The Omni Group
These forums are now read-only. Please visit our new forums to participate in discussion. A new account will be required to post in the new forums. For more info on the switch, see this post. Thank you!

Go Back   The Omni Group Forums > OmniOutliner > OmniOutliner for iPad
FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

 
The challenge of syncing OmniOutliner—solved! Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
If you just want some barebones checklist maker with Dropbox sync, no doubt you can obtain a number of them already.
OO is NOT a barebones checklist maker. I already have OF, Things, Pomodoro, and Clear for that.

OO is an a phenominal outlining tool for creating knowledge bases. Adding frills like attachments just bogs it down. It DOES have the ability to handle clickable URLs, and that is cool; but that type of code does not take up the enormous storage footprint that attachments do.

You imply attachments has been a core feature of the program for years. I wonder how many people use it. A poll would be informative.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by santra View Post
OO is NOT a barebones checklist maker. I already have OF, Things, Pomodoro, and Clear for that.
I didn't say it was. However, stripping out things like attachments makes it that much closer to being one.
Quote:
OO is an a phenominal outlining tool for creating knowledge bases. Adding frills like attachments just bogs it down. It DOES have the ability to handle clickable URLs, and that is cool; but that type of code does not take up the enormous storage footprint that attachments do.
The storage footprint is only as big as the attachments you choose to add. Maybe attachments should be removed from OmniFocus, because someone might attach a large file? :rolleyes:

Here's a great use of attachments with outlining: taking notes on a presentation. You record the audio as you outline, and refer back to it later if you missed something. Of course, you're allowed multiple attachments, so you don't have to scrub back and forth through a 90 minute presentation trying to find some point, you just look in the section you recorded for that section of the outline. Potential objection: OmniOutliner for iPad doesn't record audio. Answer: no, but OmniOutliner Pro for Mac does, and OmniOutliner for iPad can play it back.

Quote:
You imply attachments has been a core feature of the program for years. I wonder how many people use it. A poll would be informative.
It'd only tell you what the people who can be bothered to answer the poll think. I can't remember seeing a poll on the Omni forums that has gotten more than about 2 dozen responses.

Attachments came out in OmniOutliner 3.0, which shipped in January of 2005.

I make extensive use of OmniOutliner and its ability to do attachments in testing all of Omni's products, though that certainly isn't the only use I make of it. It's a better tool for the job than anything on your list. That you characterize OmniOutliner as a simple program suggests you don't use most of its power, and would probably suggest jettisoning other features as well.
 
I don't use attachments all the time, but when I do, I'm incredibly glad I have the option. There are times when it extends OO's capabilities for me WAY beyond that of other outliners. So I, for one, would hate to see it gone.
 
I remember reading that omni is waiting on apple to resolve something with iCloud and pointed to iWork docs no having full sync (although plenty of 3rd parties app do). Maybe now that it looks like iWork will have a real doc sync with mountain lion, if the issue is resolved.

Frankly, however, I've pretty much abandoned OO. Maybe doc sync will win me back over but I think it is more of a confidence issue now. Plaintext + markdown can provide rudimentary hierarchy (very rudimentary) but at least you're not stuck in a format that does keep up with the tech (or even seem to be in the race).
 
Hi just wondering if there is any progress on omnioutliner synching. To be honest the present method, using omnisync server, works but I often end up with out of sync copies because I do not have time or am too rushed to do the necessary steps.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dwbrown77 View Post
Hi just wondering if there is any progress on omnioutliner synching. To be honest the present method, using omnisync server, works but I often end up with out of sync copies because I do not have time or am too rushed to do the necessary steps.
We haven't given up on other approaches, but we decided that they're taking too long and we can't wait (or ask you to wait) forever—so we're now building our own automatic sync implementation which will work with the Omni Sync Server and other WebDAV servers. We hope this approach will bear fruit in a few months.
 
I agree with Santra - the ability to sync attachments between Mac and iPad is in OO is a 20% problem.

Why not disable the ability to sync using iCloud if attachments are in the doc, enable it if the aren't? Doesn't mean you can't continue to work on the ultimate solution, but at least 80% of user stories will be covered.

Really looking for a way for this to happen... otherwise, OO on the iPad was a waste of money for me.

BTW - I use Dropbox to sync all of my OP, OG, and OO files between Macs. Not one problem.

Cheers,

Steve
 
I was using the iDisk syncing for a while and it worked fine, but now, of course, it is no longer around. I tried the OO WebDAV thing and found that it is not convenient and I often end up with multiple copies of files.

I use Dropbox and it works well for my other needs. I really feel that this would be the most convenient option.
 
Ken and team,

This is a really old school method of achieving what you guys seem to be looking for. I'll bet that your team has already considered and rejected this, but here goes just in case:

Does iCloud, etc have an atomic rename operation?

In old-time cluster management, one way we achieved an atomic update of an entire directory's worth of information is to temporarily double the amount of storage required by making a duplicate copy. Then we sync with the inactive copy, performing many unique file operations that are not atomic. Once done, we'd perform a single atomic operation to rename (or move) the newly sync'd directory into the official location of the data, displacing the old, un-sync'd version. (Which can be kept around for backup purposes.)

There may be a concern that while syncing a mobile database, a desktop user may commit changes to the original copy. You can implement a "lock" of the original data by renaming the original data directory immediately before duplicating. Making the original copy unavailable in its expected location makes it "read only" so that changes won't appear during the sync'ing process.

I recognize this may not be trivial for you all, but I'd love to see it happen. I used to be an OmniOutliner user, but switched to TaskPaper for two reasons: 1) Braindead sync'ing over Dropbox, 2) Clients for all three of OSX, iPad and iPhone, allowing me to make changes wherever I am, with whatever device I happen to have at the time. OO's lack of iPhone client forced me to consider other options. I'd love to come back to the OO fold some day in the future!
 
As I understand it, the issue is that there isn't any guarantee that all of those manipulations appear in the same order somewhere else. You could end up with the new directory before it was fully populated. More at http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=21028
 
 


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
MobileMe "Root Transactions" problems [SOLVED: caused by iDisk syncing, see sticky.] codog24 iDisk/MobileMe/.Mac Syncing 27 2009-09-01 05:21 PM
My iTouch data is not syncing [SOLVED] Night_Sailor OmniFocus Syncing 2 2009-04-25 05:11 PM
[SOLVED] new update gives me eternal syncing DonLivingston OmniFocus Syncing 27 2008-09-04 07:23 AM
SOLVED: iphone items NOT syncing to mac Devo777 OmniFocus Syncing 5 2008-07-29 12:42 PM
SOLVED: Not syncing from iPhone > iDisk > Mac Roll OmniFocus for iPhone 13 2008-07-27 09:04 AM


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:02 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.