[Ken Case]

Originally Posted by whpalmer4

I've seen a couple of cases where it said it couldn't sync because I had reverted the local database (and I knew that no such thing had happened). I hit the cancel button, synced again and everything was happy (and my data intact). It seems like that should be safe, but perhaps someone with definitive knowledge about the sync code could comment...

Yes, it's safe to cancel and sync again. If it's a real issue, it will report the error when you re-sync.

We've finally managed to reproduce this in a development build, though we haven't yet figured out how to reproduce it reliably. But it's a start; hopefully we'll be able to track this down and fix it soon.

[chidmf]

man. disaster - v2.0.

so today i figure, maybe it's the third party (my office computer) that's screwing things up. i'll just setup my tasks at home, sync, let the iPhone pick them up, and do all modifications during the day on the iPhone. that'll be simple. and when i get home, my laptop OF will pick up the changes and everything will be groovy.

NOT.

get home, start up OF. doesn't look synced, but i figure what the hey, maybe it will take a little while. get a prompt to reload database to incorporate changes (something like that - sorry i wasn't taking notes). database reloads, and, while some additions seem to have shown up...

a number (maybe all) of the rescheduling changes that I made on the iphone today are lost! and, items i've checked off as completed during the day are unchecked!

this is why i'm getting what appears to be no sync at first glance. it's more complicated than that - added actions seem to be coming over but changes are not (?).

the bad part is: the screw ups are almost immediately propagated back to the iPhone.

ha! joke's on me. and here i was in a good mood, what with all my accomplishments...

----- how about some suggestions!
* sync needs transparency and record keeping on all platforms (so that user can see - sync'd version on home computer is xyz, sync'd version on iphone is uvw, sync'd version available on iDisk are xyz, uvw, pqr).
* sync needs recovery on all platforms (so that iphone data can be recovered)
* sync needs some kind of statement - 'this will be changed, this will be deleted, these changes were made on iPhone, these made on 'office''

[chidmf]

of course, for me this behavior makes the OF desktop/iPHone system completely unusable for anything beyond a providing a simple check-off list (desktop -> iphone).

[Ken Case]

Sorry, I've never seen anything like that, and I've been syncing between four systems for months now (work desktop, home desktop, laptop, and iPhone). Please continue your dialog with our support ninjas at omnifocus@omnigroup.com so they can help you track down the problem.

[rotorheadbob]

I bought OmniFocus for my iPhone last night. I've been waiting for it since I heard about it last June. Starting using today at work. I spent 2 to 3 hours, heck, maybe 4 hours creating all sorts of Projects and Actions. I got way more done than the desktop version as I find the interface there confusing (yeah, most of you don't but I sure do).

I'm loving this product, except for the crashes, which, by the way are 2 to 3 per hour.

I go home to sync and about 25% of the items transfer to the phone, where the hell are the other 75% of my items? What's up here?

BTW, I'm syncing to my Mobile Me account.

What's going to happen to the items on my iPhone? Can I turn the syncing off?

Rob Clark
I love the promise, but hate the execution of the iPhone OmniFocus

[rotorheadbob]

An update...

I looked at my iDisk copy and found the copy there matched the copy on my Mac, not what I posted on my iPhone. I don't understand the discrepancy except to say I have a Gen 1 iPhone with a slow data connection at work.

I use PCs at work, and the Mac at home.

Anyway, I deleted the copy on iDisk and re-synced the iPhone to my iDsik. Then I synced my Mac's OmniFocus with my iDisk. I got an expected 'which document version should I use' message to which I told it to use the copy from my iDisk.

All my data was intact.

While I currently have a good copy on my Mac, I'm worried that this syncing problem happen again and that all my work will be lost.

Rob Clark

[chidmf]

Originally Posted by Ken Case

Sorry, I've never seen anything like that, and I've been syncing between four systems for months now (work desktop, home desktop, laptop, and iPhone). Please continue your dialog with our support ninjas at omnifocus@omnigroup.com so they can help you track down the problem.

I'll try. They seem to be busy.

[Brian]

chidmf - I see that one of the ninjas mailed you this afternoon, but I had a thought.

It sounds like the "Your database couldn't be synchronized because the local copy has been reverted since the last sync." dialog is coming up pretty frequently. Is that correct? If so, that may be a clue: it really should be a 'once in a blue moon' sort of situation. If we can figure out why, that might help us prevent this.

I'm wondering what happens in the case where you have changes both on the server *and* on the local device and that dialog comes up. In that case, it would seem like either choice is going to throw out some of those changes. (Ken may have a hundred reasons why this isn't going to happen.)

The one case that I know can provoke that dialog is when multiple devices try to sync at the same time. Any chance that's happening?

[chidmf]

Ninja's emailed about the 'duplicate Miscellaneous' problem, not this one. It's only been a couple of days since I emailed about this one - they must be busy.

I'm not getting the 'local database reverted' message in this case, that I can tell. I have seen it before, but not the last two days.

I shouldn't be doing simultaneous syncing any more than anybody else (only an iPhone and a laptop are talking to the database, and doing their thing). Maybe I'm unconsciously provoking the devices to conflict?

Some details - I'm using an Edge iPhone. I do notice some folders with names like 'OmniFocus.ofocus-copy-in-progress-hXjTKd0fcik' in the iDisk Documents folders, along with the Omnifocus.ofocus file.

[chidmf]

Day 3's disaster.

OK, so I figure I'll not use my iPhone, surely if I work with the laptop at home and the desktop at work everything will merge perfectly.

NOT.

Changes I made at work today are NOT incorporated into the database at home, even after the 'reload your database' message.

In this case, I did sync my iPhone OF but didn't do any work on it. Turns out that it's now reflecting the up-to-date version that's on my office computer. But then after 'sync'ing (such as it is) at home, OF on my home computer does not incorporate the changes made today.

WTF? Any advice on how to diagnose?