Libraries and remote login

[Anonymous]

Without sifting through hours of video - could someone in the know please advise:


ISSUE 1
For a TW2 file, must the libraries be server based libraries? Is it possible to have a mixture of local libraries and a job specific server based one?

Scenario#1: loading across the internet - if I must load AC13 default library + office standard library + our add-on libraries (Cadimage) across the internet - that is a huge load that could be avoided as it is already on (my) laptop. It would be great if I only need to load the project specific library across the "net".


ISSUE 2
For a TW2 file, can I login in the office, save out my workspace, take it home and then only have to sync the changes over the net?

If so this is great as I can significantly reduce internet traffic, as I do not have to download the whole project over the net!


The combination of the above two would be fantastic - question is - is it possible?

[Barry Kelly]

Karl wrote:
The path to the library is basically <servername>/<library name> So, no matter how many projects you 'join' on that server, there will only be one copy of the library downloaded - when you join the first project.

If the copy of the server library is the same as the library already on your local drive then would it be possible to manually copy the library yourself to the "<servername>/<library name>" folder?
That way it will only sync what is different and not download the whole library.
Or is the copy some kind of "special" copy so it can keep track of what changes meaning it will still download the entire library even if you have duplicated it successfully to the correct server folder.

I hope I have explained my thoughts clearly.
I am just wondering if this may be a solution for those large standard office libraries that rwallis mentioned.
Barry.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Barry wrote:
If the copy of the server library is the same as the library already on your local drive then would it be possible to manually copy the library yourself to the "<servername>/<library name>" folder?

No. <servername> is either an IP address or a host name, either of which is interpreted as a network address , not a disk location. There is no folder anywhere that corresponds to it.

The local cache copy is in a specially indexed and named area of the user TW folder. There's no way to fake TW out into thinking that it was downloaded, as only TW can create all of the links properly.

Cheers,
Karl

[Barry Kelly]

Karl wrote:
No. <servername> is either an IP address or a host name, either of which is interpreted as a network address , not a disk location. There is no folder anywhere that corresponds to it.

The local cache copy is in a specially indexed and named area of the user TW folder. There's no way to fake TW out into thinking that it was downloaded, as only TW can create all of the links properly.

Cheers,
Karl

Shame.
Thanks Karl.

[Anonymous]

mm that raises an interesting thought- If I logged in to the server on the LAN - i.e. in the office - and then logged in with my the same laptop over the internet, would TW be smart enough to realise it was the same server,
OR
because IP addresses change each side of a router would it think they were different (please excuse my limited networking knowledge - I tried to digest GS networking paper on the train last night). - and in doing so download all libraries again?

As you allude to Karl, it is a bit hard to discuss these things hypothetically - much better to have access to the software...but at least this way we go in a little wiser...

[Barry Kelly]

I read somewhere that the server needs a fixed IP address.
I don't know a lot about networking (I leave that up to the IT guys) so I don't know if that will have any ramifications to existing setups.
Barry.

[Karl Ottenstein]

rwallis and Barry,

See this article:
http://www.archicadwiki.com/Teamwork/BimServerRemoteConnection

A static IP address is not mandatory, but if your internet connection has a dynamic address, then you must use a host name as described in the article.

Also, as described in the article, you MUST access the server in exactly the same way internally and externally for the library links to stick - that is, using an IP address everywhere, or a host-domain name everywhere. If the BIM Server is ONLY accessed locally on a LAN, then the BIM Server name can be used, which is the easiest.

Lest all of my posts here and there as well as all of the Wiki articles be frightening anyone ... setting up the server and using TW2 within an office requires almost no thought. Just run the installer and everything just works. You only have to start getting concerned about networks, firewalls, etc if and when you want to access the BIM Server outside the office over the internet.

Cheers,
Karl

[Erika Epstein]

We all know I'm no Karl, and I did it so you can too.
Seriously though, it really isn't difficult. The wiki articles and the Collaboration pdf in the Help menu of AC break it down into digestible steps.

[Karl Ottenstein]

And, I'm no Erika! 🙂

A new Wiki article on libraries was posted today:
http://www.archicadwiki.com/Teamwork/ManageLibrary

Cheers,
Karl

[gkovacsp]

Just one addition to the "One server per office to have one copy of the library downloaded" topic:

If you plan to run multiple servers it is still possible to have only one Library copy on your computer:

Keep all your libraries on one server.

Projects can link to BIM server libraries even across servers.

So the scennario:
* Server A
** Project PA1
** Library LA1
** Library LA2

* Server B
** Project PB1
** Project PB2
** Project PB3
** Project PB4

All projects (PA1, PA2, PB1, PB2, PB3, PB4) can use LA1 and LA2.

If we know, that there is only one library copy/server on our computer (and I know that and you can trust me on that) libraries won't be duplicated, while working on projects from different servers.

I hope it helps.

One more clarification on the libraries:

One local Library for every library/server/user

This means if you Join the same project twice with different names, then you will have to download the libraries twice. This is necessary, because every user can edit the library parts (under certain conditions) and can modify the local library. If these libraries would not be separated the changes would be immediately visible in other projects as well.

I think (:)) this will improve in the future.

Gabor

[Karl Ottenstein]

Thanks, Gabor!

Anything that I may write on this topic that is correct, I most likely learned from Gabor. Anything that is wrong is my fault.

K