Syncing without Dropbox?

[tinksquared]

Is it possible to sync between my desktop and my laptop without Dropbox?

[Mark]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

Reunion 11 and Reuniontouch only sync via Dropbox. Do you have specific concerns about using Dropbox to sync?

[tinksquared]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

No, I simply wanted to get rid of it. Thanks.

[David Walton]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

Simple answer is, yes and I use Google Drive iMac to Macbook Pro but:

1. You need reasonable upload/download speeds.

2. Your familyfile is a folder and can easily contain several thousand files so upload speed is important - download is not, usually, an issue.

3. With Google Drive and other services make sure that your familyfile is ticked for sync in Preferences.

4. Be patient, you can easily close Reunion before sync completes.

5. If your internet connection is slow then consider copying from the sync'd file to your Reunion folder ie. don't run the live sync familyfile but rather a copy.

If you had no problems with Dropbox then unlikely that you would have issues with the alternatives.

Dave

[tinksquared]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

Thank you David. I wanted to avoid syncing via the internet period, and was hoping for wifi sync.

[David Walton]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

Take a look at rsync and Automator. Built into OSX and rsync should do what you want across the WLAN.

Dave

[Mark]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

Just a note of correction: I misunderstood and thought you were talking about syncing between Reunion 11 and Reuniontouch on an iPad/iPhone.

As others have mentioned, you can sync between Macs using other methods - but we only officially support syncing via Dropbox.

[Robin Helmond]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

Take a look at rsync and Automator. Built into OSX and rsync should do what you want across the WLAN.

Dave

Dave, could you supply some more details, or a site where I could learn how. I used to use Dropbox until an important family member objected to having all our family data in the cloud. I would like to be able to sync between our iMac and MBP.

[Bob White]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

No reason to use Automator and rsync (whatever that is) to do a very simple task. Beside, you are not really after live syncing because you only work with one device at a time.

In the old days, I used the "tennis shoe" method. e.g. Copy onto a disk (floppy then Zip then CD then DVD sequentially over the years) then run to other Mac and copy into other Mac. For awhile, I used DropCopy Pro to move files via WiFi. When AirDrop was invented, I have used that ever since.

BTW, your files are far more secure in the cloud than they are in your own house. But I will not get on that soapbox right now!

[Dennis J. Cunniff]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

BTW, your files are far more secure in the cloud than they are in your own house.

Secure against theft, perhaps, but there are other fates.

Data is only as secure as the entity you've trusted them to. See, for example, The New York Times, 29 July 2016, "The Blog That Disappeared".

Don't give the cloud your only copy of anything.

[David Walton]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

Dave, could you supply some more details, or a site where I could learn how. I used to use Dropbox until an important family member objected to having all our family data in the cloud. I would like to be able to sync between our iMac and MBP.

The thread has extended to file transfer, backup and sync. This article is an overview for rsync:

http://www.chriswrites.com/how-to-sync-files-and-folders-on-the-mac/

Dave

[Gregg]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

This thread has extended to file transfer, backup and sync.

Dave is correct.

Just to clarify a few things about syncing and Reunion...

If you are accessing your family file using multiple Macs, the family file should only be opened on one Mac at a time. IOW: No matter which method you use to sync your Reunion family file between multiple Macs, that shared family file should never be opened at the same time (using Reunion on more than one Mac). "Syncing" in this situation (using a file-sharing service) is done at the level of a complete file -- your family file. You can use Dropbox or other file-sharing services. If Reunion detects that you're attempting to open a family file on multiple Macs, it will render a warning message preventing you from doing so.

However, the above scenario is much different than the syncing between Reunion for Mac and ReunionTouch on a mobile device. In this case, you can open and edit a family file in Reunion on your Mac while that same file is open and being edited on one or more mobile devices in ReunionTouch. Changes made in Reunion or ReunionTouch will be synced to one another. For syncing between Reunion and ReunionTouch, Dropbox is required.

[David Walton]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

Is it possible to sync between my desktop and my laptop without Dropbox?

Robin & tinksquared
Using rsync is not trivial. It is accessible through the Terminal and can be setup with all sorts of options. This forum is not the place to go through all the possibilities but a basic example using SSH and assuming an iMac (test folder on Desktop) as the source with a MacBook Pro as the target (bloggs folder on Desktop). A simple text file in the test folder and bloggs can be empty as follows:

1. On the laptop System Preferences then Sharing - tick Remote login.

2. Note your remote login e.g. your_name@nnn.nnn.n.n (where nnn... is the IP)

3. Use a password and keep it safe.

3. Best to use 'Only these users', click + and add your name from the the list.

4. Close Sharing

Finished, make sure the laptop is on and not sleeping.

On your iMac,

1. Open Terminal

2. At the prompt
rsync -avzr --delete /Users/user_name/Desktop/test/ -e ssh your_name@nnn.nnn.n.n:/Users/user_name/Desktop/bloggs/
That is all one line, a space after ssh i.e. ...ssh your_name... and nnn... is the IP taken from the laptop's Sharing setup panel. Your Sharing password will be requested. You can use ~ in the above.

Your dummy text file will sync in the bloggs folder on your target laptop's desktop. Sync back then you would need Sharing to be set up on the iMac. Above is a one way example. Automator can script the above as an app with whatever you want to run etc.

[Joe Finnegan]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

Is it possible to sync between my desktop and my laptop without Dropbox?

Even easier, and also already built in to our Macs, why not just share the folder that contains your familyfile (let's say on your iMac) with your MBP? The cautions are: (1) you're not using ReunionTouch on a mobile device, and (2) you don't access the familyfile from the iMac and the MBP at the same time. In this case, you're not synching two files - there is only one file, and it's shared on your home network

Joe

[tinksquared]

Re: Syncing without Dropbox?

Wow, lots of options! I will research these. I do use reunion talk as well, so perhaps I should just leave my Reunion file in dropbox.