Real Software Solutions

Autodesk University 2009

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:27:00 +0000

It's hard to believe that Autodesk University is about a month and a half away. Deadlines are coming up quickly for handouts, datasets and much more. I have a very busy schedule this AU. Probably busier than most previous AU's. I guess that is a good thing.

Here is an overview of my schedule and if anyone ones to meet up while I am at AU please feel free to shoot me an email and hopefully we can meet up and talk all things Autodesk.

Sunday November 29th
10:25 am - Arrive at LAS, proceed to Mandalay Bay, unpack and finish preparing for AU Virtual Class.
4:45 pm - Arrive at the Studio to record the Virtual Session. Recording will be from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm.
7:15 pm to 7:30 pm - Business Trends and Visions Interview with Autodesk University. (will be posted on the AU website later.)
7:30 pm - tbd, Free. - I hope to meet up with some other friends that are coming in early.

Monday November 30th
6:00 am - Breakfast, and emails from the office.
8:00 am - ADN Conference
Evening - Bloggers Social or ADN Event (haven't decided yet)

Tuesday December 1st
6:00 am - Breakfast and emails from the office.
8:00 am - 9:30 am Attending class - CAD Geeks Inside: Starting, Maintaining and Enabling a Company User Group. (Presented by a former colleague Kevin Robinson)
10:00 am to 11:30 am - Keynote - AU Keynote and Welcome Address with Carl Bass
11:30 - Lunch
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm - Attending Class - Real Life Applications: Practical Engineering Purposes for AutoCAD Electrical (It's not just for Drafting)
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm - Presenting - AutoCAD Electrical Power Tools for Power Users
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm - Attending Class - Hands-on Jigging: Creating Jigs using VB.NET

Wednesday December 2nd
6:00 am - Breakfast and emails from the office.
8:00 am - 9:30 - Lab Assisting - A Quick Spin on AutoCAD Electrical 2010(Presented by a friend and fellow AutoCAD Electrical Consultant Randy Brunette)
10:00 am - 11:30 am - Attending Class - Create the Magic Like Disney Does with Tif and Tiff(Presented by two former colleagues, Tiffany Tucker and Tifani Weisbrod)
11:30 am - Lunch
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm - Keynote - Industry Keynote: Manufacturing
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm - Attending Class - AutoCAD APIs: The Right Tools for the Job
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm - Lab Assisting - Finding the Logic in iLogic: Hands on Lab
6:30 pm - Dinner then finalize presentations for Thursday Morning

Thursday December 3rd
6:00 am - Breakfast and emails from the office.
8:00 am - Presenting Unconference - AutoCAD Electrical 2010 Unplugged
10:00 am - Presenting Unconference - Consulting Concepts Unplugged
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm - Broadcast of Virtual Session
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm - Attending Class - Hands on Introduction to C#.NET
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm - Attending Class - Human Management: A Non-Technical Approach to CAD Management
6:30 pm - Dinner event then.

Friday December 4th
6:00 am 11:00 am- Breakfast and emails from the office, wrap up any other loose ends for the week.
11:00 am - noon - Broadcast of Virtual Session
noon - Lunch
Open for Networking (and finishing up anything I didn't get finished in the morning.

Saturday December 5th
Open most of the day, flight leaves for home at 11:ish PM

You can email me at robert.stein@yourrealsoftwaresolutions.com if you have any questions or want to meet up. As you can see it will be a busy week but I hope to make time for as much networking as possible.

Thanks
Rob Stein

Bitter Sweet

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:55:00 +0000

As many of you may remember I had a difficult time making the decision to leave INCAT where I spent over 5 years of my life. I really enjoyed my time with the organization and I just wanted to comment on today is my 1 year anniversary of my last day at INCAT. This past year has been an interesting change in my career which has led to some new skills, and friends.

Cheers

Autodesk enters the iPhone app arena

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:39:00 +0000

Check out this video for Sketchbook Mobile, an app created by Autodesk for the iPhone.

Remembering that day.

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:30:00 +0000

I don't think I will ever forget that September day so many years ago. I was working at Orchard Design in Romeo Michigan. I remember hearing about it on the radio and thinking wow, this sounds like an intense movie. No one at the office thought it was real. I proceeded to call Kim, my girlfriend at the time and ask her if she had heard about it. By this time we realized it was real. I remember going home at lunch and bringing back a TV so we could watch the breaking story.

By that night it was all over the news, everyone was talking about it. A very sad, angry and scary time in USA history. I remember hearing about people driving from all over the country to NY to help look for survivors. I wanted to go, but didn't. I wish I would have. It was kind of crazy how much this tragedy brought America even closer together. Everyone helping, sending food, water and resources to help clean up. I remember thinking why would anyone do this to other humans. It's sad that people don't view all people on this earth as humans. It's sad that it comes down to the color of skin, or the religion that we pray to.

I unfortunately remember thinking, when are we going to send the troops over to take care of this problem. I remember cheering when I heard that our fighter jets were on the way and bombs were being dropped. I was foolish to cheer like it was some kind of video game that we were about to win. War isn't a game that anyone wins, rather it is a necessary evil at times. If we stand by and do nothing, we are looked at as cowards, if we fight we lose even more lives. It's a lose, lose situation and it sucks.

The thing that saddens me the most is that we, American's, Patriots, wait until the anniversary of such a tragedy to remember our fallen friends that were killed in the 9/11 attacks. We wait until veterans day to pay our respects to lost soldiers, we wait until a specific day that has been set a side to remember, when we really should remember this daily. These tragedies are what have made our country what it is today, for better or worse. The soldiers that died in all the wars that have been fought deserve to be remembered every day. We take liberties every day that were gained by our loved ones who have fallen, those who have been injured physically or mentally for the rest of their lives. Yet we only remember on certain calendar days.

A few days ago my dad sent me an email saying that on September 11th all American's should fly their flag proud. I say (and unfortunately I need to take my own advice.) we need to fly it proud every day. This is a great country and many of us take our freedoms for granted.

Please remember our fallen hero's, loved ones and soldiers today and every day.

AutoCAD Electrical Unplugged (LinkedIn Group)

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:07:00 +0000

Come one, Come all. I have just created a group on linked in called AutoCAD Electrical Unplugged. Stemmed from my Autodesk University class idea we will discuss anything AutoCAD Electrical in this group. My goal is to build a strong user community that can openly share symbols, catalog entries, ideas, and whatever else we can think of.

Here is the link to the group. If you have any questions you can email me at mailto:robert.stein@zephyrtechnologies.com

Autodesk University Updated

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:21:00 +0000

As I mentioned in the previous post I have been awarded the great opportunity to present 4 courses at Autodesk University. Below are the links to the specific classes.

AutoCAD Electrical 2010 Unplugged

Class ID: MA304-1
Class Type: Unconference
Expertise: All Levels
Industry: Industrial Machinery
Primary Track: Manufacturing
Primary Software: AutoCAD Electrical
8:00 AM Thursday December 3, 2009 in Palm E

AutoCAD Electrical Power Tools for Power Users

Class ID: MA118-4
Class Type: 90-Minute Class
Expertise: Power User
Primary Track: Manufacturing
Primary Software: AutoCAD Electrical
3:00 PM - 4:30PM Tuesday December 1, 2009 in Jasmine D

AutoCAD Electrical 2010 Ribbons unWrapped

Virutal Session, Information still to come.

Consulting Concepts Unplugged

Class ID: MA2160
Class Type: Unconference
Expertise: All Levels
Industry: Industrial Machinery
Primary Track: Manufacturing
Primary Software: AutoCAD Electrical
10:00 AM - 11:30AM Thursday December 3, 2009 in Palm E

I think this will be one of the best AU's to date. I am very excited about these classes and the opportunity to help people.

Autodesk University 2009

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:39:00 +0000

I am starting to ramp up for Autodesk University 2009. This year I have been awarded 4 classes. Below are my class titles, more details to follow in the next week or two.

AutoCAD Electrical Power Tools for Power Users - 90 Minute Class
AutoCAD Electrical 2010 Unplugged - Un-Conference (AU Unplugged)
Consulting Concepts Unplugged - Un-Conference (AU Unplugged)
AutoCAD Electrical 2010 RIbbons unWrapped - Virtual Session

I am very excited about the two unplugged sessions. It should be very interesting.

Stay tuned.

The Brick Wall

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:54:00 +0000

I recently started listening to an audio book called "The Last Lecture". So far it is a good book. I just wanted to make a comment on something in the book that I think rings very true.

The author talks about the brick walls that we all run into throughout life. And as we all know these brick walls seem like they are immovable. The author goes on to discuss why these brick walls are there. Brick walls are placed in front of people to stop the people who don't want what's on the other side enough. Think about that for a minute. How many times throughout our days / lives do we run into a small problem and just give up. I can answer that for the majority of the people. Often. I am very guilty of this also.

I am a strong believer of you can do anything you put your mind to. I leave you with this. When we run into our brick walls, climb them, bull doze through them, get a wrecking ball. Do whatever it takes to attain that goal. You will feel better about your accomplishment and also feel that you can accomplish anything.

ACE Tools

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:38:00 +0000

I am currently spending a little time writing an "ACE Toolkit". I am curious to see what your ideas are for a toolkit. For example the previous post where I provided an excel spreadsheet to build the autolisp string that would automatically create wire types in AutoCAD Electrical.

I would love to hear your ideas and see what types of tools I can help build.

email me at robert.stein@zephyrtechnologies.com

Adding Wire Types with Automation

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:13:00 +0000

I have been writing a lot of code lately at work and even at home for AutoCAD Electrical. I have came across this cool API call that I want to share with you. First I should explain a use case for this.

We should all be setting up templates with our wire types already defined in them to save us time. However there will be many times due to several reasons when those wire types are removed from the drawings, or when we add new wire types. When we add new wire types we probably want to add them to a project which could have hundreds of drawings and we wouldn't want to do this 1 drawing at a time. Below shows the basic steps and information about this.

The overall API call and information:

(c:ace_new_wiretype "0000 Default Wires" (list "WIRE COLOR" "blue" "SIZE" "" "_COLOR" "210" "_LTYPE" "Solid" "_LWEIGHT" "Default") nil)

Wow, that kind of looks like a foriegn language. Let's break it down.

"(c:ace_new_wiretype" - This is the base for the command.
"0000 Default Wires" - This is the layer(Wire Type) name.
(list "WIRE COLOR" "blue" "SIZE" "" "_COLOR" "210" "_LTYPE" "Solid" "_LWEIGHT" "Default") - This is the data list. throughout the entire data list there is a identifier (i.e. "WIRE COLOR") followed by the value (i.e. "blue"). In this case it is not the actual color of the wire, but the color data field in the wire type list. The "_COLOR" is the color for the layer. Toward the end of the data list you see _LTYPE and _LWEIGHT, these define the values for the actual layer that get's created.
" nil)" - at this time this is for options that don't exist.

So now what you would do is create a text file with a file extension of .scr. You will enter a list of these API calls into the text file with all of the details for your wire types. Then run the script file by either dragging the script file into your autocad drawing, or using the project utilities, then For each drawing, then run command script file.

I have also included a zip file that contains a sample script file and a spreadsheet to help you generate the script file. Here are the steps.

Open the excel file and update Columns B, E, H, J, L, N & P. This will generate the value in Column R which is the api call you will need to put into your .scr file.
Next copy the column R values into the scr file.
Make sure that you have an extra carriage return at the end of the scr file to act as the last "enter" for the script.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me at robert.stein@zephyrtechnologies.com

Pre-Releasing in Vault Manufacturing

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:30:00 +0000

For years engineers have had to pre-release parts in order to meet customer deadlines. For example long lead items are often pre-released. With Autodesk Vault Manufacturing you can now have multiple states marked as Released to help control the document along the lifecycle.

Here's how.

Log into Vault Manufacturing with admin privileges.
Select "Tools" then "Administration"
Select on the "Behaviors Tab", then the "Lifecycles" button.
At this point you can create a new lifecycle or an existing one. (click edit or new)
Choose the "Add" button under lifecylce details.
Provide a name and description. (i.e. "Pre-Released", "Released to Standard" or "Released to Manufacturing") then click ok.
Select the newly created lifecycle state and then choose the "Control" tab.
Here you will notice a checkbox "This is a Released State". Check this and complete your new state.

I hope this quick post gives you some ideas on how you can use this functionality. Please feel free to email me with questions. Robert.stein@zephyrtechnologies.com Manufacturing Pre-Releasing in Vault Manufacturing

Tiffany Tucker...

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:28:00 +0000

I don't recall how long I have known Tiffany for, but I remember that we met at an INCAT sponsored event a few years ago. Tiffany was an attendee and had interest in AutoCAD Electrical and Inventor. We got to talking and a few months later I was training her in AutoCAD Electrical in Grand Rapids. We had talked quite a bit about her desire to become a consultant and trainer. I worked with the management at INCAT and we decided to hire Tiffany. I think she learned allot during her time at INCAT and is very talented in what she does. She recently got accepted to present at Autodesk University this year which is a nice achievement. Recently Tiffany and a number of my other friends and former coworkers from INCAT have been laid off.

Here is Tiffany's resume. I hope that someone can help her out.

If you need a letter of recomendation for Tiffany please let me know.

Jason Johnson....

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:01:00 +0000

I first met Jason Johnson when he was at ABB and INCAT was hired to conduct an AutoCAD Mechanical class. I was the consultant that got to go work on that training project. Several months after that, I got an email from Jason and he was looking for a job. I immediately told our management that we needed to try and hire Jason because he was very skilled.

While Jason and I were at INCAT together we worked on several programming projects together where I was very impressed with his programming skills and ideas for programs. Jason also worked on Inventor and Autodesk Data Management implementations. Jason is a very valuable person to have on your team. Here is his resume.

You asked for it...

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:01:00 +0000

Over the past year or so many people have asked for my resume. Well I have decided to post it here.

Nate Holt has a new blog site.

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:44:00 +0000

I would have to say that most of the people using AutoCAD Electrical for the past few years have heard of Nate Holt. Nate recently transferred his blog from the Autodesk one we have been following for years to this new one. http://nateholt.wordpress.com/ check it out when you get a chance. Same great tips and tricks just on a new site.

Mount This

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:37:00 +0000

In an earlier post I discussed Installation and Location codes and some possible uses. Today I am going to discuss the Panel Mount and Group codes. This is something I never really knew a perfect example of but we will give it a try to explain it.

First I will start by stating I don't know many companies that I have worked with that have used these fields however I recently recieved an email asking what they were all about. So thanks John and I hope this helps.

Very close to Installation and Location codes, Mount and Group codes can be used as to help define that device. These can only be added by editing the panel symbol. When I say they can help define that device I mean in respect to mounting and grouping. Here is what I think it means.

Mount - Use this field to help define the mounting of the physical component. In the schematics we might have used an installation code saying OPSTA1 well at OPSTA1 it could be on the door or the backplate, it could also be on the right side, top, left side etc... of the box. With the mount code you could use something like BPLT for backplate.

Group - I see two main possiblities for this field. First would be to add a code for assembly. For example let's say your shop process specifies that certain things happen in a certain order. Use the group code to group all of the devices together that happen in the same process. Then you can "kit" the assembly of the panel's to help speed up the build process. The other option I see is for sequencing. I haven't done much with Panel Level Sequencing but there is a way to define levels in the panel, I believe it is up to 4 levels, basically to help the shop understand the build of the panel.

Do you need to use these, absolutely not. As with most things in AutoCAD Electrical yoou can take it as far as you want with the power of the product. Although I will say that the more features you use, the more long term benefits you stand to gain.

One last thought is that the Mount and Group codes can also show up in the Panel Component report which might be helpful to get that "kit" done.

I hope this helps and if anyone has used these codes before and has examples they would like to share, please feel free to email me at robert.stein@zephyrtechnologies.com.

Introducing Ken Rose, a long time friend and coworker.

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:18:00 +0000

It has been a while since I have done this and I am selective on who's resume I post on this site. Ken Rose has recently become victim of this poor economy. It saddens me when very talented people lose their job due to things such as the economy.

Ken and I worked together at INCAT for quite a while, where I quickly learned of Ken's skills and great personality. Ken is very easy to get along with and I would recommend him for my team any day of the week. You can find his resume here.

Now for a little of Ken's background. Ken worked as an engineer for four years using the Autodesk products that we supported while at INCAT. After moving out of engineering into consulting with INCAT he was able to put his engineering skills to great use as a post sales consultant. Ken also performed many pre-sales actions at INCAT and did very well at it. Ken helped INCAT to win some very large Data Management projects while he was there. After INCAT Ken moved to another reseller where he further honed his skills.

Ken is both a great coworker and a great friend. If anyone has any questions regarding Ken or would like a reference I will personally be one of his references.

Thanks

File Naming Schemes in Vault Workgroup, Collaboration and Manufacturing

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:01:00 +0000

I posted a few weeks back about the Vault product line to introduce the 4 different products that make up Autodesk Data Management. Today's post is on the Automatic File Naming in 3 of the 4 products. The products that have this feature are:

Vault Workgroup
Vault Collaboration
Vault Manufacturing

Automatic File Numbering
This is one of the first things I looked at because in a past career I helped to design an auto file naming tool so I wanted to see how this compared. So that I don't confuse anyone I won't talk about the other tool, only what's included with the application.

Numbering Schemes
You can define numbering schemes to help you automate the file naming process. For example you might have several different styles of naming for your Inventor files. For example you have a part numbering convention for weldments and one for standard make details. Possibly you have two different divisions of the organization that have recently merged, that previously had their own numbering conventions.

Defining a numbering scheme is really easy. The hardest part is understanding your organizations numbering scheme. In order to create or edit a Numbering Scheme you will need to log into the Vault product of your choice (those listed above). After logging in, you will choose Tools then Administration. After the Administration dialog box appears you will choose the Define button for Numbering Schemes.

After the Numbering Schemes dialog appears you will see an image like this:

As you can see I have two numbering conventions created, both are set to active, and one is set to default. The very cool things is it works with Inventor. When you click save (if you are logged into the vault through Inventor) the naming tool is activated. If you click Skip it allows you to change the file name (For R&D or concept parts). If you have two naming schemes it displays the default first and any other one under a drop down list. This provides for easy access to multiple numbering conventions. In a later post I will discuss how to configure these naming conventions but for now let's look at how they look.

In the image below the highlited area shows the drop down list. The "Number" field under the Scheme is displayed based off of the selected scheme.

In this image you see I have selected the "Weldment" numbernig scheme and I am getting a
different number generated.

As mentioned earlier, I will be posting more on this subject in the next blog post.

Autodesk University Tech Talk

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:04:00 +0000

Recently I submitted an article to Autodesk University to be part of the Quarterly Tech Talk that they have been doing. It was published and you can read it here. You can read other articles on the manufacturing products here.

Vegas Baby...

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:15:00 +0000

I got accepted to present 2 classes this year at Autodesk University. Stay tuned for more details.

Location vs. Installation Codes

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:56:00 +0000

Overview
Over the years I have implemented AutoCAD Electrical into a fairly large amount of clients ranging in different industries. During this time one thing that seemed to always be slightly confusing to some people is installation and location codes within AutoCAD Electrical. This article hopes to clear some of this up.

Installation and location codes, both serve a common purpose. This purpose is giving the user the ability to “Filter” during certain project wide processes based on these codes. For example let’s say you were to perform a Bill of Materials report but you did not want a report of all of the components that are in your project.

What type of “Filtering” are we talking about here? Let’s consider this; we have a main control panel, junction box and 3 push button stations. 2 of our push button stations are complete and ready for release while the rest of the panels are about 1 week away from completion. If we assign certain values into the location and installation codes, now we can run our BOM on specifically PB Stations 1 & 3 which is complete. This would also make it very easy to complete station specific BOM’s and put them right on the same drawing as the panel layout.

What we have to remember is that these are filters that we can use that are at the component level. We would not want to use something high level like STA 400 which would be everything in the project. There are another set of filters I will talk about in a future post that would be a great fit for high level filtering. Look at the following examples and descriptions of location and installation codes.

Location Codes
One way to think about this, based on how many other companies are doing it, is to consider where the device is physically located. For example we may be labeling a Limit Switch which would not physically be located in the panel, but instead it would be located maybe on the Conveyor. Our location code might be something like this:

(CONV-5) This might be the nomenclature our company came up with to specify that it is located on a section of conveyor in the system and that section is 5.

Installation Codes
Let’s think about Installation codes as where the device terminates to. For example let’s consider our Limit Switch from the Location Code example. It is physically located on the conveyor section 5 (CONV-5). Now those wires terminate back in a junction box somewhere else on the line. That junction box might be named J-BOX 5, meaning it is a Junction Box and it is the 5th one. Now through several different reports and other tasks we know by looking at our 2D Schematics exactly where to find the physical device, and the terminating wire.

This can also be very useful in From/To type reports.

I hope this helps, if you have any questions please feel free to email me at Robert.stein@zephyrtechnologies.com

Are you forgetting to order components for your electrical design?

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:47:00 +0000

Back when I used to talk to client's about AutoCAD Electrical on a regular basis I always asked this question. Are you forgetting to order components in your electrical / controls designs? The answer would be something along these lines:

"Isn't that what field BOM's are for?"
"On every job, it cost's us time and makes us late on delivery at times."

Those were the answers I wanted to hear because it gave me yet another tool in AutoCAD Electrical to talk about that can help them. Actually there are two tools and we will discuss them both.

Missing Catalog Data

Located on the Reports Tab of the Ribbon, then on the Schematic panel this tool will put a graphical "diamond" around any component that does not have a catalog entry assigned to it. See images below.

Missing BOM Report

Located on the Reports Tab, Schematic Panel under Reports the "Missing Bill of Material" report will do just that, it will give you a report specificaly on all schematic components that have not been assigned a Catalog Number.

I hope this help. if you have any questions feel free to email me at robert.stein@zephyrtechnologies.com

Another iLogic use

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:18:00 +0000

In previous posts I showed how to use iLogic rules to change your model based off of selections. Yesterday on my way home I got to thinking why can't I use it to force the model to stay exactly how I want it without any options. In the video below I show how to create a new rule using the "Add Rule" command, then I use the "Capture Current State" which grabs the state of the model parameters. I add a simple message box in to tell the user that they can't change any of the existing parameters and BAM, I'm done. Check out the video and I will make the file available for download.

As a recap, I am enforcing the model to be one size and shape, keep in mind that with this example the user can add new features. The user just can't modify existing features. You can download the file here.

Vault Product Line

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Over the years I have spent a lot of time with most of the Autodesk Manufacturing products. About 7 to 8 months ago, I took a new job where I didn't have access to all of the software that I did before. I recently got the Vault Manufacturing product and I am planning to do a couple blog posts a month or more. I figured this would be a good place to start with a comparison of the 4 different vault products that are now available. I will be using Vault Manufacturing in all of my posts, however from the comparison matrix below you can see that Vault Manufacturing has everything that all of the other products have.

If you have any questions feel free to email me at robert.stein@zephyrtechnologies.com

Capabilities	Autodesk Vault	Autodesk Vault Workgroup	Autodesk Vault Collaboration	Autodesk Vault Manufacturing
Best in class integration with Autodesk Design Software	X	X	X	X
Tools to manage your Microsoft Office documents	X	X	X	X
Quick and simple searching	X	X	X	X
Understand the impact of change with "where used" analysis	X	X	X	X
Concurrent design with check-in / check-out of data	X	X	X	X
Sorting and filtering tools to improve data organization	X	X	X	X
Interactive file preview with Autodesk Design Review	X	X	X	X
Simple administration and configuration	X	X	X	X
User, group, and role administration	X	X	X	X
Specialized copy tools to optimize design data reuse	X	X	X	X
Intelligent maintenance tools like 'rename' and 'move file'	X	X	X	X
Version tracking of files for design concept exploration	X	X	X	X
Manage any windows file format, including raster formats	X	X	X	X
Vault Autoloader for simple data loading	X	X	X	X
Access for team members without CAD		X	X	X
Revision management for files		X	X	X
Utilities to batch plot design data		X	X	X
Configurable security and access control		X	X	X
Custom properties to capture non-drawing attributes		X	X	X
Property policies to enforce company standards		X	X	X
Automatic file naming		X	X	X
Manage security of design files throughout their lifecycle		X	X	X
Graphically report and analyze your design data			X	X
Added backup tools to minimize maintenance downtime			X	X
Windows authentication to ease administration			X	X
Web client for read only access to vaulted data			X	X
Publish data to Microsoft Sharepoint			X	X
Offload visualization publishing using the job server			X	X
Connect workgroups distributed across multiple sites			X	X
Automated engineering change management process				X
Revision management for items				X
Bill of Material management, view, edit, and compare				X
Automatic item numbering				X
Markup and redline visualization files				X
Design status watermarking on visualization files				X
Coexist and exchange data with enterprise business systems				X

More Logically Thinking....

stein.rob@gmail.com (Rob Stein) — Thu, 28 May 2009 10:40:00 +0000

I haven't had a lot of time over the past couple of weeks to use iLogic for Inventor any more due to the newborn in the house. However before the baby was born I was working on a Key Pin Shaft Assembly from the Masterline company. The goal that I had was to create a component that our company can reuse that has the rules right from the Masterline cut sheet built in. I wanted the user to be able to select the diameter (only given sizes are allowed), the working length (the distance between the key and the end of the shaft), the cut distance (the distance between the key and the start of the cut), and finally the style (this determines the orientation of the cut in relationship to the key). Based off of these user inputs the model automatically builds the Masterline Part Number based off of the rules.

Having said that I set out to build this smart part. First instead of doing it as an assembly since we will always be ordering it as one entity I decided to make it a single part file. I then took into consideration how I would be changing the design with my "rules" from iLogic. That determined how I modeled it. After modeling it, I renamed some of the parameters to ones that made sense (Descriptive for the function). Then I started to write the rules.

With the iLogic interface it is very easy to write these rules. Based off of VB.NET it sounds more difficult than it is. Basically iLogic does all of the .NET things for you behind the scenes, and all you have to do is put the logic statements into the model and iLogic does the rest. Here is a sample snippet of code to show how easy it is. It is a simple if, then, else statement that I will explain below.

***In the first section of the if statement it basically says if the parameter (multi value list) is = to the letter "A" then make sure that "StyleACut" is active (Unsupressed) and "StyleBCut" is Inactive (suppressed). ***

If Style = "A" Then
Feature.IsActive("StyleACut") = True
Feature.IsActive("StyleBCut") = False

***The else statement basically states that if the Style parameter is anything except "A" then do what's next which is to make sure that "StyleACut" is Inactive (Supressed) and "StyleBCut" is Active (Unsuppressed). ***

Else
Feature.IsActive("StyleACut") = False
Feature.IsActive("StyleBCut") = True

*** The End If statement simply says that the If, Then, Else block is complete.

End If

This is still a work in progress for me, I plan to add a GUI, and some error handling to it over the coming days / week. However you can download what I have so far here. The error handling that I want to add is at minimum to make sure that the cut distance isn't more than the working length. this ends up in an error today if you have changed this incorrectly.

Enjoy and feel free to email me with questions. I would prefer to email to my robert.stein@zephyrtechnologies.com email address as I get to many junk emails at my gmail account. This way it will be difficult to find your email if it get's put into the spam folder in my gmail.