Sharing Family Files over the 'Cloud'

iCloud Drive...

Using iCloud Drive to Share Your Family File with Other Macs

Guidelines for Using iCloud Drive with Reunion

Organizing Files on iCloud Drive

Dropbox...

Using Dropbox to Share Your Family File with Other Macs

Guidelines for Using Dropbox with Reunion

Organizing Files on Dropbox

Other topics...

Making Changes While Disconnected From the Internet

Resolving Conflicts

Using iCloud Drive to Share Your Family File with Other Macs

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When a family file is located in iCloud Drive, it can be used by another Mac — if the other Mac has access to the same iCloud account. A common scenario is when you have a desktop Mac and a portable Mac. Or, perhaps a Mac at home and a Mac at the office.

System Requirements for Sharing Family Files on iCloud Drive

To share a family file with other Macs using iCloud Drive, you'll need...

Guidelines for Using iCloud Drive with Reunion

iCloud Drive is very reliable. However, it's not perfect and there are occasionally mysterious things that happen when files are being shared over the internet (uploaded, synchronized, and downloaded).

You can see if iCloud Drive is still syncing by looking in a Finder window.
When iCloud Drive is still syncing a progress indicator will appear to the right of the iCloud Drive item and your family file will show with a gray cloud.
Once the progress indicator and the gray cloud disappear iCloud Drive is up to date.

The following guidelines will help to avoid problems...

  1. Close the family file (or quit Reunion) when you're finished using it. Put another way, before opening your family file on one Mac, be sure the family file is closed on the other Mac. Reunion will warn you when attempting to open a family file which is already open on another Mac, as explained in the next section.
  2. Before opening a family file, wait for iCloud Drive to finish syncing. When starting your Mac or waking up your Mac from sleep, iCloud Drive will need time to sync. Wait until it's finished before opening your family file in Reunion. Watch the iCloud icon in the Finder to the right of the iCloud Drive item and make sure the little progress indicator has disappeared. See the illustration above.
  3. Before logging off or shutting down your Mac, wait for iCloud Drive to finish syncing. When quitting Reunion or closing a family file, do not log out or shut down your Mac until iCloud Drive is finished syncing and the little progress indicator has disappeared from the iCloud item in the Finder. See the illustration above.
  4. If you lose connection to the internet, iCloud Drive will need time to "catch up" when you reconnect. Don't use Reunion on your secondary Mac until your connection is restored and iCloud Drive has finished syncing. Again, look for the progress indicator by the iCloud Drive item in the Finder. When it has, then it's safe to open your family file.
  5. Reunion should not be a "login item" in the system's "Users & Groups" settings. (I.e., do not automatically launch Reunion at startup.)
  6. Backup regularly. iCloud Drive shuttles data back and forth over the internet and is therefore subject to occasional interruption of your internet service with possible undesirable consequences. For this reason, it's always a good idea to regularly make backup copies of your family file.
  7. Don't overstuff your iCloud Drive!
  8. Remember that iCloud Drive works over the Internet. When internet or WiFi service is slow or has intermittent issues, it will impact the performance of iCloud Drive. And if iCloud Drive can't communicate properly with its servers, then changes made in Reunion or ReunionTouch may take longer to appear, or may appear to be simply "stuck." Sometimes simply quitting Reunion/ReunionTouch, restarting your device, restarting your Mac, etc., will resolve "stuck" conditions. However, there are times when internet service is spotty or down, and you must wait until the internet provider (or your modem/router) returns to its normal service level.

Organizing Files on iCloud Drive

In the preceding section, we've explained how to use iCloud Drive to share a family file between different Macintoshes.

iCloud Drive can also be very effectively used to share your other Reunion files between different Macs. For example, pictures, reports, and charts.

By using iCloud Drive for genealogy picture files, you only need one copy of each picture file — residing on iCloud Drive. No matter which Mac you use, Reunion will link to the pictures on iCloud Drive. So there's no need to duplicate picture files on multiple Macs.

When Reunion settings on each Mac are properly set up, any new charts or reports will, by default, be stored in iCloud Drive, inside your designated folders for charts or reports.

When Reunion is first installed on your Mac, a Reunion Files folder is placed in your Documents folder. The Reunion Files folder is where your family file, charts, and report are most likely being stored. If you have enabled the Desktop & Documents Folders option for iCloud Drive then your Documents folder is in iCloud Drive and everything in your Reunion Files folder (including your family file) is in iCloud Drive.

Additionally, a Reunion Pictures folder is in your Pictures folder. However, your Pictures folder is not in iCloud Drive and therefore your Reunion Pictures folder is not in iCloud Drive either. If you've been using the Reunion Pictures folder for your genealogy media and you want to store these files in iCloud Drive, you would want to move your Reunion Pictures folder into your iCloud Drive folder or your Documents folder.

Likewise, if you had other folders designated for your genealogy based media files, you might want to move those folders into your iCloud Drive or Documents folders so you can access them from multiple Macs.

 

Using Dropbox to Share Your Family File with Other Macs

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When a family file is located in Dropbox, it can be used by another Mac — if the other Mac has access to the same Dropbox account. A common scenario is when you have a desktop Mac and a portable Mac. Or, perhaps a Mac at home and a Mac at the office.

System Requirements for Sharing Family Files on Dropbox

To share a family file with other Macs using Dropbox, you'll need...

Guidelines for Using Dropbox with Reunion

Dropbox is very reliable; that's why we employed its sharing technology in Reunion. However, it's not perfect and there are occasionally mysterious things that happen when files are being shared over the internet (uploaded, synchronized, and downloaded).

The following guidelines will help to avoid problems...

  1. Close the family file (or quit Reunion) when you're finished using it. Put another way, before opening your family file on one Mac, be sure the family file is closed on the other Mac. Reunion will warn you when attempting to open a family file which is already open on another Mac, as explained in the next section.
  2. Before opening a family file, wait for Dropbox to finish syncing. When starting your Mac or waking up your Mac from sleep, Dropbox will need time to sync. Wait until it's finished before opening your family file in Reunion. Watch the dropbox icon in the menu bar at the top of the screen and make sure the little spinning circle has disappeared. See the illustration above.
  3. Before logging off or shutting down your Mac, wait for Dropbox to finish syncing. When quitting Reunion or closing a family file, do not log out or shut down your Mac until Dropbox is finished syncing and the little spinning circle has disappeared from the Dropbox icon. See the illustration above. Or visit this web page at the Dropbox Help Center.
  4. If you lose connection to the internet, Dropbox will need time to "catch up" when you reconnect. Don't use Reunion on your secondary Mac until your connection is restored and Dropbox has finished syncing. Again, look for the Dropbox icon in the menu bar at the top and be sure the little spinning circle has disappeared. When it has, then it's safe to open your family file.
  5. Reunion should not be a "login item" in the System Settings. "Login Items" is located in the System's "General" Settings or on older Macs under "Users & Groups". (I.e., do not automatically launch Reunion at startup.)
  6. Backup regularly. DropBox shuttles data back and forth over the internet and is therefore subject to occasional interruption of your internet service with possible undesirable consequences. For this reason, it's always a good idea to regularly make backup copies of your family file. In case of emergency, Dropbox itself actually creates backup copies of files, which are accessed using the Dropbox web site. Learn more.
  7. Don't overstuff your Dropbox! This web page has details on checking how much space your Dropbox account has left. If your account is full or nearly full, it's impossible to predict the consequences. We've heard reports of family file downloads getting stuck and changes not being transferred properly with full or nearly full accounts. Also, for Dropbox to sync completely, you need at least the same amount of hard drive space free as the amount of storage in your Dropbox account.
  8. Remember that Dropbox works over the Internet. When internet or WiFi service is slow or has intermittent issues, it will impact the performance of Dropbox. And if Dropbox can't communicate properly with its servers, then changes made in Reunion or ReunionTouch may take longer to appear, or may appear to be simply "stuck." Sometimes simply quitting Reunion/ReunionTouch, restarting your device, restarting your Mac, etc., will resolve "stuck" conditions. However, there are times when internet service is spotty or down, and you must wait until the internet provider (or your modem/router) returns to its normal service level. The Dropbox Help Center has tips, here.

Organizing Files on Dropbox

In the preceding section, we've explained how to use Dropbox to share a family file between different Macintoshes.

Dropbox can also be very effectively used to share your other Reunion files between different Macs. For example, pictures, reports, and charts.

By using Dropbox for genealogy picture files, you only need one copy of each picture file — residing on Dropbox. No matter which Mac you use, Reunion will link to the pictures on Dropbox. So there's no need to duplicate picture files on multiple Macs.

When Reunion settings on each Mac are properly set up, any new charts or reports will, by default, be stored in Dropbox, inside your designated folders for charts or reports.

Here are the steps to organizing items for Reunion on Dropbox...

  1. Quit Reunion if it is running.
  2. In the Finder, look in your Documents and find your current Reunion Files folder.
  3. Drag the Reunion Files folder into Dropbox. (See the first illustration below.)
  4. In the Finder, look in your Pictures and find your current Reunion Pictures folder.
  5. Drag the Reunion Pictures folder into your Reunion Files folder in Dropbox. (See second illustrations below.)
  6. On each Macintosh, show Reunion where the new folders are located (using Reunion > Settings > Folders, as explained here).
  7. To facilitate the sharing of images linked on devices, show Reunion where your Imported Media folder is located. Learn more.

Making Changes While Disconnected From the Internet

Consider the following scenario where there are multiple Macs using a family file on Dropbox and one of the Macs is "off-line" when changes are made...

Resolving Conflicts

When Reunion detects that a family file is already open (using another copy of the Reunion app running concurrently on a different Mac), a warning will appear...

You can either...

The safest way to handle this message is to click Cancel, close the family file on the other Mac, allow time for iCloud Drive (or Dropbox) syncing to take place and then open the family file.

Obviously, it will not always be practical (or possible) to close the other family file - therefore, Reunion will do its best to resolve any syncing issues that would occurs when you click Open.

In most cases, this feature will avoid the scenario of more than one Macintosh somehow simultaneously accessing the same family file and creating conflict.

Note: If you're seeing this message frequently, you might want to change your workflow such that your family file is not being left open on the other Macintosh.


If Reunion determines there are multiple conflicting versions of your family file, you'll receive a message and the opportunity to select which version you'd like to keep.

Examine the information in this window (particularly the Last Modified and Information columns) and select the family file you want to keep. If this family file is also being shared with devices, then sharing with devices will be reset (as described here).