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Unity's version control component has been upgraded to Plastic SCM.

[Fix Out] Checking for changes

Discussion in 'Unity Collaborate' started by FeastSC2, Jul 26, 2017.

  1. FeastSC2

    FeastSC2

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    Ever since I've been using Collab I get the "Checking for changes..." loading bar when I start up my project. It usually takes about 2-3 mins for it to finish and there's nothing that's changed from last time.

    Is there something I can do about this?
     
  2. Ryan-Unity

    Ryan-Unity

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    Hi @FeastSC2! The "Checking for changes..." loading bar is Collab ensuring that any changes that were made in between now and the last time the project was opened are tracked and accounted for. The time it takes is dependent on the size of your project, so bigger projects will take longer to check for changes. I'm sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.
     
  3. FeastSC2

    FeastSC2

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    Thanks for answering Ryan. I take it from your answer that there really is nothing that can be done about it, is this something Unity devs plan on improving on?
    My project is still relatively small and it's only gonna get bigger, it doesn't seem viable to use Collab on a sizeable project as it stands.
     
  4. Ryan-Unity

    Ryan-Unity

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    Sadly, you're right that there isn't much that can be done about it now, outside of keeping your project size small. But it is something that we'll be looking to improve in the future. Would you mind telling me how large your project is now and how big you likely expect it to get?
     
  5. FeastSC2

    FeastSC2

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    Right now it's 4gb.
    The space is mostly taken by textures, I used to use a TexturePacker outside of Unity but now that there is a better inbuilt system Atlas Sprite within Unity, I actually put my raw textures in Unity, so that takes up more space in the project but I do it because it's making me work significantly faster than with TexturePacker and it's a great system.
    But then so is Collab ;)

    I think my project could take up to 30-40gb easily down the line.

    This is a screenshot of how my project's space is distributed. 3gb are taken up by the library which is odd to me but that shouldn't matter as I saw in a forum thread that the only thing that gets shared and analyzed by Collab is the Asset folder, right?
     

    Attached Files:

  6. Ryan-Unity

    Ryan-Unity

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    You're right that Collab only checks your Assets, as well as your ProjectSettings folder, towards your cloud storage used. So technically your project, as far as Collab is concerned, is around 1GB.

    If you're keeping raw textures in your Assets folder then what you can do, after you've committed your textures, is exclude your RawTextures folder using the .collabignore file, located in the root of your project. Adding a rule like "Assets/Textures/RawTextures/" will tell Collab to stop keeping track of anything in that folder, which will both cut down your startup time and on the total size of your project in Collab. Just make sure to comment out the ignore rule if you want to make changes to anything in that folder and sync them.
     
    ceitel likes this.
  7. FeastSC2

    FeastSC2

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    Ok cool thanks for the tip Ryan. I'll use it!
     
    Ryan-Unity likes this.
  8. kevinzhow

    kevinzhow

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    You can save the project to SSD drive to speedup the performance
     
  9. DigitalIPete2

    DigitalIPete2

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    A good work around would be for Unity to make a button which - if we want to press, we can. This would mean we choose to check for changes or not, therefore factor in time for a check if we want to.
     
  10. lucaslosi

    lucaslosi

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    Please.
     
  11. AndyNeoman

    AndyNeoman

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    My project has suddenly started checking for changes whenever it feels like. This is big problem now it is around 14gb. I understand when i load the project but any idea why it is suddenly doing it intermittently?
     
  12. Necka_

    Necka_

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    Hey there, same for me since a few days now I got issues with Collaborate.
    First one is that it says I have no Unity Teams seat and I need to contact the owner (which is me). I checked in my Unity ID and I do have Unity teams advanced enabled and paid for and a seat allocated to me.

    Also I have from time to time the "hold on - checking for changes" popping in while I'm in the middle of my work, I didn't even save or else. The project is opened all day and I didn't close/reopen Unity. It just come and block me for some minutes for absolutely nothing.

    fun part is that my colleague (we're only two) is on holiday for a week now and didn't open Unity since that, so Collaborate is just drunk from my point of view right now.

    Edit: it just did it as I typed this message and the Unity teams error popped again:
    Image 115.jpg
     
    AndyNeoman likes this.
  13. AndyNeoman

    AndyNeoman

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    Yes, i've suddenly got this the last day or two. maybe a server issue?
     
  14. Dr4g0n

    Dr4g0n

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    I see the blue little icons indicating which file was added or changed. Meaning you already have somewhere stored what are the local changes. Then why it is checking the whole project instead of just asking for the rest of the clients to provide their "local changes list", and simply just compare? Surely, it would not take so much time to check that... if this is not possible for any reason, then please just add a button so we can run this check manually. Or just run it when publishing...
     
  15. CRYWOLF86

    CRYWOLF86

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    You mean like version CONTROL or something? That process is standard for every version control I've worked with, with the exception of Collab.
     
  16. MauroRobert

    MauroRobert

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    Just bumping this as well wondering if this process could somehow be moved to the background, so you can continue working on something while Unity is checking for changes. I have to say it's pretty fast if the project isn't huge, but I do feel it's a bit of a drawback to Collab when compared to P4V, which does the same thing without slowing down the editor.
     
  17. Ryan-Unity

    Ryan-Unity

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    Hi everyone!

    I'm sorry for the delay in providing an update on this issue. The team has been busy refactoring Collaborate so that it can work with Unity's new Packages system. This way we can update our service independent of the Editor and get out fixes to you guys faster than ever! In the process of this refactor we're also including several fixes to many of our more annoying issues, including the "Checking for changes" prompt at startup. This fix will completely remove the need for the check, giving all that time that was previously being taken up back to the users!

    We are aiming to have this fix available for 2018.3, but because of how big of a refactor this change is we won't be able to back port this fix to an earlier version. We're very sorry for the inconvenience but we are working hard to get this fix out as quickly as possible. Thank you all for your feedback! We are hearing your concerns and are working to make Collaborate better for everyone!
     
    twobob and tweedie like this.
  18. MauroRobert

    MauroRobert

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    Thanks for the heads up, glad you guys continue working on improvements! :) Collab's working very nicely, it's just these little things that could be improved upon.
     
  19. thetnswe

    thetnswe

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    In Windows, it took like one hour while in MAC, it ony take 1-2 minutes.
     
  20. Ryan-Unity

    Ryan-Unity

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    Hi @thetnswe! Would you mind getting in touch with our Support Team and submitting a repro project that demonstrates the long load times between Windows and Mac for you?
     
  21. SuperScience

    SuperScience

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    I'm also seeing this problem. It took me about an hour to open my project this morning.

    This is really unacceptable for load time. I'm trying to get my work done. I can't afford to lose an hour every time I want to open a project.

    I realize that Collaborate is doing a lot of stuff - but you could work-around this. Either make it a background process that doesn't block me from working, or allow me to remain desynchronized with the Unity cloud until I choose to sync. That way, I can get some work done and then sync when it is convenient, rather than taking up a full hour of prime development time.

    PS: My project is currently at 26 GB. Its a big game. Is this larger than you would recommend for Collaborate?
     
  22. Ryan-Unity

    Ryan-Unity

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    Hi @SuperScience! We do understand that this check at startup is a big pain point for users with big projects. We're in the process of refactoring the backend of Collab so that this check will no longer be blocking and are aiming to have it ready for 2019.1. But because of the work that we're doing to move Collab over to Packages (which is taking up most of our time at the moment) it'll be possible to immediately back port this fix to 2018.3 when the fix is out.
     
  23. DGordon

    DGordon

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    Does that mean you expect it to ship with 2018.3, or the ETA is "sometime after that" which can be used in 2018.3? Right now, this is a pretty absurd amount of time ... I was wondering if its something that makes more sense to use than github, but right now ... no. My IDE has crashed a few times today (I think its a 3rd party plugin), and each time its taking about an hour to check for changes. I like that its integrated into all your other services. I don't like that something which wastes so much time _per day_ wasn't flagged as being unuseable for real production and is

    May I ask why you guys can't just not allow collab to commit-rollback-anything else until its checked for changes in 2017, but make that a checkbox to either auto-check at launch, or manual before collab is "useable"? I really dont mind if I have to wait before doing a commit (even though thats annoying), but right now, I'm wasting hours per day for _no_ reason.

    If this is going to be fixed _fast_ (ie: 2018.3 is almost out and this is shipping with it), then I guess I understand making everyone who cares update. But if its not, this really should be fixed simply in 2017.

    FYI: I'm also not really interested in updating my project to 2018.3 just to get this one feature fixed. Its going to open up a whole nother can of worms for EVERYTHING in my project, and is a horrible forced solution for 2017 projects. Just disable collab until a manual check for changes has been triggered if "autocheck" is off in 2017 so I dont waste hours per day each time my project opens / crashes. I know your solution is to fix it for 2018 ... but this is just blatantly broken (wasting that much time for no reason is broken, imagine if git actually did that ...) in 2017, and you guys should really just do a quick fix for any projects still using 2017 now or in the future.

    [Edit -- 4 crashes in one day. Do you have any idea what that means for this checking time? I think I have to just disable collab ...]
     
    Last edited: Aug 29, 2018
  24. Valkrysa_Herja

    Valkrysa_Herja

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    Looking forward to the 2018.3 fixes, my project is 14gb and that's about what it will stay at but it currently means a 20 minute wait from the time I open the project to the checking for changes block to end.
     
  25. shawnblais

    shawnblais

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    Coupled with the instability of the Beta, the constant checking of Assets on relaunch is a real productivity killer.

    Any word on 2018.3 release date?
     
  26. Ryan-Unity

    Ryan-Unity

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  27. Valkrysa_Herja

    Valkrysa_Herja

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    I might be mistaken, but doesn't that update not actually effect this thread?
    "
    Q: Does this remove the "Checking for changes" at startup?
    A: Unfortunately, moving to Git does not help with Collaborate checking for changes at startup. We know that this is an annoying behavior and are planning on addressing it in an upcoming release.
    "
    I'm happy to hear though that there is good news coming in "an upcoming release", but for now the 15+ minute checking for changes editor lockup seems like it will still be there.
     
  28. Ryan-Unity

    Ryan-Unity

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    Hi @Valkrysa_Herja! Yes, the current beta package doesn't directly affect this thread but I wanted to make sure that people were aware of it in case they wanted to give it a try. The "Checking for changes" at startup prompt is on our roadmap to fix for the next major package version, v1.4.x, which will be usable in 2018.3 once it's released.
     
    Valkrysa_Herja likes this.
  29. Valkrysa_Herja

    Valkrysa_Herja

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    Thanks for the clarification, very happy this is getting looked at. 2018.3 is looking to be a great update :)
     
    Ryan-Unity likes this.
  30. AdamKane

    AdamKane

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    When keeping an eye on project size, which is more important as it relates to "Checking for Changes" speed?

    A) Total project file size.
    B) Total project file count.

    Thanks for any details.
     
  31. DavidJares

    DavidJares

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    Im saying good Bye to Collab. I have spend so many hours, waiting for unity's blocking-style editor behaviour. Waiting for a awfully slow list-presentation of my bought assets ( no need to respect customers time ;). With paid-collaborate wait for ridiculous hold-ons all the time, out of nowhere, wait for import of small assets ?!, wait for checking for changes ( customers have plenty of time right ), wait for compilationtime all the time. Im not talking about small waiting times here and there. I am talking big. Rename a folder and have fun making and drinking coffe until unity is done wih renaming. blocking editor. It sucks. I need to use my timeslots efficiently. I end up waiting a lot. Waiting for collab for a long push, just to be told at the end of the push thatthere was some error. Then again, lets do a hold-on with some checking changes-fun. Crap. On some days, the most time is spent with waiting. 10gb project, nothing too special. You really, really , really !!! should sit down, drink a can of tea and think deeply about this. It IS a problem. In my eyes, an Apllication can be as good as it wants on the paper, as long as UX sucks the whola application sucks. You are adding high end-features. But usability of the editor and waiting times ( UX ) - there you give quite a *** about customers in that regard. Thanks for wasting my time. If I have a lot of money to spend, the I have tons of it time to spend as well, right ? Pis sed Customer here.
     
  32. MadeFromPolygons

    MadeFromPolygons

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    We are cancelling our paid unity teams as this is ridiculous. You have added hours and hours to our projects length, and this problem really is massive when working in large enterprise projects.

    EDIT: at least make it not block the entire editor! I cant explain enough how frustrating this is.
     
    alexrau, Mahayana76 and Marc-Saubion like this.
  33. Ryan-Unity

    Ryan-Unity

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    So sorry for the late response. The "Checking for changes" dialog is affected more by file count than by file size. I would suggest going through any imported packages from the asset store and deleting any files/assets that your project doesn't intend to use/need. Also, it's recommended to only keep final versions of art assets in Collab, rather than having multiple copies for different revisions of art assets that some art workflows use. The more you can shrink your project's file count, then the less time that dialog will take to finish.

    We will add a workaround for this issue but we are spending time making sure that we do it right. Whether it's to add a Cancel option to the dialog or have the entire operation run in the background, both options have their pros/cons and will require significant refactoring. We don't want to spend time implementing one when the other would benefit more users.
     
    AdamKane likes this.
  34. MadeFromPolygons

    MadeFromPolygons

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    In the meantime however, you are charging organisations for a service that is marketed to decrease iteration time, increase collaboration and allow safety of your project by giving versioning/source control.

    Instead however it literally does the opposite. It adds hours to project length, decreases ability to colalborate with other members due to having to constantly work around the damn source control / wait for X user check for changes dialog to finish (and then OH LOOK it came up again randomly, for no reason mid development when unity has not been closed), and decreases safety due to literally locking away the project from its users (look at my recent thread in this sub, youll see what I mean) as well as corrupting files, stopping you reverting and locking you into a problem commit, and it even loses track of published commits causing some very hard to get around red errors such as "The submitted publish number was not found in the project".

    If there are problems this big with it, you shouldnt charge for it. Period.
     
    alexrau likes this.
  35. Marc-Saubion

    Marc-Saubion

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    I can and I did. I've been in contact with Unity's team and asked repeatedly for them to add a confirmation window and a cancel button so we are not stuck waiting in front of our computers. Their evasive answers let me believe they are stalling. I'm actually wondering if they do have any control over collaborate considering most of the issues are clearly fixable but nothing is done and it went from promising beta to unmanageable bug mess in a year.

    Though they found the time to make it a paid feature with a confusing unity teams / seats management that costs ridiculous amounts of time loss anytime the team changes.

    Since they don't want to target professionals with this product, I'm also looking for a replacement.

    I gave a shot at github this summer trying to use unigit but it wasn't plug and play enough for a git rookie like me to safely migrate the team into it. Though I'd happy to share experiences and try other solutions.
     
    MadeFromPolygons likes this.
  36. MadeFromPolygons

    MadeFromPolygons

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    try this : https://unity.github.com/

    works great with any of the free or paid github plans, and works same as teams (as in from within unity and everything) except that it will never corrupt your project, lock you out, take an hour checking for changes, etc etc.
     
    romi-fauzi, Artaani and Marc-Saubion like this.
  37. Ryan-Unity

    Ryan-Unity

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    The fix will be available early 2019, aiming for before the end of January.
     
    Valkrysa_Herja likes this.
  38. DiscoFever

    DiscoFever

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    Yeah ! Will the 'Checking for Changes' be faster with GitHub ?
     
  39. Ryan-Unity

    Ryan-Unity

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    Hi @DiscoFever! Once v1.3.0 is out, there won't even be a "Checking for Changes" dialog.
     
    Valkrysa_Herja likes this.
  40. thanhle

    thanhle

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    GitHub can upload the project size bigger than 20GB ?
     
  41. thanhle

    thanhle

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    i am use unity 2018.3.1
    some time it auto run "Checking for Changes" .... This make me crazy !
     
  42. MadeFromPolygons

    MadeFromPolygons

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    Unfortunately it was not fast enough, we could not allow our major client projects to be offset by this. We changed over to git + unity plugin and its wonderful, its everything collab should have been.

    Ofcourse this means unity misses out on our business in forms of paying for extra space packs etc we had bought and advanced teams subscriptions too so on so forth, but it was crazy to be paying for something that could be this detrimental to projects in a commercial setting. Certainly not looking back now, given that github integrates into unity better than collaborate itself! Its also ending up far cheaper to use github than collaborate, which is an added bonus.
     
  43. jobo22

    jobo22

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    Has this been fixed yet? I just downloaded unity 2018.3 and still get the "checking for changes".
     
  44. Ryan-Unity

    Ryan-Unity

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    Hi @jobo22. The fix will be available in our upcoming v1.3.x package of Collab, which is expected to release in early March. This package will be compatible with 2018.3+ versions of Unity.
     
    Valkrysa_Herja likes this.
  45. jobo22

    jobo22

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    Awesome, thanks!
     
  46. jobo22

    jobo22

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    Is the fix for this out yet?
     
  47. HaakonL

    HaakonL

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    Where's the fix? It's no longer early March. Package Manager still says 1.2.16 being the latest release.
     
  48. themeshpotato

    themeshpotato

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  49. Ryan-Unity

    Ryan-Unity

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    Hello all! This fix is split into two pieces, Editor-side changes and package-side changes, in order for the fix to work and also not interfere with users not using the latest package, which makes coordinating the release of the fix not very straight forward.

    We do have the Editor-side changes approved and ready to be merged into an upcoming build for 2018.3. When these changes get merged in is dependent on how many pending fixes are in line to be merged in as well. This bug is marked as a high priority so it's high up in the queue but ultimately it's up to Release Management to decide which fixes will get in when they do.

    As for the package-side changes, the "checking for changes" fix is merged in and ready to go. However we're also adding a bunch of bug fixes around the snapshot file (which is where many sync issues come from) in addition to the "checking for changes" fix for the next version of our package. Because so many code changes and refactors are going into this package, it'll actually no longer be a v1.3.0 like we were first calling it but instead will be v2.0 of our package.

    We're aiming to have the Editor-side changes in 2018.3.10, which is scheduled to be released in the middle of GDC next week. The v2.0 of our package will be released shortly after. We'll update here if things change.
     
    AdamKane, Omzy, themeshpotato and 3 others like this.
  50. GorkaChampion

    GorkaChampion

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    Thanks for the update and the detailed explanations, but I don't get it :)
    Resuming.... When do you estimate will get rid of "Checking to updates..." :)
    Thanks.
     
    gaurav likes this.