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I recently discovered that OmniFocus allows me to attach files to my actions by importing them directly into the database. I can see several situations where this would be quite useful for me, but I'm afraid of what it might do to my iPod Touch sync times (over WebDAV).

Is it a good practice for me to do this?

Is the OmniFocus database built in a way that the iPhone/iPod Touch app can identify and ignore such files without downloading them from the server?

Thanks!
 
Whether or not it is a good practice depends on whether or not you need to have direct access to those files (on a remote OmniFocus client). If you don't need access, then linking the files would be a better choice for keeping your sync times down (especially so if the files are files that OmniFocus on the iPod Touch/iPhone cannot display). If on the other hand you would find it useful to be able to reference the files on your portable device, it might be worth a somewhat longer sync time. I believe that the data is only moved once, not every time you do a sync, so as long as you don't attach so many files that OmniFocus runs out of memory on the iPhone/iPod, the impact may not be very great. Bear in mind that I have no hands-on experience with those devices, only with sync between OmniFocus desktop clients, so I cannot guarantee this happy state of affairs.

I am reasonably certain that OmniFocus makes every effort to keep your database on all devices identical given the absence of any user interface allowing you to configure it otherwise. You can sync OmniFocus between desktop clients, so clearly any attached files need to be sent to the repository. Theoretically, Omni could provide a means for you to specify which attachments you would be willing to have uploaded to your iPhone/Touch, but that now means that your database there is no longer a complete copy, and in the case of a sync problem where it asked which version to keep, answering "local" on the mobile device would cause some of your data to go up in smoke, perhaps unnecessarily.

Assuming that OmniFocus on the iPhone/Touch allows you to follow a link in the notes field of an action, you could store documents you wanted to access in this fashion on your personal web site and just put links to them in your OF database. The links will get synced around, and you'll still have access to the files through them without having to store them on the mobile device.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
Theoretically, Omni could provide a means for you to specify which attachments you would be willing to have uploaded to your iPhone/Touch, but that now means that your database there is no longer a complete copy, and in the case of a sync problem where it asked which version to keep, answering "local" on the mobile device would cause some of your data to go up in smoke, perhaps unnecessarily.
You're right, I didn't consider that situation.
Still, I'm not even sure if the iPhone version of OmniFocus displays such attachments or clippings. I haven't tried either of them yet.
 
Many attachments or large attachments will have a significant effect on sync performance, mostly for the initial sync after an attachment is added.

In addition, the iPhone/iPod touch is a very constrained device. It's an impressive platform, but it does not have anywhere near the performance of even a slow modern desktop, and it is very limited in memory, to list a couple of constraints. Many attachments or large attachments can dramatically affect performance in accessing the corresponding items, and can effectively block access if the attachment size is enough to starve the system of memory.

I would say that it's fine to have the occasional attachment, but avoid having very many of them, and avoid attaching large documents.
 
Thank you for clearing that out. :)
I'm only adding a few small pdf files — in the 20 to 50kb range — so I don't think I'll have a problem. :)
 
One possible solution for the attachment issue (and large quantities of text in a notes field) is discussed in this thread:

http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthre...0387#post50387

To summarise - make it work the way that Mail does for attachments and HTML e-mails. Don't download the content (attachment) or all the content (HTML/large quantities of text) from the server until the user chooses to do so. The one limitation would be that this is restricted to WebDAV synch'ers only.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKT View Post
To summarise - make it work the way that Mail does for attachments and HTML e-mails. Don't download the content (attachment) or all the content (HTML/large quantities of text) from the server until the user chooses to do so. The one limitation would be that this is restricted to WebDAV synch'ers only.
That is great, but it has one inherent problem —*the database present on the iPhone is no longer complete, so it becomes impossible to replace the database on the server with the local one. This can be a big issue if there is an error on the server database and your most recent changes are on the iPhone.
 
 


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