OK, enough with the FUD. Vault is not going to kill you. It is not going to drive you out of business. It is not going to make your users rethink their entire view of the world.

It will make you think some. It will make your users think some. It will make your data more secure, and allow you to use C3D data in ways that you cannot do with any other solution. So, with that said, here’s my skinny on Vault as it is today. All of my comments are based on using Vault in a real team environment, not the one-person shop all by themselves. That situation gets its own rules.

Want to argue with me about something here? Fine, please comment! But you better have at least installed it on more than your local machine using the defaults. Don’t bring the weak sauce.

1. Install Vault to a server. If you don’t have a server, get one. Don’t play games with your data. It doesn’t have to be the only thing on that server, but it sure helps. If you use SBE and the Outlook Contact Manager, get another box to put your Vault on. It won’t kill you, a new W2003 server is less than ONE seat of C3D. You don’t know what’s involved? Let us solve that problem for you.
2. Upgrade from the MSDE to 2005 Express. I’m giving away the farm here, but the whole stupid argument about 10 users and connections, etc are all irrelevant when you use 2005 Express. The upgrade path can be found by downloading the FULL install of Vault 5 from your subscription site. You’re on subscription, right? Dig into the files, and you’ll find a folder for the upgrade. Do it. Breathe. Relax. Get on with your life. Quit worrying about stupid stuff.
3. Put your shared working folder BACK to the directory you already use for your projects. Force the issue. Don’t let users control this, it will not end well for you. By using the shared working folder approach, you allow non-Vault dwg consumers to actually do something with your data. Hot sports opinion for the day: Using a local working folder is dumb. You were using network data in LDT or whatever else you had, use it now. The speed difference is NOT going to make a significant change in your life.
4. Don’t backup the Vault. Not like you do now at least. Back it up manually, once a week, once a month, whenever lets you sleep better. Backup your working folder, not your Vault. This allows you to use the data backup plan you have in place (you do have one, right?) with all the standard software that’s out there, and you don’t have to shut down the server to do it. Oh, and yes, the backup plans for the Actual Vault are completely asinine. Someone at Autodesk needs a smack to the back of the head for that one. Ever heard of an all-nighter, fellas?
5. Train your people! This isn’t rocket science, and it’s not even as complicated as all the FUD-mongers in the newsgroups want it to be. Develop a workflow. Document it. Give it out. Put it in a flowchart diagram and stick it on the wall behind your users’ monitors. Don’t understand the workflow? Get some training yourself! The cost of a day or two of training is nothing compared to the headaches of struggling through it by yourself or with the reseller that knows less than you do. Hell, he or she probably doesn’t even read my blog, you already know more than them. (That’s a joke, get it?)

All right, the five Vault Rules according to James. I might expand them. I might not. Comment below. If you really want to get into it, call me, I’m always willing to talk shop.

nine seven two nine eight nine one one two two. But don’t call during the Sopranos, OK?

See you soon. Or not.

Do you check out the available white papers for Civil 3D? They’re quite often full of very useful, detailed information. The last one I read was Using Autodesk Civil 3D for Hydrologic and Hydraulic Tasks, and I give it out to all my classes now.

If you’re a fan of the white papers, then you’ll like this news - there are now two new ones available on the Civil 3D Website - one on raster imagery, and another on enhanced Land XML support and functionality. Here’s a brief synopsis of each one:

Autodesk Civil 3D 2007 LandXML Support

LandXML interoperability is the preferred method of sharing civil engineering and survey data between users, software applications, and government agencies around the world. Autodesk Civil 3D 2007 provides the highest level of support for the entire LandXML-1.1 data model. This white paper details the new and expanded LandXML import/export functionality of Autodesk Civil 3D 2007 software, as well as changes from previous versions of Civil 3D.

Getting the Most out of Raster Imagery in Autodesk Civil 3D

Learn how by combining the powerful raster editing and conversion tools in Autodesk Raster Design with the comprehensive suite of site design tools in Autodesk Civil 3D, you can incorporate just about any data type, visualize your solutions, and get the maximum use from your data in 3D.

Have fun!

Well, it’s nice to finally be off the road. Thanks to all the customers that I met this past month, and hopefully the new customers that I met as well! I’m busy, busy, busy now, working on a TON of Civil 3D implementation services and preparing for the new Civil 3D 2007 classes. I’m really going to focus this summer on more “advanced” training - more than just the essentials. That’s right, my customers ask for it, and I aim to deliver.

Now, for a little tip. Part of any good implementation is creating styles and templates, and that’s what I’m looking at for the next few weeks. One issue that has come up was also in the Civil 3D newsgroup today - how do I delete more than one style at a time in my template? It’s not as fast as I’d like, but here’s a way to delete multiple styles in one click, so to speak.

First of all, open your template. Now, go to the setting tab in toolspace. Select any style category, and expand it. For my example, I’m going to use surface styles. Once you expand that tree, you’ll notice all your styles, and they also are populated in the preview pane as well. In Toolspace, we can’t select multiple styles for deletion, BUT….you can select multiples in the preview pane! Select them using either the control or the shift keys on your keyboards, and do with them as you please (but be gentle - styles are so important to us that we don’t want to mistreat them!)

Here’s a screen shot, just in case you need the overall picture:

Have Fun!