Tolu

Ah yes, you need to change the Network Protocol for each Project File from AFP to SMB via the Project Sharing dialog. This applies only to VW2019 Project Files. There is no utility to change all Project Files at once. Yes, because you have changed the protocol, VW is complaining..... but this not a "file locking" issue as you originally put it. Thanks, Tolu

Could you please elaborate on what you need to change per-project? A file that has references does not store the protocol used to connect to the share or NAS device. The file stores the path. On Mac, the path is similar to this: /Volumes/ShareFolder/path/to/source.vwx On Win, the path is similar to this: \\Server\ShareFolder\path\to\source.vwx As such, you switching from AFP to SMB does not require any changes to the File. Side note: The Mac allows you to mount a shared folder in multiple ways. For example, if the admin has shared a file at smb://OurServer/SharedFolder/WGR/File.txt. On the Mac, I can mount the Share in multiple ways (using Cmd+K). I can mount it as "smb://OurServer/SharedFolder/" or as "smb://OurServer/". Essentially, a user is allowed to specify his/her mounting point. The different mounting points will result in different paths to the text files. For the first mount, the path will be /Volumes/WGR/File.txt. The path to the 2nd mount will be /Volumes/SharedFolder/WGR/File.txt. If the text file was a vwx, you could imagine how specifying different mounting point will prevent the target file from automatically finding the source file. You can get around this issue by making sure all users on the team use the same mounting point, or you can use relative paths. With relative paths, VW will neglect the mount point. The only requirement when using relative paths is that the source and target file must be on the same volume. I don't know about your NAS device, so I can't speak about what you've experienced. In our tests, we have only found that when you connect to a Synology NAS device using different protocols, the file locks (read and write (R/W) locks) are not respected. That is, if a user opens a file for R/W using SMB, another user can open the same file for R/W using AFP. This error is why we strongly recommend using only one protocol. We have never seen the case where two different users using the same protocol is allowed to open the same file simultaneously. If you have a reproducible example, I will be glad to set up a screen sharing session to see what is happening. It is essential to point out that a user can connect to the same share using SMB and AFP at the same time. You should "Get File Info" (Cmd+I) on the file through the Finder window to see the protocol in use. Thanks, Tolu Vectorworks Inc.

Admin Release is not a temporary change. The alert following an admin release warns you that the user would lose their work if they have uncommitted changes. This is one of the reasons why we strongly recommend have only 1 (max 2) admin in a Project. Has someone else modified the objects that you "Admin Released"? If so, you would have to decide how you will merge the changes (someone might have to redo their work). If no one has modified the objects, the user can have to get a new WF, and then paste the objects from the old WF into the new WF. Note with copy and paste, any previous work done to those objects that are not in the old WF will be overwritten.

@tomk @Jeremiah Russell Hi Jeremiah and TomKen, Are the walls that become unjoined all on the same layer, same classes? Do you know if those walls were recently modified? Thanks.

Could you please provide more information on your setup - the version of VW you are using, server type and version, connection, etc.? Thanks

For completeness: the OP's( @Tom Klaber 's) problem was his use of Google's Drive File Stream. Project Sharing does not support Drive File Stream at this point. Thanks, Tolu

This user was using Google File Stream, which is not supported. Project Sharing supports Google Backup & Sync. You can also use Dropbox and Box. If you are looking for a cloud solution, I would recommend Dropbox because of its LAN Sync feature.

Understood. Please save the files when next it happens, and send them to me. I can look at the History to determine what happened. Vectorworks already has this feature. An admin can release the exclusive lock that User X has on an object/layer using the "Release" command. In VW2019, it has been renamed to "Administrative Release". Note: I suggest only using this as a last resort, however. Because doing this will prevent User X from being able to commit their work into the PF.

If you are getting the message the that "The commit operation failed because your permissions were changed..." and you are certain the administrator did not release your objects, could you please send me your PF and WFs (in a state that exhibits this problem) via a private message? Thanks, Tolu

You cannot select a network folder as you Google B&S folder. You have to select a folder that resides on your machine. Once you make changes, Google B&S will then B&S the file to Google's server. If you've shared the Google Drive folder with other users, their Google B&S client will then pull your changes from Google's server into their respective Google B&S folder.

No, you do not. You simply need to share the folder containing the PF with other users. Each user (on their respective machine) will open the PF in their local Google B&S folder, and Vectorworks takes care of the rest. Thanks, Tolu

Could you please elaborate? Are you using Google Drive File Stream? Project Sharing is not compatible with Google File Stream. Project Sharing is, however, compatible with Google Backup and Sync. You will need to install the Google Backup and Sync client on your machine. The client allows you to specify a folder on your local machine where your files are synced. You can learn more about Project Sharing and how to set it up here: Thanks, Tolu

Yes, I agree based on your workflow. We will work on adding this wish. Thanks for your feedback.

Ah, I see the confusion. Doing that accomplishes nothing. The "Check Out..." command will be ignored because the objects are inside a resource. The "Check Out" and "Release" menu commands should be disabled while editing the geometry of resources, such as Tiles and Symbol definitions. We will make this improvement. When I mentioned a "transparent process," I meant deciding who should modify the symbol definition and when.

With Project Sharing, you do not (and cannot) check out resources. Multiple users are allowed to change the same resource. The second user to commit will have to resolve the conflicts by either accepting their changes or accepting the other user's changes. You cannot merge the changes. As such, a transparent process must be put in place to coordinate the editing of resources.

"Save and Commit" uses a safe-save mechanism. Your Project File will not be completely lost. Turn on the option to "show hidden files", navigate to the location of the PF, and you should see .bak files on the server. The newest bak file can be safely renamed to .vwxp to recover your PF. BTW, I recommend that you update to the latest version of Vectorworks. Thanks, Tolu

You cannot check out a layer/object that is out of date. This is working as expected.

Is your backup file newer than your original WF? Because you crashed doesn't mean you need to use your backup. If the layer/object you checked out is out of date, yes, Vectorworks will prompt for a fresh first. This seems to be the case with your back WF. The excerpt you mentioned in the guide is from ”how to replace a current working file with a backup file.” The first step reads, ”Release all objects and layers in the current WF”. By the time you get to step 5, none of the layers/objects in your backup file will be checked out, so the documentation is correct. Thanks

Absolutely! You can do that today though. You can set your Autosave setting to “Overwrite original file.” It is much like you hitting Ctrl+S (or Cmd+S) every x minutes. I would not recommend every 3 minutes since there will be resource contention. Furthermore, you will be unable to work every 3 minutes because changes are not allowed during file save. However, if this works for your team, you can do that.

Your WF should never become corrupt because we use "Safe" saves. You will never lose your data. ...but in the event that it happens, yes, the best solution is to do what you said. Open a new WF and copy over your data into the new WF.

Your WFs have a uuid, so I'm very opposed to anything that overwrites your WF. If you want to prevent down stream problems, I recommend you copy missing data from the back up file into your real WF. Do not save over or overwrite your WF. This might mean hitting (cmd+s) more often. I would like to understand why Vectorworks is crashing multiple times a day, however. This is the underlying problem we need to resolve. Do you have ”Error Reporting” turned on in VW Preferences dialog? If not, could you please turn it on, and then send my a direct message with the last 6 digits of your serial number? I can analyze your crash logs to understand why VW is crashing frequently. Thank you, Tolu

If user1 has a rectangle on Layer1 checked out, it does not mean user1 has Layer1 checked out. As such, the Layers tab of the Project Sharing dialog will not show Layer1 has being checked out. Now, if you have the above scenario, you (as an admin) can still go the Layers tab of Project Sharing, select Layer1, and you will see that the “Release” button is enabled...again, Layer1 will not be shown as checked out (because it is in-fact not checked out), but the ”Release” button will be enabled. It is essential to understand the concept of soft lock versus exclusive (or hard) lock. In the above scenario, user1 has a soft lock on Layer1, but an exclusive lock on the rectangle. If user2 adds a circle on Layer1, then user2 will have an exclusive lock on the circle and a soft lock on Layer1 (in addition to user1’s soft lock on Layer1). Essentially, multiple users can have soft locks on the same container-like object (Layers, Groups, Viewports, etc.), and this happens when users have modified, inserted, or removed objects in the container. When a soft lock exists on a container, no other user can directly check out the container (i.e., an exclusive lock is prevented). I think this is what's happening in your case. If all users are using the same WF, then VW should tell you the user that has the object(s) checked out. That user should run the “Close and Release” menu command so that all blocked objects are released. If this is not happening, please send me a direct message with your files in the “bad” state.

@ptoner One of your colleagues must be overwriting his/her WF causing objects to be locked out. Objects are checked out to a user in a specific WF. You can’t simply delete or overwrite the WF. Also, you should reuse your WF (i.e. reopen your local WF in the morning). Do not open the PF directly. Doing that will create a new WF. In the event that someone deletes/overwrite their WF without performing “Close and Release”, if you have admin rights, you can Admin Release the layer(s). Go to the Layers tab of the Project Sharing dialog, select the layers one at a time and check if the “Release” button is enabled. If it is, click “Release” to remove the exclusive lock. There is a wealth of resources on this forum on how to properly use Project Sharing: https://forum.vectorworks.net/index.php?/search/&q=“Project Sharing”&type=cms_records1&search_and_or=or Regards, Tolu

We have this setup in-house here at Vectorworks - Mac clients to Windows Server. We do not have this issue. However, we are not using SMB1. Could you: 1. Set your "Error Reporting" level to "Send crash details and verbose usage patterns" (if not already done) 2. Repeat the steps that cause this error on Save 3. Then send me your user logs (via direct message). These logs are located here: /Users/<your name>/Library/Application Support/Vectorworks/2017/VW User Log.txt /Users/<your name>/Library/Application Support/Vectorworks/2017/VW User Log Sent.txt Thanks.

How are you determining that the file is read-only? Are you looking at the permission from the server? Could you please attach a screenshot? When you "Save and Commit", VW uses "safe save" mechanism, which will create a new file on the server. It is imperative that all users have "Full Control" to the folder containing the PF. You need particularly need the new files to inherit permission from the folder. If you do not, following User1's commit, User2 might see the PF as a read-only file if permissions are not properly configured. I am not sure who suggested this, but it is a terrible idea. 1. SMB 1 and SMB 2 are very buggy on macOS. You should be using SMB 3 (or the latest version available on the Windows Server). 2. Disabling SMB2 and SMB3 has huge side effects on the server. You can read more about that here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2696547/how-to-detect-enable-and-disable-smbv1-smbv2-and-smbv3-in-windows-and Regards, Tolu