Author Topic: Running TD on 2 pc's  (Read 2686 times)

Watson

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Running TD on 2 pc's
« on: July 13, 2006, 01:18:34 PM »
Ok, I have 2 pc's networked (laptop and desktop)

I use my desktop for most things, but my laptop runs TD on it during our home games. But I want to do the html work, and stuff on my desktop, and set it up better. Is there anyway I can use my same code to have it running on both of my pc's? I wanted to check b4 I muck summit up

Watson

Corey Cooper

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Re: Running TD on 2 pc's
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2006, 02:59:34 PM »
Save all of your HTML / images / sounds / templates / etc to a folder inside of the Tournament Director installation folder (C:\Program Files\The Tournament Director 2).  If you include images in your layout, make sure to specify them using relative paths ("pictures\chips.jpg" instead of "C:\Program Files\The Tournament Director 2\pictures\chips.jpg").  That way, if you have the software installed on the C: drive on one machine and the D: drive on the other, the paths to images, etc, will still work.  Then you just have to copy the Tournament Director folder back and forth between the 2 machines to keep them in sync.

PPPanimal

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Re: Running TD on 2 pc's
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2007, 02:08:18 AM »
Hey guys.  Corey's idea sounds rather easy, but i have been doing this a diff way.  One i think might be safer.  One that may save you from overwriting the wrong files causing loss of tourny data or loss of changes made to layouts etc if you copy them the wrong way.  Or maybe you forget to copy them to the laptop before you leave to go to a tourny.  Anyway, here is what i have been using.

I first mapped a drive on my desktop which linked to the TD folder of my laptop and gave it the drive letter Z.
I then mapped a drive on my laptop which looked into the same folder on the laptop and gave it the drive letter Z.

Then i sat where i would rather do my work, in front of my desktop.  From here, I loaded my default tourny i use to setup new tourny's from.  I changed all the configs etc to look into the new drive letter Z.  So (Z:\saves) and (Z:\templates) and (z:\sounds).  This is the same stuff  you need to change to get corey's idea to work.  I then went to each tab and saved the table template, the layout template and everything else i could save to the proper folders on drive Z.  (This way, when you save your tourny it will save the path of all its files to Z)  This is something you would not have to do in Corey's idea.  But I still think its worth it so you only have one active copy of each file, rather than two which could get out of sync.  For the FIRST SAVE ONLY, save this default tourny to the DESKTOP, then save it AGAIN, to the save folder on drive Z.  By doing this, you can then copy the whole game folder from the desktop to the laptop to update all the config files etc there so they too will look at drive Z for thier files.  ITS VERY IMPORTANT YOU SAVE IT TO THE DESKTOP FIRST, THEN AGAIN TO DRIVE Z, BEFORE YOU COPY THE COMPLETE TD FOLDER TO THE LAPTOP.  You only do this once.  For ever more, just save all tourny's or templates you create to drive Z.  You will not have to copy any files again, and all files will always be in Sync.

The only complaint i have with this idea now is that when you first open TD, it defaults to look into the root folder of where its loading from for its files.  Odd when you figure you just told the config files to look in drive Z for saving and loading templates etc.  But once you navigate to drive Z to save or load the first file, it will default to looking there the next time you try to save.  Until of course you close TD again.  It will reset back to the default root folder next time you load it.  Bummer.

So Corey, can we get a update that will change this?  Can we have TD look into the folder listed in the config when you try to open a tourny or template etc?  Why does this not happen now?  Am i doing something wrong?

And one more thing, so i didn't get confused on where i was saving stuff.  I deleted all the files in the save, template and sounds folders on my desktop.  So when i go to save something now, and see no files in there, i know i am in the wrong place.
« Last Edit: February 13, 2007, 02:11:30 AM by PPPanimal »

Phaze

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Re: Running TD on 2 pc's
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2007, 06:35:14 AM »
Another Safe way of doing this, without danger or overwriting files and not as confusing as Mapping (sorry bud, ya lost me there) is to zip up the folders you have changed (or all of them, but if you have lots of sounds, like me, then you might want to skip the sounds folder, or image folder) in your favorite zip application. I use WinRar.  When you extract the files to the appropriate location, instead of replacing the folders, it will just dump the contents in, and it will inform you beforehand if you are about to overwrite a file with the same name, and ask if you are sure you want to. So long as you haven't overwritten any files, the original files will remain intact. Unzipping the files doesn't overwrite the entire folder and accidentally losing files that might have been there before copying.
« Last Edit: February 13, 2007, 06:38:46 AM by Phaze »

PPPanimal

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Re: Running TD on 2 pc's
« Reply #4 on: February 13, 2007, 08:14:09 AM »
Mapping a drive it not too hard.  Just go to my computer and click on tools in the menu at the top.
The first option is map network dirve.  Click this and a window will pop up.
Select the drive letter you want (i used Z) and then click browse.
Navigate to the laptops TD folder and click ok.

I like this way because i never have to copy files back and forth now.  I just save them to drive Z whether i am on the desktop or laptop.
So i can work on the layouts etc on my desktop, save them, and when i take my laptop to work and open TD, it automatically loads the default tourny i just saved using my desktop.  All changes in effect.  Then i can work on it at work, and save again to Z when done.
And ya, you guessed it, when i get home i don't have to copy anything.  Just start up TD on the desktop and it will automatically load the default tourny from Drive Z which i just saved on the laptop when i was at work.

Corey Cooper

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Re: Running TD on 2 pc's
« Reply #5 on: February 13, 2007, 09:58:19 AM »
For each of the various tabs, the software remembers where you last loaded or saved a template (or tournament file).  But when the software is exited and restarted, it intentionally goes back to the default locations.  I could have made it remember, but I felt that this is a safer tactic for those who aren't as familiar with their hard drives.  "Average" PC users really don't have much of a clue when it comes to the layout of their discs.  Many, after navigating somewhere to find some file, probably wouldn't know their way "back", so the software resets the locations when it restarts.

PPPanimal

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Re: Running TD on 2 pc's
« Reply #6 on: February 15, 2007, 12:13:47 AM »
Well i am here with my head hung low.  The above idea that i worked on forever, then tested just as long, finally failed.  Problem?  Well, i only tested it here.  I wrote the above message before i even tested the laptop away from my network.  It seams that once the network is offline, my laptop can no longer access drive Z which is really just a shortcut to its own TD folder on C drive, but it doesn't know that.  Anyway, i had to break down and put TD on the C drive of my Desktop rather than D where it was so that both systems can be set to look into the same path (non network path) for all there files.  I still do however use the Z drive as the drive my desktop uses to access its default tourny, the one i update and change all the time.  So it loads that, i edit, and save back to Z.  The laptop loads off C and all the tourny files are linked to sounds etc on C.  So you will need sounds, chip images etc on both systems this way.  One thing i have noticed though, is the tourny files seam to contain all the data they need other than the sound files and images of chips etc.  They don't link to and use templates as i thought to draw a layout, but rather save the layout template data as part of the tourny file.  So you don't need to worry about saving templates over and over each time you change a tourny's layout.  Just save the tourny.  I guess this goes for sound templates and chips templates too.  You don't really need to save a template of each after every change you make, but rather just save the tourny file.  The rest of you likely know this, but its new to me.  I spent much of my time up till now going nuts saving template over and over with every darn change i made.  I was thinking there had to be an easier way.  lol.  I was thinking, Why would someone want to go to each tab on the settings screen and click save.  There should be a save all button to made this easier.  Well now i know that there is.  Its called, just save the darn tourny idiot.  lol.