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File Transfer Manager for Forma Data Management

Autodesk Consulting

File Transfer Manager for Forma Data Management

Autodesk Consulting

File Transfer Manager for Forma Data Management supports bulk upload and download of files and metadata, with scheduled transfers to streamline recurring file management workflows.

Free

Available with select
Autodesk products

You must have a valid license for one of the required Autodesk products before you can get this subscription app.

Available with a Workflow Advisory subscription. Contact wa-support@autodesk.com for subscription details and access.

File Transfer Manager for Forma Data Management helps teams manage bulk transfers of project files and metadata between Autodesk Forma® Data Management and local environments. It streamlines recurring file-management workflows that would otherwise require repetitive manual upload and download activities.

Key capabilities include:

- Upload and download project files in bulk.

- Transfer associated metadata and custom attribute information.

- Capture document and attribute information in Excel.

- Configure scheduled transfer jobs for recurring workflows.

- Manage large volumes of project information more efficiently.

File Transfer Manager for Forma Data Management helps reduce manual effort and simplifies repeatable file-transfer processes, supporting more consistent management of project files and associated metadata.

Details

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

  • Upload Documents to BIM360 or ACC: The workflow is how to upload a local file to a folder of BIM 360 or ACC.
  • Download Documents from BIM360 or ACC: the workflow How to download a model from BIM 360 or ACC to local.
  • APS Tutorial of HubBrowser: tutorial on accessing models of BIM 360 or ACC and loading them in APS Viewer in the browser.
  • Electron .NET: development of desktop applications using web technologies such as the Chromium rendering engine and the Node.js runtime
  • Hangfire: Web monitoring UI which is implemented as an OWIN extension and can be hosted inside any application – ASP.NET, Console or Windows service.
  • Bogus: load databases, UI and apps with fake data for testing needs.
  • Fody: extensible library for weaving .NET assembly
  • Polly: .NET resilience library

Here are some recommended articles to go through:-

  • Knowledge of Data Management API of Autodesk® Platform Services (APS)
  • Knowledge of .NET Framework and WinForms in C#
  • Install Visual Studio (Windows version)
  • Install .NET 8 Runtime installer
  • Install Node.Js along with npm
  • Install Webview2 Evergreen Runtime
  • Create an Autodesk APS app to get developer credentials. Visit Autodesk Platform Sevices Portal, sign up for an account, and then create an app. For this new app, select the type of web application, as this application will support both 2-legged and 3-legged authentication. Next, input http://localhost:8083/code as the callback URL. Finally, take note of the client ID and client secret.
  • If you work with Autodesk® BIM 360® or Autodesk Construction Cloud® (ACC), you will also need an additional step to connect your APS app to the BIM 360 or ACC account. Follow the tutorial

Application context authentication (2-legged token) and user context authentication (3-legged token) are supported.

The users can download files from a single folder or multiple folders. It provides jobs for managers of the uploading/downloading and advanced features to track the traffic.

There are two ways to communicate between the host and the UI:

  • REST calls
    • Standard ASP.net controllers may be used to send messages from the UI to the backend.
  • PostMessage
    • The UI is able to send messages to the backend using window.chrome.webview.postMessage(YOUR_MESSAGE_HERE). It is then processed by the WebMessageReceived() method in Bulk-Uploader-FrontEnd/Views/MainForm.cs.
    • The backend is able to respond using this.webView21.CoreWebView2.PostWebMessageAsString(YOUR_MESSAGE_HERE). It is then processed by the UI using window.chrome.webview.addEventListener('message', event=>{ alert(event.data) }) in Bulk-Uploader-FrontEnd/ClientApp/src/App.tsx.
    • This has been simplified on the front end with the useMessageListener(messagename) hook. 

Database

This application uses Entity Framework. If you make any changes to the data structures, you'll need to run the following command from the Bulk-Uploader-FrontEnd folder:

dotnet ef migrations add NameOfYourMigrationHere --project "..\ApsSettings.Data\ApsSettings.Data.csproj"

Additional Notes

  • In debugging mode, the flower icon on the bottom right corner will show up. It is the console that tracks the logs of each HTTP traffic. 

Building

To build the application for a Windows machine, use dotnet publish -r win-x64 while in the root solution folder.

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