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- Jun 26, 2014
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- VCDS Serial number
- C?ID=24330
Some may have a workshop with multiple VCDS interfaces in use; others (like me) have many instances of VCDS installed on different laptops and use my interface with whichever laptop is handy. The problem with that; is that Scans, Logs and other output from VCDS can end up spread over multiple devices and you may forget which scan went where - or have to find, charge, login to a device with a USB stick to pull off a Scan.
We have had Microsoft OneDrive deployed to our devices at work; so I'm utilising that to collate and backup all my data in one place, to be accessed from wherever I choose. To ensure VCDS is robust and not a support headache for RT support; VCDS has its output folders hard-coded into the application. You can't change the folder paths from within VCDS to point them elsewhere, to your OneDrive folder for instance. But you can use Windows to do that for you.
OneDrive is a Cloud-based storage platform. However, when installed; it has a real folder to store your folders and files for offline use. This defaults to "C:\Users\<Username>\OneDrive". In that folder, create your folders for VCDS outputs. I created a subfolder in OneDrive to put all my VCDS stuff in, so "C:\Users\<Username>\OneDrive\VCDS\Debug", "C:\Users\<Username>\OneDrive\VCDS\Logs" etc.
As a minimum, create 'Debug', 'Logs' and 'Scans' for now. Then browse to the folder where the VCDS application is installed/stored. The default location is "C:\Ross-Tech\VCDS" (mine's different in the picture below). Rename the three folders to something else, I just put 'Ren' in front of each:
On the Windows TaskBar, next to the Start button, please press the magnifying glass to search, search for Command Prompt. When it finds the application, right-click and 'Run as administrator':
You will now create the Junctions to the folders in OneDrive. Junctions are similar to Shortcuts; however, far more powerful as they are transparent to apps like VCDS. A normal Shortcut only works for humans in Windows Explorer, but a Junction works for the Windows Operating system too. For this you use the shell command 'MKLINK' in the following syntax:
where <Link> is the full path to and name of the File Junction and <Target> is the full path to where the real folder is. Place the paths in double-quotes "..." so that spaces are included. for me, the full syntax was:
Command will tell you if created successfully, with "Junction created for...":
Repeat for the the other two folders:
Your application VCDS folder should now look like this, with the new junctions looking like regular folders with the little shortcut symbol:
Copy all of the files from the Ren... folders to the Junction folders. Remember the junction folders now behave as regular folders, so no need to browse through OneDrive. You may now delete the Ren... folders.
Rinse and repeat on all of the other VCDS installations you have. It takes longer for me to type this than what it takes, once you get the hang of it. Using OneDrive, you may access it from anywhere; and obviously you don't need a VCDS installation to use it. You may have an admin person in the office who has access to Logs only for example, and archive for the customer file accordingly etc. From now on, when you do an Auto-Scan on any of your devices, it will appear on all. When you take a laptop on the road and it doesn't have internet access, it will wait in the OneDrive folder and synchronise when next online.
Also, you may use the OneDrive app on your smart devices, here it is on my iPad:
I wouldn't recommend synchronising any of the other VCDS components as there's a lot of files uniquely produced to handle the VCDS licence, screen sizes etc.
You'll notice I did it too for the MyAutoScan.txt file. Most don't ever use the facility, but if you know what it is and does, you may create a 'hardlink' to the file. A hardlink is the file equivalent of a Junction. Use MKLINK in a similar manner, but this time with the /H switch. For me the syntax was:
We have had Microsoft OneDrive deployed to our devices at work; so I'm utilising that to collate and backup all my data in one place, to be accessed from wherever I choose. To ensure VCDS is robust and not a support headache for RT support; VCDS has its output folders hard-coded into the application. You can't change the folder paths from within VCDS to point them elsewhere, to your OneDrive folder for instance. But you can use Windows to do that for you.
OneDrive is a Cloud-based storage platform. However, when installed; it has a real folder to store your folders and files for offline use. This defaults to "C:\Users\<Username>\OneDrive". In that folder, create your folders for VCDS outputs. I created a subfolder in OneDrive to put all my VCDS stuff in, so "C:\Users\<Username>\OneDrive\VCDS\Debug", "C:\Users\<Username>\OneDrive\VCDS\Logs" etc.
As a minimum, create 'Debug', 'Logs' and 'Scans' for now. Then browse to the folder where the VCDS application is installed/stored. The default location is "C:\Ross-Tech\VCDS" (mine's different in the picture below). Rename the three folders to something else, I just put 'Ren' in front of each:
On the Windows TaskBar, next to the Start button, please press the magnifying glass to search, search for Command Prompt. When it finds the application, right-click and 'Run as administrator':
You will now create the Junctions to the folders in OneDrive. Junctions are similar to Shortcuts; however, far more powerful as they are transparent to apps like VCDS. A normal Shortcut only works for humans in Windows Explorer, but a Junction works for the Windows Operating system too. For this you use the shell command 'MKLINK' in the following syntax:
Code:
MKLINK /J <Link> <Target>where <Link> is the full path to and name of the File Junction and <Target> is the full path to where the real folder is. Place the paths in double-quotes "..." so that spaces are included. for me, the full syntax was:
Code:
MKLINK /J "C:\Userdata\Applications\Ross-Tech\VCDS\Debug" "C:\Users\cwest\OneDrive\VCDS\Debug"Command will tell you if created successfully, with "Junction created for...":
Repeat for the the other two folders:
Code:
MKLINK /J "C:\Userdata\Applications\Ross-Tech\VCDS\Logs" "C:\Users\cwest\OneDrive\VCDS\Logs"
MKLINK /J "C:\Userdata\Applications\Ross-Tech\VCDS\Scans" "C:\Users\cwest\OneDrive\VCDS\Scans"Your application VCDS folder should now look like this, with the new junctions looking like regular folders with the little shortcut symbol:
Copy all of the files from the Ren... folders to the Junction folders. Remember the junction folders now behave as regular folders, so no need to browse through OneDrive. You may now delete the Ren... folders.
Rinse and repeat on all of the other VCDS installations you have. It takes longer for me to type this than what it takes, once you get the hang of it. Using OneDrive, you may access it from anywhere; and obviously you don't need a VCDS installation to use it. You may have an admin person in the office who has access to Logs only for example, and archive for the customer file accordingly etc. From now on, when you do an Auto-Scan on any of your devices, it will appear on all. When you take a laptop on the road and it doesn't have internet access, it will wait in the OneDrive folder and synchronise when next online.
Also, you may use the OneDrive app on your smart devices, here it is on my iPad:
I wouldn't recommend synchronising any of the other VCDS components as there's a lot of files uniquely produced to handle the VCDS licence, screen sizes etc.
You'll notice I did it too for the MyAutoScan.txt file. Most don't ever use the facility, but if you know what it is and does, you may create a 'hardlink' to the file. A hardlink is the file equivalent of a Junction. Use MKLINK in a similar manner, but this time with the /H switch. For me the syntax was:
Code:
MKLINK /H "C:\Userdata\Applications\Ross-Tech\VCDS\MyAutoScan.txt" "C:\Users\cwest\OneDrive\VCDS\MyAutoScan.txt"
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