Bookends not visible on iCloud?

[FredNet]

Hello,,
I am new to Bookends.
I moved a 'test' library to iCloud, following the tutorial steps, however, the library is not visible when I open iCloud.
The library is there as I can 'see' it using 'Manage Cloud Libraries..' or using Terminal.
Looking at the Tutorial and Video Tutorials I should be able to see it? (ie not hidden)
Is there something I'm missing? (or did wrong?)
Frank

MacOs. Sonoma 14.2.1 on MacB Pro / iMac
Bookends 14.2.7

'

[Jon]

It's behaving as it should. Bookends doesn't sync your database file. It syncs your database data, which is stored in the cloud. This is much better than syncing the actual file, for many reasons, chief among them is speed and stability (there is no database or file system data to become corrupted).

Your attachments (PDFs) are a different matter. You handle them via a file sync service, like iCloud Drive or Dropbox, and you will see those files).

Jon
Sonny Software

[FredNet]

HI Jon,
Thank you for the quick reply.
I get the database side of things.
I was under the impression that the Attachment/... folder inside the Bookends folder would be visible, even if the DB was invisible.
That being said, I have no problem with the sharing of the attachments via iCloud etc.
Frank

[Jon]

That folder should be visible (in the Bookends blessed folder -- the one with the icon on it).

We've had a few reports that this was not the case, however. We've tried to track down the problem, but never did. Since this is all handled by Apple, not us, it's a black box. But in those cases the PDFs were moved there by Bookends and could be found and displayed by Bookends. It's just a bit unsettling that you can't see that folder.

If you have a Bookends for iOS subscription, you can try attaching a PDF to a reference in it. For at least one person that made the attachment folder in the Bookends iCloud Drive folder visible.

Of course you can open that invisible folder by clicking on a the PDF action poopup menu in Bookends and choosing Show In Finder. So they are "physically accessible" whenever you might want to get at them.

Jon
Sonny Software

[FredNet]

Thanks for that.
I can live the 'quirk' (invisibility) as I am a small-time user and can simply point to another visible shared iCloud folder.
I can 'see' the icon in the folder using Terminal.
The Bookends/... folders are visible on iOS..
Is it possible that there is a setting when creating the folder that you can choose to make it visible/invisible to iOS and/or MacOS?
Thanks for the responses.
Frank

[Jon]

Very few users have this issue (we can't reproduce it ourselves). But we are cognizant that some users encounter it, and if we can figure out why (and it's not a a bug in iCloud) we will fix it for those that do.

Jon
Sonny Software

[FredNet]

Enough on this from me now.
Thank you for your time.
Frank

[FredNet]

Hi,
Sorry I'm back.
Maybe a clue?
I tagged the Bookends folder in iOS Blue. It is correctly named "Bookends" on iOS.
Went to MacOs to find the Blue folder. It showed up as 'Documents', and yet, Finder Info shows it as 'Bookends'?
Maybe it should show-up as 'Documents'?

Made an Alias for the 'Documents' folder and the alias is named 'Bookends Alias"!
Seems that the Folder name has somehow got confused. Maybe it is a bug in CloudKit.
I am unable to rename the faulty folder in iOS or Finder.
See attached screen grab.

That said, Is there a way to removed/deleted all the iCloud folders associated with Bookends and start again?

Frank

[Jon]

iCloud Drive in the Finder looks like a typical desktop item with folders, files, etc., but it's not. If you look a the path to the iCloud Drive Bookends folder in Bookends Settings you'll see right away that it doesn't behave by the usual rules. So all I can say is what I said before -- what you see is handled by Apple, not us.

You can delete the folder, but I don't think it is actually gone, just invisible. But you can try. I'll ask Serge if he has any advice.

Jon
Sonny Software

[FredNet]

HI,
Thanks for that.
I'll go away and enjoy the new year.
F

[Serge]

It's a known problem for other apps also, maybe macOS will make it visible one day.
I can only suggest a small test. To create a new temporary account in macOS, login there with your Apple ID and see if macOS creates this folder (Bookends folder with icon inside) for this newly created account.

Also please write to support@referencesontap.com, so I can send you instructions for one more test.