It's All Just Ones and Zeros

Vault sample from AU 2018 class available online

Hello everyone, my name is Paul Gunn.

I'm a software architect on Vault and recently taught a class on the Vault 2019 API at Autodesk University 2018. Doug attended my class and graciously offered the opportunity to share this information with you as a guest blogger.

My class delved into new server APIs that provide (what we believe to be) new and powerful capabilities to developers. Here at Autodesk we have implemented a major client-side feature on this platform and other features in the pipe are similarly leveraging this functionality. The class downloads section includes the class handout and demo application ('material' zip file) - and a recording of the class is also available.

Here are resources available online:

General class information

Class downloads

Hope folks find this information useful!

Project Thunderdome 2016 Source Code

We are still keeping Thunderdome open source for the 2016 release.  The app itself can be downloaded from Autodesk Exchange.  If you want the source code, it’s provided in the link below.

Click here for Project Thunderdome 2016 source code

Special thanks to Matt Smith from the Vault team for updating the app to Vault 2016.

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BOM Report Job

To celebrate the release of Vault 2015 R2, I wrote an app that lets you generate BOM reports automatically through the Vault job server. 

If you are not already aware, Vault 2015 R2 has a BOM Report feature.  From any BOM view, you can run the Report command to generate a report of the BOM that you are viewing.  This report uses the same engine as File and Folder reports, which has a good deal of customization options.  There are also default templates to help you get started quickly.

 

However, the out-of-the-box BOM Report feature is a manual process.  If you want to automate things, my plug-in hooks to job server and lets you trigger reports when items change state.  When the job runs, it generates the report, saves it to Vault as a PDF and attaches it to the item.

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Requirements:

• Vault Professional 2015 R2
• Must have job queue enabled.
• Must have a “Quick Change” state that the plug-in can use to move the item to edit mode.
• Must have a folder in Vault for storing the generated reports.

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

To configure BOM Reports, install the app and follow the readme.  You can find the readme in the install location (%ProgramData%\Autodesk\Vault 2015 R2\Extensions\BOMReportJob).  Administrative rights are required to configure the Vault job server.

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All the apps on this blog have a legal disclaimer on them, but I want to make this one more obvious since it’s dealing with BOM data.  BOM Report Job is not an official product.  It’s technically classified as a sample app.  So please keep that in mind when dealing with these reports.  For example, if you are using the report to purchase $50,000 worth of parts, you may want to double check the numbers first before putting the order in. 

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Find Orphaned Files 2015

A couple of people have been asking for this one.  So here you go, Find Orphaned Files for Vault 2015.

Also, after my last app, I’ve been eager to post something that, you know, works.

Click here for a description of the app.

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Requirements:
Vault Workgroup or Professional 2015

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

Click here for the Vault 2014 version

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

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Developer Diary #3: Splunk plugin for Vault

Every now and then I write an app only to find out at the end that the app doesn’t work well.  This is one of those cases.  I’m going to post the app anyway because I believe the code may be of use to somebody.  Splunk is a useful tool.  I just wasn’t able to do what I wanted given the information that Vault is printing to the logs.  Also, I spent a lot of time on it, so I should get a blog post out of it at least.

Here is the app.  I was hoping for something that shows the download history of a file.

It would be pretty cool if it worked, but there are too many cases where downloads will not show up in the list.  If your users download one file at a time, this will work great.  But if they download multiple files at once (and they do), then this app completely falls apart.  In my early tests, I only download one file at a time.  Oops.

The underlying problem is that the Vault log files are structured around “operations” and not around the “objects” being acted on.   Vault likes to operate on multiple objects at once for performance reasons.  There is no clean way to log all the objects in one log entry, so that information just doesn’t get logged.

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Requirements:

• Vault Workgroup or Professional 2015
• Vault admin rights
• Splunk (free or enterprise)

Click here for the application 
Click here for the source code

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

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Splunk Setup:

OK, there are a lot of steps here.  But the added benefit is that you get Splunk up and running which provides a lot of ways for you to manage your Vault data. 

1. Install Splunk.  I don’t recommend installing it on the Vault Server.
2. On the Vault Server, open up the IIS manager.
3. Go to the logging settings and make sure that “URI Query” is selected.
   
4. Restart IIS if needed.
5. Sanity Check:  Perform some operations from the Vault Explorer client.  The new rows should show query strings describing the server calls.  Example: 

   2014-07-25 18:28:28 10.143.48.29 POST /AutodeskDM/Services/v19/PropertyService.svc op=GetProperties&uid=2&vaultName=Vault&sessID=143994478&app=VP 80 - 10.143.48.22 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+MS+Web+Services+Client+Protocol+4.0.30319.18408) 200 0 0 9

6. Open up Splunk.
7. Click on the “Add Data” button on the main dashboard.
8. Choose “IIS logs” as the data type and follow the instructions.  Multiple steps are involved in moving log data across servers, so I’ll leave it to Splunk to explain that part.
9. Sanity Check:  From the Splunk homepage, click on the “Search and Reporting” button.  Click on data summary and select your Vault server host.  You should be able to see the contents of the IIS logs.
10. In Splunk, to to Settings->Fields.
11. Select “Add New” for Field Extractions.  To create a new field for reading the Vault Operation from the query string.
    1. Destination App: search
    2. Name:  EXTRACT-OPERATION (or whatever you want)
    3. Apply To: sourcetype
    4. Name:  IIS Logs (may be different for your Splunk config)
    5. Type: inline
    6. Extraction/Transform:  op=(?P<OPERATION>.+?)[&\s]
       
12. Add another field extraction.  This time you are extracting the File ID.  Set Extraction/Transform to fileIterationId=(?P<FILE_ID>.+?)[&\s]
13. Add another field extraction.  This time you are extracting the User ID.  Set Extraction/Transform to uid=(?P<USERID>.+?)[&\s]
14. Sanity Check:  Open up the Vault client and download some files that are not already in you working folder.  When the entries show up in Splunk, expand the entry.  You should see that OPERATION, FILE_ID and USERID, as rows.
    
15. If you are using the free version of Splunk, you will need to configure the REST API to allow anonymous login. 
    Go to $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/local/server.conf and add the following line in the [General] section:  allowRemoteLogin = always
16. If you are using the enterprise version of Splunk, you should create a basic user just for reading this data.  SplunkVault does not encrypt the Splunk username/password information.
17. Download the SplunkVault app from the download link above.
18. Extract the zip in the folder C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Vault 2015\Extensions.  You now have a SplunkVault folder under Extensions.  I didn’t build an installer for this one.
19. Restart Vault Explorer and login as an administrator.
20. Go to Tools->Splunk Vault Settings and fill out the fields.
    1. Splunk Port is the port of the API, which is different from the web page port.  8089 is the default API port.
    2. If you are using the free version, the user should be ‘admin’ and the password can be any value.
    3. If you are using the enterprise version, the user and password should be the low-access user you set up in an earlier step.
       
21. Save the settings.
22. Download some files that are not in your local folder.
23. Right click on a file, and select Download Activity.  You should see an entry for the recent download.  If not, wait a few minutes and try again.
24. You are done at this point.

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Installer Project in Visual Studio 2012

In the past, I posted the installer project I used to build Vault apps.  However, that project was for Visual Studio 2010.  In the 2012 version, Microsoft dropped the installer project type and replaced it with an Install Shield project type.  So I’ll share with you my latest installer template.  You do not need to purchase Install Shield.

Click here to download the project source

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My recommendations on how to configure:

In the solution explorer, you will see that Install Shield sets things up in numbered steps, so I’ll just go through the relevant parts, from the top on down.

I usually just skip over the Getting Started and Project Assistant stuff.  Personally, I found it more confusing than helpful.

1. Organize Your Setup
   1. General Information
      1. Replace all the TODO parts.  Such as ProductName, INSTALLDIR, Subject, Author and Publisher.
      2. Generate new values for Product Code and Upgrade Code.
2. Specify Application Data
   1. Files
      1. Rename the TODO folder if there is one.
      2. Put all your extension files in the [CommonAppDataFolder]\Autodesk\Vault 2015\Extensions\YourAppName folder.
      3. You can ignore the Database folder.
      4. You don’t need to put anything in the [AppDataFolder] and [CommonFilesFolder]
3. Configure the Target System
   1. You can ignore this stuff.
4. Customize the Setup Appearance
   1. Dialogs
      1. Check the dialogs that you want to show up during the install.
5. Define Setup Requirements and Actions
   1. You can ignore this stuff.
6. Prepare for Release
   1. The SingleImage is the output type you probably want.  Here are the settings I use.

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Now you are ready to build.  If all goes well, you will see your setup.exe file in your output folder, which is something like [projectFolder]\Express\SingleImage\DiskImages\DISK1

Now all you have to do is zip up the EXE, post it on your blog, and wait for the money to roll in. 

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Developer Diary #1 - Logging Manager for Vault

Usually I don’t post any information about my Vault apps until it’s completed.  But this time I want to try something different.  I’m going to post information on the app as it is being developed.  That way people can provide early feedback and suggestions.  If this format works out well I may use it for other projects in the future.

In this edition, I’ll just talk about the concept for the app.  I haven’t started coding yet.

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Coming Up with the App

I get my app ideas from many places.  Sometimes it's from my own use of the product.  Sometimes people make suggestions to me.  Sometimes I just want to show off a cool API feature.  Usually it comes from hearing about people’s usage of the product. 

For example, AU.  It’s hard to go to that event and not come away with a bunch of ideas on what can be improved.  In addition to in-person events, there are plenty of online sources to go for ideas.  There are discussion groups, beta forums, and the Idea Exchange. 

This time around, I’m going to write an app to help manage the various log files that Vault spits out.  Like most of my apps, this one has been in my head for a while.  It’s a theme that keeps coming up when talking to customers, and I don’t think there are any Vault-specific solutions out there yet.  In fact, the problem got worse in Vault 2014 with the AVFS, which has it’s own separate log file.  This kind of thing that is perfect grounds for a custom app.

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My Vision For App

I’m not big into problem statements, at least not when it comes to apps.  I usuall just have an idea in my head of how it should work, and I try to make that vision a reality.  Here is my vision for this app...

• Consolidation - Bring all the Vault logs together in one place.  The 3 main ones I will be focusing on are the ADMS logs, the AVFS logs and the IIS logs.  The ADMS Console lets you view some of these logs, but it’s just a text reader.  And you have to read them one at a time.  I’m thinking of something more like a single database table that can store and retrieve years’ worth of Vault logs in one place.
• Deeper Information - If you mine the log files right, you can find out things like how user 863 downloaded file 16734 yesterday afternoon.  That’s probably not much use to you unless you are the Rain Man.  To decode those numbers, you need an app that uses the Vault API.  So my app will be able to show that user Bob looked at file ProjectX.dwg.
• Push Operations - A couple of people requested a way to get alerts.  So this app may be able to help out with that.  It could possible do things like, send out weekly reports, or send out immediate alerts when critical errors pop up.

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App Framework

“Don’t re-invent the wheel,” is something engineers like to say.  Personally, I think it’s fun to re-invent the wheel.  But in this case, I’m going to follow the popular advice.  Splunk is a tool that I’ve seen in action and have been very impressed with.  And Splunk has an API.   So I’m sold at this point.  At least sold enough to investigate further.

That’s all the blogging I'm goint to do for now.  In my next Developer Diary, I’ll be installing Splunk, hooking it to Vault and seeing what I can do with their API.  So keep a look out for that article.  It will be the most fun you can have without a catapult and a truckload of fruit pies.

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DECO 2015

I was hoping that I could retire DECO now that Vault Data Standard has support for custom objects.  Unfortunately, DECO still has one feature that Data Standard does not.  DECO overrides the “new” command with custom content.  Data Standard lets you create another new command, but the default new is unchanged.  It’s a subtle difference, but enough for me to continue supporting DECO.

It’s probably worthwhile for me to compare and contract both products.  I should also mention that they are not mutually exclusive.  You can have both Data Standard and DECO installed side by side if you want.

Another cool thing is that both products use the same framework for editing UI.  They both use XAML files, which can be edited in the free version of Visual Studio.  So learning one product will give you experience on the other one.  Likewise, it should be very easy to port your DECO content to Data Standard.

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Feature rundown

	DECO	Data Standard
Custom UI	Yes	Yes
Custom new command	Yes	Yes
Override default new command	Yes	No
Custom edit command	Yes	Yes
Custom view tab	Yes	Yes
Additional custom commands	No	Yes
Multiple tabs	No	Yes
Support for non-custom object types	No	Yes
“Property page” behavior	Yes	Yes
Additional behavior	No	Yes
Content deployable through Project Thunderdome	Yes	Yes

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DECO (Design Editor for Custom Objects) mainly specializes in “property page” functionality.  It’s great for displaying and editing properties on a single custom object.  If that’s is all the functionality you need, then you will probably find DECO a bit easier to use than Data Standard.

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Data Standard can be used to create New, Edit and View operations for custom objects.  However, Data Standard offers many more features.  You can create custom commands and tabs for whatever you want.  You are not limited to New, Edit and View.  You are also not limited to custom objects.  Files, folders, items and change orders are also customizable.

The extra features make Data Standard a bit more complex.  So it’s a few extra steps to get New, Edit and View working when compared to DECO.

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DECO 2015 Requirements:

• Vault Professional 2015
• XAML editor such as Visual Studio Express or Expression Blend

Click here for the application
Click here for the source code

Click here for DECO 2014

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Project Thunderdome 2015 - Now with Data Standard

Project Thunderdome is here for Vault 2015.  It’s the same product you have come to know and love, but I’ve made a few improvements this time around. 

First, it’s been posted to the Vault App Store.  So that’s a bit of a status upgrade from previous years.  If you are interested in the source code, you can still get that from this blog.  

Next, I added support for Vault Data Standard.  Several people asked for this feature, and I was more than happy to put it in.  Data Standard provides some great customization options, and Thunderdome gives you an easy way to distribute those customizations to your other Vault users.

If you want more information on what Project Thunderdome is, the app store page has a description of the app.  I also have a video from a couple years ago that goes over the basics of how to use it.

Enjoy.

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The TTP Project - Update 1

Here is the first major update to The TTP Project.  The initial release was focused on proving out a prototype SDK for the PLM 360 API.  This time around I focused on making the app itself more useful.  There are some nice new features here, including things you can’t do through the web UI.

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Custom UI

(click for full size image)

You can now build your own UI for item detail fields.  This is done using XAML files to define the UI.  Next, you link those files to the workspaces and operations you want to apply them too.  If you are familiar with Vault Data Standard or DECO, then you get the idea.  In fact, most of the code is copied from DECO.

Custom UI is specific to a workspace.  You can also define different UI for each operation (view, new and edit).  The Layout Settings window that allows you to configure which UI is used in which cases.  If no UI is defined, then the default view is used.

(And yes, I notice that I forgot to change the dialog title)

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Multi-select and multi-edit

You can now select multiple items in a workspace.  The view panel will show all the fields that have the same value across all the selections.  If a field is different, it shows a blank value.

If you run the edit command during a multi-select, any field you set will be applied to all the selected items.  All other field values are left alone.  So it’s a nice easy way to set a value across multiple items.

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Other goodies

• Support for picklists.
• Auto-renewal for expired security credentials.  If you liked my earlier OAuth article, you can grab the TTP source code for examples.
• Quicker navigation of items.  Caching has been implemented in the code so viewing an item for the second time doesn’t involve a web call.

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Requirements:

• PLM 360
• Windows OS
• .NET 4.5
• For creating custom UI: A XAML editor such as Visual Studio or Expression Blend

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.

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