In DT3, I am syncing three computers with the Dropbox store. My databases are indexed rather than imported. If I add a new file to the Finder in one computer and then exit, when I open DT3 in another computer, that file appears in the correct directory in DT3, but duplicated. If I go to yet a third computer, the file is now listed in triplicate in DT3. The three files have the same name, but different time stamps. In Sync, I have it so that any conflicts should not keep the two files, so that is not the issue. Any help to stop this behavior would be appreciated.
Which version do you use?
DEVONthink Pro 3.5
Is the duplication in case of conflicts en- or disabled on all computers, see Preferences > Sync?
Yes, all computers have duplication turned off.
Another thing that is happening is that, when I convert to PDF a webloc entry, two PDF files are created: one has the date of the original webloc entry, and the other PDF has today’s date. I would think this is unrelated to the other problem.
Does this still happen after disabling the automatic/scheduled sync (see Preferences > Sync) and/or after terminating the Dropbox.app?
when I convert to PDF a webloc entry, two PDF files are created: one has the date of the original webloc entry, and the other PDF has today’s date.
You can’t convert a PDF to a .webloc (bookmark). Can you clarify what you’re referring to?
“when I convert TO PDF a webloc entry . . .”
Ahh… I’m not able to reproduce this issue here. Does it persist after quitting and relaunching DEVONthink?
No; this behavior stops after disconnecting from the sync store, so I guess it most be related to the sync process.
Putting all of the above together, it seems to me that I must have a corrupted sync setup, and that I need to delete the DropBox store and set the whole thing up again in all of my computers. Do you have a description of steps to accomplish this successfully, please.
In DEVONthink’s Preferences > Sync on machine 2, select the sync location and press the minus (-) button to remove it…
In DEVONthink’s Preferences > Sync on machine 1…
- Control-click the sync location and choose Clean Location.
- After the clean is successfully reported in Window > Log, select the sync location and press the minus (-) button to remove it.
- Enable the Dropbox sync location again (if you only had the one that you removed) or press the plu (+) button and choose Add Dropbox Sync Store.
- Enter a different name (as Dropbox could resurrect the old one if you use the same name) and add an encryption key, if desired.
- Sync to the new location.
After the sync is finished, add the new location to Mac 2. It should be able to merge with the sync data in the new location.
Followed the instructions and downloaded the databases from the Dropbox store to the second computer last night. So far so good. This morning I converted a webloc document to PDF in the first computer and waited until it synced with the store before closing. Then went to the second computer, and the new PDF appears duplicated. Please see attached screenshot.
Is the path of the items identical (see Info inspector)? And does this happen if the Dropbox.app is not running?
After existing the Dropbox app on both computers, the behavior persists. The path is the same for both files, but one of them has kept the URL information, while the other has not (see attachments).
I may have discovered the source for this behavior. I have been using Resilio Sync for many years to keep a number of directories exactly the same in all of my computers. Most of these directories are the ones that I brought into DTP3 as indexed files. I do not use Resilio Sync to sync the folder where the DTP3 databases are kept. To test my idea, I exited Resilio Sync in both computers, and the duplication behavior disappeared. One would not think it would matter, because the directories in both computers have the same names, but clearly there is an issue. The problem is that it is important for me to have some directories the same in all of my computers, so that a file that is added in one shows up in the other in the same directory. Is there a workaround that you can think of to address this issue?
You could disable synchronizing of indexed items (see settings of sync location) if the folders/files are already synchronized by a third-party app.
You could disable synchronizing of indexed items (see settings of sync location) if the folders/files are already synchronized by a third-party app.
@cjalonso: Unless you’re also running DEVONthink To Go. Not sure if you are.
Unfortunately, if I turn on Resilio Sync, the creation of duplicates with different time stamps returns, even if “Synchronize Indexed Items” is checked off in the Dropbox store. There must be something about the timing of the synchronizations that creates the conflict. The only workaround I can think of is to exclude from Resilio Sync those folders that are indexed within DTP3.