Configure Shared Workspaces

Some document authoring applications feature multi-user project or data files. Examples are AutoCAD Civil 3D and AutoCAD Plant 3D. The application itself manages the multi-user access. Since Meridian enforces strict single-user file access, using such applications with Meridian can be more complicated and problematic. Meridian supports these kind of applications with shared workspaces.

A shared workspace is a custom type of folder in a vault that Meridian manages in special ways:

Instead of downloading to the local workspace folders on each user's computer for exclusive viewing and editing, the documents download to a shared network location for shared viewing and editing.

Note:
The vault must be configured to use local workspaces as described in the Accruent Meridian Enterprise Administrator's Guide. The Accruent Filesystem Service (AMFS) is not compatible with shared workspaces. However, file filters that are defined in the AMFS configuration are also applied to shared workspace synchronization.

If there is no desktop.ini file and the Shared Workspace does not function, this can be resolved by setting the WorkSpaceSharedCheck setting to 1. This ensures that the necessary ini file is created in the workspace location on the download operation.

Important!
If a document is locked in the shared folder but changed using PowerWeb (in a local workspace), the version in the shared folder is considered as the correct version and can overwrite the changes made using PowerWeb. For this reason, users should not attempt to circumvent the system and should use workflows to make all document changes to ensure proper synchronization.
The shared workspace can be synchronized with the vault in the following ways:
- Manually with the Lock Documents and Sync Workspace and Sync Workspace commands in PowerUser.
- Automatically by the Meridian application links
- Periodically by a scheduled task that runs BCSharedFolderSync.exe described below.

Note:

You must have the Edit shared workspace settings privilege of the shared workspace folder type in order to configure shared workspaces.

To configure a folder to be a shared workspace:

Create or edit the custom folder type as described in Create And Edit Folder Types, enable the Can be used as a shared workspace option, and save your changes.

Note:
Shared workspace folder types can also be used with project definitions as described in Create a Project Definition.
Create a folder in the vault using the modified folder type as described in the Accruent Meridian Enterprise User's Guide.
Edit the options on the Folder tab of the new folder using the descriptions in the following table.
Click OK.

Shared workspace options
Option	Description
Workspace location	Click the folder browser button and select an existing shared network folder to associate with the vault folder. Create a new folder, if necessary. All users that will work in the vault folder require access to the workspace location; read-only for viewing or read-write for editing. Note: This location must not be a user's local workspace folder. The parent folder of this location must not also be a shared workspace folder. If this location is on a mapped network drive, the drive must also be mapped for the system account under which automated processes run that require access to documents in the shared workspace, Accruent Publisher, for example. Alternatively, specify a UNC path instead. Multiple vault folders mapped to the same shared workspace location is not supported.
Synchronize automatically	The contents of the shared workspace location can be manually synchronized with the associated vault folder by users with the Lock Documents and Sync Workspace (to folder) command and the Sync Workspace (to vault) command. This option allows the Meridian application links to automatically synchronize the contents of the shared workspace location with the associated vault folder: Documents in the shared folder that are in a writable workflow state are updated with any changes in the vault. Documents in the vault that are in a writable workflow state are updated with any changes in the shared folder. New documents in the folder are created in the vault if the Allow automatic creation of new documents is also enabled and if the extension is not excluded from the vault by an AMFS file filter as described in the Accruent Meridian Enterprise Administrator's Guide. If the folder option Default document type for new documents is set, the documents are assigned that type. Otherwise, they are assigned the default document type for the file extension. During manual synchronization, the wizard for the document type of each new document is shown for input. If the wizard is canceled, the document is not created. To periodically force synchronization to occur, create a task in the Task Scheduler Control Panel applet to run BCSharedFolderSync.exe. The program is installed in the Meridian Program folder. The syntax of the executable is as follows. BCSharedFolderSync /Amfs="M-<MachineName>, D-<DatastoreName>" The account under which the task is run must have access to both the destination shared folder and the source vault folder. By default, the program creates a log file of all synchronization activity named BCSharedFolderSync.log. The file is located in the same folder as the executable. The location and other options of the log can be configured with registry settings described in the Accruent Meridian Enterprise Administrator's Guide. The settings must only be configured by the user account under which the program is run.
Delete documents from workspace when released from workflow	After documents are released from workflows and synchronized with the vault, the shared workspace copies are automatically deleted to prevent further changes to them outside of the vault. Deletion occurs: When the Meridian application links synchronize with the vault When users invoke the Lock Documents and Sync Workspace command When BCSharedFolderSync.exe runs Note: Documents can be recopied to the shared folder when they are viewed by users or are referenced by other documents that are opened for editing.
Default document type for new documents	Document type to assign to all new documents created in the vault as the result of shared workspace synchronization regardless of the default type assigned to the file extension in the vault configuration.