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Softplan Plus Dropbox


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#1 Sam Morgan

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Posted 12 April 2019 - 04:25 PM

I've brought this up before and still haven't taken the plunge myself as some of what I read from users and comments made by tech support conflict each other.  I use dropbox for everything...about the only thing saved locally on my machines are applications/programs, and the softplan files themselves.  When I asked tech a year or two ago about moving the projects file to dropbox and saving everything there they said it may be possible for unexpected behavior due to different times on multiple machines.  I know this is possible if opening files directly from dropbox and saving to dropbox as that's where I house all my stock plans as well as completed projects.  No problems with opening, working on things, etc.  

 

What I am interested in hearing is, are any users doing this AND also using softplan cloud storage. I can imagine that is where possible trouble could happen...if you're backing up to softplan plus cloud and storing everything on dropbox.  Looks like I have a weekend ahead of me doing some computer maintenance and fresh windows install on my tablet so now is as good a time as any to make the change.

 

Sam



#2 Gary McKeon

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Posted 12 April 2019 - 05:53 PM

Yep. Doing it that way for a while now although I no longer use Softplan cloud as my internet connection is horrid and it is too slow to upload. Never had any issues myself.



#3 Tom Rogers

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Posted 13 April 2019 - 08:53 AM

I started doing it that way Sam for about a few months now (mostly since working on separate machines I need the "other" files [notes, pictures, etc]).  The basic issue that I am still finding is that:

  1. Title blocks are tough to use off of Dropbox.  Still never seem to recognize them
  2. Softplan still wants to save items to the local drive so there has to be more watching to make sure they end up at the end where I want them to be (dropbox). 
  3. Saving an image file from a 3D does not work with Dropbox.  I have to save it to the local computer and then move it.  When I try to save it to dropbox it says it does but if you go and open it, it gives you an error.  
  4. Still not sure how I am going to do all my symbols, speednotes and such.  It is a lot of space and I am not 100% sure (though I really have yet tried it all) that they will be there when I need them

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#4 Martin Livingston

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Posted 13 April 2019 - 11:21 AM

I opted for a different approach. We do use One Drive cloud storage for just about everything but being an old fart I don't really trust it all that much. Also, after putting a copy of my files in the cloud as a trial, I noticed a bit of lag time for some of the functions.

 

Currently I am keeping everything on a local drive and syncing to the cloud as a backup as well as taking advantage of the Softplan+ cloud for more redundancy. I have noticed some anomalies such as phantom project files appearing in my local directory but so far everything seems to be running fine.


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#5 Brian Berzinskis

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Posted 15 April 2019 - 10:00 AM

I currently use a scenario where I have a local NAS server at the office and one at my house. I have the NAS sync with my computer locally so that if I were to take a laptop on the road all of the files are there. Plus it makes for having backups of everything multiple times. I because of this have always turned off SoftPlan Cloud on every project. So I would imagine if you were to turn off SoftPlan cloud then the Dropbox scenario would be similar to mine as in I have a different piece of software doing the syncing over the internet from my office to my house. But I am not sure what would happen if I turned on the SoftPlan cloud. I am the main user that is going from my house to the office so I don't have many instances if any where I am editing files on both sides. But if there ever does become a conflict, My sync software saves both files with the conflict file being saved with its date and time so that I can roll back if I find any issue. It also saves multiple instances in case for any reason a file becomes corrupt or accidentally deleted.



#6 Jonathan Barto

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Posted 17 April 2019 - 08:02 PM

We use dropbox for everything in our company.

 

It works really well.   We have a total of 5 computers hooked up to it.   We created a folder on dropbox called softplan 2020.   In this folder we have all the 2020 symbols, 3d textures, softlist, ect.    We then have all users have access to those dropbox folders.   We then can assign the symbols to that dropbox folder, 3d textures, ect...   That way if one person creates a new symbol it is instantly accessible for all users and we are all using the same stuff..

 

Downfalls....

 

1.  You have to have an internet connection.  If internet goes down your symbols go down.

2.  Title blocks have to be saved on local computers..   Dropbox messes them up.  (softplan cant read that file location correctly)

3.  Wall and beam def need done on each machine.  (our walls are all good to go.   we rarely need an new one.   if we would we just do an archive)

 

Drawings.

 

They work great out of dropbox for us..    Softplan's cloud thing is a joke.   We have over 2500 different jobs..   Softplan has no way to organize them by year.  We would have to scroll thru them all.   We never use it.  Total waste to us.

 

Only downside is when I have to switch to my labtop for remote work.   I need to make sure it is synced up.  It takes a while if I have not done that in a while because of 5 people working and amount of drawing that need to sync.    (we do limit our recovery rate files in softplan to help)



#7 Brian Berzinskis

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Posted 22 April 2019 - 10:31 AM

I have the same issue with my laptop. I try and boot up the laptop the day before I leave and run a video file in a repeat loop to keep it from going to sleep. This way everything syncs up and charges and then I just power down the next day and take it with me. SoftPlan files are usually not the issue because they are small size and sync pretty quickly but some of the PDF files and such that I keep in project folders always seem to take a while.



#8 Michael Collazo

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Posted 28 April 2019 - 12:21 PM

We use dropbox for everything in our company.

 

It works really well.   We have a total of 5 computers hooked up to it.   We created a folder on dropbox called softplan 2020.   In this folder we have all the 2020 symbols, 3d textures, softlist, ect.    We then have all users have access to those dropbox folders.   We then can assign the symbols to that dropbox folder, 3d textures, ect...   That way if one person creates a new symbol it is instantly accessible for all users and we are all using the same stuff..

 

Downfalls....

 

1.  You have to have an internet connection.  If internet goes down your symbols go down.

2.

  Title blocks have to be saved on local computers..   Dropbox messes them up.  (softplan cant read that file location correctly)

 

 

I really wished this was fixed. This is a big problem for me at the moment.

 

 


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#9 Paul James

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Posted 28 April 2019 - 05:02 PM

We use Dropbox to sync everything as well. We store the files locally on each computer, then sync through Dropbox- that way you still have access even without an internet connection- just not the most up to date. But, unless you're creating tons of new symbols or speed notes every day, I don't see it being a big issue.

Access to the internet isn't an issue for us, the only pain is syncing on seldom used computers, like Jonathan said. But if you periodically turn it on and let it sync, it's not too bad.

The title block thing is still a huge pain, they supposedly fixed it, but all it did was remove the warning that it's missing.

There's no reason it shouldn't work, the file lock works with Dropbox, that's a great new feature.



#10 Michael Collazo

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Posted 29 April 2019 - 07:24 AM

I am trying to replace  C:\Users\Username\Dropbox\Projects\   with  ..\Dropbox\Projects\ because that is the relative path that windows recognizes. However, the dialog in Planset does not allow me to override the Border path. At the very least, allow the path to be clicked on and edited. I am certain making the paths relative will work.


Michael A Collazo

Planmark Design Studio, LLC

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