RKS: GDTF Share

[Petr Vanek]

One of the advantages and ideas of GDTF is a central repository - GDTF Share, connected with a GDTF file editor - the GDTF Builder. Using the Share is pretty straight forward - you can upload, search and download files... but in reality there is much more going on behind the scenes. The Share contains powerful filtering and management system to ensure that this repository is kept nice and tidy, while at the same time any random person still can upload a GDTF creation of their own for others to use. Lets look at that...

Searching and filtering

Users can search the Share easily:

 

Each file "belongs" to a "folder" of the vendor/manufacturer of the device and then a "subfolder" named by this "device name", with relevant filters:

1) filter for a manufacturer

2) filter for a device name

 

File can be released to the public or can be in a Work in progress (WIP) release state. The WIP status is assigned to files by default and allows authors to keep working on their files and continuously saving their progress... plus their filters:

 

Files are divided into being created by "users" and "manufacturers", the Share then contains respective filters:

 

There are also various tags like "tested in 3D", tested in real world... and their respective filters:

 

File upload

To ensure that files are well organized, the upload process contains several steps to assign manufacturer and device. The Upload icon is up at the top:

 

You can choose a file:

 

And Proceed:

 

Manufacturer is automatically detected, but you can also choose if if required:

 

Same for the device name:

 

At the end of these dialogs, you can review everything and can name the revision plus set the status (Released or Work in progress):

 

Manufacturer moderation

Manufacturers have special power that allows them to manage "their" folder to keep it organized. To use their "moderator" tools, there is a "Moderator" in the "Show" filter:

 

This allows manufacturers to rename the name of their folder. This is why Robe folder is called "Robe Lighting" while the name of our company is "Robe lighting s.r.o.":

 

Moderating operations can be done on device "subfolders" or on individual files - folders can be merged and renamed:

 

Individual files can be also moved around or have their Revisions renamed:

 

Manufacturer's pages

Each manufacturer also has a dedicated page with a representative listing of the files for their devices, here is what it looks like:

Hope this helps

Petr

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