Forum Discussion
Storyline Files & Dropbox
We (faculty district-wide) are having issues with saving Storyline files to Dropbox. This has not been an issue for the last year but within the last month (not this last update but the one before) we're suddenly being told that our files are being used by other processes, forcing us to save copies, and being unable to sync. Dropbox hasn't changed but Articulate has. What's going on? Does anyone have a fix? We're able to still sync and use Dropbox as usual with every other type of file except Storyline.
We can also confirm this issue. Storyline keeps the file open in such a way that when dropbox trying to sync they both have a conflict. Here is my process.
- Start the Storyline project
- make changes, etc.
- Save and get the "file in use" error message
- OPen dropbox and quit dropbox
- Save again this time choosing OVERWRITE
- At this point I will leave dropbox OFF or Exited until I'm done with my Storyline project.
Hope this helps others.
Weird is i never had this before. Using Storyline for years. And only recently i got this issue too. As my Dropbox folder is on my C drive...it should work flawless. And as everyone mentions... not any other programme has issues with it. Also saving some Storyline files to OneDrive. Also a local folder being synced. And with OneDrive it works flawless.
Look at it from the perspective of Dropbox...I know you say that you're saving locally and then Dropbox syncs, but the reality is that Dropbox is always looking for changes in your designated local folder and attempting to sync...this includes files you have open and are working on. It picks up that a file in your folder has changed and attempts to match with the cloud.
Personally I've never worked on a file within Dropbox because of that....I always copy a version of out Dropbox, work on that, save, quit and copy it back in.
You are completely right Philip. Thats the way Dropbox works and indeed...having the file open gives the error. However OneDrive in fact works the same and that never gives an error...
I made a habit of copying Storyline files ( and as a fact the same actual is true for Adobe AfterEffects and Indesign files ) out of the synced Dropbox and/or OneDrive folders to a not synced working folder. When done moving it back into its synced folder. No problems whatsoever anymore.
The OneDrive desktop sync clients (Mac and Windows) now have a pause feature, similar to the one in Dropbox. Leveraging the collective wisdom in this thread, I decided to test it out today. Things are going well. I've been following this protocol. Note that my approach has a few additional steps since I'm running Storyline via Parallels Desktop + Windows 10 on an iMac. But you get the idea:
- Pause OneDrive client (Windows, then Mac)
- Open .story file and work for a while.
- Save
- Quit Storyline
- Unpause OneDrive Client (Windows, then Mac)
- Monitor things to make sure OneDrive syncs properly
From there, I rinse and repeat. So far, no problems. Knock wood. If this fails, I'll go with Math's approach. I'll let you know how it goes.
Another nice option i just thought of...is the use of a SVN repository... Github especially. When unzipping a .story file you get a bunch of folders and files. Alltogether thats your Storyline file. Add that to Github and cooperate on it with others. Only downside is that you have to zip your Github folder locally to work on it... would be great if that wasnot needed and Storyline could just start from that unzipped folder...then you could really collaborate with people in 1 Storyline file/folder...
Hi Abby,
Thanks for contacting us to share what you are running to when saving and syncing your files.
I've opened a support case so that you can work 1:1 with one of our support engineers to get to the bottom of this.
You should be hearing from someone soon.
That's the conclusion we came to and seems to have alleviated the problem (as long as we remember to sync and unsync). Thanks!
Hi Becky,
That's an excellent protocol to implement! This article below provides more tips on avoiding unexpected behavior such as having to make multiple copies.
With the DropBox client installed, we are always saving to our hard drive. DropBox then synchronizes with the cloud automatically. Whatever changed in Storyline a few months ago gets in the way of this process. When you are working with lots of Storyline files, remembering to turn DropBox on and off , or manually copying files is not a particularly efficient way to work. There is no issue with any other application and this process worked fine with Storyline until recently, so there should be a technical explanation and solution.
Saving to our local drive is still causing the message "file path cant be found" or "it's open somewhere else and you must save a copy." It is very frustrating...We aren't using Dropbox at all and are having this issue for the past several months. Each developer works on their own projects, on their own computer, so how can it be open somewhere else??? Our IT group checked and it only seems to be having issues with Storyline files.
Hi Becky!
Have you tried saving the projects under different file names, like Sample FIle 4.16.2020? I've noticed that the error message appears if you're opening a file that has been moved from a cloud service to a local drive.
Can you try making a copy of the file and saving it with extra wording such as "Version 2" or even adding the date?
This continues to be a problem for our group.
Has there been any resolution for the Dropbox syncing issue?
