Please move datafile to Documents folder
 

I don't like having my .ofocus file in ~/Library/Application Support/OmniFocus/OmniFocus.ofocus. It's outside my "normal" backup locations and, Apple says don't do it:

[quote]Important: You should not store user data files in the Library directory or any of its subdirectories. If your application stores the user’s data automatically—that is, without prompting the user for a location—you should choose a more appropriate location (usually the Documents directory) inside the user’s home directory.[/quote]

[url]http://developer.apple.com/documentation/MacOSX/Conceptual/BPFileSystem/Articles/LibraryDirectory.html[/url]

(I know this has come up here before; it bugs me.)

Jason.

[Filed as official feedback.]

I agree.

Especially because I use backup software (retrospect) to back up my user. I will always back up my documents, because I think of that folder as... my own personal stuff.

I get bugged when applications, and there are a lot of them, write data into my documents folder that has nothing to do with my data.

And I get bugged when applications hide my personal data in the library folder where all the other application data is.

I've lost some personal data when my computer has crashed and I had mistakenly forgot to backup the library.

On the same note, Apple stores all my mail messages in the library. Why? It's my mail messages, why doesn't it put it in the documents folder?
And safari bookmarks, and the address book, and iCal? All of that goes into the library as well.

Maybe because the data is supposed to only be accessed by the mail application. And documents are documents that I have created in something like TextEdit and saved to documents? It's difficult for me to drawn the line there... but Omni is not the only company that saves data in the Library. Apple does it more than anyone. And Omni is just following suit.

[QUOTE=jasong;21388]I don't like having my .ofocus file in ~/Library/Application Support/OmniFocus/OmniFocus.ofocus. It's outside my "normal" backup locations and, Apple says don't do it....[/QUOTE]

As a recovering Unix geek, I can assure you that Apple says nothing of the sort. The Library directory (better referred to as /Library) is not the same as the ~/Library directory, which is perfectly OK for storing data from single-file applications such as OmniFocus.

Ever notice where Address Book and iCal save your data?

Chronos, on the other hand, violated this injunction with StickyBrain and SOHO Notes, which do store data in /Library, not ~/Library.

[QUOTE=brianogilvie;21392]I can assure you that Apple says nothing of the sort. The Library directory (better referred to as /Library) is not the same as the ~/Library directory, which is perfectly OK for storing data from single-file applications such as OmniFocus.[/QUOTE]

The URL above and the quote are from Apple's Developer documentation. The link in question starts with

[quote]The Library directory is a special directory used to store application-specific and system-specific resources. Each file-system domain has its own copy of the Library directory, with access levels to match the domain type.[/quote]

That is, it's referencing *all* of the Library folders: /Library, ~/Library, /Network/Library.

It then goes on to mention specifically that the "Application Support" folder under Library (all of them)

[quote]Contains... resources that are used by the application but not required for it to operate ... [and] ... should never contain any kind of user data... [/quote]

I understand that Apple is breaking its own rules with Mail and who knows how many other applications. That doesn't mean everyone should follow Apple's bad example.

Huh! That's a curious redefinition of what belongs in the Library folder, I wonder when that note crept into the documentation?

The original intent of the Library folder was for it to hold any user data that was not managed as separate user-controlled documents, and that's the way that Mail, iCal, Address Book, Safari, and so on use it. It's also where all your preferences live, and it seems like a terrible idea not to back it up. (I back up all of my home directory except for ~/Library/Caches—which seems like something which belongs outside of your home directory anyway, since your home directory might be on a network drive and you want your cache to be on a local disk.)

Being the paranoid sort, I too back up my entire home folder, excluding cache files (~/Library/Cache, things that end in .cache, Logs and a few others). But I'm a geek. My mom "puts" files into her Documents folder, and her "backup" is copying her Documents folder somewhere on occasion.

(Yes, I keep meaning to set up something automated for her. It's in OmniFocus. On Hold.)

[QUOTE=Ken Case;21395]
(I back up all of my home directory except for ~/Library/Caches—which seems like something which belongs outside of your home directory anyway, since your home directory might be on a network drive and you want your cache to be on a local disk.)[/QUOTE]

One reason why I could see why the Caches are in the home directory is for those paranoid users who use FileVault.

If the cache was stored outside of the home directory, it would be unprotected.

I also now backup the entire home folder.

...and I am one of those users who use FileVault. ;-)
But I'm not paranoid... because they are watching.

Personally, I like that OmniFocus (and Mail, iCal, and Address Book, ...) stores its data in ~/Library and not Documents. I want Documents to just contain the documents that I explicitly create. To me, OF is not "document-based" application. I can't do anything with my OF data apart from manipulating it with the application, and I can't have multiple sets of data open in the application simultaneously.

Oh, and I clone my entire hard drive every night. SuperDuper is.

[QUOTE=jasong;21393]The URL above and the quote are from Apple's Developer documentation.... That is, it's referencing *all* of the Library folders: /Library, ~/Library, /Network/Library.[/QUOTE]

I apologize for my mistake.