Collaboration Question


Joe_Carrick
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How do you handle more than one person working on the same Project?

 

It seems to me that  the only way to do this is with different Plans that link to the same Layout.  But the only way I can see doing that is with Details being done by one person, and the Model (aka Plan) being worked on by another.

 

Does anyone know of a way to do otherwise?

 

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no reasonable way for two people to be working on the same Plan File at the same time?

 

Joe:

 

not that I have ever heard of ...

 

my partner and I added our initials to the file name so that we knew who last worked on the plan

 

then we would email the file to the person needing to do their "thing"

then back to the other person

 

no other way that I know of

 

Lew

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Joe, I don do it regularly, but the system I devised involved 2 plan files linked to one layout. One plan has the model, the other all the cad details.

 

Should the other team member need to work on the plan, they could do do in a copy of the plan file. To allow someone to make a copy of the file you need to check "Disable file locking" in the File Management preferences. There was always a team member who was the keeper of the master file. The other person makes their edits in a copy of the file that has a unique name. Ideally these edits are in a defined part of the file. The keeper of the master file then opens the copied file , selects the edited portion, and executes a "paste in place" to bring the changes in to the master file. A bit cumbersome, and requires communication about who is working where when both are making plan file edits, but it works.

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Joe, I'm basically going to say no. We use dropbox which I don't really care for personally but it's not my decision. If more that one person has a plan open, you'll get "conflicted" plan files. I will say however, that if the plan is done concerning all the major stuff like wall placement, windows and doors, then I do think that it's possible. For example, if you want to have a person working on the electrical plan and one person working framing plans, then if they take the main plan and do a "save-as" and rename it "....electrical", and the other person does the same thing and name it "....framing", then this could work. You would have to link all these plans to the layout. We don't do this but this is one way it could be done. You don't however if doing this, make any wall, door, window, etc., changes to the plan. All of these plan files (and layout file) would have to be put in the same job folder. With this said, if you're not using something like dropbox, and the different people are on different computers, then at the end, all the plan files would have to go into the folder on the person's computer that is doing the layout. For most of our plans, there are at least 3 people doing something in the plan at different times and we never work in the same plan at the same time. There needs to be some communication between the people. 

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Done this a lot. Tasks can be separated by layers, flrs, disciplines also. Multiple plans sent to layout or copy, paste in place. However it's done, someone (me, IOW) has to stay on top of it all. 

I know firsthand of several instances over the yrs where this issue was the determining factor for what application was used in larger architectural/ design companies. I couldn't really blame them for choosing something other than Chief.

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There isn't a way to have two people modifying the same file at the same time.

 

What we do to manage multiple people working on documents like this is to use source code management software to enforce only 1 person accessing the file. Since we use this all the time for our software it seems fairly logical for us. Software like git or subversion are free but require a fairly steep learning curve to master. I don't expect that the average Chief user would want to invest the time to learn these tools, but they are available.

 

File Locking can work, but if it gets turned off you can get yourself into trouble.

 

Subdivision of tasks is possible. Working on details or layouts separate from doing the plan is one obvious thing.

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Very interesting question Joe.

 

I have recently started reading a book on Revit that places a great deal of attention on leveraging 3D models early in the design process for use in other applications. Even with all of the networking capabilities of Revit, they recommend the use of caution regarding having mulitple users working on the same file. Not sure yet what they do recommend. My main interest in Revit is to gain some insight into industry trends regarding BIM and particularly interoperability between programs.

 

My focus now is on getting the Chief file to the point where I can export structural geometry to be either presented in an industry standard manner, and or returned to Chief as a symbol. What I am working on is to use CA camera callouts as the means to import drawing files that have been exported by other applications.

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