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Can we have an option to lock files we're working on to avoid conflicted copies?

Can we have an option to lock files we're working on to avoid conflicted copies?

Angie O.
New member | Level 1

My business partner and I (often working from different locations) are constantly working on the same documents and trying to save our work at the same time. Result: lots of conflicted copies of files. I would love to have something in the Dropbox UI that allows us to see if another person is working on the file or has the file open. It would save us a lot of FLAME texting. We love each other but this is one thing that makes us want to kill each other.

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Nancy
Dropbox Staff

This idea has been closed as it has reached the end of the Share an Idea process.


You can find out more about this feature here and get support or provide feedback in Help from the Community.

 

Thank you for your suggestion, and if you have another idea to share, please do!

Status changed to: Closed
54 Comments
Brian B.39
Helpful | Level 7

Are there any plans in the works for a complete automatic file locking mechanism?

We are using AutoCAD products and would love to move completely to Dropbox, but not without automatic file locking between offices.

 

I.E.

User1 in Office A Opens DrawingOne

User2 in Office B attempts to open DrawingOne and but the properties on the file DrawingOne is set to locked so he gets notification from the file system and User2 can now only open the file with Readonly permissions

Rich
Super User II
Dropbox doesn't discuss what features may or may not be in the works. We wouldn't know of such a feature until it was released or officially announced.

Personal opinion, they'll never do this. People have been asking for such a feature for years to avoid conflicted copies, and it has never happened. It's not as simple as locking a file that's in use because each person has their own separate copy of the file. Even in Office with the Dropbox badge, it won't prevent two people from editing the same file; it only notifies that someone else has it open.
Brian B.39
Helpful | Level 7

Thanks for the insight, Personally I do think it is quite possible to ensure 99.9% certainty.

Every time a File open occurs right now, Dropbox always checks to ensure that the file is the most up to date version before allowing it to be opened.

 

This means that as soon as that requiest is made and recieved at the Dropbox server, thier server code checks the properties on the file and retrieves the file version and compares it to the Users local copy. If they don't match then the reply to the query initiates the download of the delta (the differences between version), Once the delta download is complete, the local dropbox client writes the new sector to the old sector and updates the file system, then the program is allowed to open the file on the local computer for editing.

The Dropbox client then sends a broadcast on the local file system to let any other local dropbox clients know that it has the new version of the file for local network updates. 

All of that is happening right now.

 

Since the server is already checking and comparing the file version on the server copy of the file, and the client is already checking the local file properties to get the version information, it is simply not communicating the file lock status.

 

There will be no collisions at the server in 99.9% of cases.

The only issue is 

 

The only real issue comes from One individual working offline.

I think the answer to that is... you are working offline, expect a conflicted copy and having to merge (If it is an Office doc then that can be delit with through the badge merge).

 

Two individuals opening the same file within 1 or two seconds of each other will be the 0.01% of cases. There will almost always be an individual who won the locked case.

For that 0.01% of cases, the answer is equally straight forward though, after writing to the File Lock parameter, wait 0.1 seconds and then check the file lock again to make sure you own it and a state issue hasn't allowd another thread to over-write your lock or vise versa.

 

That take care of the state issues.

As for multiple server farms and the replication time, every company gets the option to set the preferred data farm location. That way any data synced to another region always has lower priority.

 

On the client side if a file lock is lost, a big notification appears as a final safeguard.

 

That is My 2 cents.

Mark
Super User II

@Brian B.39 wrote:

Every time a File open occurs right now, Dropbox always checks to ensure that the file is the most up to date version before allowing it to be opened.

 


No it doesnt. 

 

It does no check, at all, to ensure this. 

 

You can test this by having a file open on two machines and getting conflicted copies. 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/help/syncing-uploads/conflicted-copy

 

 

 

Brian B.39
Helpful | Level 7

My mistake, you are correct. 

So that initial server check is the real issue.

Do you know what the standard timeout is for the Dropbox client to check for file updates on the server?

4 times per second

4 times per minute?

Mark
Super User II
No, but, I've always found that it is in almost real time - as soon as an update occurs its pushed to devices and viceversa.

I also agree with Rich. There are too many variables for this to work safely and simply (which is how Dropbox always thinks). For example. What happens if I open a file while my internet is down? Or on a mobile device? Or the website?
Brian B.39
Helpful | Level 7

I agree, my impression is near instantaneous (checking every couple seconds or so?) and I have taken issue in the past with the amount of traffic generated by the dropbox clients (many people in a large office with a mediocre WAN link is a recipe for a significant network percentage used up with checks for updates).

Your question broken up:

 

Q:

What happens if I open a file while my internet is down?

A:

You are offline so standard dropbox rules apply with conflicted copies.

 

 

Q: 

Or the website?

A: 

I am not proposing getting rid of the current Colaboration interface which is what is being used when you edit online.

An exclusion filter allowing the locking mechanism on every file except those covered by the current collaboration app plugin (the badge and online editing).

 

Q:

Or on a mobile device?

A:

 

The mobile app can also execute the same file locking logic on all but filtered collaboration file types.

https://www.dropbox.com/help/desktop-web/edit-microsoft-office-files-mobile

 

 

tah2
New member | Level 2

This very doable, and very nesseary for peer-to-peer solutions to be real competitors with file servers.

 

Dropbox uses an update-and-push for file changes. File locking could be handled the same way. Yes it doesn't work while offline, but it would eliminate most colissions. The other oppertunity is to badge all files, not just MS office files. This wouldn't be hard either. if a file is open, badge the window. 

Mark
Super User II
Thats the issue though. It is not easily doable.

Dropbox have repeatedly said this and why it isnt.

Lets not forget that Dropbox is not intending to be a file server. Its a syncing tool.

The badge system requires the software developers for each application to allow it to happen, again, it is not an easy fix.
Christian-BP
Explorer | Level 4

I want to stop multiple people opening and editing the same file.

 

Once a file is open - it cannot be opened by another user until the inital user has closed it.

 

How can I do this?


Thanks.

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