Quick Change

I may be exaggerating slightly when I say that the Quick Change state on Items is the greatest invention mankind has ever or will ever achieve. The bad news is that it’s only available for Vault 2015 R2.  But that’s also a good thing, because once you start using it, there is no going back.  You are changed forever.

(click for full size image)

If you are wondering why I am so excited about the Quick Change state, then you probably have never tried programming with Items in the Vault.  In Vault 2015 and earlier, the lifecycle states are rigidly defined, which made it really difficult to perform operations on a Released item.  And 99% of the time, Released Items are the only type of Items your app cares about.

Take this scenario.  You are writing an app that pushes Item data to an ERP system automatically when an Item gets released.  You when the new entry gets created in the ERP system, you would like to save that ERP object ID on the Vault Item.  But Vault won't let you, it’s released, which means it’s read only.  Your app needs to find a way to move the Item to WIP without bumping the revision.  Then, it needs a way to move back to Released without triggering the update again.  It’s possible, but it’s a pain.

Quick change fixes all of that.  Your app can safely move in and out of the Released state without worrying about a revision bump.  The permissions are configurable, so you can guarantee that nobody will mess with the Item while your app is editing it.

Even outside the context of custom programming, Quick Change is useful.  If you are a Vault admin and you notice a small detail that needs fixing, you can, um, quickly change it.  Files have had the Quick Change state for years now.  It’s still highly useful for Files, but I think it will be even more useful for the Item world. 

When you upgrade to Vault 2015 R2, Quick Change is automatically added.  If, for some strange reason, you don’t want it, you can always just delete it from the Vault settings dialog.  If you hear loud sobbing while you delete it, that’s just me.  I hate to see a good lifecycle state die.

I’ll leave you with an clip from the movie Quick Change.  That's right, the Quick Change state is so awesome that Hollywood made a movie about it 24 years before it was invented.  If you are a Bill Murray fan and have not seen the move, then you are not actually a Bill Murray fan.