Thinking Different

No, this isn't a discussion about Steve Jobs's advertising antics. It's an important discussion about the things you need to think about when working in a managed workflow. Because human nature is to resist change, it takes some effort to really adapt to using Version Cue in your workflow (see Table 11.2).

Table 11.2. The Version Cue Workflow

User's Action	Opening a File	Saving a File	Saving a Version of a File
What Happens	The latest version of the file is copied from the Version Cue Workspace to the user's working folder and is opened.	The file is saved to the user's working folder. The file in the Version Cue Work-space remains unchanged.	The file is saved to the user's working folder, and the file is then copied back to the Version Cue Workspace and becomes the newest version of the file.
Version Cue Status	Synchronized: User's working copy and the file in the Version Cue Workspace are identical.	In Use by Me: User's working copy is newer than the file inthe Version Cue Workspace.	Synchronized: User's working copy and the file in the Version Cue Workspace are identical.

It's important to remember the difference between saving a file and saving a version of a file. Until recently, you always saved a file when you were done with it. But in a managed workflow, saving a file just updates the working copy of the file on your computer and doesn't update the file on the server (or workspace). So even though you've saved the file, others still see a file that is in use by you. If they choose to view the file, they won't see your most recent edits, either.

Saving a file is great for making incremental saves (ensuring that you don't lose your work) and for making small changes to a file as you're working on it. When you've made your changes and want to release the file for others to use, you have to use the Save a Version command, which not only saves the file, but also copies it back to the server and unlocks the file.

We also mentioned that Version Cue uses the metadata of a file to speed up the process of finding your files and versions. No one likes to spend extra time putting comments or notes into a file when they are working, but doing so can save valuable time later in the process. It can also help co-workers find files you've worked on.