multi-user repository

[mr.ska]

multi-user repository

This is a follow-up to this thread:

http://www.alibre.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=120

I need a repository, or some data management system, that will allow multiple users to access design data regardless of what the administrator, owner, or other users of said repository are doing. Currently the owner of a repository must be logged in for other users sharing the repository to see it.

 

[jemmej]

This thread is from May 11....has this issue been addressed?

Jim

 

[Mibe]

Re: multi-user repository

This is a follow-up to this thread:

http://www.alibre.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=120

I need a repository, or some data management system, that will allow multiple users to access design data regardless of what the administrator, owner, or other users of said repository are doing. Currently the owner of a repository must be logged in for other users sharing the repository to see it.

If you have the design data (repository) on a mapped disk (e.g Z there should be no problems for all users to use that, even if the creator (in this case user A) is not logged in.

 

[jemmej]

Have you actually done this? From the threads I've read it does not work...even on a mapped network drive.

Jim

 

[Mibe]

Re:

Have you actually done this? From the threads I've read it does not work...even on a mapped network drive.

Jim

I have done this on a single computer, with two different user accounts and a mapped drive. I have NOT tested this on a separate server (have no one) but a customer has, and I have not heard that this did not work.

They use the same technique as I do. Kind of like this:

1. Log in as an Administrator

2. Create all reps. on a mapped drive from "User1" on "Computer1". This is the "administrator" of the mapped repository.

3. Copy the file "C:\\documents and setting\\[username]\\application data\\alibre design\\[alibre name]\\localrepositories.cfg" to "User2". Save it in the same directory as "User1". Overwrite the current cfg-file.

This should do it. My first reaction was that the different policies would stop "User2" to access files that was mapped by "User1". But it actually worked!

Make sure that all changes in the folder system of the repositories should be done by "User1", the "administrator". The cfg-file must then be copied to "User2" again. Cumbersome, but needed. I wish there was a way to "map" the cfg-file, so all users was reading from that file - instead of the "Document and Settings" version


TAKE CARE. DON'T DO THIS ON YOUR PRODUCTION DATA IF YOUR'E NOT SURE HOW THE REPOSITORY CONFIGURATION FILES WORK. IT MAY CORRUPT YOUR REPOSITORY PATHS AND THERE COULD BE HARD TO RESTORE THEM!

 

[Gaspar]

This INTRANET (not internet) Repository sharing ability is a very important issue for us. At the very top of the list besides speed!

I've heard this mentioned a number of times, but it seems to me Alibre has dumped developement efforts on the repository. For me, its a great tool, but it still needs to overcome this sharing limitation. Its not only about the user being needing to be logged (which is bad) but also about the huge band width you need to share a rep through internet when handling big assemblies

If any of you is planning to go on a hunger strike over this issue, let me know so I can join in... (at least between meals)

 

[jemmej]

I don't know what you have heard recently, but, I was told that Alibre is aware of the issue and they hope to address this in the future (personally it didn't sound like it was on the hottest burner at the moment. But, I wouldn't say it was completely dropped). Of course, they certainly were trying to get me to buy the software

Incidentally, I saw ZERO posts on this subject after May 2004. So, maybe the intranet multi-users needy ones (me included) need to keep posting the fact that they will die from hunger (at least between meals) if the problem isn't fixed!

Jim

 

[jwknecht]

Gaspar,

Can't let a loyal user starve alone. Count me in.

 

[Willbur]

Count me in too - I'm using the file system to store files because I can share them that way, but I have to keep a revision record in other ways (on paper at the moment). It's particularly annoying when a part is used across a series of assemblies which haven't been built in a while - when you update the part for one assembly, even the old ones update which makes tracking what the customer actually received difficult....

 

[rvjr]

Hi!

I've the same problem... I think the file linkage is not very clear and not handled in a good way.

The sharing would be easier, if AD would link files using relative filenames...

ciao,
Rainer jr.

 

[moyesboy]

I was dumbfounded when I discovered the sharing the repository was not possible over a local network.
I'm sure I am not alone in thinking that I can't rely on an internet connection to tream work within my own department and share data with someone 2 yards away!
This was one big reason why I am not using Alibre yet and I know several other potential customers who went elsewhere for this reason (back before Alibre had WFS as an alternative).
As a newcomer - when you see something like that, that is so obviously not what most people would want, it sort knocks your confidence in the software as a whole.

Glad to see that someone found a workround by copying the cfg file. They do that in Alibre so they can work on users repositories!!!
But if the workround is possible why can't alibre productionise it easily?

Probably v9 I guess...

 

[bscott.arc-tech.com]

I'll chime in and say that we, too, would love to see the ability to store a multi-user repository on a local network file server. We're not about to pin our CAD software's performance on the performance of our Internet connection. Nor are we going to trust our proprietary data to *ANY* outside party (nothing against Alibre in particular).

Our sales rep did mention the option of having a local computer logged in and running Alibre all the time, using a role account, to provide something like this, but it was an awful kludge at best.

So, for now, we're just using plain old fashioned local files. If Alibre were to offer a way to do this "right", we'd almost certainly sign-up.

 

[cclark440]

Moyesboy

I think the problem with the config file workaround is that once the owner of the shared rep does log in, then Alibre reports an error when the second person tries to open that repository.

From what I have been able to tell, there is a DataBase that is used to access the repository files. Only one person is allowed to have that DB open at any given time.

I had researched this at one time, because I had written a little utility that allowed a user to choose the repositories to load when Alibre started up. Once I figured how the DB file access worked I abandoned the utility.

I could be wrong, but I think this is true.

 

[moyesboy]

"Our sales rep did mention the option of having a local computer logged in and running Alibre all the time, using a role account, to provide something like this, but it was an awful kludge at best"

We had the same suggestion.
But you still have to wait for the data to travel via the net peer to peer, so there is a delay. I couldn't make that suggestion sound at all reasonable to my boss! (especially shortly after a prolonged internet outage effecting a large part of the northern UK - the effects of which lasted almost 2 weeks!).
I think the majority of Alibre users are stand alone or collaborate remotely.
I don't think they have many offices with several users. With several users in an office I think the WFS is the only sensible way but you get no file locking if you both edit the same file and no version history. You don't get the value out of pro vs std either!

 

[jwknecht]

This INTRANET (not internet) Repository sharing ability is a very important issue for us. At the very top of the list besides speed!

I've heard this mentioned a number of times, but it seems to me Alibre has dumped developement efforts on the repository. For me, its a great tool, but it still needs to overcome this sharing limitation. Its not only about the user being needing to be logged (which is bad) but also about the huge band width you need to share a rep through internet when handling big assemblies

If any of you is planning to go on a hunger strike over this issue, let me know so I can join in... (at least between meals)

I predict that there will be quite a few surprised new users (potential hunger strike partners), assuming there are more customers from the xpress campaign. I would like to see some comment to this post by Alibre. Is this enhancement in development? For most companies, this is a "must have" capability.

I support Gaspar's signature file :!: I am getting hungry from this hunger strike, but I don't seem to be losing any weight.

 

[Anonymous]

To be honest this is the only thing that kept my last company from purchasing Alibre. We only had two people that would utilize the modeling, but up to four others would have been able to utilize the repository for word, excel, and autocad files. In the end we didn't end up purchasing any 3d modeling software and they are still using autocad. I have since left the company, but I know that they would probably purchase 5 seats of Alibre if the repository could be shared on the local intranet similar to how Pro/Intralink works.

 

[Gaspar]

Please support IntraReps :idea:

 

[jwknecht]

As an intermediate step, if they can't support intrareps immediately, please offer a reduced price license that has only the repostitory/administrative functions. In this way, at least one computer could function as a rep server via the internet. I don't know if this is possible but it seems that it should be given the way xpress has functionality greyed out.

 

[Gaspar]

I suspect that intrareps are hard to develope becuase the Alibre server does a lot of the work for knowing who has what permissions.

I would be totaly willing to give up permission handling (the check mark by the drawings). As long as all of our users can view the same repository I really would not care a lot about who opened what and who can edit what.

I know this is just our very particular case and other users/companies may think different, but I felt the idea was worth sharing.

 

[macinc]

I fully support Intrareps development! It makes no sense to have a repository and the organization it provides, but then have a local 2nd seat's access to it subject to the speed of an internet connection or potential AD server problems.
I am a relativly new user, and just switched over to repositories from the file system as we are thinking of getting a 2nd seat for a part time subcontractor, and I really like the repository features. However, if the 2nd pc cannot access the needed data through the LAN, it makes no sense to use repositories.
I would consider this a must have enhancement.

Matt Westfield