{"id":7051,"date":"2017-07-19T07:00:14","date_gmt":"2017-07-19T14:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com/blogs\/autocad\/?p=7051"},"modified":"2020-04-07T14:52:17","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T21:52:17","slug":"basic-autocad-customization-sharing-custom-autocad-files-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com/blogs\/autocad\/basic-autocad-customization-sharing-custom-autocad-files-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Basic AutoCAD Customization: Sharing Custom Files, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Where Should Custom Files Be Stored?<\/h2>\n

As I previously mentioned<\/a>, custom files are stored by default locally on your workstation, but that doesn\u2019t work well when trying to share files with others whether they are located in a centralized office or across different geographic locations. No matter if you decide to share your custom files or not, I recommend making a copy and placing any custom files that you plan on editing in a folder outside of the folders created during the installation of the AutoCAD product. By placing the custom files with changes into a different folder, it not only makes the files easier to share with others, but it also simplifies the upgrade to a new release or re-installation of your current release.<\/p>\n

Tip:<\/strong> Always backup your custom files prior to making changes to them. You never know when something might go wrong and have to go back to an earlier version of a file.<\/p>\n

So where might be the best place to store your custom files when you want to share them with others? If you plan on sharing custom files with those in the same office, the best place to store custom files is on a network drive. However, when working with others that are not in the same office, it can be a bit harder to use a network drive that everyone can access unless you provided access using a virtual private network (VPN). When everyone is not in the same geographic location or even an employee of your company, you might want to consider using a file sharing site such as Box or Dropbox which can automatically synchronize files between a local drive and the file sharing site. Using a file sharing site can help to reduce network traffic and lag when working with large files, compared to connecting to a network drive using VPN.<\/p>\n

As an alternative to using a network drive, you can use batch files or group policies to push updated custom files to internal users. These two processes might be possibilities if your company has an IS department or team that is responsible for things like Windows accounts or programming business logic.<\/p>\n

Warning:<\/strong> When sharing custom files from a network drive or a file sharing site, make sure to mark the files and\/or folders as read-only to ensure files are not accidentally changed. If the files are accidentally changed, the changes will affect all users that have access to the custom files from that location.<\/p>\n

Whether you share custom files on a network drive or file sharing site, you can use a similar folder structure to organize the files. Figure 1 shows an example of a folder structure that could be used to organize custom files.<\/p>\n

\"SharingFigure 1. Sample folder structure<\/em><\/h5>\n

Note:<\/strong> While storing custom files on a network drive or file sharing site makes sharing and updating files easier when changes might be needed, some types of custom files such as ObjectARX or Managed .NET application files can\u2019t be modified while they are loaded into the AutoCAD environment. All instances of the AutoCAD program in which the custom files might be loaded must be closed before the files in the shared locations can be updated. Based on the types of custom files you plan on sharing, you might need to do some extra planning; you might need to update files early in the morning before everyone comes into the office, late in the evening after everyone logs out for the day, or on a weekend.<\/p>\n

Which Custom Files Should You Consider Sharing?<\/h2>\n

There are no restrictions to which types of custom files can be shared with others; any file that can be customized or loaded into the AutoCAD environment can be shared. These are some of the more common types of custom files that can are shared with others:<\/p>\n