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What to do with conflicted copies?
Our office has two desktop computers. Both of them access the same Dropbox. No mobile devices or other computers are involved.
In the Dropbox there is a database.
The database is _never_ used from both computers simultaneously.
The idea by our arrangement is that two different people should be able to edit the database on different computers. We were assuming that changes made from one computer would appear when the file was opened on the other one.
But we are getting "conflicted copies".
Now we are all confused because we don't know which of the files contains the most recent changes. That's the file we want.
We are also confused because "conflicted copies" should not appear unless two people worked on the database at the same time. So why does this happen?
Åke E. wrote:
We are also confused because "conflicted copies" should not appear unless two people worked on the database at the same time. So why does this happen?
A conflicted copy occurs when a file has been changed from multiple locations. Something has to have the file open in multiple locations for the conflict to occur. A file doesn't necessarily need to change for a conflict to occur. Simply opening it can cause it, especially in Microsoft products which modify a file simply by opening it, even if you don't save it.
The only way to know which one contains the correct data is to open both and compare them. Also note that it's not recommended to use database files within Dropbox specifically for this very reason.
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I have a similar environment. Before I start using a file I IM other machine that filename is "in use". When I close filename I IM other machine that file is "not in use". We each must confirm that DB has synched before we use and make sure that we each use this protocol.
- I apologize. My suggestion works for some MS programs (i.e., Word), but not Databases.
- Mark
Super User II
It should in theory work for a database as well - as long as everything has uploaded and downloaded to another machine before being used, however, the difference between Office files and databases is its a lot LOT harder to fix if a database becomes corrupted compared to a Office file! Hello Helen
sorry for the late answer...
When opening the database you need some VBA code putting a pdf file on the dropbox with your username and time... then the database is "blocked" while you use it.
This needs of course also other VBA code, cause it doesnt work if the data tables are staticly bind into your program database. So:
1) Program Database opens with no bind data tables
2) VBA checks if the logfile exists (if yes it gives a message that another user uses the DBA and closes the database) if no:
3) VBA creates the pdf log file to prevent other users from opening the database
4) the data-tables are now linked into your program database
5) When you log out the data-table are revoked and the pdf is killed (so nobody has the data on his computer - its only there while connected to the dropbox). For statistics etc., I create a snapshot database locally for users who need that.
Although we migrate on a big server for the areas that have good internet connection - the dropbox solution still works very good in remote areas of this world (which is the reason i programmed it).
Greetings
Walter
- of course you can ... do it yourself with VBA code...
We turn OFF auto save on office programs
- Accept as Solution
- Rich
Brandon D. wrote:
We turn OFF auto save on office programs
It's not just the auto-save in Office that does it. Simply opening a file in Office will modify it. When you open Office files, Office records information like the last person to open the file, or in the case of Excel, the selected cell, etc., and stores that within the file itself. This alone is enough to modify the file. You don't see it as modified because Office then changes the Last modified date back to what it was originally (assuming you didn't make any other changes). So while you haven't modified the file, Office has, and Dropbox sees this change and syncs the file.
Could you share the vba code. It will benefit many of us who use database with dropbox. I use ms access database file and store on dropbox. Though I use it from single pc and no one else uses this file and there is no reason clear to me to make conflicted copy, still I have conflicted copies periodically, may be I am careless about switching off the pc without waiting to complete the sync and without closing the database file.
And always I find that conflicted copy contains most recent updates. But if I don't come to know that a conflicted copy is created, I continue to use the original file that has no currently entered data. To know that a conflicted copy is created at earliest, I put some code in main forms' 'current' event that flashes a message if the folder contains any file that has 'conflicted' in its name, when I goto another record. I start using conflicted copy and discard original one as conflicted one has uptodate data.
- MarkPlease do NOT use Databases within Dropbox M_A_S. You are so so lucky that you've actually not ended up with the database becoming corrupt. This is because both Dropbox AND Microsoft are trying to put locks on the file when its in use to sync/save etc. Databases simply are not designed to be sync'd/ Syncing databases are server based/using SQL etc.
