DTTG Update Really Costs Over $1,000

Congrats on the DTTG 3 update - well done

Except now that it works so well, I need to upgrade to an iPhone or iPad with more RAM since it is now usable for my entire main work-related Devonthink database :slight_smile:

This will be very useful.

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:smile:

Just curious but how many items/bytes does this database contain according to the database properties?

See below

Joking aside - I had hoped to be able to use it with simply on-demand access. But as noted in past threads, the app prioritizes syncing over retrieving on-demand items so the access time is not realistic. Actually there may be more to that because after after things are fully synced and I start to get quick access time, if I go back to the iPad 15 minutes later but have not added anything to the database, it still takes several minutes to go through the process of what seems to be verifying that the sync is complete. I presume this is related to the size of the database? (Sync is via local WebDav to Synology on Gigabit ethernet with 200 Mps speed at the iPad.) I even get some occasional “Cannot download item” errors initially when the item is retrieved, only to have it work 20 seconds later.

But once items are download, it works perfectly.

I suspect it is a tall task to expect a large database to be available near-instantly if synced only on-demand so my plan (unless you have a solution to fix the on-demand syncing) is an iOS device that can hold the entire database. In truth, I was thinking of upgrading anyway for other reasons so my post was largely just joking - the app overall is a great upgrade and it will be well worth it to have the entire database available on a mobile device even when out of Internet contact.

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This is not true anymore since DEVONthink To Go 3.0 (and on the Mac for quite some time too).

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OK then maybe I am jumping the gun assuming I have to get a new device? Why would there be such a delay in downloading on-demand? Do you expect that I should get reasonable performance using this on-demand? It is taking several minutes to download a PDF or RTF of just a few pages.

This depends e.g. on the size of the item, the real speed of your WiFi and the used sync location and its availability.

Local Synology WebDav is hardwired by Ethernet cable to 1Gigabit internet - real speeds above 900 Mbps.

iPad and iPhone achieve 200 Mbps on Wifi.

Test items are very small - just 1-2 page Word or PDF files as tests

Similar performance syncing to CloudMe

@cgrunenberg - Might I suggest that more detailed status updates during a sync (similar to what DT3 does on the Mac) may help in understanding the reason for Sync delays?

Which “status updates” exactly are different?

DT3 gives very specific alerts in real-time like this so you know what is happening and how far along the process is:

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DTTG on the other hand may not give any notices until after a failure - I just waited a few minutes and then got this note - not sure why - maybe it is related to the sync issues we discussed earlier this morning - not only is the alert delayed but it does not even tell me which database had the problem within the sync store.

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You can long-press the sync icon to show such information if the sync is longer than a few seconds.

PS: The majority of our user base wanted less information to be displayed, hence the current solution.

OK thank you for that clarification - I will try that next time the issue occurs.

For the moment, the database appears to have synced and the retrieval of items on-demand is nearly instant - even very large PDF files of hundreds of pages. The problem seems to be that periodically after a break in usage, it tries to resync or do some other syncing housework and that delays it by quite a bit.

OK that helps us get closer to the issue.

It was working at terrific speed downloading on-demand.

Then next time I went to it I got a big delay and this is what I see with the long-press.

I do in fact see similar messages regularly with DT3 but there is not a delay in viewing the items so it is of no consequence.

But on DTTG configured for on-demand access it periodically wants me to wait while it does a “download” and basically confirms every item in the database even if I did not add anything recently.

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@cgrunenberg could comment further but it looks like you have unfinished sync business here.

I let that countdown continue but it still starts over after I pause using DTTG for a while.

Perhaps related - the database verifies fine on DT3 but a verification of the sync store on DT3 shows 3 items missing or not yet available? How do I fix that and find out what the missing items are?

Should I Remove and/or Clean the sync store from DT3 on the Mac and thus let it create a new sync store?

Could this cause the problem? While it is ideal to figure out the problem in the database, is it possible that DTT3 could nonetheless prioritize downloading the selected item rather than constantly attempting to verify the database?

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You could just clean this database from the sync store and then upload it again.

Thank you- doing that now.

What is the significance of these messages:

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The content of 3 items wasn’t downloaded to the device (maybe due to sync issues in the past) and therefore they couldn’t be uploaded. You can find them via item:pending

OK I cleaned the sync store and resynced both my iPhone and iPad.

All fixed - it works extremely well including very rapid response even with on-demand downloading. No need for a new iOS device after all :slight_smile:

Syncing is also much quicker and better implemented than with the prior version when I add new items.

This will be a really nice upgrade -thanks.

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Interesting. I just downloaded DTTG3 and tested a few different scenarios where documents (even very small ones, kilobytes) will not download when syncing. I switched to the new CloudKit sync.