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OmniFocus on Multiple Computers [USB, iDisk, .Mac, Syncing] Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Patriot,

Yes, though note that that's not how everybody does it; future releases of OF seem likely to have synching built in.

But amongst those who use that method, the success rate is high. Good luck!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by HowardP View Post
Seems like your method would simplify what I have finally figured out. Can you please explain how to put shortcuts to the folders on the sidebar. Also, once you do that how do you drag and drop the files? Thanks.
This method assumes that your Macs are connected to one another on a network.

1. On my iMac, I created a folder named iMacOmni (OK, OK, no points for being clever). I moved my OF file to it and then in OF preferences, redirected OF to look for the file in that location.

2. On my MacBook, I created a folder named MacBookOmni, put a copy of my OF file in it, and in OF preferences redirected OF to look for the file in MacBookOmni.

3. In Finder on my iMac, I left-click-dragged the iMacOmni folder to the sidebar and dropped it there. (While you are dragging and dropping onto the sidebar, OSX draws a line to show where the folder will go).

4. Again in Finder on my iMac, I navigated to my MacBook, located the MacBookOmni folder, and left-click dragged the folder to the sidebar ON MY IMAC. The MacBook shows up under "Shared" on my iMac and vice versa on the MacBook.

5. On my MacBook, I repeated Steps 3 and 4, only, of course, this time the MacBookOmni folder was on the MacBook HD while I had to navigate through the network to grab the iMacOmni folder.

6. Close OF on both machines before copying! With Finder set to display file details (the finder icon with three parallel lines), on either Mac, I can see which is the most recent version of my OF file and drag it to the sidebar folder for the machine I'm going to be using next. It takes less than 2 minutes to copy the most recent OF file from one machine to another. I copy rather than move, so I always get the dialog box asking me to confirm whether I want to replace the file on the target machine. No biggie.

7. Once in a while, for reasons I cannot figure out, the copy process does not complete and the older version of the OF file opens on the target machine. Easy fix: just delete the OLD version on the target machine and repeat the copy/drag process of the newer version from the source machine.

HOWEVER, this means that if I'm going to go out the door with my MacBook, it's always a good idea to fire up OF on the MacBook before leaving the house to make sure the most recent version in fact safely made the trip.

Back up frequently and you can't go too far wrong. Hope this helps!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jody Severson View Post
This method assumes that your Macs are connected to one another on a network.

1. On my iMac, I created a folder named iMacOmni (OK, OK, no points for being clever). I moved my OF file to it and then in OF preferences, redirected OF to look for the file in that location.

2. On my MacBook, I created a folder named MacBookOmni, put a copy of my OF file in it, and in OF preferences redirected OF to look for the file in MacBookOmni.

3. In Finder on my iMac, I left-click-dragged the iMacOmni folder to the sidebar and dropped it there. (While you are dragging and dropping onto the sidebar, OSX draws a line to show where the folder will go).

4. Again in Finder on my iMac, I navigated to my MacBook, located the MacBookOmni folder, and left-click dragged the folder to the sidebar ON MY IMAC. The MacBook shows up under "Shared" on my iMac and vice versa on the MacBook.

5. On my MacBook, I repeated Steps 3 and 4, only, of course, this time the MacBookOmni folder was on the MacBook HD while I had to navigate through the network to grab the iMacOmni folder.

6. Close OF on both machines before copying! With Finder set to display file details (the finder icon with three parallel lines), on either Mac, I can see which is the most recent version of my OF file and drag it to the sidebar folder for the machine I'm going to be using next. It takes less than 2 minutes to copy the most recent OF file from one machine to another. I copy rather than move, so I always get the dialog box asking me to confirm whether I want to replace the file on the target machine. No biggie.

7. Once in a while, for reasons I cannot figure out, the copy process does not complete and the older version of the OF file opens on the target machine. Easy fix: just delete the OLD version on the target machine and repeat the copy/drag process of the newer version from the source machine.

HOWEVER, this means that if I'm going to go out the door with my MacBook, it's always a good idea to fire up OF on the MacBook before leaving the house to make sure the most recent version in fact safely made the trip.

Back up frequently and you can't go too far wrong. Hope this helps!
Thanks very much. I am going to follow your directions and hopefully everything should work out fine. This seems like a simpler and more intuitive way to do what I have been doing to transfer the OF files between my iMac and MacBook.

The only thing I do not understand is step 6. I am not sure what the 3 parallel lines are and how you know which is is the latest version.

Again, thanks for your help.
 
Sorry, Howard. Sloppy writing on my part. By "three little lines" I mean the icon in Finder that toggles on the "list view" of files. That view in turn shows the date and time the file was modified. You may not have Finder's list view set to show the file modification date and time. If not, the Finder menu View / show view options will give you the choice.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by luxesto View Post
bluefire, i've just read this entire thread and your solution seems most applicable to my situation -- home mac, office mac and traveling laptop -- your implementation of the automator app would make this most elegant for me, but unfortunately, i don't know how do do so ... might you post instructions for some of us less initiated/gifted users? many thanks!
Ok, Luxesto, sorry it took longer than I thought it would to get around to this.

Here's what I've got. Keep in mind this is the first time I've ever used Automator for anything so this is very simple! And if anyone has suggestions for improvement, do share.

First, you want your thumb drive plugged in so Automator can find the path when we want to reference it.

Laptop to Thumb Drive workflow:
- Open Automator and choose Custom workflow
- Under "Library", click on Files & Folders
- In the next pane, double-click on Get Specified Finder Items
- In the Get Specified Finder Items block, click Add...
- Navigate to the location of your Omnifocus database. The default is ~/Library/Application Support/OmniFocus/OmniFocus.ofocus
- Choose the database (OmniFocus.ofocus) and the Perspectives folder and click Add [*You could also choose the OmniFocus folder that contains those two items, but if you choose the folder then you will also always be transferring the lock status of the file]
- Go back to the Actions area, and double-click Copy Finder Items (in the same pane where you selected Get Specified Finder Items)
- Choose the location where you want your files copied. In our case, it should be to your thumb drive; you'll likely have to click "other" and then navigate to your thumb drive.
- Click "Replace Existing Files". This will overwrite whatever you already have there, which shouldn't be an issue in the situation described.
- Under "Options", I have "Show this action when the workflow runs" checked, but this is your choice. It means when I run the workflow, I get a box that says "continue" when it starts copying over the files. If the box remains unchecked, the workflow will run to the end without any prompt or notification.
- That's it! You can save the workflow and test it out and be sure it's doing what you want it to do. After you're sure, you can then open it again in Automator, then Save As and change the file format to Application. This way you can have the application in a handy location (desktop?) and when you click on the app, it runs rather than opening in Automator.

To create the application that takes the OF database from the thumb drive and puts it back on your computer, you would basically create a new workflow and add the same steps in the same order as above, but at the beginning reference the OF database & perspective folders on your thumb drive, and at the end have them copy to your laptop database location.

My only word of caution is to make sure the application names, once you save them as such, are noticeably different, or in different locations. This method is so simple that you don't have to think much about it, and if icons are right next to each other and the names are very similar (such as: "OF db to work" vs "OF db from work") you might inadvertently click the wrong one. Of course, I say this from experience, when one day in a rush I accidentally clicked on the wrong app because their names looked very similar. Because my workflow overwrites anything already in the destination, I overwrote a later version with an earlier one. Luckily, my OF database backups existed, but I had to wait till I got back to the computer with the most recent backup before all was right again. And of course I changed the application names so now I can't confuse them!

Hope that helped,
blue
 
Okay ... here is a new wrinkle ... SugarSync.com

I started playing with it last week. It does a great job of syncing the OmniFocus and Bento databases (as well as the rest of my files) It comes with a price though. $5 a month for 30 gigs. It keeps things synced with my MacBook Air, Office PC, and MacBook Pro however with no issue.

As to OmniFocus I've relocated my database to the Documents folder, although that is really not necessary and actually part of my prior chronosync workflow. Now everytime the file changes, SugarSync puts it up to the cloud and down to my other mac just about as fast as I can walk across the room to the other machine.

I haven't decided whether I'm going to commit to pay the $5 per month but right now it is really tempting.

David

www.macsparky.com
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chichimeco View Post
I am new to the forum, so I apologize if this is a repeat. Will it also work to
1)Back up the database in Computer A to a thumb drive
2) Quit OF in Computer A
3) Insert thumb drive in Computer B, start OF and Revert to Database.
4) Repeat process when back from a trip to update computer A?
I do this all the time, but I use my .mac idisc as the storage location. A script to do all this for me would be dandy, but I'm lazy.
 
Hi, I'm just tryiong to sync via ChronoSync between desktop and laptop. However, whatever I try, I always get the message on my laptop computer that "this copy of OmniFocus is not licensed". OF is not running on the desktop when I launch it. What is the reason? I tried copying all from desktop 2 laptop, or new install, to no avail.

Tried copying the Application Support Folder, preferences, didn't work. Without preferences, didn't work.

(OF is still in trial mode - but if syncing works, I'm ready to buy. If not, or too complicated, I won't. I'll only use ChronoSync because that is part of my workflow already, and I don't have a .Mac account as it offers too little space for me to be even remotely useful.)
 
Lizard - is there an estimated time frame for 1.1 launch - general - days, weeks, months?
 
It'll appear around the same time that Apple's App Store for iPhone goes live. Sorry to be so vague, but there are Non-Disclosure Agreements at play, so we have to be careful.

Oh, dear - I was out sick last week, and forgot that we actually announced the sneaky peeks of OmniFocus 1.1 already!

Interested parties can sign up here.

Last edited by Brian; 2008-07-08 at 12:14 PM..
 
 


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