Hi All!
I am relatively new to AI javascript coding, but I can't seem to solve my most recent problem. My company has 2 offices, each with their own local network server, but both offices can connect to the other's server. So California can connect to New York and vice versa. We transfer a lot of AI files between the two servers so that different people in the different offices can work on them.
The problem comes to linked images. If someone in New York tries to open a file from the California office, Illustrator is basically crippled if the image is linked to the CA server. I created a script that would copy the files (using a save as) to NY and relink them on that side, but bc you are still opening a file and saving it across a slow network connection so it isn't really a super efficient solution. Large files can take up to 3 min to save across the connection.
We can't apply the simple solution of just keeping the linked images in the same folder with the AI file, since we all have access to both servers it never breaks the link, and AI just grinds to a halt.
I found this post (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/524020/how-do-you-find-the-paths-of-linked-images-in-ad obe-illustrator-9) about using perl to read the header of the AI file and report back link names, but I know nothing about perl to know if you could have it go in there and change the link path. I also tried opening it in a text editor, changing the file path, but when I tried to open it back up in AI it said it was corrupted, so that doesn't seem to work.
Any ideas for an efficient way to change the absolute path of a linked file in AI without having AI open and trying to actually place the files over a slow connection? We basically just need to replace OAKServ with NYCServ in the link name, everything about the file organization is the same.
Our back up plan is to embed images, but some intial tests show that it can make AI slow and save times become a nightmare. I would love to avoid embedding if possible! Open to any other suggestions about other people's experience with working with files across multiple networks.
Stats: Illustrator CS5, PC (gross, I know), Windows 7, 64-bit OS
Thanks all! Love this forum!