Collaborating on a Project

Up to now, we've focused on how to use Version Cue to streamline file management the process of creating file versions, maintaining a file history, and locating and managing files. Additional issues can arise when you want to share a project with others and collaborate on files.

This section will focus on those issues. You need to plan how your projects will be structured and shared. You should know how to access and work on someone else's project. You must understand what happens when more than one person wants to access a file at the same time. And you need to know how to access remote projects, for example, if you're collaborating with a long-distance client.

Planning How to Structure and Share Your Projects

When you create a project that will be shared with co-workers, there are several things you should consider:

How do you want to structure your projects? Consider making each job for a client its own project, to help keep projects smaller and more manageable. However, if you want to search for a file, you can search only one project at a time. You might also consider creating client-based projects, putting all your jobs for a particular client within a single project folder, and making each job a folder within the client project. Remember that you can structure the folders within a project any way you like.
Who should have access to your project? When you create a new project in Adobe Bridge or the Adobe dialog box, you can choose to Share This Project With Others. However, if you use the Version Cue CS2 Administration utility described in the "Administering Version Cue" section that follows, you can restrict project access to specified users by requiring users to log into a project (Figure 13-20). You can also use the utility to create user names and assign them to a specific project; this will give you the most control over a project. (Later, you can "unshare" a project by selecting it in Bridge or the Adobe dialog box and choosing Unshare Project, or by choosing that command in the Version Cue CS2 Administration utility.)

Figure 13-20. When you select a project in the Version Cue CS2 Administration utility, you can require a password for a project, or enable lock protection to control who can save versions.
Do you want to assign lock protection to the project? By default, when you create a project, more than one user can open the same file and save versions of that file. You can use the Version Cue CS2 Administration utility to assign lock protection to a project, restricting who can save a new version (Figure 13-20). If lock protection is enabled, only the first person who opens a file can save a new version (see "Viewing and Setting Project Information" that follows). Anyone else can still open the file, but must either save it as a new file or as an alternate.

Working on Someone Else's Project

Normally, if you are on the same local network with the person who is hosting a project and has set the project to be shared, you will be able to open the project on your computer. You can access that project in one of two ways:

In Adobe Bridge, click Version Cue in the Favorites panel, and then double-click the Workspaces icon. You can open any workspaces and projects that are shared and to which you have access privileges.
In the Adobe dialog box, click Version Cue in the Show Places pane on the left. Double-click the Workspaces icon.

The workspace icon will indicate whether the workspace is available (see Table 13-1). Sometimes a workspace is marked Not Available, and its projects are marked Offline. If you have opened or synchronized the files from these projects before, you'll have copies of them in your working copy folder, and you can open the files anyway. You'll need to remember to use the Synchronize command to update the copies in the Version Cue workspace (see the earlier section "Synchronizing Files, Folders, or Projects").

When the Project Status Is Offline

The Offline status for a project means that the Version Cue workspace containing that project cannot be contacted.

Offline status can occur for several reasons: If the workspace is located on a colleague's workstation, the colleague may have put the computer to sleep or shut it down. Possibly the project may have been deleted, or is no longer being shared.

When a previously unavailable project comes back online, the display will update when the Version Cue software "notices" the change. However, you can choose View > Refresh in Bridge, or Project Tools > Refresh in the Adobe dialog box, to update the display immediately.

Sharing Access to Files

Version Cue features a series of alerts and locks to enable users to share the same file while maintaining its integrity.

Marking a File as In Use

When you're collaborating on a project, you can choose to mark a file as In Use. This indicates that you're intending to edit the file, and you want to notify others in your workgroup of the new file status. Using this command also copies this file (or updates it) to your working copy folder. This is helpful when you want to work on a file when you know you won't have access to the Version Cue workspace. In Bridge, choose Tools > Version Cue > Mark In Use. In the Adobe dialog box, Control/right-click a file and choose Mark In Use from the context menu.

Opening a File In Use

Version Cue allows more than one user to open a file, but updates users on any file conflicts. You may open a file that's already in use, for example, if the person who first opened the file didn't synchronize it with the Version Cue workspace before leaving the computer, and that person is no longer available; or you may just want to print out the file.

When you open a file already opened by another user, you will receive an alert indicating that the file is in use (Figure 13-21, left); you can close the file or save a new version.

Figure 13-21. Alerts appear when opening a file in use (left), and saving a file in use (right).

If you keep the file open and change it, Version Cue issues a second alert about creating a conflicting copy (Figure 13-21, right). You can choose to do either of the following:

Discard Changes to display the most recent version of the file and discard any changes you've made.
Continue Editing to keep editing the working copy without overwriting changes in the other user's working copy of the same file. (Each user is prompted to save a new version of the file.)

If lock protection is not turned on for this project, you can save a new version of your edits. If you do, you'll receive a third alert warning, saying that conflicting edits will occur if you continue. You may cancel or choose Save Version Anyway. Saving anyway updates the copy in the Version Cue workspace with the new version, and alerts the other user that you have created a new version. You and the other user will have to resolve the different versions of the file.

Changing the Lock Status of a Project

Occasionally, when you're working on a shared project, the In Use status of a file cannot be changed. Here are some ways to remove the lock status:

If you can open the file on the workstation that Version Cue alerts indicate is using the file, choose File > Save A Version to release the lock.
On the workstation that Version Cue says is using the file, select the file in Bridge, Control/right-click, and choose Reveal In Finder (Mac) or Reveal In Explorer (Windows). This displays the working copy that Version Cue indicates is in use. You can delete the working copy of the file, but you'll lose any changes that had been made in that version.
In the Version Cue CS2 Administration utility, click the Advanced tab, and then choose Maintenance > Reset Locks. In the Reset Locks window, choose a project name or a user name, and click Reset Locks.

Connecting Remotely

When you need to work on a Version Cue project that is located remotely (a computer outside your local area network), you can use the computer's IP (Internet Protocol) address to access its Version Cue workspace. You might remotely access a workspace, for example, if you sometimes work in an office not on your local network and need to access your usual workspace, or if you need to share your workspace with someone working at a location outside your company. As usual, there is more than one way to do this:

In Adobe Bridge, choose Tools > Version Cue > Connect To.
In the Adobe dialog box, choose Connect To from the Project Tools menu.

In the Connect To dialog box, enter the Version Cue Client URL the Version Cue IP or DNS (Domain Name System) address followed by a colon, and the port number (3703), for example, http://153.32.235.230:3703. Then click OK. After you connect to the remote workspace, the dialog box displays all the Version Cue projects in that workspace. An alias is automatically created to that workspace and will be shown the next time you view your available workspaces.

Tip: Finding the Client URL

How can you find the Client URL for a computer? Open the Version Cue CS2 Administration utility (described in the next section) to view the Version Cue Client URL listed at the bottom of the Home page.