Reading the Dropbox support forums about synching problems, I believe there are more restrictions than just using the file on one computer at a time. I believe the file synch (upload from computer 1 to Dropbox server and download to computer 2) must fully complete before you open the file on computer 2.
Consider the scenario where I change the birth date and birth location on an individual on computer 1. I close Legacy on computer 1. At this point (assuming computer 1 is still connected to the Internet for a sufficient period of time) Dropbox will upload the revised file to their server. The download to computer 2 (which may or may not happen immediately depending upon whether it is powered on and connected to the Internet) must complete before I open the .fdb file on computer 2 for me to have the correct (most recent) birth date and birth location on computer 2. If I open the ‘less than current’ .fdb on computer 2, make other changes to that or other records, and then close the file on computer 2 it will then be uploaded to Dropbox and become the most current version. Since it did not have the correct birth date and birth location to start with, it will effectively overwrite the change I made on computer 1. I believe this is what Dennis was referring to when he talked the dangers of having two users accessing a database at the same time. Although it isn’t truly one file on a server being updated simultaneously, since two computers users could access different versions of the file, with whoever closed the the file second overwriting the first, the potential damage is exactly the same as two users accessing a single file without any protection that are not updating the same record. In practice, this may not be an issue for some users as their usage patterns might allow for the file synching to complete before they start working on computer 2. But, it’s certainly a minefield of potential problems if 1) you use Legacy on two computers with the same fdb file at once, or even if you use on one computer at a time, that you so before file synching is complete. Basically, Dennis and Mike, your concerns (I think) are very well founded. Paul From: Bruce Jones [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: November-04-10 11:08 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] multimedia/pictures storage On Thu, Nov 4, 2010 at 9:45 AM, Mike Fry <[email protected]> wrote: If you must use two machines, you must ensure that only one machine at a time is running Legacy. Correct! But as long as you always close Legacy (or the specific fdb file you want) before opening it on the 2nd computer, everything works great. Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
