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Data Cards permit CAD user to directly review vault status and property information within the Inventor graphics window, examine details about individual or multiple files within a single interface, and modify property values as needed without having to use the Vault stand-alone client. This also ensures that both vaulted property values and iProperties values are synchronized.
Fingertip View
Basic file data including Status, Category, State and Revision appears on the fingertip view and dynamically updates with your CAD selection. Think of this type as a “super tooltip” view of your Inventor model.
Expanded View
By expanding the dialog the user can now access a more comprehensive list of document properties to review and edit. Using selection tools users are able to add multiple files into the expanded view creating a deck of cards to edit multiple properties across multiple files.
Once the deck is populated the property window displays both read only system properties, as grey cells, and editable fields, the details button on each cell allows users to review values for the property which in many cases vary across the files.
Editing Properties
To edit multiple files simply ensure all cards are active and select “Edit” prior to entering the new value to the desired field. Hit Apply to confirm the changes.
To modify individual files simply select the file card from the list on the left and repeat the process. The selected cards are managed using: Get CAD Selection, Get Entire Model, Refresh List, Remove Card from deck
You are able to navigate through the deck of cards using First, Last, Next and Previous controls and home to revert to all. You can also isolate a selected file to view in the graphics window and add or clear your CAD selections.
Tracking Edits
Since edits are not immediately permanent, you can track edits and review them before checking the modified files into the vault. If a property has been modified, an asterisk (*) appears beside the file name on the data card and beside the file names in the data list on the home card if you are using a card deck.
Additionally, the font changes for property values that have been modified.
| Normal font | Same as original value (no change) |
| Normal font with gray background | Read-Only |
| Strikethrough Font | Deleted Value |
| Blue Font | Edited Value |
Property Compliance
Compliance is a key component in managing properties. When a property is non-compliant, a red exclamation icon is inserted into the value field on the data card. On the home card, the icon appears beside the file name to let you know that one of the properties for that file is non-compliant.
Hover your mouse over the icon to see a tooltip describing the reason why the property is not compliant. Since some data cards contain multiple tabs of properties, the icon will also appear on the tab to indicate if there is a non-compliant property not visible on the data card.
Configure Data Cards
The data card comes ready to use with Inventor pre-populated with common use values but in order to leverage all properties the card layout can be modified. In the administration options select “Behaviors” and “Data Cards” from under the properties section. Here you are able to add additional “Pages” and properties.
The inclusion of extra pages allows the user to access a great deal more of their properties for editing, while simplifying the dialog appearance and prioritizing the most commonly altered values.
-Brian Schanen
