I’m using Drobbox to sync a Pan X database across two Mac computers. When I open the synced database on the other Mac make some edits and click Save, I often get a dialogue to click Revert or Save Anyway.
I usually click Save Anyway.
Probably related: I thought I was going crazy at first, but now I’m convinced I’m losing data when I open the db on the other Mac. Fields I know I’ve filled in with data are showing up empty.
I know a number of other users are successfully using Dropbox to sync their Pan X databases without losing data. Could someone provide some guidance how to make that work or offer an idea of how I may be interfering with the sync process?
The Revert/Save Anyway dialogue refers to versions. I found “Versions” under the file menu and looked at previous versions and found my lost data. I don’t understand how, and the logic by which, that version was created. (Probably reflects my lack of understanding of the Revert/Save Anyway dialogue.)
Do you have the same database open on more than one computer at a time? I use Panorama X with databases in dropbox, but NEVER have the database open on more than computer at once. I always make sure to wait a few minutes before opening on the other computer, to give Dropbox time to sync.
I never have the DB open on more than one computer at a time. I don’t wait several minutes per se, but I do wait until Dropbox is up-to-date on both computers. (I wait for the sync to finish on the second computer before opening the database on that 2nd computer. I don’t “jump on it” and quickly open after the sync. I wait several seconds to see if items are going to sync on either computer.)
Am I just not waiting long enough?
Is this discrepancy within Dropbox causing the Revert/Save Anyway dialogue to appear? Is there a way to mitigate data loss by dealing with that dialogue (or its cause) a certain way?
I presume the data loss would occur whether I hit Revert or Save Anyway.
Panorama X uses standard Apple document API’s for opening and saving files. I have never heard of the dialog you are mentioning, I’ve never seen it, so I think it must be an Apple dialog. I think that Apple’s code is detecting that the file has been changed by some other program (in this case Dropbox) while Panorama is open. Since I didn’t write that dialog, I don’t have any specific advice on how to deal with it.
At first I thought it was Dropbox causing the issue, but it seemed odd that it had just started happening after I had used Dropbox for over a week. So I took a look and noticed that I had Excel open, and it still had a table open that I had dragged over to Panorama X. I went ahead and quit Excel, and all the warnings stopped.
I’m really not sure why it worked or what the Voodoo is here, but I thought I’d share in case anyone else is getting this error. Try quitting other programs and see if that fixes it.
