File Management Question

Bill Arnold

1974
Staff member
Messages
8,622
Location
Thomasville, GA
In almost all cases, I have kept my computer files organized by file type; i.e., word processing in its folder, spreadsheets in their folder, etc. I've created a ton of CNC-related files over the past few months and have done much the same: vector files in a folder, gcode in a folder, etc. VCarve always wants to go to the folder last used, so I got to wondering if, in the case of CNC, would it make more sense to keep everything related to a given project in the same folder; i.e., vector files, related graphics and gcode all together in the same place. I guess it boils down to personal preference, but what say the braintrust here?
 
As someone that works with a lot of projects and files for work, I tend to create one folder per project and keep all files related to that project in that folder. If I have a lot of files of one type that belong to that project, I tend to create a subfolder for them and place those files in that folder.
 
I've been keeping a projects in sub-folders for each project, with the main folder being the category of type of project (grips, kids stuff, signs, shop jigs, etc). I save all the files in the sub-folder as the apps usually only show the extensions that are relevant to them. I'm saving them all under dropbox, so they automatically sync between my laptop, shop office pc, and the cnc's pc. If I've got variations of a project, I'm creating sub-folders under the main designs folder.
 
I'm saving them all under dropbox, so they automatically sync between my laptop, shop office pc, and the cnc's pc.

I've got a network attached device I can access from all my machines, so I just save things on that. Same basic difference as doing the dropbox or google drive.
 
I've got a network attached device I can access from all my machines, so I just save things on that. Same basic difference as doing the dropbox or google drive.

I used to do the same, but access time between the shop and house isn't always the fastest. I also have it sync some of my folders to my work laptop and kill downtime playing with files that get synced to it remotely.
 
I used to do the same, but access time between the shop and house isn't always the fastest. I also have it sync some of my folders to my work laptop and kill downtime playing with files that get synced to it remotely.

I generally only have issues opening up large files on wifi, but since I work at home, well remote access isn't an issue :D
 
took a minute or two to think this one through, although the wife :blah: says it takes longer than that. since i have duplicate setups on the laptop and the desktop at home, i use a setup that has 4 flash drives attached to it (easier to switch between
machines that way). as i have other files on them (for the newsletter and such), i have a separate folder for cnc projects, then subfolders for different groupings (major projects, testing, etc), then within the separate subfolders, subfolders for each item within the subfolder (ie; individual state or car folders within state or car cribbage board folders). keeping the .crv, gcode, and any picture of the item generated in each folder (ie; 57 nomad.crv, 57 nomad.gcode, and 57 nomad.jpg). hopefully, this shines a bit of light on how i arrange my files. questions will be accepted with the usual 10 cent fee.
 
I have a LOT of files. I have things categorized in several ways.

I have a customer list and I store EVERYTHING related to a customer in the customer folder. There could be several sub folders for one customer. If I have done a few projects for one customer there will be as many sub folders. I have a Family Woodworking folder in the customers folder with two sub folders. 1) is a swap we did a few years ago and 2) is this years swap.

I have a Projects folder. Each project has it own sub folder.

I have a library folder. All the clipart is sub categorized into appropriate sub folders. I have hundreds of 2D and 3D clipart that I have bought and acquired over the years.

I have operational folder - all machine related stuff, business related etc.

I even have an "ideas" subfolder under my library folder. The ideas folder has folders labeled with each idea. I can go there when I want to find an idea I have found or thought of. I may have sketches, word doc, pics, links, scans, sometimes a rough V-Carve file or Aspire File saved - etc.

I do NOT save the g-code files - there is no point to that. If I want g-code I just generate the code.

I save all pictures, posts, documents, correspondence etc in the same appropriate folder. Easy to find that way. Look up customer, then project - BAM, I am there. All the posts I make, get saved.

I have literally hundreds of folders and sub folders, with thousands and thousands of files.

I have ONE DATA drive that I save EVERYTHING on. I have all my computers networked, so I have access to my main Data Drive from all other computers - even Osprey.

When I post code - I post directly to the CNC computer - then delete the G-Code when done with it. My CNC machine has a folder called CNC Programs. I post to that folder and keep only what I am work on in that folder - nothing else.

I do manage to find what I want when I want it.
 
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Thanks, Leo. I've done some of what you describe: Everything I've downloaded from Vectric under one folder; clip art in its folder; ideas; etc.

... I do NOT save the g-code files - there is no point to that. If I want g-code I just generate the code. ...

I've saved most of the gcode files I've generated because I generally do a test carve in mdf or other scrap. Then, if I'm satisfied, I commit to real wood. In some cases, I'll generate new gcode to be sure I've got any updates I might have done. Come to think of it, killing gcode after a carve might protect me from myself lest I forget about updates!
 
I'm late to the thread, but I also have a file server on the network where things get stored and accessed from all (holy cow, TWELVE, for two people) devices we have. This machine is my "EVERYTHING" when it comes to computing. It gets backed up daily to my obnoxiously huge NAS (24tb) and I do periodic cold storage backups with some external drives of the really important stuff.

On the NAS i have one big "CNC" folder under which every project gets a folder. Within that project folder, i keep all the assets required for that project. If I use reusable clipart type stuff, i COPY that to the project folder. Disk space is cheap, i don't care about the redundancy - i care about being able to come back to a project years later and jump right into it with everything and not have to go hunting for stuff.

Dumping the gcode is an interesting idea. I need to ponder that. I see the benefits ... but my data hoarding policies get twitchy :p
 
I can see the benefits of dumping the gcode, but would depend on if I'm planning to do a lot of copies of an item or not. I'll typically re-generate all operations anytime I make a modification. For my output of gcode, I typically will label each file as "Step x - Operation Name - Bit Type/Size". Though I think some of that info is in the header, it's just another reminder of the details of the operation.
 
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