Configure this for your own system:
Create a directory on another drive or partition, if you have one, or put it somewhere on your C: drive. Name however you want to make it unique. Create a matching file for use as a bat file.
This is my bat: dt3.5C.bat:
start /d J:\dt3.5C\darktable\bin darktable3.5C.exe --configdir J:\dt3.5C\darktableconfig\config\ --cachedir J:\dt3.5C\darktablecache\Cache1 --library :memory:
I think, don’t have a good memory, that when you first start this version, the darktablecache and darktableconfig directories will be created, so all you have to create is the darktable directory.
Copy those directories from your installed version to the new darktable directory.
Rename darktable.exe to the name you want to use for your second version.
Create a shortcut to the bat file wherever is convenient.
I think this is what you’ll get when you first start the new version.
This is not showing all the files.
By using memory for the library, you will not create a database. By setting storage to Never, you will not overwrite the xmps you open to examine.
For each playraw I create a directory and download the xmps that each person submits. I have an additional programmable keyboard. I copy the name of the person who submitted the xmp and when I go to download the xmp, I just hit a key and the person’s name is inserted into the xmp name.
In your installed dt version, you import the raw and create duplicates for all the example xmps. For each duplicate, use load sidecar file to load one of the example xmps into that duplicate. I have a shortcut for that: shift+ctrl+4. I create a text file in the directory to keep track of which duplicate has which example xmp.
Once you have loaded all the examples, you can import that directory into your second dt version. Then you can open each example duplicate and work through each step of the edit.
If you create your own edits, to load them into the second dt version, close that version, open it up again, and import the directory again. It should bring everything up-to-date.
Everybody is welcome to help out on making these directions correct or adding additional needed info.