Automatic Sync with Desktop App

[Wonderwhy]

Hey,

is it planned to automatically sync your collection from the desktop app to your android phone (server-client-style)?

Many thanks in advance!

 

Regards,

Wonderwhy

[Jason Carr]

Hi there wonderwhy, hopefully we can get there eventually, but honestly it'll probably be a long time before that happens, as we have a lot of other things to focus on first.

[Wonderwhy]

Thanks, good to know!

Will there be an easy intermediate solution to accomplish this, like an automatic, scheduled export every day/week/... or triggering the export via command line, so in the end you can sync it to android with a third-party app like e.g. FolderSync?

Edited September 15, 2019 by Wonderwhy

[Jason Carr]

On 9/14/2019 at 10:50 PM, Wonderwhy said:

Thanks, good to know!

Will there be an easy intermediate solution to accomplish this, like an automatic, scheduled export every day/week/... or triggering the export via command line, so in the end you can sync it to android with a third-party app like e.g. FolderSync?

None of that is planned for the immediate, so unfortunately it will require some manual work for the time being.

[eatkinola]

16 minutes ago, Jason Carr said:

so unfortunately it will require some manual work for the time being

@Wonderwhy: You might consider setting up Syncthing to do this. I use it to sync my libraries between Windows and Linux (NAS/backup) devices, and I think there's also a client for android. Just a thought ... I think it's easy to use. Syncthing is mentioned in another thread, and I don't want to hijack this one just thought I'd mention it. Here's the thread:

https://forums.launchbox-app.com/topic/50502-does-anyone-have-a-method-for-keeping-their-save-states-updated-across-multiple-computers/?tab=comments#comment-324017

[BrandonG777]

14 hours ago, eatkinola said:

@Wonderwhy: You might consider setting up Syncthing to do this. I use it to sync my libraries between Windows and Linux (NAS/backup) devices, and I think there's also a client for android. Just a thought ... I think it's easy to use. Syncthing is mentioned in another thread, and I don't want to hijack this one just thought I'd mention it. Here's the thread:

https://forums.launchbox-app.com/topic/50502-does-anyone-have-a-method-for-keeping-their-save-states-updated-across-multiple-computers/?tab=comments#comment-324017

Syncthing works okay for this. I've used it with Retroarch to sync content, save states and system BIOSes and what not successfully for a little over a year. The problem with using it is that when the LaunchBox Windows Desktop version exports to the same location it first deletes everything in that path and then exports, deleting the .stfolder that Syncthing uses to keep track of things and thus breaking it. You can still use it, but it's clunky and very easy to break. I can export to a temp folder, as I believe was intended by the default temp path, and then copy that over, but if you're exporting games from an existing system the XML metadata file will be overwritten and again you have to be conscious of the .stfolder/.stignore files/folders. The export process needs a lot of work, hence the beta status.

I would like to see the export process improved to where we can add content to an existing export. Being able to change the default export to something else would be nice and maybe an option to exclude certain files/folders from being overwritten/deleted in the export process.

I hope these things can take a little more priority because while I can see the way that it currently works for people exporting a bunch of content to a tablet or something, I think there are probably just as many if not more people like the OP and myself who want to cherry pick from our massive rom collections and add a game here or there without re-exporting everything again.

 

[Jason Carr]

38 minutes ago, BrandonG777 said:

Syncthing works okay for this. I've used it with Retroarch to sync content, save states and system BIOSes and what not successfully for a little over a year. The problem with using it is that when the LaunchBox Windows Desktop version exports to the same location it first deletes everything in that path and then exports, deleting the .stfolder that Syncthing uses to keep track of things and thus breaking it. You can still use it, but it's clunky and very easy to break. I can export to a temp folder, as I believe was intended by the default temp path, and then copy that over, but if you're exporting games from an existing system the XML metadata file will be overwritten and again you have to be conscious of the .stfolder/.stignore files/folders. The export process needs a lot of work, hence the beta status.

I would like to see the export process improved to where we can add content to an existing export. Being able to change the default export to something else would be nice and maybe an option to exclude certain files/folders from being overwritten/deleted in the export process.

I hope these things can take a little more priority because while I can see the way that it currently works for people exporting a bunch of content to a tablet or something, I think there are probably just as many if not more people like the OP and myself who want to cherry pick from our massive rom collections and add a game here or there without re-exporting everything again.

 

The export process (and the Android app) have been out of beta for around a week now. I'll look into providing an option for not deleting the previous export first, but I can see that being prone to some significant issues for users who aren't overly technical.