Sharing a workspace and more

[MattG]

So I have 2 machines. I have a workspace on each and I constantly change stuff and forget to update the other and vice versa.

I just got my two machines to sync over the network and I am now able to map a folder from my desktop to my laptop and when I change something from that folder on my laptop it updates on my desktop. Super cool huh.

Now what I am trying to do is make this work with my workspaces and plugins. On my desktop I took my workspace folder from C:\Documents and Settings\User\Application Data\Nemetschek\VectorWorks\2008 and mapped it to make it available from my lap top. Awesome a step in the right direction.

Now how to make vectorworks on my lap top take that workspace and have it be the one it uses because all that it does is create a folder in my network places that is called workspaces, but I want on my laptop to have vectorworks look for my workspace at the said network place folder instead of the application data vectorworks 2008 workspace folder.

Is this possible?

Matt

[Pat Stanford]

Read the VW Help section on User Folders.

It sounds like you could map your entire user folder to your Network Places and then use the synced workspaces from there.

I think you will have to restart VW for it to notice a changed workspace.

What about storing all the user data on a USB stick and moving that between computers? Less likely to end up overwriting a newer version.

[IanH]

As Pat says, the user folder is your key.

I do similar between desktop and laptop - I use synctoy 2.0 (free microsoft download - may still be a stable beta) to map the two user folder areas and synchronise between them. This also catches other changes such as plugins that I may tweak on either machine. It doesn't matter if there is no direct 1:1 mapping between parent folder names.

The only slight issue that I have is due to the smaller screen size of the laptop, sometimes on screen palettes such as attributes will get hidden off the bottom of the laptop display.

And if you are referencing in files, make sure that all references are relative.

It was all easy to setup and works a charm.

[MattG]

Okay I did bad. So I was using Windows synchronize function from the accessories folder under program files. It works great for what I am typically doing. I choose files and under the sharing tab I can have them sync to my laptop. Well I did this with my user folder. I made the user folder on my desktop able to be accessed from outside machines. I used the laptop and had the user folder set to find the folder from the desktop. Now vectorworks wont start. I think there is too much information needing to travel at too fast of a rate across the network or something.

I downloaded the synctoy and it seems like it would be useful because the files I am using are still on the local machine whatever it may be. However I cannot get vectorworks to start on the laptop to do this. What do you all think the best course of action is. Is there a way to resolve this without reinstalling vw? Or do I have to reinstall.

Matt

[MattG]

I solved the problem with getting it to start.

Now I am noticing the first time that the sync took place all went well. Now I changed things on the workspace on my desktop and those changes are not synced to my laptop. When I am choosing the user folder to get my information from for vectorworks what folder do I want to choose. On a windows machine there is one

C:\Program Files\VectorWorks 2008

and one that is

C:\Documents and Settings\Upstaging User\Application Data\Nemetschek\VectorWorks\2008

Both have workspace folders in them, but I am not sure what one would have the correct work space because the name of the one I am using is in both.

Matt

[IanH]

The one in program files is as supplied with the install. Do not rely on this one, files can be overwritten such as by an SP update.

If you want to have control over you area, you must set up a user folder. I personally do not like the default user folder area, so move it to a Vectorworks/Vectorworks2009 (and 2008) area under "(My) Documents" area. This gives me control over what is in it and it gets included in one of my standard backups by default. It also keeps 2008 and 2009 settings apart.

When you create a user folder, VW will give you the option to copy a file structure and some contents to the new area. Its normally wise to choose to do this. It will, I believe, copy the files from the program files area, although if you already have a user area, it may take info from that instead.

If you are using a default workspace, then just use the new workspace, otherwise you will need to find which one is the 'gold' reference file. Possibly check the modified date or, open the file and look to see if it has recent changes - take a copy and rename copy to .txt and it will open as XML or text that can be easily viewed.

Once you find the correct version, copy it to the workspaces area in the new user area. You will need to restart VW and possibly select the revised workspace.

Hope this helps. Its often quicker to start a fresh (user area) and apply changes to a copy of the workspace than work out which files are the required versions.

The whole user folder tree can be included in the synchtoy folder pairs and safely synched between the two machines. I have encountered issues with the Windows synch function when an folder went offline and I ended up with two different 'gold' copies. Do not use synchtoy with offline files.

[David Ormsby]

Matt

It's not clear from your post, but VW only reads the workspace at startup, when changing from another workspace, or at the end of a customize session. Changes coming from the desktop will not been seen in real time.

I second Ian's suggestion of placing the user folder somewhere more friendly, like My Docs. However, I skipped 2008 and I am not sure if that is an option with 2008.

I also second the recommendation for using Synctoy. However, as I mentioned on your other post, I would be sure that VW is shut down on the machines being synced to avoid any locked or in use files being skipped or damaged.