Lock scene files for editing (multi-user workflow)

[Bee-am]

CityEngine currently locks at Workspace level (not at project or file level), and I wanted to find out if it's not possible to add a similar flag for CE projects/files?

This could be useful in a team workflow where:

• it will be easier to identify specific projects that are in use. Ideally I'd have wanted to be able to lock files individually, but this could be a big ask.
• different users may be working on various files under the same project, or various projects under the same workspace. It would be useful to prevent other users from opening/editing a file that's in use by another.

[ThomasFuchs]

Thank you @Bee-am 

Your use case is to collaborate on a project in your team. I can see that unintentional overwriting of files can be a problem.

• Can you tell me a bit more about how your team is sharing the projects?
• Are they saved on a network drive?
• Do you need a solution for concurrent editing?

[Bee-am]

Hi @ThomasFuchs !

Indeed, our use case is that of project collaboration.

We are currently synchronising our CE projects through a basic cloud storage service and we "give each other turns" to work on a scene file. The challenge has been on coordinating who's currently working on which file.

To answer your question, ideally, we'd need a solution for concurrent editing - but I imagine that could take time for the developers to implement; hence my proposal for the possibility to "checkout"/lock files for editing as an interim feature (since we already have a similar implementation with workspaces)

[ThomasFuchs]

Thanks for the clarification. The dev team is considering your idea!