DTPO 2.9 sync transfers indexed Dropbox folder over and over

[kaderan]

Hello friends,

I’d like to report a problem I’m having with the sync function in DTPO 2.9. I am keeping my home mac and my work mac in sync via a syncstore on Dropbox. The process was flawless while I had no indexed files in my database. But the other day, I added an indexed folder (containing nearly 6000 files) to one of my synched databases on my home computer.

When I fired up DTOP on my work computer, it went through the (fairly lengthy) process of downloading nearly 6K files, as expected. But then it did it again… and again. My activity box is now constantly downloading the same files every few minutes.

I am assuming that that I have uncovered a bug, but I’ve scoured the Internet and nobody else seems to be having similar problem, for what I would think is a very common scenario: Synching a DT database containing an indexed folder via Dropbox. As a relative newcomer to DT, I am wondering if I have done something wrong in my setup?

I should note (in case this is relevant) that the indexed folder in question resides in my dropbox account (the same account also containing the DT syncstore).

[kaderan]

After I posted my question I did stumble over another user with the same problem:

Sync (2.) is re-downloading already dowloaded files

Hi, I synchronise my databases between 2 macs via dropbox. On my laptop the Activity window pops up all the time telling me that it is downloading 6211 files (“Downloading items from Devonthink.dtCloud”) . When it is finished, this messages appears sporadically ( I have the feeling nearly every 1-2 hours) again. As I am just sitting at on mac and I know for a fact that the other mac is turned of, I wonder, what triggers this re-downloading. Looking at the spinning wheel in the sync preferen…

I should note (in answer to questions made to him in that thread) that:

1. I did not use the sync beta software – my syncstore was created in the released 2.9 version,

and

2. For some reason, nothing happens when I choose the “Report Bug” function in DTOP. If this is supposed to generate an email, I should note that I do not use Apple Mail (PostBox is the default mail client on my system).

[cgrunenberg]

@kaderan

I should note (in case this is relevant) that the indexed folder in question resides in my dropbox account (the same account also containing the DT syncstore).

Is the Dropbox folder the default one (~/Dropbox) or a customized one? In case of cloud folders DEVONthink doesn’t transfer indexed files on its own to avoid conflicts with the cloud software (e.g. the Dropbox.app would create lots of duplicates otherwise). Did Dropbox.app synchronize the indexed folder between the two Macs?

[cgrunenberg]

I could reproduce the issue, the next release (2.9.1) will fix this and should be available later this week.

[kaderan]

Hi ‪cgrunenberg‪,

1. My dropbox location is in its default location (~/Dropbox) on both my home and work macs.

2. I have turned off DB sync for the folder containing the syncstore in Selective Sync (DB prefs) to avoid duplicate traffic

3. Yes, the folder in DB which is indexed to to DTOP is fully synced via dropbox between both macs.

I did wonder how links to the original files in DB would work in DTOP, and I was happy to find on my second computer that “Show in Finder” points to the proper file in my synched Dropbox folder on the second mac, not some newly imaged folder. Well done!

All that to say, I cannot explain what DTOP is doing seemingly downloading the indexed folder every few minutes, since it actually doesn’t show up anywhere… The DT file links point to the DB files on the second computer as they should.

I’ve had to remove the indexed folder from DT as the constant traffic was slowing both the Internet and DT to a crawl. The problem immediately disappeared.

[kaderan]

Great, I didn’t see that you had successfully reproduced the problem before responding to your previous. Look forward to the update.