Arev and offline folders (AREV Specific)
At 08 NOV 2005 07:32:36PM Ellen Fox wrote:
As I am new to running Arev under Windows I am not familiar with this "OFFLINE FOLDERS". I have just discovered that our XP os workstations are configured to run "OFFLINE FOLDERS". Is this another name for caching? What is offline folders? When we were running under Novell workstation caching caused problems with Arev. Can someone explain this to me, please
Ellen
At 09 NOV 2005 09:09AM Hippo wrote:
I suppose you mean local copies of "network" directories that are regularly synchronized.
Don't use them with AREV application! This synchronizes whole files, not their parts …
May be I am talking about something else …
At 09 NOV 2005 10:09AM Victor Engel wrote:
I don't think Arev files are compatible with using offline folders in a multiuser environment. For a single user environment, I suspect it is OK. Consider this description of how conflicts are handled:
Begin quote:
Handling file conflicts
When you synchronize files, the files that you opened or updated while disconnected from the network are compared to the versions of the files that are saved on the network. As long as the same files you changed haven't been changed by someone else while you were offline, your changes are copied to the network.
If someone else made changes to the same network file that you updated offline, you are given a choice of keeping your version, keeping the one on the network, or keeping both. To save both versions of the file, give your version a different file name, and both files will appear in both locations.
If you delete a network file on your computer while working offline but someone else on the network makes changes to that file, the file is deleted from your computer but not from the network.
If you change a network file while working offline but someone else on the network deletes that file, you can choose to save your version onto the network or delete it from your computer.
If you are disconnected from the network when a new file is added to a shared network folder that you have made available offline, that new file will be added to your computer when you reconnect and synchronize.
End quote
In other words, it's an all or nothing deal with respect to files. Furthermore, if you are using a networking product like the NLM, even if nobody else modifies the file you could have problems, because the NLM maintains its own cache. If you update the file from your offline folder, you've now created a situation where the file is potentially at odds with the NLM's cache of that file, potentially creating a phantom GFE or other file system problem.