2013 & SP1

[ntellery]

I am in the constant process of creating & editing Tools organised in my palletes.  I then copy (backup) to the Content Browser in a custom location to be passed on to one other user in another location.

If I install SP1 will it delete my palletes?

I can of course back up but then on restoring (dragdrop from Content Browser) all the ReadOnly flags are up and you then have to go thru a laborious process unflagging first the pallete then the tool.

Is there a quick way to restore without the readonly flags?

Thanks.

[leothebuilder]

if you have your palettes and tools in a custom location, any service pack installation, or a software reapir or reinstall should not affect those.

You should be fine i-dropping the palettes from the content browser.

Not sure why you would get read only flags.

Did you "publish" your tool catalog?

On the tool palette, do you have a refresh button bottom r/h corner?

[ntellery]

Thx Leo.  Trouble is when you do complex things not often you forget.

I built tools/pallets/pallete groups in 12 that I drag & dropped into a custom catalog.  (Nice that you can drap a whole pallete into the Content browser rather than per tool. Not sure if that's new?)

Decided to rebuild in 13 so it's from scratch and I haven't brought it back from the Cat into 13 yet but I do remember in 12 when I did that (having to reinstall ACA12) all the palletes had to be unlocked and then also the tools if I wanted to further edit.

So at this point before dragging to the content browser into my custom Cat in custom location, I think the palletes/tools are all created in an ACA default location.  Yes I can see them in C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\ACA 2013\enu\Support in what ever workspace Cat you have chosen (Global) in mine.  BUT another set (earlier) is in my custom location so perhaps ACA copys to it's own location.

My understanding of publishing would be to create a package I can then pass on? yes?

I know you can also grab the .atc file and drop into ACA to create a pallete. mm just tried that and it didn't work.  Recently dated .atc looks like the one I created in 12 and haven't loaded in 13.

So the basic question is can I load SP1 and leave everything alone.  I don't mind backing it up. Should do that anyway but don't like the restore / readonly bit.

[leothebuilder · Accepted solution]

If I were you I would "publish" your custom tool catalog.

In the content browser, righ click the catalog and select publish.

This will allow you to create a copy of the catalog and specify a location.

Best to locate on a  server or any drive that can to be accessible to other users.

(actually, all the style drawings that hold your custom content for the tools should be located on a server

or accessiible drive as well)

Once you've applied the service pack or reinstall the 2013 software you can add the custom catalog back into the content browser and from there i-drop the palettes onto your tool palette.

Other users can also add the same custom catalog to their content browser and i-drop the palettes onto their tool palette. You should not have to deal with read only messages.

Using this method you will see a "refresh" button at the bottom right hand corner of each shared tool palette.

If you add tools to a palette in the custom catalog, all a user needs to do is click the refresh button and the new tool will appear on the palette.

Keeping al this separate from your software installation will prevent you from losing all your custom content and tool palettes. Makes it easy to upgrade to newer versions as well.

[David_W_Koch · Accepted solution]

I would be extraordinarily surprised if custom tool palettes were affected by the installation of a Service Pack.  That said, backing up the files is always a good idea.  Doing so in a tool catalog is one way.  Directly copying the files in your local workspace can also be effective, should something go awry.  You can find the location(s) where your current workspace in the Options dialog, on the Files tab, under the Tool Palettes File Locations node.  There may be more than one location.

Also, be certain to export your current profile, should that get changed when installing the Service Pack.

You can also add tools and palettes from a tool catalog without having them linked back to the catalog.  In Content Browser, right click the catalog and choose Properties from the context menu.  Near the bottom of the Catalog Properties dialog, clear the check mark in the "Link items when added to workspace" toggle.  After doing so, when you i-drop a tool palette into your workspace or an individual tool onto a palette, the resulting palette and included tools or individual tool will not be linked back to the catalog and you can edit at will.  If you want others to have linked palettes/tools, be certain to recheck the toggle after loading items into your workspace.

[ntellery]

Ah thanks David, I think that tick box (dont link) is the one I am after.  I can tick it in the copy that is passed on but not in mine so I can restore and continue editing, updating from time to time.  And yes good tip about the profile and also backing up manually as well.

Thanks too Leo.  That's the process I hope to give to a user however I may even allow that one user to edit too in the end.  The whole drag & drop process runs pretty smoothly and still allows them to edit although the other option, I may also just allow them to edit their own custom palletes as a separate list.

So thanks both for your detailed replies.

Cheers

[David_W_Koch]

If you, or the other user, has a linked palette, the tools and/or palette can still be edited.  You have to:

1.  Go into the properties of the palette and uncheck the Refresh from toggle.

2.  Make the changes (add tools, modify tool properties).

3.  Drag the new and/or modified tools back to the tool catalog in the Content Browser to add the new ones and overwrite the existing ones.

4.  AFTER DOING STEP 3, you can go back into the palette properties and recheck the Refresh from toggle.

If you recheck the toggle before you copy the changes back to the Content Browser, the palette will refresh from the source palette in the tool catalog, and your changes will be lost.