How to ignore files and folders in the Desktop App
When syncing your files in the Desktop App you may have files or folders in your projects which you would like to keep from syncing to Workbench. For instance, files or folders produced from your CAD software or large files created from running simulations or other design testing programs.
If you are tired of unchecking the files while uploading your changes in the Desktop App this document describes an advanced method to stop tracking those files in the Desktop App.
Setup
The ability to control which files and folders to ignore is available in the Desktop App by adding rules to the "ignore.template" file. In order to get started ignoring files and folders perform the following steps:
- Delete any files or folders you wish to ignore from your project on Workbench
- Open Windows explorer and type "%localappdata%/Grabcad/Data" into the navigation bar
- Open the "ignore.template" file in the folder and add any rule (see below) for ignoring files or folders
- Log out and log back into the Desktop App in order for the ignore changes to take affect (rules will start being applied to all of your projects)
- Ask all collaborators to copy these same rules into their "ignore.template" file or send this file and ask them to replace it.
Warnings
- In order for the ignore rules to work when collaborating with your team, everyone on the team must also have these ignore rules when using the Desktop App.
- If there are any files or folders already uploaded to Workbench matching these ignore rules, changes to those files and folders will continue to be synced. You will first have to remove all files and folders you want to ignore from your Workbench projects before the ignore rules added will take effect.
Rules
In order to ignore certain file extensions and folders you can add a line to the "Ignore.template" file. The following are some examples of rules you can add to this file:
| Type | Example | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| File Extension | *.STL | Ignores all files with the .STL extension |
| Specific File | readme.txt | Ignores files called "readme.txt" |
| Folder | designs/ | Ignores the "designs" folder and all of its contents. Folder is in the top level of the project. |
| Subfolder | designs/tables/ | Ignores the "tables" subfolder and all of its contents. Folder is under the "designs" folder |