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miller.rob 
Posts:241
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miller.rob
Posts:241
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| 12/23/2009 4:05 PM |
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Here is a list of features: https://www.dropbox.com/features , but I don't think it will work with BD. It is working with my tests of Legacy (genealogy software), but I just realized there isn't a way to tell BD that the database is being stored in a new location (or is there?)
But I guess it will still let me share my BD backups between all my computers.
Rob
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cowboyinbrla
Posts:270
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| 12/24/2009 1:15 PM |
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While a sync product like this may (or may not) help, there's always going to be a significant possibility of problems updating your database if you do your input on more than one computer. For those who are wondering what we're talking about, here's the general scenario:
You have BD installed on, say, your home computer and your laptop.
You copy the database from your home computer to your laptop so that they're both up to date.
You take the laptop on a trip, recording new sightings as you go.
You return, but forget to copy the database back to the home computer right away.
You record some additional sighting on the home computer.
Now, each computer has some, but not all, of the sightings, and they're missing different ones - so there's no way to merge the two files. No "sync" product can merge the two files as they're unaware of the internal structure of the BD database. And the problem gets more complicated the more computers you use to record sightings.
The only workaround I know of is to write a batch file or script that you use to open BD. In that script, the computer you're on would contact a central server (if you have a hosted personal website, for instance, that could work), and download the current version of your database. You make any sightings changes, etc. as needed, and when you close BD, the script finishes up by re-uploading a newly updated copy of the BD database to the central server. As long as you use that script file to access BD, you could be sure your files were up to date.
Drawbacks are, you would need to have a fast internet connection to be able to transfer the entire database back and forth each time. |
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miller.rob
Posts:241
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| 12/24/2009 11:05 PM |
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Yes, I had forgotten how large the BD database was. It would take quite a while to upload each time there was a change.
The difference in your scenario, is the program's ability to sync through the internet, so the minute you close the program, Dropbox transfers the newest version of the file to any other computer(s) you have it installed on. Of course you need internet for it to work. I've been playing with it, and it seems to be doing what it says. In times of conflict it creates a separate file with the problem being listed in the file title. A nice feature to have.
But regardless, as you say BD's database is too large to upload quickly.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Rob |
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cowboyinbrla
Posts:270
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| 12/24/2009 11:36 PM |
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Rob,
The problem with the scenario you outline, I think, is that if you don't keep a computer (say, a laptop) connected to the internet, it may miss a synchronization. Let's say you add sightings to your desktop BD, and Dropbox recognizes the change and uploads a copy of the updated file. But your laptop is sitting turned off, in a computer bag.
You take it on a trip, and power up for the first time somewhere that has no internet. You add sightings there, not realizing that your laptop hasn't been on and connected to Dropbox since before the latest changes. So now, you have the same scenario I outlined: two PC's with different versions of the BD database. When you next bring the laptop into internet range, it's going to realize that the laptop's version of the database file is newer than what it has stored. But it might interpret that in either of two ways:
--either it's going to keep a complete file history of all the date/times of past versions, and realize that this one changed without getting the synched version that was most recently uploaded from the desktop, which it will then flag as a problem (but with no easy way to merge the two databases)...
--or if it just knows that the laptop version is newer, it's going to overwrite the one at the server with the newer file from the laptop, which will in turn overwrite the file on the desktop - meaning you lose the changes made on the desktop before the trip.
Either way, file sync for a database is a problem that can reliably only be addressed in two ways. One is to have a client-server situation where the data is entered on a client machine but stored on a server, where it can be accessed by other clients with the right credentials (in a sense, eBird is this model, with a browser app that serves as the client). This method requires all transactions to the database to occur over the network, however.
The other is to have a database application-specific sync program that knows the exact format of the tables and records in the database, where the client application flags all changes to the local copy of the database and uploads the changes (only) to the sync server. That's how browser bookmark sync programs work, for instance, and how contact-sync programs work with smart phones and computers. |
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miller.rob
Posts:241
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| 12/25/2009 2:49 PM |
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Very good points, thanks!! Your warnings are very true.
Normally anytime I add sightings, I always upload a backup to my online storage, and I saw this as a (lazy man's) way around it.
But you point out the problems very clearly. It will still work well for my Genealogy database (smaller, and I don't run it just to add one sighting). But for BD, I can see how it would be a problem.
Happy Holidays!!
Rob |
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jjones
Posts:5100
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| 01/02/2010 1:58 PM |
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Hi All:
The only thing I can add to this is that you can re-sync two databases that have gotten out of sync via the scenarios shown above. The scenario wherein you have added sightings from one trip to one computer and sightings from another trip to another computer. The solution is to use the Sightings Import/Export feature to export and import the missing sightings from one computer to the other. Now, you have one database up to date and you can either move that over to the other computer or reverse the process and both computers are up to date.
fyi
Jeff |
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Birder's Diary Technical Support |
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