Vault 2015 R2 introduces a brand new Copy Design application with enhanced flexibility and control over components, a new Vault Office thick client for non-CAD users, and an enhanced Item/BOM experience that supports BOM row groups and unifies lifecycle workflows across entity classes. In addition, the Vault Thin Client exposes more Item/BOM features, the ADMS Console allows for more nuanced control over re-indexing file properties, and the Revit Vault Add-in and Project Sync provide improved functionality.
Autodesk Vault 2015 R2 introduces a brand new Copy Design experience that gives you more flexibility and control over how your designs are copied.
Copy at the Component Level
In previous releases, copy design could not copy at a component-level. The new Copy Design tool overcomes this limitation by allowing users to:
Copy Multiple Data Sets
Users can now copy more than one data set at the same time.
Support for non-CAD File Types
Copy any file in the Vault, including non-CAD files, using the Copy Design application.
Faster Performance
Copy Design runs from the Vault Server now, driving faster performance.
In previous releases, Copy Design was a part of the Vault Client and files had to be downloaded for copy which was time-consuming. Now Copy Design gets the files directly from the Server, eliminating much of the download time and optimizing Copy Design performance.
More Detailed Feedback
Copy Design supports a more robust feedback environment by allowing users to customize column fields, view pending actions, and review file data with Navigation Panels.
Users can add and remove property fields to the main grid, making it easier to gather important file data.
See Copy Design–Customize the View for more information.
The Action column displays the current action assigned to a file so you can tell at-a-glance how the file will be handled. Actions include: Copy, Copy To, Reuse, Replace, Exclude, and Auto.
See Copy Design–Actions for more information.
Navigation Panels help users identify important information about their copied designs and apply certain actions to multiple files at once. Users can filter by file status, view the source and destination of copied files, and explore the folder structure of the copied design.
See Copy Design–Customize the View for more information.
Create Custom Copy Design Rules
Administrators can define rule sets that determine property values for the copied files when certain conditions are met.
Numbering Schemes
Vault numbering schemes can be shown and applied in the Copy Design application. Users can select from different numbering schemes so that each copied file adheres to a naming convention that suits their design environment.
Use the Numbering Scheme Panel to see the old file name, the new name, any prefixes, the base name, and any post-fixes.
Customize the Copy Design Interface
Customize the layout of the Copy Design application by:
See Copy Design–Customize the View for more information.
New Drawing View
See only the drawings in your Copy Design list with the Drawing View option.
Automatic Installation
Copy Design has been removed from the Vault client and is now a stand-alone application under the
folder.Copy Design is automatically installed when you install the Vault Client.
Vault 2015 R2 focuses on expanding the item/BOM management experience to include new functionality and feature enhancements, and on unifying data behaviors across all entity classes for both administrators and end users.
New Item Functionality and Enhancements
New Item Watermarking Workflow
See Configure Visualization Watermarks for Items for more information.
Write Item Properties Back to the File
By default, item properties are written back to the associated file from Vault add-ins, Vault Explorer, and the Job Processor. Item properties take precedence over file properties and file mappings. If the file's properties are edited and properties are synchronized, the item properties will overwrite the file properties.
User can manually force item property write-back by right-clicking on an associated file and selecting Synchronize Properties.
The Write Item Properties Back to the File functionality can be disabled on the Items Administration dialog.
Allow a User to Assign Category When Creating a New Item
Administrators can determine whether or not a user is able to assign a category to an item when the item is created on the Items tab. By default, this option is selected.
Other Changes in Existing Administration Functionality for Items/BOMs
New BOM Row Properties and User-Defined BOM Properties
View All Item Iterations on the History Tab
Vault 2015 R2 now exposes all item iterations. In previous releases, users could only see item versions. Now users can see all of the item iterations in the History Tab.
Changes and Improvements to the BOM View
In previous releases, if a CAD BOM was promoted into an item and some of the BOM rows were unmerged into individual rows, Vault automatically merged the rows as long as the Part Numbers matched.
Now grouped BOM rows from a CAD BOM can persist as a group in Vault.
A new Grouped Row icon has been introduced to indicate that a row consists of more than one item. The Item Qty value, if exposed in the BOM, indicates the number of rows that have been combined.
Vault 2015 R2 introduces a new BOM Report command in the BOM view. The BOM Report command generates a report based on the template you select. Vault 2015 R2 comes with three out-of-the box templates: Multi-Level, First-level, and Parts-only.
The Report Template Authoring Utility also supports BOM properties so that administrators can create custom BOM report templates.
Manage Item Security
Users can now manage Item Security with a new Details option on the right-click menu.
New Unified Lifecycle, Category, Numbering Scheme, and Revision Experience
In previous releases, users had to use a separate workflow to manage the revisions, lifecycle states, numbering schemes, and categories for Items and, in some cases, Change Orders. Vault 2015 R2 introduces a unified behaviors experience across all entity classes for both end users and administrators.
Administrator Changes
End User Changes
In addition, users can revise multiple items or revise an item from a user-defined property.
Administrators also have the option of creating custom reference designator properties to include in this view. See Create User-Defined Property for more information.
Vault 2015 R2 introduces a new Vault Office Client that provides many of the same Vault client features but has been slimmed down to focus on non-CAD design data management processes.
This client is ideal for users who do not need all of the CAD functionality of a the full Vault client, but who still need to manage documents in a vault by performing these tasks:
See the Vault Office Client for a complete feature list.
Project Sync has been updated to allow more flexibility when sharing to Buzzsaw and using the Lifecycle Event Editor.
Share to Buzzsaw Enhancements
In previous releases, users would choose a selection set to map to Buzzsaw, and when Share to Buzzsaw was selected, every file within that mapped selection set would be uploaded. This led to unnecessary files being shared because of their location within the mapped directory.
Now users can specify which files to Share to Buzzsaw. A new user interface has been introduced that allows users to choose whether to share the original selection (same behavior as before), to share the original selection and any dependencies, and, if applicable, to include any attachments or related documents, making the share process much more concise.
Lifecycle Event Editor Update
The Lifecycle Event Editor can add jobs to the job queue when files go across certain transition states, such as moving from work-in-progress to released. In the previous release, this process was not optimal and has been updated for a smoother experience.
In Vault 2015 R2, all four jobs have been renamed and a fifth job has been introduced to allow for greater Share to Buzzsaw flexibility.
See the Job Types section in the Project Sync overview for more information.
Project Sync is now available only in Vault Professional for the 2015 R2 release.
Users can now control which version of a CAD application opens a file in Vault by configuring their preferences on the Open File Behaviors dialog.
Depending on the CAD application, users can determine whether CAD files are opened by the latest version, the last run version, or the version of the CAD Application that last saved the file.
Vault 2015 R2 introduces more flexibility in re-indexing files by introducing a third option that focuses on latest versions only. In addition, the original two options have been redefined in how they behave.
The latest versions, released versions, and pending released versions are re-indexed.
Only the latest file versions are re-indexed. This is the default behavior for Vault 2015 R2.
All files in the vault are re-indexed.
The command line control for Re-indexing File Properties has also been updated to allow this new option.