AutoSave in NX

[ingallspw]

thread561-216915

In the thread above, the topic of autosave was brought up. I get having that having it save over your actual part file is a no go. I wouldn't want that either.

But couldn't nx autosave a temporary file somewhere (windows user folder) of only parts that have been modified like every XX minutes or so?

NX7.5.5.4
Windows 7

 

[looslib]

There is a penalty to be paid for saving files automatically. If you only want modified files saved. the system has to go through memeory and 'pick out' which ones to save. Then you have the time to write the file data to disk, while you wait for NX to complete the task. Oh wait, we don't have write access to some of the modified files. Does NX save them too? Where do you save the files? If you run a PDM system on top of NX, do you save the files to your workspace or a temporary directory in the OS? How does a temporary OS directory get cleaned up so you don't have disk space being used that is wasted after you have exited NX? Does NX delete the temporary disk space when it exits?

What do you do with these temporary file saves? Use them as a recovery if NX crashes? Now the system has to figure out to load your temporary saved files and integrate them with the ones you are loading that were not modified. In a PDM system that would be very hard to do.

The save reminder tool is there to tell you that you have been working for XX minutes and you really should save. The best thing to remember when working with any CAD system is the 3F's.............File Fairly Frequently!

UG, prior to V10 which was released in 1994, had an autosave that would be triggered after a time delay and when you went to the top level menu. Many times you were doing something complicated and you had to go to the top menu for your next command and BAM you were hit with a time delay while the system did a backup of your file. I don't know many people who even turned it on.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[ingallspw]

I realize its a bit more complex than my simplified suggestion. These are good questions and each have its own pros and cons for sure.

My opinion is save it locally on the operating system. I know NX is a beast of a program compare to word or excel but it seem both have the ability to handle the files it leaves behind by asking, "Do you want to keep these files?" on exit type of deal.

The who what when where could all be figured out. I'm sure it could be figured out as to not screw everything up.

I admit the performance of NX auto saving saving would annoy me too.

 

[deedub777]

Why not just use the "Interval for Save Changes Reminder" setting in Customer Defaults?
Handy reminder. (it's off by default so give it a try).

 

[looslib]

Trust those of us that have been using CAD systems for a few years that you don't really want autosave added to the code. I started with UG2 V3 in 1989, so I have seen a lot of changes and improvements. I have also been using Pro/Engineer since 2001.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[JohnRBaker]

In the 36 years that I've been using CAD systems, I've never found any better advice on this topic than...

FILE EARLY AND FILE OFTEN!

And as it has been stated, back when we DID have an auto-save option, it was when you could only have ONE file open at a time (pre-UG V10.0) and even then the vast majority of users eventually turned it OFF since it was seen by most people as a nuisance. And once we moved to where multiple files were able to be open in a single session, the idea of a reliable auto-save became a myth at best. Eventually we added the 'File Save Reminder' option which can be set-up in Customer Defaults...

...which is where it stands today.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.