Archicad 23 Start page triggers Dropbox sync frenzy

[joimagg]

Hello, I have one issue with the Archicad 23 Start Page, more specifically "Recent Projects".

I am using Dropbox "Smart Sync" that saves disk space by making files "online-only" that have not been opened recently.

When I open Archicad 23 Start page, the list of recent projects triggers a sync frenzy in Dropbox, it starts to download all the PLN files that are in "Recent Projects" including its attached library files. It takes Archicad wont open before Dropbox has finished syncing, which can take up to 10 minutes depending on my internet connection. On top of that, the PLN files are taking up space on my hard drive.

Would it be possible to see the list of recent projects without kicking of this chain reaction in Dropbox?

Kind Regards,
Johann

[vistasp]

Does this still happen if you remove those files from the recent projects list?

[Minh Nguyen]

Hi Johann,

Thank you for sharing the issue and I am sorry about the experience!

From my experience, at startup, Archicad will check the information of the files listed under Recent Projects, to make sure that at least they are there. This verification seems to make Dropbox think that the file is needed, which triggers the synchronization that you have here.

I suggest contacting Dropbox about this in order to find out how their algorithm work. Unfortunately, we do not have any information about this Smart Sync from Dropbox.

Thank you for your understanding! If you have any further questions, feel free to let me know!

Best regards,
Minh

P/s: although this may not be relevant to the issue here, I would suggest avoiding saving Archicad files directly to folders synchronized with the cloud, as it could lead to data loss

[joimagg]

No it doesnt. But project quickly pile up in the recent projects.

vistasp wrote:
Does this still happen if you remove those files from the recent projects list?

Clipboarder.2020.08.19-002.png

[joimagg]

Hey, I doubt Dropbox can change is from their end, smart sync downloads files even when just previewing the files in Explorer's preview plane. Thats ok since thats often what I want it to do.

But this bulk check Archicad makes for older recent files is very heavy and time consuming.

I must add that the Dropbox Smart Sync function is very important now that many of us are working from home. I don't use it at the office but at home on a small laptop it is vital.

The recent files preview in previous Archicad versions doesnt cause this dropbox problem so there's something that has been changed in AC23. Being able to deactivate recent projects would be nice.

Hope you can look into it from your end.

mnguyen wrote:
Hi Johann,

Thank you for sharing the issue and I am sorry about the experience!

From my experience, at startup, Archicad will check the information of the files listed under Recent Projects, to make sure that at least they are there. This verification seems to make Dropbox think that the file is needed, which triggers the synchronization that you have here.

I suggest contacting Dropbox about this in order to find out how their algorithm work. Unfortunately, we do not have any information about this Smart Sync from Dropbox.

Thank you for your understanding! If you have any further questions, feel free to let me know!

Best regards,
Minh

P/s: although this may not be relevant to the issue here, I would suggest avoiding saving Archicad files directly to folders synchronized with the cloud, as it could lead to data loss

[Minh Nguyen]

joimagg wrote:
Hey, I doubt Dropbox can change is from their end, smart sync downloads files even when just previewing the files in Explorer's preview plane. Thats ok since thats often what I want it to do.

But this bulk check Archicad makes for older recent files is very heavy and time consuming.

I must add that the Dropbox Smart Sync function is very important now that many of us are working from home. I don't use it at the office but at home on a small laptop it is vital.

The recent files preview in previous Archicad versions doesnt cause this dropbox problem so there's something that has been changed in AC23. Being able to deactivate recent projects would be nice.

Hope you can look into it from your end.

Hi Johann,

Thank you for getting back with this issue!

I'm wondering if somehow ease the issue?

The Startup dialog, along with its recent projects view, is a completely new feature in Archicad 23, therefore, there must have been some radical changes! To get down into technical details, I will need some help from the developers to have a look into this. Once I have their answer I will get back to you!

Best regards,
Minh

[Minh Nguyen]

Hello,

I had some explanation from the developer: the Startup application indeed makes a quick read for some information from the files contained in the recent file list. Maybe that's what triggers the synchronization in Dropbox. Unfortunately, we are unable to disable saving recent files to this list. The only workaround I can suggest in this case is to delete the "Recent Documents (Symbol).prf" and "Recent Documents (Project).prf". Depends on the OS, it can be found in C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\GRAPHISOFT\ARCHICAD xxxx or Users/<user>/Library/Preferences/GRAPHISOFT/AC xxxx. This will wipe out the list in the startup dialog.

I am very sorry for the inconvenience, but unfortunately, using a cloud folder to store plan files and other objects which is synchronized in Dropbox or other cloud services is not a supported workflow. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask me again!

Best regards,
Minh

[joimagg]

Hey Minh, thank you for pointing out these files.

Instead of deleting the files, I denied "write" access to the files after wiping the "Recent projects" from the welcome screen.
Now Archicad is denied write access to these files and the list remains empty. A bit of a workaround but works for me

Thanks again for the help.

mnguyen wrote:
Hello,

I had some explanation from the developer: the Startup application indeed makes a quick read for some information from the files contained in the recent file list. Maybe that's what triggers the synchronization in Dropbox. Unfortunately, we are unable to disable saving recent files to this list. The only workaround I can suggest in this case is to delete the "Recent Documents (Symbol).prf" and "Recent Documents (Project).prf". Depends on the OS, it can be found in C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\GRAPHISOFT\ARCHICAD xxxx or Users/<user>/Library/Preferences/GRAPHISOFT/AC xxxx. This will wipe out the list in the startup dialog.

I am very sorry for the inconvenience, but unfortunately, using a cloud folder to store plan files and other objects which is synchronized in Dropbox or other cloud services is not a supported workflow. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask me again!

Best regards,
Minh

[Minh Nguyen]

Hi,

Thank you for the workaround! It could be a great suggestion if someone asks us how to stop Archicad from remembering recent opened files (we used to have a defect in early day of AC23, that somehow Archicad could not write recent opened files to this dialog... )

Have a great day!

Best regards,
Minh