Ability to centralise and synchronise resources

[Christiaan]

This derives from another post, where I've asked for the ability to toggle between networked and local resources:

http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=UBB20&Number=62213

What I'm doing instead, for the moment, is to use one machine as a master, with regard to resources, and to propagate these resources to all other machines when updated (using Apple Remote Desktop).

The downside of this is that it precludes people from helping to build up the Library by adding resources directly to the master Library.

Ultimately I think what I'd like is for Vectorworks, via the Resource Browser, to:

1) allow users to add resources to a centralised Library

2) allow for an admin to manage this process in some way (i.e the ability to edit first or stop the resource from being added to the Library)

3) allow users to synchronise their local Library with the master (automatically and manually)

4) allow an admin to synchronise any client machines with the master from one machine

[Michael_Eschenbach]

Cristiaan,

I have set up one file as a resource file.. it has all of my premade doors, windows, symbols, etc,etc in that file. that file is saved on my hard drive, or could be on the networkserver.

I then add it as a favorite file in the resource browser to my new master project startup file. Whenever I open up those files, that favorite file is always attached.

anyone else on the network can then access the information on it... save new information onto it, and it is still accessible to all....

would that work for you?

[Christiaan]

Unfortunately no. There are a few problems with this approach (compared to what I outline above), including some crucial problems:

1) First of all if you add a file from a network to your Resource Browser as a Favourite you can't then open that file from another machine (although you can add it to any other Resource Browser as a Favourite)

2) As far as I can work out there's no way to save anything to a Favourite directly via the Resource Browser. You need to open the file first before you can import anything into it. (see 1)

3) Even if you could add things directly to a networked Favourite, there is no way to manage this process, which runs the risk of bad classes or incorrectly named symbols infecting the workflow.

4) Even if you could add things directly to a networked Favourite in a managed process it's still a networked file, which means unnecessary network activity, potential sluggishness (compared to using a local file which is synchronised with a master), and a problem for people on laptops who work in and out of the office.

[Christiaan]

Come to think of it, such a system could take a few pages out of the Notes Database Manager system.