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iCloud Sync Requests

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 9:39 am
by dave83
Jon, Serge,

The following are a couple of capabilities I think would greatly improve the Bookends family. Specific to synchronizing libraries and workflows, most of these capabilities have previously been mentioned in other posts. These are in my priority order, but of course this is subjective.
  • 1) Sync labels (both colors and text)
    2) Sync reference type lists (unused - unused20)
    3) Sync citation format manager (changes to citation formats; especially for new reference types
    4) Sync Smart Groups and Folders
    5) Keep groups and folders linked and aligned (if a series of smart groups are contained within a folder, keep this structure across the two platforms (macOS and iOS)
    6) Sync current position within PDFs (I know I can use bookmarks, but would be nice for system to remember my place while reading)
As background, I work off an iMac at home/office (I work from home) and travel (frequently) with iPad. While on iPad, I mainly read, annotate (with Apple Pencil) and take quick notes. I clean up my notes, summarize these notes and write overall thoughts on the iMac. I then transfer applicable notes to Scrivener for inclusion in papers or proposals. Furthermore, I do most of reference searching, citing, labeling, and general reference cleanup on the iMac. I use iCloud sync for both libaries and attachments since I live within the Apple eco-system and I consolidate my cloud storage files and payments. I use labels to categorize my references by workflow stages (cite, capture, to read, reading, analyze, summarize, writing, done). I also use the User1 field to categorize by project (cybersecurity, genealogy, history, project management, etc). These form the basis for my smart groups.

As you can see my workflow relies on synchronizing the entire Bookends system. While I can (and have) create reciprocal smart groups on each platform to mirror capabilities (ie. a smart group for "reading" based on two different label colors), this is not efficient and prone to error.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Re: iCloud Sync Requests

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 3:53 pm
by Jon
dave83 wrote:
  • 1) Sync labels (both colors and text)
    2) Sync reference type lists (unused - unused20)
    3) Sync citation format manager (changes to citation formats; especially for new reference types
    4) Sync Smart Groups and Folders
    5) Keep groups and folders linked and aligned (if a series of smart groups are contained within a folder, keep this structure across the two platforms (macOS and iOS)
    6) Sync current position within PDFs (I know I can use bookmarks, but would be nice for system to remember my place while reading)
Thanks for the feedback. Some of these things are on our radar (e.g. 1, 2, and 5), others are unlikely to ever be implemented due to fundamental differences between the capabilities and goals of macOS and iOS. For example

3) Bookends for Mac uses its own formatting system, Bookends for iOS uses the open source CSL. There is no correspondence between them.

4) The database engines used on macOS and iOS are totally different, and as a result smart groups/folders are far more powerful on the Mac. Again, there is no correspondence, and iOS is not up to the task of handling what macOS can do.

6) Whereas it makes sense for a word processor to remember it's place in a document, to me it makes little sense for a database to remember the scroll position of thousands of PDFs attached to thousands of references. Assuming you're annotating, it takes no time to go to your last annotation by clicking on it in the note stream.

Jon
Sonny Software

Re: iCloud Sync Requests

Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2017 11:57 am
by dave83
Jon,

Thanks for the update and explanation. I realize it's easy for a user to gleefully ask for changes without fully comprehending the implications or level of effort. I appreciate your insights. As always, thanks for the an exceptional program -- I use it daily in my work and hobby (genealogy).

Re: iCloud Sync Requests

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 8:44 am
by dave83
Any updates on when the ability to sync labels, reference types, and groups/folders will be implemented?

Re: iCloud Sync Requests

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 8:52 am
by Jon
Please see the release notes for Bookends 13.2.2.

https://www.sonnysoftware.com/updates/u ... story.html

Jon
Sonny Software

Re: iCloud Sync Requests

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 2:32 pm
by cfasolt
I'm running Bookends 13.2.3. A few times it did manage to sync customized reference types from my laptop to my iMac, and back from my iMac to my laptop. But then it stopped. I have changed reference types; I have suspended and resumed syncing; I have reset the custom folders; and I have done it on both machines. Nothing has persuaded Bookends to resume syncing reference types.

Result: I have customized reference types on one computer, but not the other.

Can you think of some way I can persuade Bookends to resume syncing reference types? I'm tempted to copy the correct preferences file directly into the Bookends directory on the computer with the preferences file that doesn't want to update.

Thanks,
Constantin

Re: iCloud Sync Requests

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 3:46 pm
by Jon
You've already submitted a tech support request for this issue (which is the correct thing to do). Please don't post the same thing on the forum. You'll hear from Serge when he's had a chance to read your issue.

Jon
Sonny Software

Re: iCloud Sync Requests

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 4:16 pm
by cfasolt
Okay, I'll be patient. Thanks, Constantin