Network server, sharing files?


ChiefProspective
 Share

Recommended Posts

We are a design build office considering purchasing a new drafting software, and it seems as though Chief has almost everything we are looking for. 

 

From searching here and looking over prior threads, I understand that the program doesn't have support for multiple users working on files that are stored on a network server.

 

If you have multiple users who need to work on a file (not at the same time), how do you keep track of the modifications? 

 

Are you using a third party software program to control the file locking and copying the file from the server down to the local machine's hard drive and copy the modified version back up?

 

Looking for ideas on what real people are finding works for them in an office environment.

All of our people are using Windows now, but there is some interest in moving to the Mac for on site work, so an ideal solution would work on both platforms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think you should call Chief Architect Sales. Most of us are single license users. There are some users here that use multiple seats (license instances), the thing you want to do is to have only one user (license) operating on a single file per unit of time (two or more users cannot open and alter a file simultaneously, if that is what you are wondering). You can have a network server for files and access that file from different PC's but only one at a time (not two or more at a time). This is my opinion and you should verify this with Chief Architect Sales.

 

DJP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I might get some flak for this, but I am not sure CA is good in a multi-person collaboration type work environment.  I had a multi-person environment I tried to bring CA into and it didn't work well for many reasons.

 

Our main application in our office is something other than CA, but perhaps the type of projects you do and your needs can work for CA....generally speaking there is no built-in support for multiple users.

 

CA is worth having in your office though - you can quickly create presentations for clients.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are a design build office considering purchasing a new drafting software, and it seems as though Chief has almost everything we are looking for. 

 

From searching here and looking over prior threads, I understand that the program doesn't have support for multiple users working on files that are stored on a network server.

 

If you have multiple users who need to work on a file (not at the same time), how do you keep track of the modifications? 

 

Are you using a third party software program to control the file locking and copying the file from the server down to the local machine's hard drive and copy the modified version back up?

 

Looking for ideas on what real people are finding works for them in an office environment.

All of our people are using Windows now, but there is some interest in moving to the Mac for on site work, so an ideal solution would work on both platforms.

Use drop box to share files. I use it all the time for EVERY FILE ON MY COMPUTER.

I use the MAC and very happy with it. I used PC two years ago, both work very well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I work in a small design office. We use Chief in a networked environment with all our job files stored on a local server. The only time we transfer a file to one of our work stations is if the server is down for maintenance.

 

Chief has it's own file locking capability (Preferences>General>File Management>File Locking>Use File Locking), so you can easily prevent more than one user opening up the same file.

 

There is no automatic method for tracking modifications, though Chief has a backup feature that allows you to revert to prior versions by loading an automatically archived version of the file.

 

Chief has so many tricks, techniques, and work-arounds that it can be very problematic to share the development of a model between multiple users. We try to keep each project with one user, though this isn't always possible; when we do hand off a project to someone else we save the prior user's file in an archive folder for reference. If the project is deep into development there is more time lost in the transition between uses than there was when we were AutoCAD/Revit based; this alone is a strong incentive not to pass the project around the office. I also believe this makes it much more difficult to "enforce" office and drafting standards. Our printed output is much more varied than it was with AutoCAD.

 

There is no reason you can't succeed with Chief in a small office networked environment, though If your office paradigm is to frequently shuffle projects between users, then you may find it doesn't fit your needs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Member Statistics

    32890
    Total Members
    9156
    Most Online
    paulPHB
    Newest Member
    paulPHB
    Joined
  • Similar Content

    • By LeeDrafter
      Hello,
      My "My Documents" folder on my work computer is actually on our server, and I know CA is not meant to be used over a network. I would like everything Chief Architect uses "My Documents" for to go in a different folder. How do I re-direct everything that references "My Documents"? I have started a folder on my hard drive called "CA My Documents" and was hoping to use that as the replacement folder. I have already moved all the CA files and libraries that I can find, but chief seems to look for that My documents folder sometimes.
      Thank you,
      Lee
      X10
    • By YoderW
      I work in an office setting with two coworkers, and we are trying to figure out a way to have one shared User Library. Our current setup has one computer hosting all of our project files, with each of our individual computers having remote access to the file directory. Our computers have Chief set up individually, with our own libraries and data directories currently. Our primary desire is to share the libraries we've each created for materials and color swatches, as well as custom models. We do work for 40-50 facilities, and they like to change up their materials and colors relatively often, so keeping all of it coordinated and organized can be difficult. 
       
      Our desire is to have a shared User Library on the host computer that we all have access to, that will update itself without us having to constantly export and import the libraries for each other. Kind of like how Chief will automatically check for updates to the library catalogs you can download from the website. This way if one of us creates new items in our own library, it will update for everyone.
       
      I've searched Google and the forums multiple times over the last couple days and have found that it should be possible, but the "solutions" are either for a much older version of Chief, the people involved don't describe how they set it up, or they use an extra 3rd-party application to help. Our company is extremely strict about what we install on our machines, so we can't guarantee they would approve a small program we download from what they may consider to be a questionable site. The specific solution i'm thinking of was set up for OneDrive, too, so i'm not sure it would even work for us. OneDrive is a potential option, but again, we'd like to avoid the extra programs involved in that solution. Surely there should be a way to set this up with Chief alone by now? I tried creating a folder on our shared drive and redirecting my own User Library there, but it didn't update itself when I scanned after having a coworker make a change to one of the libraries I had created and re-export it to said folder. 
       
      Thanks in advance!
    • By glipovsek
      Chief architect works great on my work computer and my home laptop. However, when I VPN from my home laptop to my work computer, Chief freezes on the start up screen. We work all of our chief files from a server at the office. I can access and work on anything else from the server, but chief always freezes up immediately. What can fix this? Faster internet upload/download speeds? Something else? THANKS in advance!
    • By Garreth
      Hi All just wondering if anyone is experiencing the same issue with Chief as we are.
      Is Chief Architect going to consider developing a networkable , multi user format for those of us who have more than two employees and endeavouring to manage large projects over various disciplines..
      Our office works on medium to large commercial projects where files are constantly being modified and worked on 6 months or more in duration and on various elements of the same model.
      Because the files are linked between details , wet area layouts elevations and floor plan etc etc, our productivity is limited to one user on the file at any one time.
       
      thanks in advance
       
      Garreth
    • By ericepv
      I have occasionally gotten requests from clients for a reader program so they can tour a plan on thier own. While I am famillar with the Chief Reader download that is available, it would require me to provide a full copy of my Plan File which as a general rule I never do. I know that one cannot print, edit or save with this reader but the possibility remains that my file could end up in the hands of another Chief user (a competitor?) which is why I nver give out my Plan File.
       
      I asked Chief tech support if it is possible to create a read oniy version of the file and I was told that while this once was the case, that option is no longer available. Does anyone know of a workaround to this problem? (I am currently on X7)