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Practice strategies for keeping file path lengths under 244 characters in Autodesk Construction Cloud projects.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
6 min.
Transcript
00:03
Projects stored in the Autodesk Construction Cloud must adhere to a maximum file path length of 244 characters.
00:10
This 244-character limit applies to the folder path and file name combined.
00:16
In this session, we'll look at a couple strategies to help us stay under that limit.
00:20
First of all, and this is kind of obvious, keep your file and folder names as short as possible.
00:25
Avoid using sentences to name these things.
00:28
Next, keep the data shortcut project folder as high up in the project directory structure as possible.
00:34
For example, I'm going to open Windows Explorer, and I'll navigate to Autodesk Docs and I'll open up this project called Plymouth Ave.
00:42
If we look inside the Project Files folder, we'll find the directory structure for this project.
00:47
Note that the content that we see here is managed by Desktop Connector and synchronized automatically with the cloud.
00:54
Even though I'm in a folder on my local machine, I'm essentially looking at and interacting with the cloud.
00:60
OK, this folder, called C3D, represents my working folder for this project.
01:05
This is where the data shortcuts are stored.
01:07
Notice that this folder is placed very high in the directory structure.
01:11
It's as high as you can get being right underneath project files.
01:15
Here's why.
01:16
When I navigate into the working folder, I'll find the Data shortcut project folder.
01:20
If I open that, I'll find the _Shortcuts folder that Civil 3D created to hold the data shortcuts.
01:26
If I open this folder, we'll find the shortcuts are nicely organized by type.
01:30
For this example, I'm going to open the Alignments folder to see the XMLs representing each data shortcut.
01:36
Now, these are files that we never touch.
01:39
Civil 3D manages these.
01:40
That said, look at the file names Civil 3D gives them.
01:44
These can easily average 50 characters in length.
01:47
Add that to the folder path length and I could easily be halfway to that 244-character limit.
01:53
The farther down the directory structure we go, the longer these paths will get,
01:57
so you can see the importance of having the working folder and subsequent data shortcut project folder
02:02
as high up in the directory structure as possible.
02:05
If you're interested in seeing the full path to these files, simply click to the right of the folder names in the address bar.
02:11
Here you can see the number of characters you're accountable for when it comes to the folder names.
02:16
Notice the first several characters in this path.
02:19
These represent the location of the workspace Desktop Connector is using to store the synchronized files on the local machine.
02:26
In my case, I'm using the default workspace, so it's set to users, my login name, and DC.
02:32
This brings me to my next tip.
02:34
Changing your desktop connector workspace location can help reduce some of these characters on the front end.
02:39
You can maybe pick up an additional 10 characters by simply changing the workspace to C: projects for example.
02:46
Let's look at how to do that.
02:47
The first thing I'll do is create a projects folder on my C drive.
02:51
If I drag down and click on the C drive, you'll see I've done that already.
02:55
If I navigate into that folder and then click in the address bar, you'll see where I'm going here.
02:60
Next, I'll change my Desktop Connector workspace to point to this folder instead of the default location.
03:06
To make that change, I'll come down and click to open Desktop Connector.
03:10
From here, I'll choose Select Projects
03:12
and in the Select Projects dialog box, I'll click on my selections to display the projects that are in my current workspace.
03:19
You see, before I can switch workspaces, Desktop Connector requires the current workspace to be empty.
03:25
So I'll click to remove all of these toggles, and then I'll click save to remove them from my local machine.
03:31
I'll click OK when finished.
03:32
Now that my current workspace is empty, I'll go back to Desktop Connector.
03:36
I'll click the gear in the upper right corner.
03:39
I'll come down to help and choose Change Workspace.
03:42
I'll click OK to accept.
03:44
Here I can see the current workspace location.
03:46
Let's point this to the projects folder.
03:49
I'll do that by clicking on the C drive in the address bar, and then I'll scroll down and double click on the Projects folder.
03:55
I'll click the Select folder button when finished.
03:58
Desktop Connector then reports that the workspace location has changed.
04:01
Note that we need to restart Desktop Connector to finalize the change.
04:06
I'll click OK to close this.
04:07
To restart Desktop Connector, I'll click on the icon.
04:10
I'll go back to the gear and choose Exit.
04:14
After it closes, I'll come down to the Windows search bar and type Desktop Connector to find it on my system
04:20
and I'll click the link to reopen the application.
04:23
Finally, I'll select a couple cloud projects to add to my new workspace.
04:28
In Desktop Connector, I'll click select Projects.
04:31
I will then select the account containing the projects I'm interested in.
04:35
I apologize, I have access to a lot of accounts.
04:38
I'm going to come down and click the arrow to open my account.
04:41
From here, I'll select the Company CAD Standards project,
04:46
Plymouth Ave.
04:48
and the Van Buren project and I'll click Save and OK when finished.
04:53
Now when I open the Autodesk Docs Drive letter on my machine and open my account,
04:58
I'll see the projects I added to my workspace.
05:01
Once again, I'll navigate into the Plymouth Ave. project
05:04
and then when I click in the address bar,
05:07
you can see I'm saving several characters on the path length by using the new workspace location.
05:12
So, when you're working on cloud projects, remember that you must adhere to a 244-character file path length.
05:19
By taking a minimalist approach to your naming and adopting the strategies we've looked at here,
05:24
you could easily keep your projects within the required limit.
Video transcript
00:03
Projects stored in the Autodesk Construction Cloud must adhere to a maximum file path length of 244 characters.
00:10
This 244-character limit applies to the folder path and file name combined.
00:16
In this session, we'll look at a couple strategies to help us stay under that limit.
00:20
First of all, and this is kind of obvious, keep your file and folder names as short as possible.
00:25
Avoid using sentences to name these things.
00:28
Next, keep the data shortcut project folder as high up in the project directory structure as possible.
00:34
For example, I'm going to open Windows Explorer, and I'll navigate to Autodesk Docs and I'll open up this project called Plymouth Ave.
00:42
If we look inside the Project Files folder, we'll find the directory structure for this project.
00:47
Note that the content that we see here is managed by Desktop Connector and synchronized automatically with the cloud.
00:54
Even though I'm in a folder on my local machine, I'm essentially looking at and interacting with the cloud.
00:60
OK, this folder, called C3D, represents my working folder for this project.
01:05
This is where the data shortcuts are stored.
01:07
Notice that this folder is placed very high in the directory structure.
01:11
It's as high as you can get being right underneath project files.
01:15
Here's why.
01:16
When I navigate into the working folder, I'll find the Data shortcut project folder.
01:20
If I open that, I'll find the _Shortcuts folder that Civil 3D created to hold the data shortcuts.
01:26
If I open this folder, we'll find the shortcuts are nicely organized by type.
01:30
For this example, I'm going to open the Alignments folder to see the XMLs representing each data shortcut.
01:36
Now, these are files that we never touch.
01:39
Civil 3D manages these.
01:40
That said, look at the file names Civil 3D gives them.
01:44
These can easily average 50 characters in length.
01:47
Add that to the folder path length and I could easily be halfway to that 244-character limit.
01:53
The farther down the directory structure we go, the longer these paths will get,
01:57
so you can see the importance of having the working folder and subsequent data shortcut project folder
02:02
as high up in the directory structure as possible.
02:05
If you're interested in seeing the full path to these files, simply click to the right of the folder names in the address bar.
02:11
Here you can see the number of characters you're accountable for when it comes to the folder names.
02:16
Notice the first several characters in this path.
02:19
These represent the location of the workspace Desktop Connector is using to store the synchronized files on the local machine.
02:26
In my case, I'm using the default workspace, so it's set to users, my login name, and DC.
02:32
This brings me to my next tip.
02:34
Changing your desktop connector workspace location can help reduce some of these characters on the front end.
02:39
You can maybe pick up an additional 10 characters by simply changing the workspace to C: projects for example.
02:46
Let's look at how to do that.
02:47
The first thing I'll do is create a projects folder on my C drive.
02:51
If I drag down and click on the C drive, you'll see I've done that already.
02:55
If I navigate into that folder and then click in the address bar, you'll see where I'm going here.
02:60
Next, I'll change my Desktop Connector workspace to point to this folder instead of the default location.
03:06
To make that change, I'll come down and click to open Desktop Connector.
03:10
From here, I'll choose Select Projects
03:12
and in the Select Projects dialog box, I'll click on my selections to display the projects that are in my current workspace.
03:19
You see, before I can switch workspaces, Desktop Connector requires the current workspace to be empty.
03:25
So I'll click to remove all of these toggles, and then I'll click save to remove them from my local machine.
03:31
I'll click OK when finished.
03:32
Now that my current workspace is empty, I'll go back to Desktop Connector.
03:36
I'll click the gear in the upper right corner.
03:39
I'll come down to help and choose Change Workspace.
03:42
I'll click OK to accept.
03:44
Here I can see the current workspace location.
03:46
Let's point this to the projects folder.
03:49
I'll do that by clicking on the C drive in the address bar, and then I'll scroll down and double click on the Projects folder.
03:55
I'll click the Select folder button when finished.
03:58
Desktop Connector then reports that the workspace location has changed.
04:01
Note that we need to restart Desktop Connector to finalize the change.
04:06
I'll click OK to close this.
04:07
To restart Desktop Connector, I'll click on the icon.
04:10
I'll go back to the gear and choose Exit.
04:14
After it closes, I'll come down to the Windows search bar and type Desktop Connector to find it on my system
04:20
and I'll click the link to reopen the application.
04:23
Finally, I'll select a couple cloud projects to add to my new workspace.
04:28
In Desktop Connector, I'll click select Projects.
04:31
I will then select the account containing the projects I'm interested in.
04:35
I apologize, I have access to a lot of accounts.
04:38
I'm going to come down and click the arrow to open my account.
04:41
From here, I'll select the Company CAD Standards project,
04:46
Plymouth Ave.
04:48
and the Van Buren project and I'll click Save and OK when finished.
04:53
Now when I open the Autodesk Docs Drive letter on my machine and open my account,
04:58
I'll see the projects I added to my workspace.
05:01
Once again, I'll navigate into the Plymouth Ave. project
05:04
and then when I click in the address bar,
05:07
you can see I'm saving several characters on the path length by using the new workspace location.
05:12
So, when you're working on cloud projects, remember that you must adhere to a 244-character file path length.
05:19
By taking a minimalist approach to your naming and adopting the strategies we've looked at here,
05:24
you could easily keep your projects within the required limit.
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