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Project Share Working File Location - preference local vs. server


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Our office has been using project share for years and we have always had the project share file and the working files saved to a server.  No one in our office has ever used a working file saved to their local computer while actively working in Vectorworks.  The backup files are saved to the local computer.  VW tech support recently shared that the working file should always be saved to the local computer.

 

I wanted to ask around and see what other offices typically do: save active working files to the server or save active working files to their local computer.

 

If anyone has any lessons learned from doing one method over the over, please share.  Thank you!

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Guest Wes Gardner

My understanding is that the Project file should be saved on the server so that everyone can "see" it...the Working file is "pulled" from the Project file and then is stored on your local computer...data is then saved from the Working file to the Project file via the Commit command.

 

Wes

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Another suggestion, possibly controversial, is to not even save the working files at all.  Just close and release. Generate a new one at start of next work session. I have heard this from vwx trainers and from others working with shared files.  No one insists on it, but almost always mention it.  Personally,I think there is some benefit to copies of working files distributed around the team.  eg One can work offline and commit at next log in (although could this backwards sync something??). Also saving the vwxw files to several local drives forms a distributed backup. I'm not advocating for any particular workflow. This might be another one of those vwx flexibilities to suit your own preferences.

 

-B

Edited by Benson Shaw
back sync
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We have our project share file on the server and working files on local computer.  This runs much faster.

We also had a spare server which we dedicated to Vectorworks project files only.  This really sped things up for us as we were not sharing the server with other people.
Every Friday and sometimes twice a week I make sure everyone has done a save and commit then I turn the project file into a regular VW file and save it as a progress backup I then make a new project file for everyone to work on.  I find creating a fresh project file every 3 to 5 days also speeds everything up. 

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Guest Wes Gardner

Hey All,

 

Additionally, firms should agree on how many/what times of day Save and Commits should occur - maybe mid-day and end of day...obviously this could/should vary if large design changes are made.

 

Wes

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I ran into an issue yesterday that has happened a few times before.  I am the administrator of the project file for a point of reference and have always had my working file and project file either on Google Drive or Dropbox.  I open my working file and find that I cannot do anything because apparently MY computer has everything checked out.  There is no option for an administrative release, and I am dead in the water because apparently I (or a ghost me) have everything checked out.  When this has happened before, I finally resolve to create a new revision of the project file, inform users there is now a rev _____ and we move on.  Yesterday I contacted Service Select and the representative made a point I had not considered before.  Apparently it is possible for your cloud based service (Google Drive, Dropbox) to "confuse" the project file when it is syncing and can cause it to see a second version of your file which appeared to be what I was experiencing.  As of yesterday, I've moved my working files to my personal computer(s) and leave the project file on the server.  The reality is, you are saving and committing your changes to the project file anyway, so a backup of your working file is not as crucial.  That said, I still have backups running on VWX to a folder on my computer should I need it, but none of that is getting backed up to the cloud. The project file, however, is. 

 

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