Syncing between computers
I currently use another product to do much of what Papers seems to do. I am interested in switching, but I can't tell if papers will sync between computers (my desktop and my laptop). This is crucial for me in the way I work. When I look for syncing info, all I can see is syncing to mobile devices, but not computers. Does Papers 2 support this feature in some way?
32 Posted by jeff on 11 Mar, 2011 02:26 AM
I cannot get my iphone to sysc with papers2. My iPhone uses the same network (airport extreme) and my mac for wireless access. My IPhone doesn't showup in the device list.
What network, share, firewall settings do I need to use on my Mac? How are you connecting to the mac to sync?
thanks
jeff
33 Posted by slindqui on 11 Mar, 2011 05:17 AM
My problem is more simple than this discussion has turned. In 1.9.7, I never had a problem (not once) using SugarSync to sync the library. With 2.0, the database became corrupted and useless within 2 days; installed again and a similar problem not long after. This is not a problem with leaving one copy of Papers 2 open on one machine vs. on another. It seems that something changed in Papers 2 to make this form of syncing very unreliable
I personally don't mind that Papers 2 itself doesn't have built in sync; what I mind is that what worked before no longer seems to function properly (yes, I know it is unsupported, but when a commonly used workaround stops working, its time to find a new solution).
34 Posted by jni on 11 Mar, 2011 05:23 AM
@slindqui: I think you might have to sync both the Documents/Papers2 folder and the Library/Application Support/Papers2 folder. That works for me (using the Unison command line tool), I hope it works for you also.
35 Posted by Roman on 11 Mar, 2011 05:27 AM
HI!
I have a library import problem, or syncing problem.
I have a papers1 library on my old Mac. I recently got a new mac and now bought papers 2 for the new one and installed it there--now I really want to import my old library from the old mac, which is running papers 1, to the new mac , which is running papers 2.
I just don't know how to do it. tried a few things, nothing worked
please HELP!!!!!
36 Posted by Ricardo Leitao on 11 Mar, 2011 05:58 AM
I would recommend:
1) use a CD, pen-drive, dropbox or any other means to COPY your Papers 1 Library (located by default under you username/homefolder > Library > Application Support > Papers) into your new Mac. Place it anywhere you want (i don't think you need to copy it into the Application Support folder)
2) Open Papers 2 and follow the initial start up set-up. It will find your papers1 database and will ask you if you want to import it.
If you have already ran Paper2 as soon as you downloaded it then, on the new Mac, go to HomeFolder > Library > Application Support and delete the Papers2 folder. By doing so you will force the program to start as a fresh copy and follow you thru the initial set up. I hope it will see your Papers1 library and ask you to upgrade from it.
That should do it.
BTW, I believe the Papers2 library is just a bunch of UNIX shortcuts to the papers1 library and there is no way to consolidate them. You may have to keep the papers1 library around for a while or at least do not delete it without making a backup first!
Support Staff 37 Posted by charles on 11 Mar, 2011 06:02 AM
Hi Roman,
Ricardo has it close :-)
Best is to run Papers 1 on the new computer, though in theory you could get by with transfering just the library and the Papers1 prefs. However, you might as well do the following:
move your old Papers1 library to /Users/<your_name>/Documents/Papers (so the whole folder replaces it)
Start Papers2
Let me know if that works.
Charles
Support Staff 38 Posted by charles on 11 Mar, 2011 06:05 AM
The PDFs are hard-linked, which means we don't use more space on the hard drive indeed. We do not use 'shortcuts' which could be interpreted as soft links, since this is the term equivalent to soft links on Windows. If you delete one of the PDF on the Papers1 or Papers2 side, the other one remain. They basically are 2 separate files that happen to point to the same physical space on disk. This is the same trick used by Time Machine for instance.
Ricardo: thanks very much for chiming in to help, very much appreciated again!
39 Posted by Kun on 11 Mar, 2011 06:18 AM
Charles,
What if I rename a file in Papers2 library? Will the file in 1.x lib also get renamed?
Also if I highlighted on the file will that propagate?
40 Posted by Ricardo Leitao on 11 Mar, 2011 06:33 AM
@Charles, thanks for the info; I was afraid they would be Symbolic Links.
You guys are being slammed with emails and I don't mind to help if I think I know the answer to the question… It forces me to explore and learn more. If you think my answer are inadequate and will cause more damage than help let me know and I will stop.
41 Posted by slindqui on 11 Mar, 2011 11:10 AM
@Juan. Thanks. Could you explain further what you mean by "Unison command line tool"? I have since tagged the library/application support/papers2 folder to be synced between the two computers, hoping that this is on the right track.
Support Staff 42 Posted by charles on 11 Mar, 2011 03:34 PM
No, you're good.
In some cases, no, other yes. It depends if the PDF editor changes the file in place, or creates a new file to replace the previous one, at which point the file does not point to the same physical space on disk
Support Staff 43 Posted by charles on 11 Mar, 2011 03:36 PM
Keep going, very much appreciated! We all make mistakes and say inaccurate things, including us, that's unavoidable :-)
44 Posted by crzymke on 11 Mar, 2011 03:37 PM
On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 6:10 AM, slindqui <
[email blocked]> wrote:
45 Posted by jni on 11 Mar, 2011 05:03 PM
@slindqui: Oh, Unison is just a different sync tool, like SugarSync. Shouldn't matter which one you use.
46 Posted by Roman Ostermann on 12 Mar, 2011 12:31 AM
Thanx Charles!
What you suggestewd worked perfectly for me
best roman
47 Posted by grandbay on 12 Mar, 2011 02:27 AM
couldn't get Papers 2 to sync via Dropbox after repeated attempts. Have downgraded to Papers 1 and no problem.
48 Posted by grandbay on 12 Mar, 2011 02:27 AM
couldn't get Papers 2 to sync via Dropbox after repeated attempts. Have downgraded to Papers 1 and no problem.
49 Posted by a.jaffe on 17 Mar, 2011 04:30 PM
Hi,
Another request for computer-to-computer syncing, please!
Until then I would like to try the dropbox way. It would be great if you would post some explicit instructions. In particular:
Andrew
Support Staff 50 Posted by charles on 17 Mar, 2011 04:46 PM
The whole Papers2 folder.
The irreversible kind :-)
Dropbox keeps old versions for up to 30 days (or unlimited in some cases), so that's a comfort at least.
There are also 2 issues that should be better handled next week with the 2.0.2 update:
An issue that is inherent to Dropbox: you have to wait for all the files to sync even after you quit Papers2 and Manuscripts
Because of these issues, we cannot fully support this syncing method, so please take extra steps to ensure proper backups in addition to Dropbox (best for this is Time Machine).
Hope that help!
charles
51 Posted by Chris on 20 Mar, 2011 07:16 AM
I am having the same problems syncing a single library between two computers (my MacBook and my iMac.) Other Mac software, such as 1Password, have easily implemented syncing document libraries across multiple computers using Dropbox. Is this feature on the roadmap for Papers2?
Thanks,
Chris
52 Posted by Norman French on 22 Mar, 2011 05:39 PM
I have a similar question to the ones above: With Papers 1, I was able to sync my library folder between two computers with Windows Live Mesh. Now I'm having all kinds of problems getting the Papers2 libraries to figure out which documents are more recent. Someone above suggested syncing "both the Documents/Papers2 folder and the Library/Application Support/Papers2 folder." Is that indeed necessary? Or counter-productive? I'm just worried that I'm losing papers in the shuffle...
53 Posted by Tanya on 22 Mar, 2011 10:08 PM
I am using dropbox as the location of my library. Each computer syncs to the drop box. Added references at home will be at work and vice versa. Could not find a way to do this with mobile me but dropbox is free.
54 Posted by slindqui on 22 Mar, 2011 10:57 PM
@ Norman. I followed Juan's advice in syncing both (I'm using SugarSync because the free Dropbox is too small for my needs, but Sugar sync gives more space and is also free). I had gotten corrupted databases before, perhaps because of syncing and determing the most recent versions. This dual syncing seems to have worked just fine. The only oddity since has been that each time I run Papers2 on the opposite machine I was using before, it asks to "activate" the serial number again (not a problem since it involves just clicking a button, albeit a little annoying). Practically, then, just about every day I "activate" it on the work machine and have to reactivate on the home one when I return.
55 Posted by Jesse on 23 Mar, 2011 07:34 AM
@ Wayne Walker
I use my Dropbox account to sync Papers1 at work and at home. This works great for me. All you have to do is set the Papers library somewhere in your dropbox folder on both computers. That's it.
I want to try it Papers2, but my home computer has 10.5.8 so Papers2 doesn't work on it (Grr, don't get me started.)
56 Posted by grandbay on 23 Mar, 2011 08:19 AM
I used dropbox too to sync Papers2 on 2 computers but the odd article would disappear after I'd imported it. I could always find it in the Papers2 folder inside dropbox but I'd have to reimport it all over again. Too risky...
57 Posted by bhatara on 24 Mar, 2011 02:23 PM
@ Charles. Great to hear the team is working on the re-activation problem (that running the same libraries from 2 different computers require reactivation of the license at each switch) but I've upgraded to 2.02 and am still having the same problem; I haven't had any trouble accessing my library on either computer, but I still have to reactivate the license every time. Is there anything in the settings that needs to be changed?
58 Posted by Axel on 24 Mar, 2011 02:24 PM
Hey,
still with Version 2.0.2 I have the reactivate problem after I copied my library from one computer to another via usb disk. I read that schould be solved after Update to 2.0.2. My work around worked perfectly in 1.9 and I can live with that way of keeping my libraries up to date on different computers. However, what should I do? Rebuild my library from Papers1 and than try again?
Thanks,
Axel
Support Staff 59 Posted by charles on 24 Mar, 2011 09:14 PM
It should only do it once, the first time. Could you let me know if that's indeed the case? Thanks for your patience!
60 Posted by grandbay on 24 Mar, 2011 09:16 PM
you need to activate every time with 2.0.2
Support Staff 61 Posted by charles on 24 Mar, 2011 09:38 PM
The confusion comes from the fact that newly created libraries are now in Application Support (to comply better with Apple's guidelines), but imported libraries from PApers1 are created next to the PApers1 library, typically in ~/Documents. You should only need to have the one indeed used by Papers2 in your case.
Note that PApers2 tend to create an empty library in Application Support even for migrations, but you can safely ignore it.