i think all the files should always just go in: My Documents i suppose it could have sub directories of My Schematics & My FPGAs etc
:} only kidding but hey, it's good enough for MS ! seriously, i think something like John has proposed sounds reasonable if i read this correctly then a zip could be expanded to recreate the structure easily on another machine a lot of apps (most?) do pretty poorly at saving us drudge work of routing around in the file dialogs when they could reasonably guess where we might want to go or be at the very least an app i think should propose at least initially to do a Save As to the folder in which the file resides this is not as obvious as it at first sounds when you consider that the file (and app) may have opened by double clicking in Exploder *(TM) so the app's file open dialog may not have been used and be aware of where it is Acad does a pretty fair job of figuring this out *PS i rarely use Explorer anymore take a look at AB Commander as an alternative to Explorer http://www.winability.com/abcommander/ it's not perfect but it's the best explorer replacement i have found - saves a lot of time when jumping around the hard drive saves favorites, recents and stuff like that Dennis Saputelli > Josie, > > Perhaps this makes a case for a firm DXP project folder structure (Altium > standard), instead of just using the system default. Would make > interoperability between tools a little easier as well. > > Many people have requested / touched on this issue before but now that DXP > forces the use of projects it is time to start looking at a better method of > file storage / destination folders. > > OK this is a pretty rigid approach, but so is project management really, so > when considering this suggestion, do not think of it as barricades, but as > auto file sorting. > > *Suggestion* > > Under project options an extra tab to select all these options would be > nice, but not really needed, just some structure definition. > > The term system default below is not DXP default, but the default for open > in any DXP dialogues seems to be the windows 'last open folder' > default. > > First an extra tab in the project options folder to define the location of > all libraries, which over rides the system default. Ok, you can do this in > some way in the editors but the actual folder location should be fixed, > leave the editor stuff to picking the libraries you want to use. > > The creation of a Project group name should auto create a /root folder. > The prjgrp link file should be put here. > > An extra Tab in the Project options for USER setting the destination of the > /root folder to over ride the system default should be available to the > user.. > > The creation of a Project should auto create a project name folder in that > root /root/project/ > > The project link file should stay in the /root/project/ sub folder, that way > the whole project is self contained and you can just look in the /root/ > directory to see how many projects are there and what they are. > > As the project is self contained they are now also PORTABLE and a lot easier > to perform Auto/Remote/Network backups & restores & of course compare whole > projects. > > As the user creates a new file, a subfolder should also be auto created to > place the files in, for the different file types, like /root/project/schdoc > or /root/project/exports > > As the user generates a new output type, a subfolder should also be auto > created to place the files in, for the different file types, like > /root/project/cam or /root/project/reports > > Likewise when you ask to 'open' a file or project the default should > automatically go the appropriate folder for the active group/project folder > first, or in the case of new projects, the group root folder. > > If files are imported to the project, and do not belong to a file group, a > copy of the imported files should be auto copied to a /root/project/file > type folders first then the /root/project/imports folder if the file type is > not assigned (documents, PDF...). They can always be deleted later. > > With the exception of the next point, the above is not a big deal, it is > merely looking up defaults, very little to leave to chance, and elimination > of error or just saving time is a good thing right? > > The view / structure of these files/folders should be followed in the > Project browser window in DXP. > > ## > > The ODB++ standard defines a structure for file sorting, perhaps we need a > DXP file structure standard. > > Do not know about others, but I detest playing 'hunt the file' games, or not > knowing what files are linked to what projects as it uses link files. The > file structure and project structure should be 'self contained' or self > explanatory, with or without DXP open. > > Best Regards > > John A. Ross > > RSD Communications Ltd > 8 BorrowMeadow Road > Springkerse Industrial Estate > Stirling, Scotland FK7 7UW > -- _______________________________________________________________________ Integrated Controls, Inc. 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