This topic covers key points about working on a data shortcut project in Autodesk Docs.
For information about creating a data shortcut project in Autodesk Docs, see To Create a Data Shortcut Project in Autodesk Docs.
For information about setting up a data shortcut project in Autodesk Docs, see About Setting Up a Civil 3D Data Shortcut Project in Autodesk Docs.
After you are invited to an Autodesk Docs project, you will receive a Welcome email with a link to the project. You must log in to the project to accept the invitation. To accept the invitation, click Go to Your Project. You will be asked to sign into Autodesk Docs if you are not already signed in.
Before you can use Autodesk Docs with Civil 3D, be sure Desktop Connector is running. When Desktop Connector is running, a small icon will appear in your Windows system tray: .
When Autodesk Desktop Connector is installed, it will add itself to your Windows startup programs. That means it should launch automatically when you start Windows.
If you need to launch Desktop Connector manually, go to the Windows start menu Autodesk Autodesk Desktop Connector.
For more information about Desktop Connector, see About Autodesk Desktop Connector.
In Civil 3D, examine the Start tab. It looks different after Civil 3D 2020.2 to accommodate Autodesk Docs design workflows.
Click Autodesk Docs on the far left of the screen.
Select your project and double-click the Project Files folder.
For more information, see About the Civil 3D Start Tab.
Users can open a Civil 3D file through the Start tab, or by opening the file through the application menu.
After selecting a file, it may take a few moments to open. Desktop Connector is communicating with Autodesk Docs to verify the version you are opening is up-to-date and not locked by another user. The file and any required references will be downloaded on demand.
Once the drawing is opened inside Civil 3D, work can commence on the drawing as normal.
Be patient on first-time saves to the cloud. When saving a file to the cloud for the first time, it will take time for it to sync and propagate to all other users. If you click Save again too soon, you will receive a message indicating that the file is write protected.
When a user opens a drawing, it is locked to other users. Autodesk Docs does not enable the ability for multiple users to edit a file at once. The file will appear locked if it is in the process of being synced to Autodesk Docs.
To gain access to a file that is locked by another user, you can ask the owner of the lock to close and unlock the file. To override someone's lock you need Folder Control permission. For more information, see Folder Permissions.
For more information about file locking, see About Locking Documents Stored in Autodesk Docs.
A new version is created in Autodesk Docs when a file is saved.
When saving and closing a file, the file may remain locked temporarily until the changes have finished uploading to Autodesk Docs. From Civil 3D 2022.0 onwards, this behavior can be changed using the CloudCollabModifiedOption system variable. For more information, see CloudCollabModifiedOption System Variable.
Project team members who are collaborating on the project can use the following steps to access and work in the project.
Generally, using the Refresh command on the data shortcut item in the Prospector tree will write all changes to disk and execute a full sync, both uploading local changes and downloading other users' changes. When the Refresh command has finished, the sync has also finished.
In addition, creating or modifying data shortcuts will modify the files on disk immediately and Desktop Connector will automatically upload those changes shortly thereafter even without using the Refresh command. However, changes to the folder structure of data shortcuts will be written to disk (and subsequently synced) only on refresh, switching projects, or closing Civil 3D.
Currently, there is no safety mechanism such as locking to ensure that multiple users are not modifying data shortcuts concurrently. Changes to the data shortcut folder structure may be lost since they are not synced automatically.
The biggest change in the day-to-day workflow for users is remembering to upload and then attach files intended for use as references. In this context, a reference refers to any file outside of the host DWG. This could be images, other DWG files, Navisworks projects, Recap Point clouds, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, and text files.
Upload intended references to Autodesk Docs first, and then attach them.