Disable Automatic Syncing - Permanently?

[manifest0]

Hi all,

As part of the workflow for the users of our Alfresco installation (artists) Desktop Sync needs to be able to synchronise with the repo on command (i.e., hitting "Sync Now"). It needs to be easy to use because otherwise some people won't do it and we'll miss out on versions of photoshop documents, which is bad for our disaster recovery process. However, Desktop Sync currently syncs files whenever a file changes, and this creates a new version on Alfresco. While this is the most frictionless solution, it means that whenever the artist hits Ctrl+S on their photoshop doc, a new file gets created on the server, which can be very large indeed. It's not out of the question that a 100MB .psd file gets saves every minute or so.

I realise I can get the artists to select "Pause Syncing" which will disable auto syncing, but as soon as they do a manual sync this option gets flipped and they have to manually pause syncing again. It's very possible that people will forget this and we'll end up with hundreds of versions of documents.

I'm simply asking - is there a way to permanently disable auto-syncing (via a config file, for example) or to stop 'Sync Now' from flipping the 'Pause Sync' status? I've decompiled the JAR and had a look around but didn't see much I could do with it.

We're so close to having an ideal solution for this - this is basically the last feature we need. Any help would be appreciated!

[afaust]

Hello,

to avoid creating versions every time the sync occurs after Ctrl+S, simply create a working copy in Alfresco first and than edit that from the synched directory. Working copies will not have versioning apply to them - additionally, this prevents other users from working on the very same file, thus avoiding editing conflicts. When the artist is done, simply checkin the working copy as the new version. You will have to add the checkin action in the Share UI as this is currently not available by default.

Regards
Axel

[manifest0]

Thanks for your response Axel.

Unfortunately that's not exactly what I was after. It's a hassle for an artist to have to go to Alfresco and check out an asset before they work on it. They just want to edit it on their computer (as one would with a SVN or GIT repository) and for Alfresco to mirror their changes. I understand that checking out a document gives the benefit of concurrent modification protection, but this isn't an issue as artists work on their own files exclusively. I suppose it is a viable backup solution, but the artists won't be happy. Ideally I just want an extra setting on Desktop Sync - but if the ability doesn't exist, consider this a feature request / suggestion. 😃