Creating Autodesk Vault Viewing Filters

Autodesk Vault offers a myriad of ways to find, filter or sort file types in order to define a specific group of files for viewing or other operations.  In this article I would like to focus on the filter options.  For example, in a Vault folder I would like to filter the "Entity Type" column to only show Inventor IDW files.  A filter applied to the column can quickly filter out all other file types as shown below.  Notice the filter call-out shown at the bottom of the list.

The first thing I want to show are the two basic ways to add a filter to the contents of the current displayed Vault folder.  All of my work will be done using the Main Panel display.  I will be using the "Entity Type" column but all these methods can be applied to any visible column.  I want to create a filter to show only the Inventor IPT files.  In one method, I left  click on the small "down arrow" icon in the upper right corner of the column header.  In the case of the "Entity Type" column header it can be hard to see but you can easily hit it with a little practice.  Below I am showing this arrow in "Name" column just to show you the location.

Left clicking on this icon in the "Entity Type" column will display the option dialog box.  It is pretty obvious the first method to create the filter is to simply select the file extension desired from the list.  The list, by the way, only shows the available files types contained in this folder.  I will select ".ipt" from the list to set the filter.

The result will be as shown.

The second method in located the same left click menu and is not quite as straight forward as the first method but it also offers more options.  Select "(Custom)" from the list.

In the Custom AutoFilter dialog box you can select the first column drop-down arrow to pick the condition the filter will use and the second column drop-down arrow to pick from the type of files contained in the folder.  The dialog box also offer the opportunity to add another set of conditions and file types using a Boolean "And" "Or" statement.  My selection below will filter the folder to show only IPT or IDW files.

During the same Vault Client session, after a filter has been applied to a folder using the drop down list, the previous filter selection(s) will be displayed  above the double line allowing for quick selection.  You can use the "X" to remove these if desired.

Once you have created a folder filter, the current filter will appear at the bottom of the folder.  There are a few controls located on this filter display which are described below.

1. Selecting the "X" will remove the folder filter.  Once removed you will have to create another one to access these controls.
2. Selecting the check mark will temporarily deactivate the folder filter.  Selecting it a second time will make the filter active.
3. Selection the drop down arrow will revel any previous filters which were created for this folder during the current computer session.  Filters are maintained between Vault sessions under certain circumstances.  Selecting one of these filters will make it active.
4. If the drop down list is showing, you can select the "X" to remove the related filter from the list.

If you would like to edit the current active filter, select the "Edit Filter" icon located on the same display bar at the right hand side.

Once in the Filter Editor dialog box, the options are almost endless.  Left clicking on individual entries will display options related to the entry you selected.  For example, if I select the "Or" in the filter editor it will display the other possible conditions.

Each word of each filter is linked to other options so I suggest you spend a couple of minutes and just left click on everything to see some of the possibilities.  You have the ability to add and remove filters in the editor as well.

Once you are finished, select either "Apply" or "OK" depending on your needs to finish the editing process.

Once you have applied filters to a folder, you need to learn when they are applied and when they are automatically removed.   Filters applied to one folder are also applied to other folders when selected from the Navigation Panel.  There are exceptions to this rule and I will let you find them yourself.  Using a "Shortcut" will automatically remove a filter unless the shortcut was created on a folder containing a filter.  In this case the shortcut will set the folder current and automatically apply the filter condition when it is selected.  You cannot remove the filter and then expect the shortcut to return the filter however.

The last thing I would like to mention is how to save a filter as a configured Vault Client view.  The first thing to do is create an "empty" custom view.  Select the drop down arrow in the view display window and pick "Define custom views..." from the list.

In the Manage Custom Views dialog box, select "New" and create a view name which describes what the view will display.   Select "OK" to create the new view.

At this point you could configure the new view from this dialog box using the "Modify.." icon but this time I want to show you how to modify the view by creating a folder filter.  Select "Close" to return to the full Vault Client display.  Notice that the view I just created is displayed in the view window.  If you selected another folder, the view will be set back to Default View.  Select a folder that contains some IDW files and then reset the view window to IDW Files Only.

Next, create a filter to show only IDW files in the current folder using one of the methods shown earlier.  Next right click on the Entity Type column header and select "Apply Setting To Current View" from the context menu.

This will assign the filter to the IDW Files Only view saving it for future use in other folders. One thing to keep in mind, these views are only active in the folders they were selecting in.  If you select a different folder, the view will return to Default View.  While in the new folder selecting the view IDW Files Only will assign that view to the current folder until you change the view again even if the application is closed and then restarted.

Creating the filters and views you need for effective use of the Vault Client is an easy way to only display the files you need for certain tasks.  I will leave you with the reminder that filters can be applied to ANY column including custom columns created from your custom Vault properties.