Using Autodesk Vault for Source Control

[kramarczyk]

I finally got a chance to download Inventor 2010 and install it and found no mention of the vault during the process. I do not see any version of vault on the list of downloadable products, so I am confused. This feels like we're going backwards.

[Trent B]

Subversion.

Other options are Git (Github) or Mercurial (Bitbucket) if you can get your school to allow those on the network comps (we were able to get our IT to put Labview and TortoiseSVN on some laptops)

Another option is Dropbox, it actually keeps past versions for 30 days if you have the free version (which I would assume you would find catastrophic errors within 2/3 of the build season which would require reverting)

With dropbox installed on computers, anything in the Dropbox folder gets auto uploaded with each new version, in windows you can right click and using a menu item view deleted items, or find old versions online.

Dropbox wins in the sense it auto uploads every save you ever make, but it loses to SVN/Git/Mercurial as you cannot make "commit" notes about what was changed.

Originally Posted by Gamer930

Another option that you might want to look at is using Subversion Source Control. You can run it locally on just one computer or on a network. . . It is simple to set up a server with different users now with a software package called "VisualSVN". I don't think the Subversion Merge feature will work too well but the Revision control / Source control will.

Many YouTube tutorials about it.

Man, this place rocks. I was going to come in here and suggest that a properly configured SVN repo will do the job perfectly, as well as be accessible from anywhere.

You'll have to disable the Merge controls, and I believe there are settings to allow you to only let each file be checked out by a single person at a time.

[Ryan Dognaux]

Our team has lightly discussed implementing something for version control for our CAD during build season. Let me ask this - has anyone successfully implemented Autodesk Vault? I haven't seen much documentation on it either, so if someone knows of anything, please post it!

[Mr. Lim]

And for anyone leery of setting up their own SVN server, or finding a host - Google Code allows you to set up an SVN repository for free. The only caveat is that your files will be available for public viewing (but not editing). And in the interests of gracious professionalism, this could be considered a good thing!

[trilogy2826]

I have finally received an official response from Autodesk on access to ADMS (Autodesk Data Management Server). ADMS is not available to FIRST teams as they believe the support logistics would be to great. This is a real disappointment, but the Autodesk officials do believe it is temporary. They said they are going to discuss giving us access in future years. I have a feeling that it was simply not included in the student version, and they didn't realize how beneficial it could be to FIRST teams

I suggest anyone who is interested should email Autodesk support at product.support.communications@autodesk.com and suggest we get access to ADMS. It's better if more than just one kook knocks on their door asking for more free stuff.

Alternatively, I have taken all of your suggestions and implemented Visual SVN and Tortoise SVN. It is generally OK, with the exception that SVN doesn't have a better way to lock files from use other than creating a read-only notification. Otherwise, it will be fun trying to train everyone how to properly use this in a short amount of time. Wish me luck.

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

Let me ask this - has anyone successfully implemented Autodesk Vault?

I set up the Vault server for our mechanical team the past 2 years. I know very little about the Autodesk products, but whatever I needed to install it was available as part of the FIRST downloads since that's all I had access to. Was it removed this year?

[kramarczyk]

Originally Posted by Dave Flowerday

I set up the Vault server for our mechanical team the past 2 years. I know very little about the Autodesk products, but whatever I needed to install it was available as part of the FIRST downloads since that's all I had access to. Was it removed this year?

I have installed vault for the past 2 years as well and it is not on this year's package. This years install package is definately not as complete as in past years. Another example is the decreased number of content center libraries that are provided, the ANSI library was not included as in the past.

That being said, what Autodesk is providing is a VERY good value for what we are paying and I appreciate their support.

[RoboMentorY]

Originally Posted by kramarczyk

This years install package is definately not as complete as in past years. Another example is the decreased number of content center libraries that are provided, the ANSI library was not included as in the past.

That being said, what Autodesk is providing is a VERY good value for what we are paying and I appreciate their support.

Thanks for this thread. I've been trying to implement some kind of collaborative work method, and none have been satisfactory. We seem to have the same issues.

Last year, sneaker net required face-to-face transfer time, FIRSTbase was too slow last year, etc.

The school system does not allow collaborative work and has consequently disabled any possibility of a shared drive between students.

This year, Inventor does not have the ANSI or Parker libraries. So any hope of doing detail design at the level required to win the Autodesk award will have to be faked, i.e. ISO components instead of ANSI components.

I haven't tried SolidWorks or ProE yet, but I could go learn those packages too.

[inventor_phild]

All,

I am currently checking on the questions raised with reference to the libraries and Autodesk Vault.

For those teams looking for a data management system I strongly recommend Vault. So much so that I included a couple of Vault tutorials in the FIRST curriculum materials posted www.autodesk.com/first.

Any questions, you can email me at phil.dollan@autodesk.com.

Phil

[trilogy2826]

Originally Posted by inventor_phild

All,

I am currently checking on the questions raised with reference to the libraries and Autodesk Vault.

For those teams looking for a data management system I strongly recommend Vault. So much so that I included a couple of Vault tutorials in the FIRST curriculum materials posted www.autodesk.com/first.

Any questions, you can email me at phil.dollan@autodesk.com.

Phil

I was in contact with no less than a dozen Autodesk employees over the course of two months prior to the kickoff attempting to get an ADMS installer. I was told that this normally comes with the pro version, but we are only offered the student version, in which ADMS is not included. It ended with a "we'll see what we can do next year" We Desperately would like to use Vault. If you can get FIRST teams ADMS, we would greatly appreciate it.

[inventor_phild]

Good news!

If you have used Vault in the past and would like to use it again this year or if you want to start using it, we have a solution for you.

Please contact me at phil.dollan@autodesk.com so we can review the solution for this year.

Phil

[joek]

flash drives and ext. hard drives are also very usefull

[Tomatosoup]

Our team is using Windows Live Sync...and it certainly is not working...at all, subversion sounds nice though

[brickmaster2]

Last year I had similar issues with transfering files between just TWO people because we use the Inventor that is loaded on the computers at our school for the CAD classes. We had issues because each of our files was linked to our individual network accounts and if one person was not there to log on, the other was stuck having a teacher use a roundabout way to access their files.

This year we are trying to use dropbox, an application from DropBox.com. I like it because it automatically updates everyone's folder when it any file is added/deleted and if you google dropbox portable there is even a version that can be put on flash drives. It can be a little buggy at times, but so far dropbox has been working pretty well for transfering files between about 5-6 people.