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Dropbox is creating duplicate files as opposed to GoodSync

Hi. I have been using GoodSync for a few years. I have 3 licenses and use it to sync between 3 desktops and 1 laptop.

Lots of the data is not suitable for Dropbox (Essentials) storage and so I need to use both. Some synced folders are common to both apps.

When Goodsync detects a sync (during a manual sync), it prompts and lets you choose which version to keep. It also lets you choose a default direction for sync for specific files and folders. That eliminates most conflicts.

Is it right that when Dropbox sees a conflict, it creates a duplicate like filename(2) ? These dupe files keep reappearing without any prompts, so I assume it is conflict related, but there is no notification.

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Comments

Walter

Hi there @Nicholas M.5 - thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Can you let us know some additional information about the issue at hand so that we can assist further?

Are you experiencing conflicted copies of your files when they're used by the GoodSync app perhaps?

How are those actions logged in your events page?

Keep us posted!

Nicholas M.5

@Walter wrote:

Are you experiencing conflicted copies of your files when they're used by the GoodSync app perhaps?

Thanks for helping. I'm not sure what you mean. Goodsync only "uses" files when it is synchronizing by timestamp.

Dropbox is creating the duplicates, not Goodsync.

Megan

Hi @Nicholas M.5, if you momentarily try to pause GoodSync, and just use Dropbox, do you notice the same results?

Do you still get the same conflicted copies?

One more thing I'd like to ask is if both Dropbox and GoodSync use the same path to sync content, or if the latter has their own folder, like Dropbox does.

Nicholas M.5

Goodsync synchronizes manually. So the Dropbox message usually appears after a Goodsync sync in which files are removed.

The laptop does not have Dropbox. So a complex folder on the laptop also exists on the desktop network. It is under the Dropbox tree of folders.

Goodsync synchronizes this one folder to the same folder on the desktop within Dropbox.

Nicholas M.5

Looks like my reply was deleted twice.

Rich

@Nicholas M.5 wrote:
Looks like my reply was deleted twice.

It was automatically flagged by the spam filters for some reason. I've restored the post.

Nancy

Hey @Nicholas M.5, hope it’s OK to jump in.

One thing to clarify; if the Dropbox app isn’t installed on your computer, can you tell me how Goodsync syncs the folder you mention to the same folder on the desktop within Dropbox?

Nicholas M.5

Thank you for saving the day! 🙂

The folder in question is Practice Documents. It is on the root c: drive of the laptop. The laptop does not have Dropbox. That laptop folder is synched (by Goodsync) over the network with a desktop machine in which the same folder is in Dropbox\Practice Documents.

The error occurs on the desktop after a sync.

Hannah

Hey @Nicholas M.5, would it be possible to send us a couple of screenshots showing this behavior, so we can have a visual?

Nicholas M.5

Yes sure! Give me a day or two. I want to send the popup as well as the dupe files.

DBoxTips

Hello @Nicholas M.5,

> Is it right that when Dropbox sees a conflict, it creates a duplicate like filename(2)

When the Dropbox desktop app creates a conflict file, you will always see the word “conflict” in the filename. The “(2)” you see is most likely due to “autorename”, which is a feature of Dropbox used when a file with the same name as an existing file in a folder is uploaded via the Dropbox website. To experience this, go to the Dropbox website, upload a file to a folder and then try to upload a file with the same name to the same folder. The “(2)” will be appended.

The autorename feature is also available with the Dropbox API, which GoodSync uses.

To sum up, if it’s not you or another user uploading a file via the Dropbox website with the same name as an existing file, then this can be attributed to GoodSync. The conflict files created by the Dropbox desktop application always have the word “conflict” in the filename and the name of the computer on which the conflict occurred.

Hope this helps.

Andrew (DBoxTips)

Nicholas M.5

Now our whole Practice Documents folder (1000s of docs) has a "conflicted copy". And dropbox has no conflict resolution???

How does it make the conflict determination? Is it timestamp or the mere presence of two files of the same name?

How could a whole folder end up conflicted? Folders aren't opened in themselves.

I'm not interested in dropping Goodsync in favor of DP Paper. Some change in your software has made a complete mess of our entire practice documents, that had been seamless for 20 years.

Nicholas M.5

So now I see why the FileName(1) problem came about.

Dropbox lacks an overwrite warning. Usually users are copying indentically named files to overwrite. Instead of notifying the user (asking), DB takes the liberty of creating a second file while the user has no idea what just happened unless they browse the folder and see.

Nicholas M.5

I've got workarounds for all of this now. The last thing I am really lost on is how to track the different folders that are created for a shared user. I shared a folder named CollectIt and now he's on CollectIt(3). I don't see those folders in Windows explorer or the Dropbox webpage.

Feels like I have no control over what's going on.