WireframeSketcher uses a concept of Workspace, which is a special folder in the home directory. By default all new projects are created in this folder. This approach works fine for regular usage, but if you are looking into organizing your projects differently then here’s what you should know.
Workspace concepts
First lets explain in more details concepts used by WireframeSketcher:
- Workspace is the place WireframeSketcher stores the information about projects and your personal settings. This information is held in .metadata folder and which should NEVER be shared with other users, nor via version control nor any other method. Workspace also usually holds projects, one directory per project, although projects can also live outside of workspaces (more on this later).
- A project is a directory that holds project files and it has a .project file at the top level. This file can and should be shared with other files. For example you should add it to version control repository.
- Projects can be organized in Working sets. These are just a way to have different views over projects in Project Explorer view. They allow to only view projects that are being worked on and hide the rest. Working sets do not affect how and where projects are stored.
Putting projects outside of workspace
When a project is created, it’s possible to specify a location outside of workspace by deselecting Use default location checkbox. Uncheck it and then specify a location like C:/work/projectA/wireframes.
When working on many projects, it’s possible to have quite a few of them in Project Explorer view. If a project is finished and no more work is planned on it then the project can be safely deleted from the Project Explorer view. It can be done by selecting unneeded projects and pressing Delete and not checking Delete project contents on disk. If needed, the project can be re-imported later. Another option is to use working sets to control what projects stay visible and switch between them to change contexts.
Project import allows to re-add existing projects to workspace. To import a project, use File > Import… > General > Existing Projects into Workspace. Select as root the folder that contains the project folder. For example if your structure is c:/work/projectA/.project then you should select c:/work as your root and then select projectA as the project to import.
Changing default workspace location
If you wish to move the default workspace to another location then there a several methods that you can use.
- Use a -data command line option. It’s recommended to create a shortcut launcher for WireframeSketcher executable and specify the option there. You can either give the new location directly:
or you can disable the default location in which case you’ll be prompted for a location at startup:WireframeSketcher.exe -data c:\work\ws_wireframes
Use this variant if you need to work with multiple workspaces. Read more on command line usage for macOS and Linux specifics.WireframeSketcher.exe -data @noDefault - Simply move your workspace directory to a new location and then create a symbolic link that points to it from the default location. This option works best on non-Windows systems.