I have just had the unpleasant experience of software I've been using for years being shut down. I therefore have to go into all my files of that software and batch convert them into a format that can be used in a different software. Unfortunately, while there is a simple batch command in the software, it does not recognize the files in Dropbox when they are offline, so they do not get converted. So, I've had to come up with a workaround, which could be useful, until a better solution comes along:
1. Do a search for all files of that type in your Dropbox folder (including all subfolders)
2. Select the entire list of results and copy them to another temporary folder. This forces Dropbox to make all the copied files available offline.
Now I can run my batch command on the top Dropbox folder and it will convert everything to the correct format for migrating to the new software. I hope this helps someone, but it would be great if offline Dropbox files were treated like regular files in all software programs (this is definitely not the case in the audio production world).
Thanks!