VW 23 Project Sharing via DropBox Business constant failure

[Talal]

Hello,

 

Thanks for landing here -

 

We are several users working on a project via project sharing - all running on DropBox Business. Ever since we all upgraded to VW 2023, we have been facing constant issues with project sharing to the point that we are considering abandoning it and going back to each breaking up projects into separate files.

 

Issue is very simple and cannot seem to fix it. Basically, if one person saves and commits and the project file is showing latest greatest updates - at some point, when another user refreshes, they get an error saying 'the project file associated with this working file could not be found'. Although it would be in the same location, so sure, we would hit 'Manually locate the Project File' then select it.

 

At that point, nothing happens. The error keeps popping up after 3/4 times of locating the project file on the dropbox server, so user is forced to 'work in offline mode' to attempt to salvage the file.  The only solution is to save the file back to a regular VWX, consolidate all the work from the different users into 1 file and then re convert to a project sharing file, and have everyone set up their working files again. Very inconvenient and time consuming - not worth doing project sharing at that point.

 

I should mention that the save and commit then refresh on a different station works a few times before ultimately failing for everyone

 

Anybody been facing similar issues? Any ideas on what might be causing this? We were not facing this issue on VW 22.

 

Thank you,

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pat Stanford]

@Christiaan Any ideas on this?

[Tolu]

@Talal

Sorry to hear you are having problems.

 

1. Are you using MacOS or Windows
2. What version of Dropbox client does your team have installed?
3. What is the location of your Dropbox on your local machine?
4. Are your files set to be "Available offline" under the "Sync" tab of Dropbox Preferences?

Thanks

[Christiaan]

No, afraid not. We're on Resilio now and no more than 2 users at a time. So the fact that we haven't experienced this might be more down to the fact that I'm not using it as intensely or because we're using Resilio.

 

My suggestion would be to get hold of VW support ASAP and try to sort with them. Much better off spending some time getting the problem resolved than resorting back to working in your own files imo.

[Talal]

1) MacOS

2) Dropbox v166.4.2920

3) Dropbox location on machine is under user>company's dropbox.

4) I dont see a "Sync" tab under  Dropbox Preferences. See attached.

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

[Tolu]

33 minutes ago, Talal said:

I dont see a "Sync" tab under  Dropbox Preferences. See attached.

Dropbox Preferences - not Vectorworks Preferences

[Talal]

1 minute ago, Tolu said:

Dropbox Preferences - not Vectorworks Preferences

Oh my bad, no it is online only. Screenshot attached.

 

  

[Tolu]

That's probably the problem. You need to choose "Available offline". Vectorworks requires that your Project Files are always present on your machine.

[Talal]

Got it thank you - I will try changing this setting on all of our computers and will report if issue persists. Thank again Tolu!

[Christiaan]

Well spotted Tolu. Must remember that one.

[willofmaine]

I'm working with a small team spread across the World, using a combination of Macs and PCs, with a Project Sharing ("Master") file in Dropbox (I'm pretty sure this is not a LAN situation...).  A couple of days ago I updated one of our projects to VW 2023 and re-created the Master file.  I then made some changes with my new Working file, and all was fine.  A few hours later, my Working file couldn't find the Master... and neither could I, when I looked in Dropbox.  It simply wasn't there, and was nowhere else to be found.  So we spent many hours trying to figure it out and hopefully preserve whatever work anyone might have done.  Ultimately we created a new Master from a Working file.  Then, the original Master, somewhere along the way and somehow, reappeared (it may have been restored from Dropbox?  (I'm not sure)).  In any case, we have no idea why or how this could have happened, and our faith in the Master file is no longer.

 

In the meantime, I'm not reading good things about Dropbox (which, for me, up until a couple of days ago had been a solid 5-star component of my workflow...).  So... with no real understanding of the crime, Dropbox is our prime suspect.  Any thoughts greatly appreciated!!

 

1. Both MacOS and Windows

2. Dropbox v166.4.2920; another Mac user has upgraded; no idea for the other computers

3. Dropbox is located in my main User folder

4. On my computer, new files are set to default to "Available offline."  I've advised the rest of the team to make sure that the Master file and folders containing it on their computers are set to be available offline 

 

VWIS237

Edited February 3, 2023 by willofmaine

[Ned Flanders]

Dropbox for Business user here. 

@willofmaineIt sounds like you're on the right track with ensuring that the folder path in Dropbox for the VWXP is set to 'Make Available Offline'. This is key and it can trip-up users who started using Dropbox with file storage set to Offline-only. If you had it set to Offline-only and changed the default to Available Offline, right-click on the root Dropbox folder and select 'Make Available offline'. I've sometimes found that the folder availability isn't always inherited and double checking this can help.




I also work in an environment with project sharing users scattered around the world, both employees and independent contractors, working on the same file. Let’s face it, project sharing isn’t a technically simple platform; there’s a lot going on in the background the make it function. It’s pretty much an enterprise-level service so communication is important; especially with independent contractors. There are a couple of scenarios where I've seen VWXP's go into hiding:

1. When the VWXW is stored on Dropbox
   You'd be surprised how many users store their VWXW file in Dropbox, so have the user check this first. If this is the case, have them 'Save a Copy As' a regular VWX file somewhere else. Then, delete the existing VWXW and have them create a new VWXW from the VWXP and save to a very simple, straightforward location like C:/VW Project Sharing. 
2. When the VWXW resides in a folder being synched by a different service
   In addition to ensuring that the VWXW isn't on Dropbox, also ensure that each user's VWXW doesn't sit in a location where any other synch services are running. This includes OneDrive, Google Drive and any proprietary sync service, especially on Windows. If you discover this, again, have them recreate the VWXW and save it to a local folder with a short file path. I don't think you'll find this one written in any official VW documentation, but I can assure you that it's an issue and that once resolved, Project Sharing will stabilize. 
    

Irrespective of which Dropbox or Vectorworks version you're using, here's some unsolicited tips from my 'Lessons Learned' notes for Project Sharing:

• Ideally, all users would be on the most current version of VW.
• If this isn't possible, ensure all Project Sharing users are on the same VW version and the exact same Service Pack
• Ensure all users are on the same version of Dropbox (EXACTLY the same) - right down to the very last version decimal place!
• Save and Commit at predetermined times so that users aren't synching to the VWXP at the same time
• Proactively clear the projects sharing metadata
• Proactively recreate the VWXP from time-to-time
• Inform the entire VW Project Sharing team before recreating the VWXP file
• Don't Save and Commit and close your laptop lid. Ensure that both the VW synch and  Dropbox synch have finished before putting your computer to sleep and having a Friday beer. 

Speaking of Friday beers...cheers!

 

 

[willofmaine]

@Ned Flanders, Thank you for your response and all the info!

 

In your first paragraph when you say "Offline-only" I assume you mean "Online-only"?  I don't see an "Offline-only" option, and in any case it seems offline-only would defeat the purpose of Dropbox... 

 

I like to think none of us is saving our Working files to Dropbox.  I haven't seen any VWXW files in Dropbox, though I realize they could be saved in one's own Dropbox folder that isn't shared.

 

I do know that the team members apparently most closely associated with the disappearing Master file did send some Working files via Google Drive, so I will definitely pursue that as a possible explanation.

 

• Ideally, all users would be on the most current version of VW.

We're all on 2023; I'll check to confirm that we're all on SP3.

• If this isn't possible, ensure all Project Sharing users are on the same VW version and the exact same Service Pack
• Ensure all users are on the same version of Dropbox (EXACTLY the same) - right down to the very last version decimal place!

I'm pretty sure we're not.  I'm hesitant to update because of the bad things I'm reading about Dropbox, but I guess we all have to accept downgrades to software such as the Mac operating system and, now, Dropbox in order to keep moving "ahead..."  Because "Dropbox for macOS" suggests to me that there are different versions for Mac vs. PC, would we even be able to match versions right down to the last decimal place?...

• Save and Commit at predetermined times so that users aren't synching to the VWXP at the same time

Haven't previously had any trouble with this; the system seems pretty good at "taking turns."

• Proactively clear the projects sharing metadata

Good idea... we wait until we get the warning, then impatient people inadvertently jump the gun...

• Proactively recreate the VWXP from time-to-time

Okay

• Inform the entire VW Project Sharing team before recreating the VWXP file

Absolutely

• Don't Save and Commit and close your laptop lid. Ensure that both the VW synch and  Dropbox synch have finished before putting your computer to sleep and having a Friday beer.

Noted; I don't have a laptop, but others do.

 

Again, Thank You!!

 

[Ned Flanders]

20 hours ago, willofmaine said:

 

 

In your first paragraph when you say "Offline-only" I assume you mean "Online-only"?  

 

Correct!!

[Joe-SA]

Picking up on this thread....we are having the same problems running Project Sharing on Dropbox for Business with VW2023 SP4.   

I'm on macOS Monterey while my co-worker is on Ventura.  Both iMac27s.

 

We are long time Project Sharing over Dropbox Users.  Worked through all the logistics to make this reliable and predictable long ago and have been using it well for years.

Working files are local.  We try to only check out objects by Layer and not one at a time just to keep the Dropbox queue as limited as possible.  

 

We are on our first VW2023 Project Sharing project.  We were Project Sharing these same files in a previous VW version early last week without error.  This problem showed up as soon as we brought them into VW2023. We are in 'legacy' mode since these files are not native to VW2023 if that even matters.

 

When my co-worker does his Save and Commit I watch my local .vwxp file set to 'make available offline' literally switch to 'online only' completely on its own.  The green dot turns to a grey cloud on my local drive just from the act of my co-worker updating the Project file from his station.  It reverts trying sync to my local file drive.  I watch it happen from my station.  My working file then loses connection to the local dropbox .vwxp file until I change the local file back to 'offline' again and refresh the working file.   This is not sustainable as inevitably the wires get crossed and we loose data from one user or the other.  VW will ask me to 'Reset' the .vwxp file because my local dropbox file no longer matches the cloud version.   

 

But of course, it appears to be intermittent.  The same reverting behavior doesn't happen to my co-workers .vwxp when I update.   Last Friday I was seeing this behavior consistently with every test as described above while today my co-worker did many syncs without my file converting to online only at all.  As soon as I stopped paying attention the problem returned and now we are scrambling to find the lost objects.  

 

I was hoping this was specific to SP4 but found this thread which appears to make it a VW2023 issue.   May need to drop down out of VW2023 if we can't find a solution quickly. 

 

 

[Pat Stanford]

Check that you are both using the same version of Dropbox.  

 

I vaguely remember that Dropbox changed the location that the Offline storage to comply with some requirement from Apple. And that the change was being rolled out slowly. If one of you have changed to the new version and one is still on the old version perhaps it is causing problems.

 

And while this is certainly a problem for VW. It sounds and feels more like a DropBox problem and a solution will have to come from them.

[Joe-SA]

Thanks Pat,

You sent me down quite the rabbit hole.   It appears this Dropbox Upgrade rolled out to us on Friday (March 24th) but instead of fixing issues it may have actually caused the behavior I'm getting with Project Sharing.  After conversations with our IT Consultants, OS Upgrades not helping and a long online chat with Dropbox Tech Support I'm awaiting to hear back from them as they move the issue up the tech ladder.   

 

I have people in my office running everything from Catalina to Ventura and interacting with Dropbox without any issues.  This appears to be a problem that is only happening with Project Sharing and it is only happening on one of the two stations we are interfacing from while syncing .vwxp files.

 

Below are some links if others are interested in following this issue.

 

https://help.dropbox.com/installs/macos-support-for-expected-changes

https://www.macrumors.com/2023/01/17/dropbox-full-support-for-macos-12-5-by-april/#:~:text=Dropbox today announced that it,the update by May 2023.

https://support.macincloud.com/support/solutions/articles/8000066740-dropbox-v170-4-5895-now-supported-on-macincloud-managed-servers

 

 

 

 

[Joe-SA]

In our early tests this problem may be specific only to VW2023 and not our previous version.

As an office we skipped VW2021 & VW2022.  We have been making a push to move people to VW2023 in recent weeks which is why this project was taken into VW2023 after being started in VW2020.

 

We exported our file back to VW2020 and reset Project Sharing.  All appears to be working fine.  My .vwxp file is now syncing fine between myself and my co-worker without the loss of the 'offline' status as before.   

 

Some combination of software versions that includes VW2023 but not VW2020 is the issue.

Backing out of VW2023 was the only solution I had left.

 

 

[Joe-SA]

For those interested in the solution to this problem....a simple log-out of our Dropbox account and logging back in forced a re-indexing of the entire local dropbox folder.  Each account associated with the Dropbox for Business account need to do this.    This latest Dropbox updated was prompted by a change Apple implemented with Monterey 12.3 which changes how the OS interacts with Dropbox and other cloud storage.

 

Dropbox claims that they send prompts to indicate when their update will be running on individual accounts but nobody in my office was aware that this update ran in the background while they were working.  It just appeared one day.    Apparently it will take months for the update to roll out to every Dropbox account.   Once updated all users will need to re-index the library.   Hard to know when to do that with no obvious prompt or instruction to do so.