X10 User LIbrary Location

[amddrafting]

Just curious, maybe a question for a programmer.  Any reason we can't specify the user library location like we can for the bonus libraries now?

 

Our team uses the same CAD catalogs and library objects, textures, etc and it's a pain when you have to constantly export your library to be able to update CAD blocks and other items in your User library to share with the team.

 

What is the reason that it's not a possibility to have User libraries moved to a cloud folder and have each computer read the User Library from that folder.  Seems to me that it would make for team syncing much easier.

 

Given example: One of my staff is currently creating every ADA detail in the TAS 2010 Handbook so we have an entire library for our ADA details.  Currently we all have to wait for him to finish and export his library to receive those files.  If we find a mistake in one then we have to tell him, he updates it, re-exports the library folder, then we all have to re-import it again.  Obviously you can understand how tedious this can be.

 

Seems to be that the easiest thing would be to all share a user library file on our cloud/server and all we have to do is click on Update Library Catalogs and it would include updating the User Library file OR we just close and open CA again and it when it reads the User Library file it automatically updates to the most current edit of the User Library.

I actually do have a way that I think I can make that work using Google drive.  It would require making edits in the command prompt and setting everyone's computer to point to the right location.

 

This is how I would do it, and let me know if this could be problematic.  On each computer in our office we do the following...

 

Take the user library catalog file out of the existing installed location (I will use mine for an example)

 

F:\Chief Architect Premier X10\Database Libraries\User_Library

 

Move it to new location in the cloud service, ours is Google Drive File Stream:

 

G:\My Drive\Aeslin Design Group\5. Chief Architect\X10 Network Library\Database Libraries

 

As admin open up the command prompt then run the following command:

 

mklink /D F:\Chief Architect Premier X10\Database Libraries G:\My Drive\Aeslin Design Group\5. Chief Architect\X10 Network Library\Database Libraries

 

This basically tells your computer that anytime a program wants to access the first location it will redirect it to the new location.  I had to do this to actually relocate my local files for Google Drive because they don't give the option (yet) to specify the location of offline files and my laptop couldn't handle the amount of file I needed on my OS drive (Dropbox has this feature built in).  So this command prompt redirect worked like a charm.

 

Can any programmers on the forum confirm that this could work to share one User_Library between a network of staff?

[Joe_Carrick]

Actually, if you set the Library folder to a shared Dropbox folder the User_Library should be in that folder as well.  I just moved my entire X10 Data folder to Dropbox and set that in Preferences.  My Laptop, Home Desktop and Office Desktop all access that location. 

 

I used to use mklink but haven't needed it since I started using Dropbox.  Dropbox syncs all user systems.

• D:\Dropbox\Chief Architect Premier X10\Data (D: is my SSD)

 

 

[amddrafting]

I did that for the default libraries but it kept the User Library in the installation drive with no option to move it.

[Joe_Carrick]

53 minutes ago, amddrafting said:

I did that for the default libraries but it kept the User Library in the installation drive with no option to move it.

You have to set the Data folder as the shared folder in Dropbox.  Then check the Preferences.

[amddrafting]

You're the man!