IMAGINiT Technologies Support Blog

Vault Client and Vault Web Client cannot connect to Vault after .Net 4.5 was installed

Sooner or later Autodesk Vault 2013 users may find that updating to Microsoft .Net 4.5 will cause their Vault Client on the workstation to fail to connect to the Vault Server.

Also, the Vault Web Client may return a server runtime error when attempting to log into Vault.

Autodesk has received such reports and advises that "Vault 2013 (Server and Client) and all previous releases of Vault are not supported with .NET Framework 4.5. <Installation> of .NET version 4.5 is <at> your own risk!"

Recently a Vault 2013 user located the warning above from Autodesk's Cracking the Vault blog article only after allowing an update to load for .Net 4.5.

Once they uninstalled the .Net 4.5 update, they still couldn't access Vault.

What happened when they uninstalled .Net 4.5 is that IIS also removed the association for Vault for .Net 4.0 that was once working. The Default Application Pool reverted to .Net 2.0.

To correct this so that the Vault clients can connect, open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager (Start/Run/Inetmgr) on the Vault server and expand the localhost to view and select the Application Pools as shown above. You will need to right click each AppPool to select Advanced Settings as shown.

Change both the Classic .Net AppPool and the DefaultAppPool to use .NET Framework Version v4.0.

After changing both, then run IISRESET on the Vault server. The Vault client and the Vault Web Client should now be able to log into Vault once more as they did prior to the .Net 4.5 installation.

What's New in AutoCAD Plant 3D 2015

AutoCAD Plant 3D 2015 includes incremental improvements and feature requests that build upon the previous release and in particular, the AutoCAD Plant 3D 2014 Extension 1 that was only available to Autodesk Subscription users.

The enhancements for Ortho BOM and COG from the Plant 3D 2014 Extension 1 are included in Plant 3D 2015. They offer additional control for Ortho drawing Bill of Material tables and Center of Gravity indicator for position and weight for Plant components and equipment.

Here are itemized details for the other new improvements in AutoCAD Plant 3D 2015 from the online help.

P&ID Line Groups

It is now easier to manage line groups and line numbers (line group tags). The new way groups are assigned also helps prevent accidental changes to the group when you edit line segment tags.

For more information, see About P&ID Line (SLINE) Grouping.

Fixed Length Piping

You can now route fixed-length piping in the 3D model. Pipe segments are automatically created and connected as you route pipe. Fixed-length piping is enabled from the piping spec.

You can use the Spec Editor to set Use Fixed Length and Fixed Length properties in the project's piping spec. The fixed-length properties are not new to 2015, however they must be set to enable the new fixed-length pipe routing features. For more information, see About Fixed Length Piping.

Note: Getting your project working with fixed-length piping can require modifying the piping spec, and joint configuration in project setup. See To check if fixed length piping is set up in the 3D model to help determine if your project is ready for fixed-length pipe routing.

Pipe Routing

A new Minimum Cut Length property specifies the minimum pipe segment length created when routing pipe. You can specify a different maximum (Fixed Length) and minimum (Minimum Cut Length) for each size of pipe in the spec. The Fixed Length property is used when routing fixed-length pipe. The Minium Cut Length specifies the smallest segment allowed (which is important to fixed-length piping, but all piping is affected).

Ortho and Iso BOM

Bill of Materials reports allow you to list each length of fixed-length piping on a separate line item.

For more information see Settings Tab (Table Setup Dialog Box).

Piping with an Existing status is no longer included in an Ortho BOM. For more information see PLANTORTHOBOMSHOWEXISTING.

Stub-in connections now display the cut-back length in both the Ortho drawing and the 3D Model.

Ortho Bill of Material (BOM) tables

You can now create a BOM table for an ortho view. Piping, pipe supports, and equipment are listed in the Ortho BOM table.

For more information, see About Ortho Bill of Material (BOM).

Center of Gravity (COG)

A new Analysis tab has been added to the Ribbon which works with weights and COG for piping, pipe supports, equipment, and structure.

Weights can be included in the spec or set in the model using the Properties Palette.

You can display COG tooltips the model or use Report Creator.

For more information, see About Center of Gravity (COG).

Isometric Improvements (Isos)

You can now set default values for advanced options (such as congestion level) for the project.

Placement of dimensions and annotations has been improved to reduce crossings.

New Content Packs

Content packs are now available in the AutoCAD Plant 3D App Store under Catalogs & Specs.

Specs that include weight and support fixed-length piping are available on: Autodesk Exchange Apps.

Associative Dimensions

Associative dimensions are now supported in the 3D model.

Plant SDK (Developer)

Developers can now create and connect equipment and sline components in P&ID drawings using new high-level APIs.

A new CreateSline sample project is provided to create the line shown above.

Download the Plant SDK from the Autodesk Developer Network here: http://www.autodesk.com/developautocad. 

What's New in Vault 2015

Autodesk Vault 2015 focuses on transforming the Item/BOM experience, making it easier for you to manage your design process. In addition, this release improves the editing workflow, introduces a brand new thin client experience, and broadens the feature offerings in the Revit Vault Add-in. Additional functionality and enhancements have been made to the Inventor Vault Add-in, Project Sync, ADMS Console, and Installation process.

• Inventor Integration Enhancements
• Revit Integration Enhancements
• New Thin Client
• Item Workflow Enhancements
• Revision Table improvements
• New Autodesk Vault File Server
• Vault Data Standard
• Project Sync Updates
• ADMS Console Updates
• New Consolidated Installation Process

Here are more details for each feature:

• Inventor Integration Enhancements

• The Inventor Vault Add-in has been updated to include a Fast Open from Vault option. This means that you can open a drawing without finding or resolving any of the referenced files.
• Refer to Open File from Vault with the Inventor Add-in for more information.

• Revit Integration Enhancements

Autodesk Vault 2015 focuses heavily on the Revit Vault add-in experience by introducing several new features and enhancing existing features.

• New Import from Vault Feature
• New Load Group from Vault Feature
• Improved Load Family from Vault Workflow
• Link More File Types
• Maintain Link to DWF
• New Login Interface and Connection Status
• Shared Parameters Support
• New Lifecycles, Revisions, and Categories Support
• New Mapping User Interface on the Vault Options Dialog
• Import Revit Project Properties

• New Thin Client  (Available only with Vault Workgroup and Vault Professional)

• The thin client has been completely redesigned to provide a superior experience when accessing a vault through a web browser. 
• The redesign includes Enhanced user interfaces, Customizable view functionalities, New BOM interface, and Enhanced report printing.
• See the Thin Client help for more information. 

• Item Workflow Enhancements

• New Item CAD Integrations

• Improved Usability

• Several areas of the Item Workflow have been overhauled or improved to make it easier for you to manage your items and BOMs.

• New Modeless Item Interface

  The Item Wizard has been eliminated and a new modeless interface introduced for item management. Now you can manage item records and work with the main Vault client at the same time. In addition, you can drag and drop or copy/paste files onto items, components onto items, or items onto items.

  See Work with Item File Links for more information.

• Save Item as Needed

  In previous releases, you had to save and close an item to record changes, and then reopen it to continue modifying it. Now you can save as you edit without having to close the record.

• Save a Copy of an Item as a New Item

Save a current item as a new item so that all of the properties, BOM rows, and item details are copied into the new item.

Note: Item links are not copied to the new item.
See Save Item As for more information.

• Open Item from File

Not only can you go to an item from a selected file but you can open the item directly from the file.
See Open Item from File for more information.

• Assign Items to Components

Assign items to virtual components, allowing you to keep track of placeholders in your BOMs.
See Assign Items for more information.

• Change Item State from the Right-Click Menu

Not only can you change item states from the item record, you can also right-click on an item and select change state without ever opening the item record.

• Easy File Link Management

Restrictions on file links have been eased. In addition, an associated link type column has been added to the Associated Items dialog so you can see at a glance whether a link is primary or not.

Note: Administrators have the option of suppressing the Associated Items dialog.
When viewing the Associated Files section of an item, non-primary links are hidden by default, making it easier to locate the associated file that you need. Users have the option of revealing the other links with the click of a button. See Work with Item File Links for more information.

• Auto-select Duplicate Item

Right now, Vault will automatically select one item for assignment when it finds two of the same items. Administrators can opt out of auto-selection by modifying preferences on the Configure Assign Item dialog. Administrators can also decide whether or not to allow a user to override auto-assignment.

• Flexible BOM Management

Now, instead of having to remove BOM rows, you can turn rows off to keep them listed in the BOM but exclude them from the BOM-related processes.

In previous releases, you could only modify the parent item in a BOM. Now you can make nested edits to items listed in the BOM, as well as add and remove nested items.

Automatically add rows to a BOM by creating new items. Administrators can also specify on the Configure BOM Row Settings dialog whether Vault automatically creates items for children files in the BOM or turns BOM rows on for them.

Additionally, you can easily reorder rows in the BOM by dragging and dropping them (Bill of Materials - Reordering) as well as configure item position numbers (Bill of Materials - Change the Position of an Item in a BOM.

Export BOM has been renamed to Save BOM view and now has a simplified workflow.

• Enhancements to Item Number Workflow

When an item is created, the default numbering scheme is used to generate the item number. If the scheme requires user input, users are immediately prompted to fill in the required values so there is no need to go back and edit the item record later.

A Replace button is provided to help you search the Vault for properties that you want to map to fields requiring user input. A Precheck button is provided to verify the mapped values.

See Assign Item Numbers for more information.

In addition, you can quickly access the Change Number dialog by right-clicking on an item. 

• New status icons and improved User Interface

New status icons and an improved user interface help you manage your items and BOMs with quicker, more convenient workflows.
See Items and BOMs for more information.

• Revision Table improvements

Based on user feedback a number of enhancements have been made to the Revision Table greatly improving its flexibility and usability across design disciplines.

Content

Administrator can now control the file information displayed in the revision table rows including:

◦ Initial or final released states (where user may have more than one released lifecycle state) 
◦ First or Last version from within the revision state (where the file may have been modified after initial release by Job Processor or quick change style operation) 
◦ Update latest revision only (ignore updates to existing revision table rows)

Filters

In addition to selecting information to display users can also select which revision types should appear in the table, whether that is:

◦ Omit the original revision where initial release is not detailed in the table.

◦ Skip the secondary, tertiary, or even primary revision display for users leveraging different revision types.

Users are also able to reset the table rows on change to the revision scheme so the final revision displays only the production revision.

• New Autodesk Vault File Server

• In a bid to improve replication performance Autodesk introduces Autodesk File Store Server (AVFS) a new console type that permits a local site file store while enabling users to redirect SQL calls to the remote ADMS.
• Removing the requirement for user web calls to route through local ADMS to remote ADMS significantly increases remote client performance making this single SQL model a more attractive option for connecting workgroups that may have previously used full replication or a slower file store replication option. 

• Vault Data Standard 

The Autodesk Data Standard for Vault 2015 release focuses on providing support for Autodesk Vault Workgroup 2015 and Autodesk Vault Professional 2015.

In addition, Autodesk Data Standard for Vault 2015 provides a new way of handling Data Standard templates, enhanced property mapping for AutoCAD DWG properties, and support for generated Inventor components.

• Enhanced Mapping for AutoCAD DWG Properties
• Improved Handling of Templates
• New Data Standard Support for Generated Inventor Components
• Folder Lists Now Available for Data Standard
• New Custom Object Support
• Suppress Default Data Standard Commands
• New Localization Support
• See more details in What's New in Autodesk Data Standard for Vault 2015

• Project Sync Updates

• Project Sync now provides multiple mapping support. In previous releases, users had to map a folder that contained all of the files that they wanted to synchronize with Vault. This meant that the folder had to be high enough in the folder hierarchy to contain all of the necessary files. However, as a result, many files and folders inside the hierarchy did not need to be synchronized.
• Autodesk Vault 2015 introduces a way to specify multiple mappings between Vault folders and Buzzsaw sites/folders within one Vault. Now users can select the exact Vault folders that they want to synchronize.
• A few dialogs had to be overhauled to support the new mapping functionality.
• The Project Sync Settings dialog now offers a way to specify folders for mapping and site management. 

•  ADMS Console Updates

• Vault templates have been introduced to the ADMS Console for easy vault creation based on your industry. Now when you first log in after installation, you are prompted to create a vault. You must select an industry template or choose the default template before the vault is created.
• In addition, the Civil 3D template is now included with all three industry templates.
• See Create a Vault for more information.
• In addition, the enable SSL compatibility option has been relocated to the Administration dialog.

• New Consolidated Installation Process

• The installation process has been entirely overhauled to consolidate separate installation packages. In previous releases, components like the Autodesk File Server or Autodesk Vault Office would have to be installed separately.
• Now, all of the components you need for a successful data management ecosystem are available from the Vault Server or Vault Client Installation package.

• For more details see the Online Vault Help topic What's New in Vault 2015

 

Inventor Reset Utility

This new Autodesk Inventor Reset Utility is very helpful when Inventor isn't working as it should or to fix the following problems:

• Unable to export AutoCAD DWG 
• Unable to launch add-In
• Add-In commands are greyed in the ribbon
• Dialog boxes do not appear after launching a command
• Import/Export commands do not function
• Program crashes when entering add-in workspace 

It'll reset the local Inventor environment for the Windows user account that runs it.

Note: You may need to disable User Account Control and your anti-virus software.

• To disable User Account Control, in the Windows search type in User Account Control(or UAC).
• In the User Account Control Settings, set it to Never notify.
• Restart the system for the changes to take effect. 

 

Warning: This utility will get rid of any customization, back up your customization if needed

It will reset the following:

Ribbon, keyboard shortcuts, marking menu, Application Options settings, Add-In load states, Welcome Screen, recently opened files, Vault server log in info.

If needed go to the Tools ribbon>Application Options and Export these options to an xml file that you can Import once Inventor is reset.

If needed go to the Tools ribbon>Customize and Export any keyboard shortcuts, marking menu and ribbon customization that you re-import as well.

Run the utility exe file that's extracted:

 

It detects any version of Inventor that's installed on the system, choose the version you want to reset :

It'll delete these folders/registry keys and Inventor will be 'reset':

Deleted Application Data: C:\Users\Windows_account_login\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Inventor version_number
Deleted Roaming Data: C:\Users\Windows_account_login\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\Inventor version_number
Deleted registry: HKCU\Software\Autodesk\Inventor\Current Version
Deleted registry: HKCU\Software\Autodesk\Inventor\RegistryVersion x.0

 

Autodesk Structural Detailing Table

When creating a reinforcement table within Structural Detailing the text within the columns may come in extremely tiny or extremely large. Here is what you need to do to set this up so you don't have to go back and fix the tables.

To correct the text style of a table that has already been inserted go to your Text Style dialog box and adjust the text to correct how it appears in your table.

To set up your table styles before bringing in any table information I have a write up from our Imaginit Senior Solutions Consultant Veredith Keller:

Here is it what you do to set up the Reinforcement table:

1. From the ASD-Reinforcement tab>Settings panel>Styles dropdown choose Style-reinforcement tables…

    2.  Choose the Table to modify (ex. MAIN profiles) Pick Modify. You can also make a new one.

    3.  Choose Font, color, line table and change the Text Style. Note: you need to make the text style 1^st.

 

 

 

 

Inventor 2015: Important Heartbleed Security Hotfix

This is an important Hotfix to address a security bug, Heartbleed OpenSSL vulnerability.  Install the hotfix to address this security bug.

For more information on Heartbleed vulnerability see one of our blogs.

You can download the Inventor 2015 Heartbleed Hotfix here:

Inventor 2015 Heartbleed Security Hotfix

For Inventor LT, Inventor OEM, Inventor View and other Autodesk products see this link:

Autodesk Hotfixes to address Heartbleed Vulnerability

Read Me for installation instructions.

 

Inventor 2014: Service Pack 2 available

Inventor 2014 Service Pack 2 is available and will fix the following problems.

See the Read Me for all installation instructions as well as a list of what was fixed in Service Pack 1.  (Service Pack 2 includes all the Service Pack 1 updates if it wasn't installed.) 

Stress Analysis:

• Inventor exits unexpectedly when you delete multiple midsurfaces simultaneously.
• Inventor exits unexpectedly when you export some assembly files with midsurface shells to STEP format.
• Artificial stiffness sometimes occurs because of line-on-line geometry in bonded contact.
• Certain contacts are missing during automatic contact detection for some FEA cases.
• Corrupt models are now blocked from contact detection and solve unless you use a registry key as a workaround:[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\Inventor\RegistryVersion18.0\Assembly Stress Analysis] "ContinueOnCorruptModels"=dword:00000001
• Some customer models which can be meshed/solved in a prior version, are blocked from mesh/solve in Inventor 2014.
• Yield strength values in an FEA report do not use the correct unit conversions.
• Models with very large number of spring contacts ( > 2^16 contacts) are no longer blocked from finishing in SP2.

API:

• Using i-Drop fails to drag and drop a component into an assembly.
• A Server communication error occurs when you replace a component from Content Center while Table View is enabled.
• API method Documents.OpenWithOptions raises an error for assemblies with deleted default views.
• Inventor exits unexpectedly when calling Assets.Add if an Inventor Material Library does not exist.
• API reports an error when accessing ArcLengthDimConstraint in a sketch.

Application Functionality:

• If the license is unavailable, the customized options revert.
• Ribbon appearance reverts to Small after you restart Inventor and dock the ribbon to the left or right with the Normal appearance.
• Optimization users with account IDs that are non-numeric are blocked from entering Optimization.
• Non-English Inventor exits unexpectedly when you use the Style Library Manager to migrate a style library.
• On a Windows 8 operating system, Inventor exits unexpectedly when you close it after you save a Mold Design.
• When the InfoCenter search is collapsed, keyboard shortcuts do not work.
• On the Create New File dialog box, large and extra-large icon options on Create New File dialog box do not work.

Assembly Modeling:

• Inventor exits unexpectedly when you click the additional geometry of Simplify Define envelopes after loading Express.
• Inventor exits unexpectedly when you exit in-place edit environment from a sub-assembly and then undo.
• In a derived assembly, a component is missing when you change a positional representation from Master to user defined.
• Inventor exits unexpectedly when you create a shrinkwrap of an assembly containing a part with a composite in the Repair Environment and its source feature is deleted.

Content Center:

• If you switch users within the roaming profile environment, the Content Center becomes unavailable.
• Migrated custom content is missing materials, and Inventor sometimes exits unexpectedly when you access the library.
• Inventor exits unexpectedly when the Content Center dialog box is open, and you place a component and then exit the dialog box.

Engineer's Notebook:

• Inventor exits unexpectedly when you copy and paste components after you delete a note.

Enhanced Visualization:

• Dimension text is too blurred to see under certain color schemes.
• Display True line Weights does not take effect immediately.
• In a drawing view, Shade disappears when you zoom.
• In a drawing view, Leaders display behind the image.
• Hidden edges do not display in a section view.
• AmbientShadows show through the transparent components when you in-place edit an assembly and zoom it.
• Inventor exits unexpectedly when you enable ray tracing after creating a section view.
• Inventor exits unexpectedly when Windows prompts "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered".
• Decal image quality is poor in Performance and Quality modes.
• After you move a part in an assembly, strange arcs appear in a section view.
• When zooming in some large assemblies, abnormal triangles appear occasionally.
• When you open a mechanical desktop file on some low end machines, Inventor exits unexpectedly.
• Graphics do not render correctly by leaving ghosting or missing parts in assemblies.
• An assembly with a section view does not display correctly if the Workplane is in front of the section plane.
• Inventor exits unexpectedly when Windows prompts "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered".

Frame Generator:

• Fails to delete some frame members.
• Fails to apply Notch to certain frames.

Materials/Appearances:

• All unused materials are deleted after purged once.
• A Zero and negative value is acceptable for density of a physical property.

Part Modeling:

• If you edit the iPart table through Excel 2013 while you have other files opened in Excel, you cannot save the changes to the table.

Point Cloud:

• Inventor exits unexpectedly when you attach certain .rcp files.

Sketch:

• Inventor exits unexpectedly when you trim some splines.

Translators:

• Inventor exits unexpectedly when reading certain CATIA v5 files.
• Inventor fails to read some Solidworks assembly files.
• Nothing displays when you import some STEP files.
• Inventor does not respect custom resolution setting when you export STL files by API.
• Title block property text and the sketch of a drawing view moves their positions after you save an .idw to the AutoCAD .dwg file format.
• iLogic rule does not work when you save a drawing as .pdf without an explicit path.
• Model sketches within the Cropped View are entirely visible after you save an .idw to the AutoCAD .dwg file format.
• Inventor exits unexpectedly when you export certain files to the AutoCAD .dwg file format. 

Revit 2015: Important Security Update - UR2

Revit 2015 Security Update UR2 is available through the Autodesk Application Manager.

And for those of you who want to locate the updates the old fashion way...I have provided links at the bottom of this blog.

This security update release addresses the Heartbleed vulnerability, a security bug in the open-source OpenSSL cryptography library. Heartbleed is registered in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures system as CVE-2014-0160. In addition, the Autodesk Revit 2015 Security Update contains the fixes within Autodesk Revit 2015 Update Release 1. Consult the enhancements documentation for areas improved by Update Release 1.

This update has enhancements related to nested families, schedule columns, rebar in upgraded projects, format constraints for assembly codes and improved data collection for CIP.  A link to the list is provided below. 

Update Enhancement List

Update Release 2 is not a full install; rather it uses service pack technology similar to AutoCAD-based products. Prior to installing Update Release 1, please verify that you have already installed the First Customer Ship build of Autodesk Revit 2015 (Build: 20140223_1515).

Autodesk Revit 2015 Security Update Release Readme

Note: After this security update release is applied successfully, the build number specified on the Help > About dialog will be 20140323_1530.. For reference, you should save this readme to your hard drive or print a copy. 

Note:  Updates cannot be uninstalled.  If it is necessary to revert back to the original version you will need to uninstall and reinstall the software.

Other Revit Update Links

Revit 2015 Security Update

Revit LT 2015 Security Update

Revit Structure 2015 Security Update

Revit Architecture 2015 Security Update

Revit MEP 2015 Security Update

Revit 2015: Software Update - UR1

Revit 2015 Update 1 is available through the Autodesk Application Manager.

This update has enhancements related to nested families, schedule columns, rebar in upgraded projects, format constraints for assembly codes and improved data collection for CIP.  A link to the list is provided below. 

Update Enhancement List

Update Release 1 is not a full install; rather it uses service pack technology similar to AutoCAD-based products. Prior to installing Update Release 1, please verify that you have already installed the First Customer Ship build of Autodesk Revit 2015 (Build: 20140223_1515).

Autodesk Revit 2015 Update Release 1 Readme

After Update Release 1 is applied successfully, the build number specified on the Help > About dialog will be 20140322_1515. For reference, you should save this readme to your hard drive or print a copy. 

Note:  Updates cannot be uninstalled.  If it is necessary to revert back to the original version you will need to uninstall and reinstall the software.

AutoCAD: Status Bar Icons vs Text

When you look at your Status Bar under the command line (assuming it is turned on at the bottom). You notice you have all of these Icons. Most people know the majority of these. However for those who do not this can be a pain to hover and wait for a tool tip to see what it is. One answer would be to set the display back to Text so you could read what the toggle is for.

 

 

How to turn your Status Bar Icons into text
1.) Right click on any Button on the right of the status Bar
2.) Select Display Icon (which displays as checked) to uncheck the option

Now your Icons show as the Text we had in earlier versions of AutoCAD.

 

How to turn Icons on instead of Text display
1.) Right click on any Button on the right of the status Bar
2.) Select Display Icon (which displays as unchecked) to check the option

Now your Status Bar displays as Icons

 

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