Page 1 of 1

Storing Attachments in Subfolders

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 2:06 pm
by DrJJWMac
I am using Bookends iOS with WiFi sync. Attachments are stored locally on my iPad. I have discovered that Bookends iOS looses track of an attachment file when it is moved into a sub-folder in its local Attachments folder.

Am I correct about this finding?

If so, can this behavior be changed so that the iOS app works in the same way as the macOS app with regards to where attachments are located? The macOS app does not care when the attachment is moved to be in a sub-folder within the main Attachments folder.

Ideally, I wish the default attachment subfolder set on macOS automatically could become a defacto default created and/or used on iOS as well.

Re: Storing Attachments in Subfolders

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2022 8:13 am
by Serge
Thanks, I will look. It seems currently Attachment Subfolder designed for Cloud Sync only.

Re: Storing Attachments in Subfolders

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2022 8:19 am
by DrJJWMac
Ideal is to have WiFi sync behave the same as iCloud sync with regard to subfolders. Thanks for investigating this.

Re: Storing Attachments in Subfolders

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2023 1:31 pm
by DrJJWMac
Just another follow up.

The simplest approach IMHO would be to have the macOS version set the sub-folder and have the iPadOS version honor that sub-folder name. This would certainly help with WiFi sync, where sub-folders are not possible right now. This may have benefits even with iCloud sync, where the user would then not have to be concerned on the iPadOS with setting, renaming, or changing sub-folder designations.

Overall, by pushing harder for both macOS and iPadOS to integrate sub-folders into their natural order (rather than now being somewhat an approach "if you want to you could ..."), I am thinking about the potential benefits to make these cases to happen.

* I want to share one (smaller) library with someone on macOS/iPadOS. --> Create the library on macOS. Designate a default attachment sub-folder. Share that macOS library to iCloud. The iCloud sub-folder is automatically created without the user needing to open the iPadOS app. The iPadOS app automatically recognizes and honors the existence of the sub-folder.

* I want to extract a (smaller) portion of my (larger) library, with the plan that the extracted library may become a self-contained archive at the end of a project and with the intent that the attachments in that self-contained archive can be re-read on their own terms without needing Bookends. --> Create the library on macOS. Designate a default attachments sub-folder. At the end of the project, find the sub-folder in the default Attachments folder and compress it. Make a final backup of the entire library. Store both ZIP files as the archive documents.

One additional note on sub-folders for those who might also use/want them on iPadOS. With iCloud, you can access the sub-folder in the Finder. With WiFi sync, the only file access you have is to the top level Attachments folder. So, if you have an iPad file that is Bookends/Attachments/MySubFolder/myreference.pdf, you will be able to access it from macOS in iCloud when you use iCloud sync but you will (currently) not be able to access it in macOS when you use WiFi sync.