Grateful for advice to make this workflow will work without problems:
Goal is to be able to use Scrivener on my iPad for short trips when I can’t bring my MacBookPro.
My Scrivener project is MUCH too large to sync quickly when opening/closing on the iPad (and no, I am not going to explain why I’m not going to make it smaller!)
I created a new “Portable Project”, and dragged only the Folder containing the section of my book that I’m working on into the new project. This small, lightweight project syncs very fast to Dropbox and hence to my iPad. When I’m done working on the iPad, it syncs quickly back to Dropbox, even if I’m using cellular data.
When I’m back on my MacBookPro I open both projects and manually drag the “Portable” folder back into the master project, and delete the original folder from the master project.
Here is where I need advice:
I could drag the folder directly into the master project, trust that everything is fine, and delete the corresponding folder in the master project.
OR Is there a way to Sync just the two folders in the two separate projects? I understand I cant do this with Dropbox, but wondering if a tool like Chronosync (which can sync inside packages) would work. Is this even necessary? As long as I drag the folder over manually from project to project, I should be safe, right?
I may be overthinking this, but do not want to risk loosing even a single word!
Thank you…
Make sure you don’t make any changes to the master project between syncs.
Make sure you have a backup of the master project that includes the relevant folder.
Use a naming scheme that makes it easy to tell which version of the portable project is which.
Alternatively, instead of using Dropbox sync, you could use Apple File Sharing to move the entire project to/from the iPad. With a direct wire connection, that should be pretty fast. It’s a copy, not a sync, though, so the tips above still apply.
Does not Dropbox only sync changes? So once fully synced subsequent syncs assuming reasonable amount of changes should be quick. I am guessing OP does not change huge portions of the project between syncs.
I would not delete the folders from the master project, at least not instantly.
I’d suggest you create a new folder for special backups on the same level as Draft, Research, and Trash and keep the earlier instances of the synced folders at least for a while.
The project is huge already, as you reported, so that little bit of extra bytes wouldn’t matter, would it?
Given the use case, of this being something you only do for trips where you can’t bring the laptop, another approach is to set aside more complicated technology, like syncing, and just copy the project directly onto the device with the charging cable plugged into the Mac, using Finder. When you get back you’d just replace the old version on the Mac with the updated version on the device in the same way.
Copying over the wire is going to be a lot faster, and you’ll have everything you may need while on the go, rather than hoping you guessed right at what all you’ll need.
To me anyway, that seems like less trouble and effort than making a special portable project version, and having to think about stuff like whether it has any cross-links or bookmarks to or from it that would get broken by essentially breaking the project up. It’s a valid way to charge the device anyway, so you might as well do something useful with the wire other than transfer power.
And Chronosync —which I admittedly don’t know at all—does not?
I do believe there are still some tools out there that allow one to do the above even more efficiently, that make it possible to mount the mobile device like a normal disk (or if not that, at least individual folders like Scrivener’s, which is really all you need). Once you’ve got that set up, then yes, you can use a tool like Chronosync to keep the two disks up to date with each other, rather than copying the entire project back and forth.
For someone doing this more often, it might make sense to put the effort and money into setting that up and buying the necessary software—but like I say if this is just something one does now and then, maybe a few times a year, keeping it simple might be the best option.
@kewms
Yes, careful not to work on master in between syncs & I ALWAYS have multiple backups (this book is my life’s work). No need to name versions of the portable project as there is only ever one version which is the one I need to work on the iPad. But I think I’ll stick to the easier Dropbox sync rather than Apple File Sharing.
Chronosync is not supported for direct synchronization with iOS Scrivener.
That was not my intention. The thought was to use Chronosync between the Master Project and the Portable Project, just to ensure that contents from the Portable Project got safely copied back into the Master Project.
@rms
Yes, Dropbox only syncs changes, but that is not my goal. I’m only wanting to ensure that the folder I drag from the Portable Project back to the master project contains 100% of my work.
I’d suggest you create a new folder for special backups on the same level as Draft, Research, and Trash and keep the earlier instances of the synced folders at least for a while.
Yes, good idea. And no, the extra size wont be a problem.
My main concern stems from some documented issues with the Mac Finder appearing to copy files, but not being reliable. Admittedly, these issues were with files store in iCloud Drive, not in Drobox, but I’m approaching this with an overabundance of caution.
@kewms > When I drag a folder from one Scrivener project to another, and both projects are store in Dropbox, should create a 100% reliable copy of the folder? If so, then this will the simplest way when I’m back from working on my iPad.
@mlondon, sounds like you have a good process in mind for your travels.
A suggestion: while you’re on the road, consider using iOS Scriv’s Export feature to make periodic zipped backups. I recommend doing this on a daily basis.
From the Project screen, choose Edit, select the project, and press the export icon. You can email the file, upload it to the cloud, etc. If going to the cloud, best to use something other than Dropbox, as you’re already keeping the live project on that platform.
Based on the thoroughness of your planning, I suspect this is something you already intended to do, but thought I’d put the idea out there for you, just in case.
Ensure that the Dropbox folder on the Mac is configured to be “available offline,” at least with respect to Scrivener projects.
Dragging a folder from one project to another is fundamentally a file copy operation. As such, it is not really under Scrivener’s control: we depend on the operating system for this sort of thing. However, it’s the sort of operation that computers have been doing reliably for decades. If it isn’t 100% reliable on your system, something is wrong and you should investigate. (In my experience, in the vast majority of cases the issue is a misguided “smart sync” operation.)
