I began this conversation in “iOS 11 support of ‘files app’” and decided to move it into a thread of its own as the issue seems to be a bit different from the subject spoken of there.
I use Scrivener in a business setting for all of my writing, note taking, etc. and have been for some time now without any issue. I am set to sync between my iMac at home, my Windows laptop at work, and my iPad which has become my draft workhorse. The syncing is done through DropBox as described in various documents provided by Literature and Latte. For roughly two years this setup has been working flawlessly.
At the beginning of this month, roughly Oct. 5th, I upgraded my iPad to iOS 11. I’ve continued working as before, thinking that everything was still in sync. I wanted to use the iMac so that I could combine some additional details to a document and found that it was last updated in September. I checked the Windows laptop and found the same thing. The DropBox apps all showed that the file hadn’t been updated, including the online interface. Yet, on the iPad, the file was current as of yesterday (at this point).
Digging in further here’s what I’ve found, accompanied with screen shots:
This indicates that Scrivener appears to be syncing with DropBox…
…They are being stored in the iPad and NOT being synced with DropBox.
I’m not sure of what’s going on in the code, but it seems to me that if the Document Storage setting for Scrivener doesn’t include DropBox as an option, then I’m not going to be able to sync my files so that they can be used across platforms as intended. Either that or a recent DropBox update broke the syncing process. Either way, syncing with DropBox is not working…and I can’t find a setting that will allow me to enable it to begin working again.
In Scrivener, the project screen, tap Edit and then the gear wheel at the bottom and you reach the Dropbox settings. Select the Dropbox folder where you want your projects stored on the Dropbox server. Close, and then tap the sync icon.
Done.
Yes, I read the tutorial set up accordingly when iOS was released. This setting was showing that DropBox was pointing to Apps/Scrivener, as has been set since originally configured. I re-pointed it to the folder using the Other option and it has re-established the connection and started syncing again.
Now I’m wondering if this is a bug that needs to be watched when upgrades occur?
My connections (not the default folder) has not changed since I first installed iOS Scrivener on two iPads and two iPhones, so I don’t think that App store updates change the settings. Deleting and re-installing or installing on a new device would of course require setting it up anew.
Checking configuration settings when mysterious problems appear right after a software update is always a good idea. While updates aren’t supposed to reset things, they can, and there are numerous situations where they have.
And of course, we have no control over either Dropbox or Apple. We have no ability to keep them from changing things out from under Scrivener, and only limited ability to detect that they have done so.
On my MacBook, when my Scrivener file is in the Apps > Scrivener file and I open the file I get this: “Project not in a recommended save location. The project “Xxx.scriv" is stored inside its own automatic backups folder. This could potentially result in data loss in the event of an automatic backup trying to overwrite the current project file. It is therefore strongly recommended that you close the project and move it to a different location.
So I take the file out so that it is just in the Apps folder. On my iPad, I open the file and it says”Invalid Project. The project cannot be opened because it does not contain a valid binder structure file. Please ensure that the project has been fully uploaded from other devices and then try syncing with Dropbox again.”
Don’t move the project, change the automatic backup location, which you can do by going to Scrivener -> Preferences -> Backups on the Mac.
By default, iOS Scrivener will look for projects in the Dropbox/Apps/Scrivener folder. If you want to store your projects anywhere else, they won’t sync correctly unless you change that setting.
iOS version does not notice changes made in a fully synced Mac project. Mac catches changes made on iOS. iOS apps catch changes made on an iOS project. Something is not right on the iOS end.
This seemed to do the trick: "Don’t move the project, change the automatic backup location, which you can do by going to Scrivener -> Preferences -> Backups on the Mac. By default, iOS Scrivener will look for projects in the Dropbox/Apps/Scrivener folder. If you want to store your projects anywhere else, they won’t sync correctly unless you change that setting. "
Thank you all for your help.
And you have the Dropbox app running on your desktop, continuosly updating changed files on the server and wait for it to finish uploading before closing the desktop or opening iOS Scrivener?
From what I’ve read on this forum, I’m not the only one experiencing this. It arose after the v3 release. Something needs to be fixed somewhere and until the problem is capable of being repeated sufficiently it will be hard to fix. I trust L & L completely in this area and know they will do everything they can on their end, if this is related to them at all.
Do you have the latest version of both iOS Scrivener and the iOS Dropbox app?
There are some known issues related to a recent change in the Dropbox API. Your symptoms sound more like that than anything related to iOS Scrivener itself.
It can also be useful to create a test project and confirm that it syncs first to the Dropbox server (check your account via Dropbox.com), then to the destination device. That will narrow down exactly where the failure is taking place.
I will pull my projects out of Dropbox and create a dummy project using a novel template, unless you suggest I try something else. I’ll following your directions, run it for awhile, adding one word at a time and see what happens.
I pulled my projects out of Dropbox. I followed your suggestion and put a dummy project in Dropbox. I verified it was there by logging into Dropbox.com. I synced both iOS devices, which took over five minutes because I unlinked them yesterday and linked them after putting the dummy project in Dropbox.
I went into the Mac version and typed First, then hit return. I saved the project, closed it, and quit Scrivener.
My iPhone picked it up and my iPad did not. The iPad is where I do my work when I’m out.
If there’s a newer version of Scrivener, my Mac version isn’t picking it up when I select Check Updates. The App Store says 1.1.5 is the latest, which is what I have.
Okay, so what’s the difference between your iPad and iPhone configurations?
The first place to check would be the Dropbox settings. Tap the Edit button above the iOS Scrivener Projects screen, then the gear icon below the project list. What folder is configured as the sync destination? Is it the same folder as the iPhone?
Yes. I’ve double checked it numerous times during my syncing adventure. So far I’m not convinced it’s user error, although I will never rule that out. If I bring up an issue it is usually after I’ve done everything I can to resolve it myself.
Thanks for continuing to try to help! It’s deeply appreciated.
