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Can I see which files are causing sync errors via my Dropbox desktop app?

Is there a way to show all Sync errors in Dropbox? I was browsing through my files and saw a file with a red cross on it, and after inspection it seemed it wasn't syncing because of an emoji in the filename.

This got me thinking - how many other files do I have that currently aren't synced because of this reason? Dropbox never displayed that file was unsynced and I suspect it was unsynced for many months.

I have hundreds of thousands of files and folders, so manually going through them isn't an option I'd want to even entertain.

Thanks

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Fiona

Hello @582374893!.

Happy to answer to your first question in our Community. Welcome.

Clicking the Dropbox icon on your system tray should give you the option to see any syncing issues. Clicking there should give you exact file/folder names pointing to the problem. s_9CE35B45543E8B0694A4A9CD2A6E9C88045549BEDC58CB2B38FE9B4A84288351_1547235164115_Screen+Shot+2019-01-11+at+10.29.48+AM.png

Here is how this will look.. s_9CE35B45543E8B0694A4A9CD2A6E9C88045549BEDC58CB2B38FE9B4A84288351_1547235037565_Screen+Shot+2019-01-11+at+10.30.39+AM.png Let me know all your feedback about this!

582374893

Your screenshots show a solution for MacOS, however, I am on Windows and I see no such option

Здравко

Hi @Fiona,

There is discrepancies in Linux, also. On following screenshot is your post above in background and my menu - on foreground: изображение.png

582374893

Indeed, the Windows menu looks like this for me

(And yes, I currently have unsynced files)

Fiona

Sorry to hear this functionality does not appear for your OS.

Another way to find files that could be causing problems with syncing is checking for files /folders with incompatible characters.

:dividers: Check out a list of these characters.

If this is the problem, renaming the files/folders will be enough to solve this and syncing will be completed successfully. :white_check_mark:

If not, I will be right here to look into this for you. :nerd:

Keep us posted!

Здравко

@582374893 wrote:
Is there a way to show all Sync errors in Dropbox? I was browsing through my files and saw a file with a red cross on it, and after inspection it seemed it wasn't syncing because of an emoji in the filename.
...

@Fiona wrote:
...
:dividers: Check out a list of these characters.
...

Hi @Fiona,

On the page, you refer to, can be seen potential issues some symbols could cause. The issue here is symbols which prevent syncing entirely (i.e. file is not residing in Dropbox cloud). So your proposal in inapplicable! Increasing the level of a related proposal would be more helpful (i.e. full Unicode Support, not partial).

Hope this gives right direction.

PS: About different menu views: More than clear - BUG!

Fiona

Not having this option might mean updates have not gone through.

Clarifying what the bad character files can cause, the article, offered above, states:

" Files with a bad filename can sync to dropbox.com, but might not appear in the Dropbox folder on your computer, or work properly on incompatible operating systems. "

This means the file might even "make it" to the local Dropbox folder and report syncing issues.

Awaiting for 582374893's response to troubleshoot and investigate this case more.

Здравко

@Fiona wrote:
...
" Files with a bad filename can sync to dropbox.com, but might not appear in the Dropbox folder on your computer, or work properly on incompatible operating systems. "
...

Hi @Fiona,

I really like your enthusiasm (also your icon above 👍), but again read carefully the text you cite above. More precisely "Files with a bad filename can sync to dropbox.com"! Can you name a file (or folder on your opinion) as "Hello👍Folder😎Fans"? Just copy the name in quotes and paste in as a file/folder name (somewhere in Dropbox directory). Is everything syncing properly?! Let's check not only talk! So, is the new file or folder, just named, appear in dropbox.com?!

Hope this introduces some clarity.

PS: Are you saying that @10 "declare", by error, symbolset is restricted and passes it as a feature request? :thinking:

Fiona

It's true I am a Dropbox enthusiast.

The important part of the sentences, I quoted from our Help center though, is the part where the article explains that these characters might not sync at all or might sync and not work properly on incompatible operating systems..

This is where I was going with this. Apologies if I have created any confusion with quoting this article. I should have just phrased this in my own words.

582374893

Okay, so you're saying there there is NO solution for this on Windows/Linux?

This is disappointing because I would really like to know which of my files aren't being synced, I think that's extremely important to know, especially when I use the API and have scripts that are downloading into specific locations etc.

Здравко

@582374893 wrote:
... I was browsing through my files and saw a file with a red cross on it, and after inspection it seemed it wasn't syncing because of an emoji in the filename.
...

The problem comes from fact every one symbol is represented/ mapped to particular code. Dropbox as a system don't support all possible codes, but restrict support only for symbols with corresponding codes up to 65535 (i.e. codes which can fit in 2 bytes only). Every one symbol above this "border" (including emoji - codes there are 128512 up to 128591) included inside file/folder name/extension, make the file unacceptable/unrecogniziable for Dropbox (i.e. cant be uploaded correctly). I already signaled for this. Let's hope we will survive till the moment gets fixed.

@582374893 wrote:
Okay, so you're saying there there is NO solution for this on Windows/Linux?
...

Good question! Very good question... Let's see if some Dropbox developer will take care for this discrepancy (and many others, also). The only thing @Fiona can do here is forwarding the "signal", nothing more. I'm sure if there was any chance, she would fix the issue, but that's a developers work.

@582374893 wrote:
..., I think that's extremely important to know, especially when I use the API and have scripts that are downloading into specific locations etc.

About downloading (either using Dropbox application on other machine or through script), you couldn't expect any errors. Ones a file gets uploaded correctly, it's very unlikely some error to happens (successful upload, mean all symbols are acceptable both for Dropbox and for your machines). As I already noted above upload is troublesome in such a cases ( like yours, and not only! ). You don't have to worry about script usage.

Hope this adds some clarity both to you and to responsible developers.

Fiona

Hey @Здравко and @582374893,

Our devs are always working for Dropbox to offer a unified experience. I am sorry this is not the case with this option for you, at the time.

I am sure I can help you solve this syncing issue and I will create a ticket to work on this, however please let me know if you checked for incompatible characters and also please get an advise from our API team for your specific set up.

Thank you!

Здравко

@Fiona, Seems you haven't read my posts above careful enough (including links inside)! Ok I will repeat: Every one symbol which code is above 65535 (i.e. can't fit in 2 bytes) are unsupported from Dropbox system ( not just the application! ) for file/directory names. This was confirmed from development support (follow the links above). I want to add here: There is no such limitation in any of Dropbox supported platforms, natively! The "thin spot" here is Dropbox, nothing else! You can't use such symbols even through the web interface... Check it, to be sure. I already gave such a proposal in my previous post (on previous page), but seems you have ignored it. :thinking:

PS: I'm not sure if you are familiar with the Dropbox API. If you are, can you explain why when a non-ASCII symbol is tagged, only available tag is "\u", but not "\U"? :thinking: There is significant difference between!

Fiona

I greatly appreciate your feedback and all the solutions you have provided in our Community @Здравко.

Just to answer the question. I am not an API specialist, unfortunately. This is why I am redirecting API requests to our API section, where he might find his answer or post about the details of his API set up so that our API team can get him an answer. :slight_smile:

Здравко

Ooohh... @Fiona,

:slight_smile::upside_down: My API related question is rethorical! I suspected you can't give direct answer, but I hoped your curiosity gets provoked. Anyway... the answer is more than clear. Let's see how the issue gets fixed (or we will left with the hope only). As I already mentioned, the problem is more deep, not just API or application (including web) related! The issue is related to the basic Dropbox system idea and corresponding limitations deeply embedded which have to be reconsidered. This will take long time, but will never end if not start.

My API question is related to supported symbol set. "\U" tag allow all possible Unicode symbols to be used (i.e. full Unicode support), "\u" - sets the limit, noted above! :nerd:

Almost same is valid for different support on the supported platforms (especially the differences in available features - not restrict only to discussed here).

Hope now the things get more clear.

PS: The main issue (missing symbols support), discussed here and in many other threads, could be solved if Dropbox reconsider file/directory names storing as ASCII-tagged. Features support is another story. Switching to "UTF8"-encoded internal storage for file/directory names will solve many issues going discussed in this forum! This is my solution proposal (if somebody from Dropbox system design take care).