Working with shared workspace folders

By default, when you work on documents in a vault folder, copies are made in your local workspace folder for best performance and compatibility with the applications that you use. For more information about local workspace, see About local workspace. However, some applications require multi-user access to project and other data files that is incompatible with local workspace. For those applications, Meridian provides shared workspace folders.

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 folder on your computer for you to view and edit exclusively, the documents download to a shared network location for shared viewing and editing.

  Note:

  With PowerWeb, documents that are viewed or edited are first downloaded to your local workspace before they are copied to the shared workspace folder.

  Important!

  If a document is locked in the shared folder but changed in a local workspace, the version in the shared folder is considered as the correct version and can overwrite the changes made otherwise. For this reason, you should not attempt to circumvent the system and should use workflows to make all document changes to ensure proper synchronization.

• The contents of the shared workspace can be automatically synchronized with its corresponding vault folder if configured by a system administrator. You can manually synchronize the folder (download) from the vault with the Lock Documents and Sync Workspace command on the Folder menu in PowerUser. You can synchronize the vault from the folder (upload) with the Sync Workspace command.

  When synchronization occurs:

  • 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 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, if the folder option Show wizard on creation of new documents is enabled, the wizard for the document type of each new document is shown for input. If the wizard is canceled, the document is not created.
  • During manual synchronization, if the folder option Delete documents from workspace when released from workflow is enabled, released documents are deleted from the folder. Released documents are copied to the shared folder if they are viewed or if they are referenced by other documents in the folder that are opened for editing.

• Shared workspace folders can be created and configured as described in the Accruent Meridian Enterprise Configuration Guide if you have the Edit shared workspace settings privilege. For information about how shared workspaces are configured in your organization, consult a system administrator.

To work with documents in a shared workspace folder:

• One person (the workgroup leader or project manager, for example) should be assigned as the shared workspace manager.
• Only the shared workspace manager should place the shared workspace documents under change and release them as they normally would.
• Any person may synchronize the workspace with the vault.
• Any person may edit the documents in the shared network location that is associated with the parent vault folder.

To configure the options for a shared workspace folder:

• Edit the options in the Sharing details group on the Folder tab of the folder as described in the Accruent Meridian Enterprise Configuration Guide.

  Note:

  You must have the Edit shared workspace settings privilege to modify the options.