Items can be added to change orders from the main item grid, the item BOM tab, and the Where Used tab.

1. Right-click on an item or items not already assigned to a change order and select Add to Change Order.
2. On the Find dialog, search for the change order to which you want to assign the item(s).
3. Select the change order from the results list and click OK to complete the assignment.

Item properties can be edited without opening the item in an edit window. Additionally, properties can be edited on multiple items with one command.

1. Select the item or items that need a property edit.
2. Open the Edit Properties dialog using any of the following 3 methods:
   • EditEdit Properties
   • Ctrl + E
   • Select the Edit Properties button from the vertical properties grid.
3. To add any items that were left out of the selection, select the Add button and search for the items to be added. If there are items that do not need the edit select the row and select the Remove button.
4. With the items listed in the dialog, choose the Select Properties button to add or remove properties from the dialog grid.
5. Edit the properties of the items and select OK.
6. View the results of the item property edit.

For more on property editing, see Understanding Properties.

Use Attachments to attach any file type from the vault to an item, such as attaching assembly instructions to an assembly or a drawing to a purchased part. You can see all files related to the item

Pinning an attached file prevents the file from being updated. An attached file that is not pinned updates to the most recent version each time the item is updated.

When the Number of Attachments column is displayed in the Item Master the paper clip icon displays for every item with one or more attachment. Control-click the paper clip to view attached files.

Manage File Attachments

1. In the Item Record dialog box, click Attachments on the standard toolbar.
2. The Attachments for Item [number] dialog box displays. Click Attach.
3. In the Select File to Attach dialog box, browse to the location of the file or click Search to find files in the vault.
4. Select one or more files, and then click Insert.

   The most recent version of the attached file is displayed in the Attachment dialog box. You can choose or modify the way an Item Update operates on the attached files.

   By default, attached files update to the most recent version each time the item is updated. To pin the update to an available version:

   • Select the Version Number field, and the select the version of the file you want to pin from the drop-down list.
   • Select the Pin check box to pin the file to the specified version.

     During an update, the file version specified at the time of attachment remains attached to the item and the item is updated with the most current information from the file in the vault.

   The paper clip icon displays in the paper clip field in the item master for every item with one or more attachment. To view attachments and revision level setting:

   • Control-click the paper clip to open the Attachments for Item [number] dialog box.
   • The version number field indicates what version number to which the item updates. To change the version number, click the drop-down arrow, and then make a selection.
   • To show all revisions of the item, click the Show all revisions check box.
   • Click OK.
5. To detach a file, select the file, and then click Detach.
6. Click OK.
7. Click Save and Close to save the changes to the item.

A revision indicates a milestone in the manufacturing process of an item and signifies a point in time in the history of the lifecycle of the item.

When an item is created, an initial revision is created represented by a dash (-). After that, an item revision increments according to the format specified in the Choose Next Revision dialog box. The revision sequence is determined by the Revision Sequence dialog box accessed from the Lifecycle and Revision tab in the Administration dialog box.

The Revision History tab in an item record displays all revision numbers of an item and it's relevant attributes.

If an item in the Released state is added to a change order and the Change Order Requestor Allows Edit, the item's state changes to Work in Progress and a new revision is automatically created, unless the bump revision action is set to None in the Lifecylce Rules dialog box.

Change Item Revision

1. In the item master, right-click an item, and then select Change revision from the context menu.
2. Select a Revision format from the list or make an entry in the User-defined text box.
3. Click OK.

CAD data becomes available to the non-CAD user by assigning an item to a file. Assigning an item requires Item Create permission.

Assigning an item to a file within a vault creates an item record in the Item Master and allows the CAD data to be tracked throughout its lifecycle. A file must be checked into the vault in order to have an item assigned.

Files that can be assigned items

• Autodesk Inventor IPT, IAM, IPN, DWG, and IDW files that have been checked into the vault using the Inventor add-in

  Note: You cannot assign an item to an iAssembly or iPart factory.

• AutoCAD and AutoCAD Mechanical DWG files
• AutoCAD Electrical projects
• Non-CAD files such as Microsoft Office documents

When an item is assigned to an Autodesk Inventor .ipt or .iam file, the related 2D .idw files are automatically associated to the item. The associated .idw files are listed in the item's Associated Files list and are available for mark up within the item. When an .iam file is assigned an item, the presentation file, .ipn, is also associated with the item and displayed in the Associated Files list.

If equivalent Autodesk Inventor files are assigned to items, the Assign Item dialog box displays the equivalence icon 

for the assigned item. The tooltip for the icon indicates which files are equivalent.

When you assign an item to a file, an item number is automatically generated. You can apply a different item numbering scheme other than the default item number, or type in a new item number.

Updating an Item

 Update synchronizes items with the properties of the associated file versions in the vault. An item can be updated even if the associated file has not been changed so as to update any properties that have been globally added since the last update. Updating an item linked to an assembly file creates a new item for each new file associated with it. If any drawing files that were originally associated with the CAD files are removed, their association with the item is also removed when the item is updated.

If the item has child items (for example, an Autodesk Inventor assembly), the child items are also updated to reflect the most recent versions of the child files.

Attached files that are pinned are not updated.

Before updating items, make sure drawings are up to date with the model so that they are linked to the item.

If you decide that a Work in Progress item and its associated files are invalid, use the Restore command to restore the item using the data from a previously released item.

You can either restore the associated CAD file or both the file and the complete item data. The associated CAD file is a new version based on the data from the version associated with the specified released item.

Rules:

• The revision of the item remains unchanged.
• The item must be in a work in progress state.
• You can only restore an item that has been previously released.

If the item was not created using the Assign Item command, you can only restore the item information. Restoring an item restores all the corresponding parent-child relationships.

Restore an Item

1. Right-click an item, and select Restore.
2. In the Restore to previous version dialog box, if necessary, select the down arrow and select a version to restore from the list. The drop-down list displays the previously released revisions of the item.

   The drop-down list only displays the revisions previous to the current revision.

3. Select one of the following
   • Restore all: Replaces the item data and associated CAD files with the data and files for the specified revision. A new version of the files is created.
   • Restore associated file only: Leaves the item data unchanged and creates a new file version from the version associated with the revision of the item specified.

     For example, if the version of the file associated with the previous item revision is 2, and current file version before the restore is 4, the new file version is 5 after the restore.

4. Click OK.