Interactions in the working file

Working in offline mode

If the project file is not available when you open the working file, you're prompted either to locate the file manually or work in offline mode.

Select the option to manually locate the file if the file was renamed or moved.

Select the option to work offline if the project file is unavailable because you don't have access to the project file (either on a network or on the cloud). Edits you make in offline mode are saved in the working file, and you can commit them when you again have access to the project file.

While working in offline mode, be aware of the following:

Only layers and objects that are already checked out can be edited.

All classes, resources, and document preferences can be edited, with the appropriate permission level.

Operations that require access to the project file are disabled, such as adding users or committing changes.

Opening other users' working files

Normally, you only open your own working files. Opening and editing a working file created by another user could result in a deadlock, since you cannot commit changes made by other users. In certain situations, however, you might need to open a working file created by another user.

When opening another user's working file, keep in mind the following:

If you have Administrative permission, you have the option to open the file and take ownership of all changes.

If the working file has items checked out or contains changes that you don't have permission to commit, it's unsafe to open and change the file, because uncommitted changes may be lost. However, you can safely copy items from the file and paste them into another working file.

If you're working in offline mode, you may view or make changes to another user's working file only if you have previously updated the project file (from any working file). An alert displays if you're not authorized. 

Using referencing

When you share project files and also use referencing, keep in mind the following rules.

Project files can be referenced into other project files and regular Vectorworks files; resources referenced from the file cannot be modified.

Regular Vectorworks files can be referenced into project files. For example, a symbol library can be referenced into a project file; resources referenced from the file can be modified.

Working files cannot be referenced into any other files; they are temporary files that can be deleted at any time.

Place the reference file in a location accessible by the project file and all users working on the project.

Relative reference paths are relative to the location of the project file, and the referenced file must be on the same volume (or in the same shared cloud folder) as the project file. If you're using the Project Sharing Server, the referenced file must be in the project folder for the server that is associated with the project.

Permissions required for referencing

References to PDF, image, and DWG files can be created, deleted, and edited by users with the Layers-Restricted permission level or above.

References to regular Vectorworks files or project files can be created, deleted, and edited by users with the Project permission level or above.

Sometimes updating a reference would require a permission level that the user does not have; in this case, the update is prohibited. For example, if a reference update will import new layers or classes into a project, the user must have a permission level that permits creating layers and classes.