warning: plain text deleted all files in dropbox!

[plain user]

hi there,

i still face massive problems mit plain text (as written several times before):

1) even after several updates, re-installations and unlinking/linking to dropbox i still have problems with plain text generating "conflicted copies" on all my devices (as several users also wrote in recent itunes reviews)

2) two days ago, adding a new note caused deletion of almost all files and folders in my dropbox (not only the files generated by plain text or in the sub-folder for plain text!!! (only shared folders installed by others seem to be untouched and not deleted)

this isn't only annoying but very dangerous. thx to god, dropbox has the option to restore deleted files, but that took me about 2 hours.

regards,

m

[plain user]

ok, no reply after two weeks, this seems not to be as important to plain text as it was to me?

m

[Grey Burkart]

Sorry, but it sounds like you never got any of the messages I sent you following your posts (11/28/2011 12:39pm EST, 5/15/2012 9:32am, 5/18/2012 11:32am). Could you check your spam box?

A brief summary (it being a national holiday today and all):

Conflicted copies can be avoided by a.) waiting until the sync (on launch, or between folders, etc) has finished before editing or switching documents especially on 3G or similar connection speeds, b.) only editing files in a single location at a time, c.) making sure your device clocks are synced with your other computers and Dropbox's servers, and d.) not forcing a sync after PlainText has just crashed.

While I don't know what caused Dropbox to send a DELETE command to your other files, it could theoretically be caused by renaming or moving the sync folder in another location. Without more information on what might have changed, I'm not able to reproduce this. If you find my previous messages, they have several questions that would help me out.

I apologize for the issues; given this history though, perhaps PlainText is not the best app for your setup.

On Monday, May 28, 2012 at 4:32 PM, plain user wrote:

The content of the message has not been downloaded yet.

[plain user]

hi grey,

thanks for your reply, didn't find anything in the spam folder. so please send me your questions again.

the problem with the conflicted copies could result from the synced devices clocks, as i'm travelling abroad a lot and sometimes my computer at homes stays on (although it is not used than). all devices are either iOS or MacOS. is this a plain text issue or dropbox? because it never happens to other files in the dropbox.

i used plain text a lot (and recommended it to many friends and co-workers). when the deletion of the files happened i was not abroad (so no change of time zone) and i saved a new file. by accident (actually, i don't know why) it was not saved in the "notes" folder but in the root folder of my dropbox.

when i accessed my computer at home a couple of days later, i saw the growl messages that around 4000 files have been deleted... panic!

[Grey Burkart]

Thanks for the reply, very helpful in building up a few test scenarios on my end.

I'll just post the items here in case anyone else can add to this:

1. In the Dropbox Events tab, when are the timestamps of when your account registered the deletions? (The followup to that was: were you on the road at the time, but you answered that already!)

2. Were you syncing to the Dropbox root folder or just a single directory like /PlainText (also answered)

3. Did you delete any documents at all that day? Better yet, did you delete or move any folders in your Dropbox?

4. Were you saving the file in a shared folder?

5. If you're using PlainText on 3G/EDGE speeds, do you generally have a solid signal or is it rather spotty?

6. Do you use VPNs or have other special restrictions on your internet access for your device?

As a note about where your file was saved: It's on our buglist to fix, but here's a known issue that would explain that: When PlainText is force-quit or is terminated in the background by iOS (to free up memory for active apps), it can forget its location history if you're deep inside of folders. On the next launch it should open into the last folder as expected, but tapping the 'back' button will send you to the topmost level (in your case, Dropbox root) instead of the next folder up.

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[ronjon m. sarcar]

3. i think i deleted some files in dropbox that day (files within the plaintext folder).

4. no.

5. i used 3g around that date, but the signal was good.

6. no.

i understand the freeing-memory issue, that could have happened.

thx again

[Grey Burkart]

Hrmm. Thanks for those answers. I'm still not sure what caused the DELETE signal to send or from which end, but hopefully we have more to go on now; we also need to see if we can incorporate several new Dropbox API changes anyways, which may help. Just to be cautious, if it's possible I'd recommend *not* syncing with Dropbox root if you can still get the job done that way. Again, I'm sorry about these issues, and thanks for getting back to me on all these points.

[ronjon m. sarcar]

Hi Grey,

thanks for your help. I normally do not sync in the dropbox root, it was just because the new file was stored there (maybe because of iOS freeing memory?). one of the few files still left in the dropbox was the file which was placed in the root by mistake. i'm not sure, whether i tried to move it, but i don't think so.

btw: i removed the 1* feedback from itunes.

m