DWL, DWL2 and Google Drive

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

I've read around the forums and found what I think is the answer, unfortunately it's not the one I wanted and I would like to confirm this and see if anyone has any ideas.

I have been looking to see if there is an option to set DWL files to be created locally on my machine rather than in the Google Drive where all work is stored. There doesn't seem to be one 😞

From what I have read, the DWL files have to be in the origin folder of the DWG that is opened and all work files are stored in Google Drive.

Why would I want to do this?

The issue that I have is thus:

When a DWG is closed and the DWL's are deleted, Google Drive raises an interrupt window warning that a file is about to be deleted and OK has to be clicked to close the window. Although I can keep working, the interrupt effects mouse and keyboard inputs for a split second and the window always sits on top of everything else so it can't be ignored.

An obvious way around this is to download a DWG to my machine before opening and then upload when finished, this however defeats the whole purpose of using Google Drive and also prevents live multi-person drawing work via Xrefs.

So does anyone have any ideas for a work around or should having a option to create DWL's elsewhere be made as a suggestion to Autodesk?

A thought, does the deleting of DWL files on the close of a DWG produce the same affect in other cloud storage facilities?

[acadhelp1]

Hi Rory,

Unfortunately, the DWL file needs to be in the same folder as the DWG that it relates to.  The DWL file provides info on who has the file open.  The WHOHAS command utiltizes the info in the file and looks for it in the same folder as the DWG.

I don't have any solution to the Google Drive problem.

[Anonymous]

Hi Jon,

Thanks for confirming that I seem to understand what I have read today.

I shall not mark this thread as closed as I would like to see if anyone else has some ideas but I'm not hopeful.

[rkmcswain]

Unless you need the DWL and DWL2 files, just tell AutoCAD to not create them.

See: http://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=3186

Or copy the file locally, and then copy back to GDrive when you're done.

[Anonymous]

Hi and thanks,

It's home time now so I shall look into your link tomorrow.

Sounds good, do you know what are the implications of not creating the DWL files?

Creating a local copy defeats the object of cloud storage and as I frequently open many files in day this seems a bad work around.

[rkmcswain]

Without DWL/DWL2 files, the WHOHAS command cannot report who has the associated drawing file open.

As to your workflow, maybe you need to petition Google to change their product so that it doesn't prompt you when temporary files are deleted. Google Drive is not an enterprise file storage solution for applications like AutoCAD that perform complex i/o operations. I'm surprised this is the only problem you are experiencing.

Good luck. Cheers.

[dgorsman]

"Genuine" EDMS systems like Vault, Adept, etc. work exactly that way, even when you open the file from inside the editing application its working on a copy of the checked-out file, not the actual stored file.  The checkout-copy-down/checkin-copy-up mechanism is mostly transparent.

Since you're working with AutoCAD it should be possible to put in a bit of automation to mimic that process.

[Anonymous]

So let me see if I am understanding you correctly:

The WHOHAS command is essentially an audit tool that might for example be used by a project leader to find out who has a drawing open so that they can contact them with something relevant at that time like, "close the drawing, I need to open it". AutoCAD does not in anyway depend on the DWL files and will not suffer any kind of error if they are not generated. The DWL files also have nothing to do with backups.

If my description is essentially correct, myself and the company I work for have no need of the DWL files. I do 95% of all CAD work at present and the other two CAD machines are on the same desk island so anyone else is within talking range.

Next stop, take look at the link you posted re disabling the DWL file generation.

Thanks and once I've firmed up my understanding Kudos is due to you

[Anonymous]

Thanks,

However automating the function of downloading a file from GoogleDrive that will then be uploaded on some prompt doesn't sound much different to doing it yourself. Less clicking but still delay while down/up loading.

Following this idea through, it would seem to me that the optimum solution would involve programming/network programming skills that are not available where I work do to the size of the company and to engage an external contractor/company would be prohibitively expensive when measured against the size of my problem which truly is more of an annoyance.

 I still think your idea has a lot of merit so I will look into what can be done, perhaps a dedicated local network linking the CAD machines that manages a down/up load procedure.

[dgorsman · Accepted solution]

Not that complex a procedure, actually (I got called away partway through that post - you know, work    ).  Instead of double-clicking a file or using the standard OPEN dialog in AutoCAD you would create your own file-open routine which copies the file to a local working location and notes it in the storage system as being checked-out.  Similarly there would be your own file-close routine which allows the option of either leaving it in a checked-out state, updating the stored file and leaving it checked out, or checking it back in and released for others to use.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to everyone who contributed.

Although I don't require the WHOHAS function I would rather not remove the registry as suggested by McSwain, it seems the best solution is to live with the annoyance and petition Autodesk to add an option to define where the DWL files are written.

[rkmcswain]

If we are going to ask Autodesk to do something, ask them to move into the 21st century and stop writing text files to (try and) identify who has a file open.

The O/S is already keeping track of open files, the type of file access, and the file locking mechanism.

[Anonymous]

As much as I find myself chuckling over your comment on asking Autodesk to enter the 21st century I also find your comment a little sad but true...

Kudos awarded for giving me a chuckle 🙂