Hi folks – New to the board and new to DevonNote.
Trying to keep in sync with a desktop and iBook laptop. Can someone help me use iDisk to accomplish this? Seems like I should be able to save my DevonNote info to iDisk and then see it and make changes from either computer. Not sure how.
Any help? Thanks very much!
Robb
The easiest and fastest method is probably to copy the complete folder ~/Library/Application Support/DEVONnote from one machine to the other while DN is not running.
You could of course copy this folder to the iDisk too and replace the folder with an alias pointing to the iDisk but without using a local copy of the iDisk, this is definitely not recommended. And you can’t/shouldn’t modify the iDisk notes concurrently using different machines.
Thanks, Christian.
I’m not sure what you mean about a local version of iDisk. I do use Panther, so iDisk would be local (as I understand it) on my desktop and iBook.
I was thinking I could store the DevonNote info on iDisk with aliases from the desktop and the iBook pointing to it. I would also need to change the database location (under File-Database Properties), correct?
If using the local iDisk on both macs, what is the downside to sharing the DN database this way?
Thanks very much for your response.
I have similar desires as RobbC2 for using DevonTHINK, so this is very helpful.
Christian, a couple of questions, these may be naive but bear with me.
What do you mean when you say "without using a local copy of the iDisk, this is definitely not recommended." What would count as a "local copy" of an iDisk? I myself want to put my database on my university server, which I access through a T1 line at work, through DSL at home. Would you not recommend accessing the database from home over DSL?
Also, when you say “you can’t/shouldn’t modify the iDisk notes concurrently using different machines,” you mean you shouldn’t call on the database from two locations at literally the same moment, right? I actually once left DT running at work by accident, tried to get into it from home, and got a message saying that the database was engaged and that DT was shutting down. So it seems like “can’t” is the operative word here.
Thanks for any clarification you can give, and for the wonderful software.
Panther can create a local copy of your iDisk (see System Preferences > .Mac > iDisk) and synchronize the local and the remote iDisk automatically or on demand.
Copying the ~/Library/Application Support/DEVONnote folder to the iDisk and replacing the original folder with an alias pointing to the copy is sufficient (and actually the "Database Properties" panel can’t change the location due to a bug which will be fixed in the next release).
You have to synchronize the local copy with the remote one before using the other mac. And you shouldn’t use DEVONnote concurrently on both macs.
See above.
Actually this depends on the size of the database folder, e.g. synchronizing more than a few megabytes probably needs too much time and it would be easier to share the database on an external drive (e.g. an iPod).
That’s right, only one computer should access the database at the same time (DT/DN check this on a local network on their own but probably can’t prevent this if you’re storing the database on the iDisk).
Is it possible to store the database on an external USB drive to move between laptop and desktop? Of course, the application would still reside on each machine’s hard drive. thanks!
Yes. Performance may be a bit slower than on a FireWire external drive, but this can work.
It’s a good idea to keep backups on the computers, though, as that helps prevent data loss if the USB drive is lost, stolen or “breaks”.