When syncing with Dropbox - why the need to exclude Apps?

DEVONthink Tips
1

Sorry if this is too basic a question, but here goes.

Why is advisable to exclude the Apps folder (or at least the DEVONthink folder) when syncing with Dropbox? I am confused about this.

I thought that if you unchecked/excluded a folder in Dropbox, it would no longer sync on that particular computer. Would this not keep Dropbox from putting anything in the DEVONthink folder and keep that computer from being updated?

Any explanation would be appreciated. Thanks.

2

Check under the often ignored Help menu > DEVONthink… Help. Check what’s new and follow to the Sync page. This has instructions and the reason for excluding the Apps.

Do bear in mind that a correction may be forthcoming on the Help and to use the Advanced option in Selective Sync to exclude the DEVONthink folder, not the entire Apps folder. (I am awaiting word on this.)

3

I have followed the instructions but I see no folders ending in .dtSyncStore under Selective Sync in Apps/Devonthink after syncing my databases, so there is nothing to uncheck.

4

There should be a DEVONthink folder. Is there not?

5

Yes of course. What I can’t see is any folder with .dtSyncStore within it. If I look in Finder or on the Dropbox website I see a folder structure like:

Apps
__DEVONthink
____databases
______04047D4E-82F0-4D13-B0C2-0726BC0AD77C
________metadata
________receipts
________recordCount
________records
___________ 1A, 1B, 1C etc. etc.
_______________various UUIDs
__________________chuncks, content0, metadata files

But no sign of .dtSyncStore endings….

6

Just uncheck the DEVONthink folder and you’ll be fine.

7

Apologies for saying “are you sure”, but are you sure? The Dropbox Selective Sync gives specific warning that folders will be deleted as a result. “Unchecked folders will stop syncing to this computer. Updating your settings will remove them from this computer’s Dropbox”. This is strong enough as a warning to deter anyone. Can I just ignore it?

8

You want to uncheck the Apps/DEVONthink folder from Selective Sync or DropBox will try and reSync the data back to your Mac (and if you have Growl notifications on, it will keep throwing up messages about the changes). The Sync doesn’t use the DropBox application and you want the application to ignore the DEVONthink folder, so yes, uncheck it.

9

I’ve done that and the universe didn’t collapse to a singularity, so many thanks. The Activity window has shown the message “Committing remote transaction” for a long time. Do I leave the database open until it completes?

I hope that the Help instructions for Dropbox syncing will be improved. What I have learned is that in Dropbox Selective Sync (1) don’t untick the Apps folder if you have any apps other than Devonthink in the folder (2) do untick the Devonthink folder regardless of whether it shows .dtSyncStore folders, and ignore the dire warnings from Dropbox of the consequences.

10

Connectivity makes a difference in the DropBox Sync. I would just be patient with the Sync as I had it last longer than I’d like on some public WiFi last night.

11

I have now had the “Committing remote transaction” message in the Activity window for over 6 hours now, with an almost full progress bar. Would you expect it to have finished by now? I am on a private internet link at 16 Mbs download and 1 Mbs upload. The database is 2 GB and I have been syncing for over 12 hours. Any advice much appreciated.
Update.…. After 24 hours stuck with “committing remote transaction” and a wasted day I have abandoned Dropbox syncing and reinstalled my databases from Time Machine.

12

I belief the Apps folder should never be unchecked. Even not if there are currently no other apps than DevonThink that use that folder. If that folder is unchecked it is impossible to connect apps to Dropbox that need access to a local copy of this folder (such as MacJournal). Even if you do not use such apps now you might want to use them in the future!