Best Practices

 
 
 

These are the best practices you should follow when performing certain Autodesk Vault Data Transfer Utility workflows.

Validation

There are three methods for validating a data transfer:

  1. Use Visual Studio to validate XML against provided XSD files. IntelliSense highlights issues.

  2. Programmatically validate a data transfer. See XMLReaderSettings.ValidationType for more information.
  3. Use the VALIDATE option with VaultBCP. This option can be used to catch XSD level errors such as incorrect attribute names. This option takes less time than the IMPORT option to execute since there are no server API calls or database calls, and no files are copied.

Using IterationRef

The IterationRef element is used to reference files which are already in Vault.

Follow these steps to reference files already in Vault.

  1. Create an IterationRef element for each file version that is already in Vault.

    Make sure that Checksum and CreateDate have correct values. Vault uses CRC32 for file checksum.

  2. If the file has multiple versions, make sure that those versions are in the correct order.
    Remarque

    The value of the Id attribute can be anything but it must be unique.

    • Make sure to put an underscore in front of the value.
    • When referencing a file iteration in another element, the IterationRef value must match the referenced value.
      RemarqueWhile in Vault 2013, leading underscores were eliminated, this is no longer necessary as of Vault 2014.
    • The iterations must be in the correct order.

    Any errors will result in a warning message during import.

    WARNING: Cannot locate a historical version of file 'Pad Lock.iam' due to changes to the vaulted file. Skipping...

Partition Data

You can also split XML into smaller chunks. Here is one suggested method:

  1. 1st Pass–import all files which do not have references to other files (i.e., IPT files). If there is a large amount of files, it is possible to split them into smaller files.
  2. 2nd Pass–import files with file associations. Use IterationRef to reference files which are already in Vault from previous steps.
  3. 3rd Pass–import items. Use IterationRef to reference files which are already in Vault.

Import Updates

You can import file and item updates using the Autodesk Vault Data Transfer Utility.

File Updates

When importing new file updates it's necessary to include all previous iterations of that file in the package. It isn't possible to alter existing file iterations which are already in the Vault.

Sample

Iteration 1–Import the file.

This iteration creates a new file in Vault with one version only.

Iteration 2–Update content and properties.

A new version of the existing file is created.

Item Updates

When importing new item updates it's necessary to include all previous iterations of that file in the package. It isn't possible to alter existing item iterations which are already in the Vault.

Sample

Iteration 1–Import the item without any properties.

The new item is created with a single revision.

Iteration 2–Update the revision number and new properties.

A new revision of the existing item is created.

File Associations

File associations are defined with the Association element.

All files (parents and children) are imported using the same package.

If the child file is already in the Vault then it's possible to use the IterationRef element as specified above.

Item Associations

The item structure (BOM) can be created using the bomLink element.

Item to File Associations

The links between items and files can be created using the DesignDoc element.

Importing BOMs Linked to Previously Imported Items

You can import Bills of Materials (BOMS) that are linked to items which have already been imported using a different XML file.