Creating and editing a working file
All modifications to the project are made in clones of the main project file, which are called working files. If this project uses the Project Sharing Server, the server must be running to create or edit working files (see The Project Sharing Server).
Once you create a working file, you can continue using it until the project is complete. You can create multiple working files for a given project file. However, any given layer or object in the project can be checked out to only one working file at a time.
To create and edit a new working file:
From the Vectorworks application, open the project file (.vwxp) as follows.
File-based sharing: Double-click the project file, or select File > Open, and then select the desired file.
Server-based sharing: Select File > Open Server-based Project File. From the dialog box, click the URL list and select the Project Sharing Server associated with the desired project, or click Custom and enter the URL of a server that isn’t on the list. The subfolders in the server’s projects folder display in the left pane. Select the desired project file from the right pane and click OK.
If you don’t have a working file, and the server is unavailable to create one, select File > Open to open the project file, and then select the option to create a regular .vwx file to work on temporarily. When the server is again available, create a working file, check out the items to change, and then copy the changes from your temporary file.
The first time you open the project file, the New Working Document dialog box opens. If desired, click the option to skip the dialog box and automatically create a new working file each time you open the project file. Click OK.
The working file is named after the project file, with your user name appended to it, as in ProjectX_jsmith.vwxw.
Check out parts of the project to work on, using one of the following methods:
Select File > Project Sharing, and check out one or more layers. See Layers tab.
From the Organization dialog box or Navigation palette (Vectorworks Design Suite product required), right-click on a design layer, sheet layer, or viewport, and select Check Out from the context menu.
Select one or more drawing objects, and select Modify > Check Out, or right-click on the objects and select Check Out from the context menu. See Checking out a specific object.
Select Tools > Custom Checkout, and check out layers or objects using specific criteria. See Checking out and releasing objects based on criteria.
You can work on classes and resources without checking them out; however, changes to them could require you to check out objects that use that class or resource.
On the Checkout dialog box, enter a comment to describe why the layer or object is being checked out, and click OK.
While working on the file, save the file periodically with the Save command, as usual. This updates the local working file, but not the project file.
When you’re ready to update the project file, there are multiple ways to save and commit your changes. This updates both the working file and the project file. You can commit changes as often as needed.
Select File > Save and Commit. See Committing changes to the project file.
Select File > Project Sharing, and release a layer. See Layers tab.
From the Organization dialog box or Navigation palette (Vectorworks Design Suite product required), right-click on a design layer, sheet layer, or viewport, and select Release from the context menu.
Select one or more objects, and select Modify > Release, or right-click on the objects and select Release from the context menu.
Select Tools > Custom Release, and release layers or objects using specific criteria. See Checking out and releasing objects based on criteria.
When prompted, click Commit to commit the changes and release everything that is checked out.
When you’re done working on the file, select File > Close and Release. If there are unsaved or uncommitted changes, you’re prompted to save and commit the changes first. This closes the working file and releases all layers and objects that were checked out, so that other users can update them.
To perform additional work on the project, open the working file again, and check out objects or layers as needed. Only open the project file again if you want to create another working file.
Tips for editing a shared project
Your user name is attached to the working file. If you use multiple computers to work on a shared project, you can use a single working file if you have the same user name on each computer; otherwise, use a different working file for each computer.
The various layer selection lists in the application display the names of the layers you checked out in this working file in blue. Layers that are currently checked out in other working files are grayed.
You cannot modify layers or objects that are checked out in another working file. You can, however, snap to and copy objects from layers that you have not checked out.
To modify a viewport, you may check out the layer on which the viewport resides, or check out the viewport object. You can change viewport properties that affect other layers, such as section line instances and detail callouts. To create a section viewport, you do not need to check out the viewport destination layer or the section line layer; the viewport destination layer must not be checked out by another user. You can update a viewport on any layer. Only one user can edit the viewport crop at a time; multiple users can edit the viewport annotations simultaneously.
You can modify document preferences and settings, resources, and other non-drawing document data if you have the required permission level. See Permission level descriptions.
Sometimes a change you make may affect a layer or object that another user has checked out. In this situation, an alert displays, and the action is not completed. If the affected layers and objects are all available, you’re prompted to check out the layers or objects.
Checking out a layer or object that is out of date automatically updates the working file.
