Working Together

Learn about possibilities on collaborating on the same Durty Cloth Project

Introduction

Collaborating on Durty Cloth Tool (DCT) projects with your team is straightforward when using version control systems like Git. This guide explains how to configure and share DCT projects correctly, ensuring seamless collaboration across multiple users.

Step 1: Enable Sharing for Your Project

Durty Cloth Tool Project Settings for Sharing and Collaboration

1. Open your Durty Cloth Project in DCT.

2. Navigate to Project Settings > Sharing and Collaboration.

3. Enable the Force relative file paths to allow for sharing this project checkbox.

This option ensures that the cloth project references all related files and folders using relative paths, making it compatible for sharing.

Step 2: Set Up a Version-Controlled Folder

We’ll use Git and GitHub as an example for creating a version-controlled folder, but this process works with other services like GitLab, Bitbucket, or Azure DevOps.

Create a Repository on GitHub

1. Go to GitHub and sign in.
2. Create a New Repository.
3. Provide a Repository Name and set its visibility to Private (optional for collaboration within a secure environment).

4. Click Create Repository.

Step 3: Clone the Repository Locally

1. Open your Git client (e.g., Git Bash, GitHub Desktop, or another tool).

2. Clone the repository using the command:

   git clone https://github.com/username/repository-name.git

3. Replace username and repository-name with your GitHub credentials.

4. After cloning, navigate to the local repository folder on your computer. This will serve as the version-controlled folder where the DCT project files will reside.

Step 4: Move Your Project Files to the Git Folder

1. Close DCT before proceeding.

2. Move the .dctproj file and the clothproject folder into the cloned repository folder. The directory structure should look like this:

gitcontrolled_folder
├── clothproject_test
│   └── data
└── clothtest.dctproj

1. Reopen DCT and load the project from the Git-controlled folder.

In some cases, DCT might prompt you to relocate the clothproject folder. This happens if the .dctproj file and clothproject folder were not originally in the correct relative position. Follow the prompt to ensure everything is correctly linked.

Step 5: Commit and Share the Project

1. Open your Git client and stage the project files:

git add .

1. Commit the changes with a message:

git commit -m "Initial commit of Durty Cloth Project"

1. Push the changes to the remote repository:

git push origin main

1. Share the repository URL with your team members.

Step 6: Team Members Clone and Load the Project

Team members can now:

1. Clone the repository using the same process as Step 3.

2. Open the project in Durty Cloth Tool by loading the .dctproj file from the Git-controlled folder.

Benefits of the Shared Project Setting

The Shared Project setting ensures:

1. Independent Build Paths: Each team member has a personal build output folder, preventing conflicts in build paths.

2. Relative File Referencing: Ensures all project-related files are referenced relatively, avoiding path mismatches between collaborators.

Requirements for Collaboration

• All users must have Durty Cloth Tool installed and set up.

• Basic knowledge of Git is recommended for committing, pulling, and pushing changes.