How file sharing works

SNiFF+ handles file sharing among working environments by requiring that all affected working environments have the same project directory structure. This is not a restriction, but rather the easiest way for file sharing to work. A SNiFF+ project's Project Description File stores, among other things, structural information about the project -- information such as the names of project files and their location relative to the project directory, and the names and locations of any subprojects. When all working environments that share files have the same project directory structure, SNiFF+ can easily find any project files or subprojects.
The project directory structure of the Shared Source Working Environment (SSWE) is the basis for all other working environment project directory structures. SNiFF+ automatically copies the SSWE's project directory structure into your other working environments for you. Note that SNiFF+ only copies the SSWE's directory structure -- and not contents.
The following diagram illustrates the idea of equivalent project directory structures:

The SOWE and two PWEs have the same project directory structure as the SSWE. When the SOWE is updated, object code in its project directories is derived from source code in the corresponding project directories of the SSWE. For example, object code in the SOWE's

filebrowser project directory is generated from source code in the SSWE's filebrowser project directory.
The two team members working in PWE1 and PWE2, respectively, share the source files in the SSWE. When browsing source files, their view to the files is read-only. When editing source files, they work on local, writable copies of the source files they've checked out from the Repository. When compiling in their PWEs, object code is created locally from both shared (read-only) source files and local (writable) source files.