It's All Just Ones and Zeros

DECO 2014

Time to start updating my apps.  The first on the list is DECO (Design Editor for Custom Objects).  Not only is this a must-have when using custom objects, but it gave me a chance to play with the new grid control in the Vault SDK.  If you are unfamiliar with DECO, have a look at the page for the 2013 version.

I added one cool new feature for DECO 2014: a grid containing all the linked children.  You can now view/add/delete links using UI created with DECO.

Have a look at this short video...

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Requirements:

• Vault Professional 2014
• XAML editor such as Visual Studio Express or Expression Blend

Click here for the application
Click here for the source code

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Issues / Limitations:

• Custom Objects only.  No support for files, folders, items, and so on.
• The grid control only works with links to child entities.  There is no way to show “where used” data in a DECO control.
• Visual Studio 2010 has problems editing a XAML file with a WindowsFormsHost control.  I don’t know about Visual Studio 2012.
• The XAML files and Settings.xml need to be distributed to all clients in order for them to see the custom UI.  This issue will be addressed in the next release of Project Thunderdome.
• When adding a link, the browse dialog only lets you browse items available through Project Explorer.  In other words, only files, folders and linked entities.

As with all the samples on this site, the legal disclaimer applies.

File Catalog app

Here’s my latest Vault app.  It creates a File Record, which is a copy of a file’s property data.  I created the app for people who want to delete a Vault file but keep the meta-data around.  I’m sure there are other uses too.  Anyway, have a look a the demo video.

As with most of my apps, there is a lot of room for improvement.  Currently, it focuses only on properties from the latest file version.  It does not attempt to record file history, file relationships, or relationships to items and change orders.

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Requirements:

• Vault Professional 2013

Click here to download the application
Click here to download the source code

As with all the samples on this site, the legal disclaimer applies.

Lifecycle Event Editor - The Plugin

I decided to fulfill my own request for this month.  I didn’t have much time to spend writing a new app, so I decided to grab Lifecycle Event Editor code from the EXE and tweak it to run inside Vault Explorer.

The plug-in itself has the exact same feature set as the exe.  But if you are not familiar with it, here is a quick run down.  You can use the Lifecycle Event Editor to tell the server to fire jobs when objects move through specific lifecycle states.  For example, you want a job of type “Dougpunch” to be created every time a file goes from For Review to Released, you might set something up like this. 

If you commit the changes then look at the Job Queue... you won’t see anything.  The Lifecycle Event Editor does not actually put any jobs on the queue, it just lets you configure the server settings.  The “Dougpunch” jobs show up when you move files from For Review to Released. 

Of course, if you try this out in your Vault nothing interesting will happen.  It will just result in a bunch of Dougpunch jobs on the queue that sit there until deleted.  There is nothing that is set up to handle Dougpunch jobs.  At least I hope there is not. 

The lifecycle event feature is useful for when you define your own job types through the API.  There are also some utilities, such as Project Sync, which hook into this framework.

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Requirements:

• Vault 2013 Workgroup / Collaboration / Professional
• Job Queue enabled
• Admin rights

Click here to download the application
Click here to download the source code

As with all the samples on this site, the legal disclaimer applies.

Effective Permissions 2013

I’m currently in an amazingly interesting DB training class.  So I decided to do some Vault app programming so that my heart wouldn't explode from all the excitement.  The result is Effective Permissions 2013.  It’s an update of my Effective Folder Permissions 2.0.  The ‘Folder’ part of the name has been dropped since it now does more than just folder permissions.  Files and custom objects can also be managed.

Check out the video:

The main new addition is a view/edit window for object permissions.  You can now edit an Access Control List and see the effect before you commit the change.  It’s also smart enough to determine the source of the ACL and make the appropriate updates.

All the old features are still there.  So you can still see the Administrators List, and you still have the Permissions Overview, which shows the user-based permissions for a set of folders.

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Requirements:

• Vault 2013 Workgroup / Collaboration / Professional
• Administrative Rights

Click here to download the application
Click here to download the source code

Click here for 2011 version

As with all the samples on this site, the legal disclaimer applies.

Vault Query 2013

This month's app is an update of Vault Query.  It’s a cute little program that reads Vault data at the API level and displays the results in a similar format to the Visual Studio debugger.  It’s good for things like figuring out what the system name is for the UDP you want to read.

New for 2013, you can export the results to an XML file.  A lot of times, I find it easier to sift through an XML file instead of dealing with a tree view.

(click image for full view)

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Requirements:

• To use the EXE
  • .NET 4.0
  • Vault 2013 (any product)
• To use the source code
  • Visual Studio 2010
  • Expression Blend 3 or 4

Click here to download the application
Click here to download the source code

Click here for 2011 version.  Sorry, there is no 2012 version.

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To use:
On the left you have a list of operations.  Each operation represents a single web service call with specific input parameters.  Double click on the operation and it runs.  The output is presented in the right pane.

I set up a bunch of operations out-of-the-box, but you can add your own.  You can either use the "Add Actions" command or edit the Operations.xml file.  In theory, any API call can be made into an operation.  However the UI is picky about what input types it supports.  You may need to edit Operations.xml for many cases.

As with all the sample apps on this site, the legal disclaimer applies.

Find Orphaned Files

While I’m busy getting my AU classes in order, Jan Liska kindly provided this month’s sample app.  He is also the author of the popular Drawing Compare app.  Thanks Jan!

Find Orphaned Files is a quick and easy way to detect files that are not referenced by any other file.  In other words, files with no files listed in the “Where Used” tab.  To launch the app, just select a folder in Vault, right-click and choose the Find Orphaned Files command.

Requirements:
Vault Workgroup/Collaboration/Professional 2013

Click here to download the application
Click here to download the source code

As with all the samples on this site, the legal disclaimer applies.

Advanced Advanced Find 2013

Moving down the list of apps to update, Advanced Advanced Find is up next.  I’m a bit surprised.  The app really doesn’t do much despite the name.  I intended it more as a code sample.  But if you guys want it, you got it.  Here is the 2013 version of Advanced Advanced Find.

If you are not familiar with the app, it’s a simplified version of the Advanced Find feature, but it allows for OR style searches.  The Must rule is the default AND behavior.  The May rule gives you new OR style behavior.

Again, I didn’t have much time to add features.  There is now support for Folder and Custom Object searches, but that’s it.

Requirements:
Vault Workgroup/Collaboration/Professional 2013

Click here to download the application
Click here to download the source code

Click here for the 2011 version.  Sorry, there is no 2012 version.

As with all the sample apps on this site, the legal disclaimer applies.

Parts List Tab 2013

Parts List Tab received the most votes when I asked which apps I should update.  Keep in mind, this is a straight port from the Vault 2011 version.  I didn’t have time to add new features.

For those of you not familiar with the app, it creates a new file tab.  When you select a file that has Item information, the tab displays the parts list from the Item BOM.

Thanks again to Jim McMullen for writing the app.

Requirements:
Vault Professional 2013

Click here to download application
Click here to download source

As with all the sample apps on this site, the legal disclaimer applies.

Project Thunderdome 2013

New and improved for Vault 2013, Project Thunderdome is here.  Based on user feedback I re-designed the entire app.  Things should be much more intuitive and easy to use this time around.  The features are basically the same, but different in every possible way.

If you have no idea what Project Thunderdome is, sit back and strap yourself in.  You are about to get Thunderdomed....

There, you just got Thunderdomed.  If you feel exactly the same as before, that means it’s working!

If you can't access YouTube, here is the video for download.

Requirements:
Vault Workgroup/Collaboration/Professional 2013

Click here to download application
Click here to download source

Click here for the 2012 version

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Features:

• Backup user settings - A quick way to zip up all your Vault user-settings.
• Create admin deployments - Select the components you want to deploy and they will be pushed to all other users with Thunderdome.
  Components include: User settings, saved searches, plug-in, DECO files, and vLogic scripts.

When an update is ready, users see something like this when they log into Vault Explorer.

 

As with all the samples on this site, the legal disclaimer applies.

DECO - Custom UI without Custom Code

Update:  The Vault 2014 version of DECO is now available.

Take one last good look at yourself in the mirror...because I’m about to rock your face off.  Introducing Deco, the Design Editor for Custom Objects.  Deco lets you define your own custom object UI without the need for custom code.

Deco allows you to define your own dialog when creating a new custom object.  It allows you to define your own edit dialog.  And it allows you to have a custom tab for viewing your custom object data.

You start out by creating your user interface using Visual Studio:

Next, you hook it in to Vault Explorer:

Deco can’t do everything, however.  Complex UI will still need custom programming.  But Deco should hit most of the common cases.  Specifically “property page” type functionality, where you want to display or edit the properties on a single object.

It’s probably best if you watch the how-to video on my Youtube channel. 

In other news, I now have a Youtube channel.  There is not much up there right now, but I’ll be porting over most of the videos from this blog.

For those of you blocked from Youtube, here is a download link:  http://justonesandzeros.typepad.com/Videos/Deco/Deco.wmv

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Requirements:

• Vault Professional 2013
• XAML editor such as Visual Studio Express or Expression Blend

Click here for the application
Click here for the source code

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Current limitations:

• Custom Objects only.  No support for files, folders, items, and so on.
• Vault Professional 2013 only, since that’s the only product with custom objects.
• Vault data can only be hooked to TextBox, CheckBox, ComboBox an DatePicker controls.
• The XAML files and Settings.xml need to be distributed to all clients in order for them to see the custom UI.  This issue will be addressed in the next release of Project Thunderdome.

As with all the samples on this site, the legal disclaimer applies.