Dear
I just tested a demo of your software and it seems this software has the potential to cost me a lot of money. I'd like to share the risk that I see:
- Go to your google drive, and upload (using web interface) a blank word document "test.docx". Then sync the local folder and make sure the document shows up.
- Now go to your google drive
- Pick the test.docx file, right click and say "open with -> google documents"
- Now type some text on the top of this document for example "THIS DOCUMENT IS EDITED ONLINE"
- Close this document
- In your google drive a file is added "test" (which is a gdoc).
- Force a sync to your local folder with your application.
- Note how the newly created file (the gdoc) isn't showing up. Also note how when you open "text.docx" locally, all changes made online, don't show up.
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To take this even a step further:
- Go to your google drive and rename the gdoc "test" to "test - online changes"
- Again, force a sync to your local folder
- The file shows up properly in the local folder on the PC. However when you open it, half the time, the file is blank.
- Go back to google drive and rename the gdoc file from "test - online changes" back to "test"
- Again, force a sync... note how you now have suddenly 3 files in your google drive:
"test" (the google doc)
"test - online changes" (a docx)
"test.docx"
In your offline folder you only have two files:
"test.docx"
and "test - online changes.docx"
However!
- Note that if you open "test.docx" online, it is blank
- But if you open 'the same file' locally from your PC's folder, you *will see* the text "THIS DOCUMENT IS EDITED ONLINE"
- And when you locally open the file "test - online changes.docx", the file is blank... which is unexpected.
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These are just logical problems that arise from how your software handles files and I think with minor adjustment, it would't "break" the sync:
In my regard a simple solution to this problem would be:
Whenever you download an online gdoc file, download it as ".gdoc.docx" (so for example download the online gdoc file "test", locally as "test.gdoc.docx"
Also, make sure from within the software that if you upload a ".gdoc.docx" file, that it is uploaded and converted to a gdoc when uploaded.
I don't know the internal workings of your program, but from a distance, it seems that this would solve the above problem.
This software has the great feature that it does download gdocs and make them offline available. And for this, I think the software is worth its money.
It's not really a bug what I listed here, but more an unfortunate behavior, coming from the way the software handles the files.
Then agin: personally, I do consider this behavior to be too dangerous to use the software.
I'd very much like to be informed when this behavior is fixed.
With regards,
Andy