Skb file location

ccs

Am I able to change where the skb files are saved to? Sometimes I inadvertently open the skb files when I am not paying attention.
thanks,

Alan Fraser

Not as far as I know. They are set to save in the same folder as the original skp. That's the standard procedure for any kind of .bak file.

ccs

Alan,
Thanks for the reply.
In the early days of Acad there was a lsp or scr that you put in your start up file that allowed a different save directory for baks.

Jim

I agree it would be a nice option to have. I'm sure a reasonable and transparent solution can be achieved using a plugin.

Hazza

What are the SKB files for anyway? If they are not important I will create a batch/script to delete them.

BTM

The Mac version of sketchup doesn't create skb's as far I I know, only windows. So, agreeing with hazza... Why are they even there?

Hazza

I just did a search and found this page:

@unknownuser said:

The .SKB file is an exact copy and backup of the .SKP file. .....

.... making it a waste of space.

Hazza

I just had a light bulb moment:

Go to "Window / Preferences"
Click General
Untick "Create Backup"
I just tested it and you will no longer have SKB files created when you save.

Dave R

@hazza said:

I just had a light bulb moment:

Go to "Window / Preferences"

Click General

Untick "Create Backup"
I just tested it and you will no longer have SKB files created when you save.

And you won't have an SKB file generated at all so when something happens to cause a crash or otherwise give an unexpected stop in the program, you'll have to redo what you've done back to when you last manually saved the file.

You could periodically just select all SKB files and delete them. Or sort the files so the SKPs are separated from the SKB files.

Alan Fraser

You've got two kinds of backup file...the skb and the autosave.skp (if SU crashes). Personally, I'd be very afraid to have to do without either of them. There have been, if not numerous, than at least several times that I'd have had to do a lengthy piece of work completely over again from the beginning if it wasn't for one or the other of them. I'd strongly suggest learning to live with them and manage them, as Dave suggests, rather than turning them off.

Hazza

@dave r said:

And you won't have an SKB file generated at all so when something happens to cause a crash or otherwise give an unexpected stop in the program, you'll have to redo what you've done back to when you last manually saved the file.

I have autosave set to 5 minutes, I don't mind redoing 5 minutes of work.

Voder Vocoder

Once you exit SU normally, the Autosave backup goes away. If you subsequently decide you should have zigged instead of zagged, without the incremental backup, you've got no way to get back where you were and wish you could be again. With a little imagination, I'll bet you can think of some situation where you'd be rather glad to have the .skb on hand. You really only need to have an incremental backup save your ass one time to make the almost trivial housekeeping chore of dealing with them worth while.

Turning off the incremental backup strikes me as an incredibly short-sighted thing to do, particularly for the non-reason of saving hard disk space. With the huge size and insignificant cost of hard disks these days, an incremental backup has to be the greatest value in insurance you're likely to find.

~Voder

Gaieus

Not many times but occasionally I read forum posts about corrupted skp files that cannot be opened. These times an skb file can be a life saver really.

ccs

First I appreciate the help and the discussions.
I cannot speak to any of u Mac warriors, Sorry I don"t use a Mac. I have had three instances with Skippy Pro that went south without warning.(Thankful for skb) I also have just had a crash with Seven Pro I believe was operator fault, so I am going to continue to use skb files. I just get in a hurry sometimes and open the skb file by mistake. It is not a big deal just a time thing. I have done some research and cannot find any rubys to satisfy my current need.

Dave R

AS I mentioned, change the sort method to by file type. That way the SKPs and SKbs will be separated. You could even set the sort order so the SKPs come first (reverse alphabetical).

Jim

@ccs said:

I have done some research and cannot find any rubys to satisfy my current need.

You're right, I don't think there are any. What I was thinking is that it's possible to write a plugin that would clean-up the skb's and either delete them or move them to a backup folder when you quit SketchUp.