2008

Filtering Files

You can configure individual asset-tracking-system providers via the provider

configuration file, ATSProviders.xml, which resides in \plugcfg in the program

install folder. 3ds Max reads this file, but doesn't write to it.

The primary configuration function is filtering. Filters define criteria the

software uses to determine whether a file should be excluded from a provider’s

control. If a file is determined to be excluded from a provider, the file is never

sent to the provider for status check or any other action. This feature is useful

when using multiple providers within the same pipeline or if your studio still

uses file servers for certain file types.

When a file is excluded, its icon is grayed out and its status message indicates

that it is excluded. You can also toggle the display of excluded files in the

dialog window with the

Display Excluded Files option on page 6910 .

A example filter file, \plugcfg\ATSProviders_Example.xml is included with the

software, in the program install folder. The file includes comments, so you

can load it into a text editor to see how it works and edit it. If you're using

Autodesk Vault as your provider, you can rename the provider field (in the

<Provider> section, near the beginning of the file) to Autodesk Vault, as follows:

Change:

<Name>Sample Provider Name Example</Name>

to:

<Name>Autodesk Vault</Name>

One of the effects of the example file is to exclude FX files, as shown in the

following illustration:

Procedures

If you are using Vault as your asset management system, you will need to

to check files in and out.

6898 | Chapter 21 Managing Scenes and Projects