Creating File Structures from Vision – Part 2

by | Deltek Vision

Overview

Back in September I posted a blog about how simple it can be to use Deltek Vision workflows to generate folders on your network to help automate simple business process. Most businesses will need to create some type of project folder(s) on their network once projects are created in Vision. While not the most tedious task, automating this process can help with consistency between naming/numbering in Vision and the network as well as ensure folders are created in the correct locations.

Update

Since that first writing when I was doing my proof of concept as part of a larger project (which involved a 10 site DFS implementation which I will post about separately), I have successfully implemented a folder creation automation system in the client’s production Vision system.

The Process in a Nutshell

  1. A user creates a project in Vision
  2. A user-initiated Vision workflow is triggered which passes specific project data to a SQL Stored Procedure
  3. The Stored Procedure parses the data to generate the appropriate folder location and name based on fields like Project Number, Name, Org, ChargeType, etc.
  4. The Stored Procedure then Inserts a link to new folder in the Project Info Center –> Files tab so users can quickly navigate to the project folder for any Vision project.
  5. Lastly the Stored Procedure passes the same information to a small PowerShell script which will actually generate the folder and drop a shortcut (.lnk) file into the new folder and make it read-only so no one can accidentally delete it.

So now every time a new project or promotional project is created in Vision a new folder is created on the network, in the appropriate discipline folder, under a Project or Proposal folder as required and bearing the Project Number and Project Short Name, e.g. “1234-1234-00 – Sample Project”.

The added little bonus for users is the shortcut from the Files tab in Vision directly to the folder. Since The Vision Files tab can only link to a single file or URL and not a folder, we create a shortcut (.lnk) file and dropped it into the new folder and add it to the files tab all automatically.

Other Potential Enhancements

  • For businesses that have consistent project folder structures, one could easily use PowerShell to copy a pre-defined set of folders, as complex or simple as required, into the new folder.
  • Folder structures can be made dynamically based on any number of potential variables drawn from the Vision project info either from standard or user defined fields.
  • The need for this project called for folder creation but could easily be modified to update (on change) or make other file system modifications based on any number of workflow triggers.

If you’d like more info feel free to comment or drop me a line: [email protected]

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