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Does ExpanDrive still truncate text files?
Does ExpanDrive still truncate text files as detailed in http://forum.magnetk.com/index.php/to...? I think MacFuse has gone through updates since that discussion, so is the problem still there?
I was having the truncating text problem when I was using ExpanDrive and my coworker was working on the server or with another SFTP client.
I was having the truncating text problem when I was using ExpanDrive and my coworker was working on the server or with another SFTP client.
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Inappropriate?This was mainly a problem if files were edited both on the remote server and locally. I'd be surprised (and pleased) if this problem was fixed for changes on the remote server. -
Inappropriate?Right, and it was blamed on a problem with MacFuse involving words like "kernel" and "caching." Have subsequent releases of MacFuse been fixed so that I can edit using ExpanDrive while my coworker edits on the server? -
Inappropriate?tdixon - this should be fixed
The latest version [1.2.8 http://www.magnetk.com/expandrive/Exp...] has the latest version of MacFUSE in it
However, if your coworker is editing the same file - all bets are off. -
Inappropriate?Something was clearly was fixed, but I'm pretty certain that one common way this problem arose for me is still an issue. Namely, if are editing a LOCAL file in Textmate, then edit it on the local computer using another editor or (most commonly for me) update it with Subversion, TextMate immediately recognizes the changes when it regains focus, and they are reflected in the editor.
If you do the same thing with a file that you load on TextMate through ExpanDrive, namely, edit the file (with vi or, presumbably, with a Subversion update, on the remote machine), TextMate does not notice that it has been changed. This means that if Subversion added material to the file, and you unknowingly save that file, the file will truncate.
The only way I know to get around this is to quit TextMate while I do the Subversion update, something that is unnecessary if I am editing the file locally. This may be an improvement--I believe (although I am not certain) that I used to also have to quit Expandrive when doing the update, but this may be fixed with the new version. -
Inappropriate?For the record, ExpanDrive still does not support files that are edited on the server. If you’re file has been edited remotely, then the only way to be certain that ExpanDrive has the most recent copy is to eject the drive and then remount it.
I know this is a severe, and sometimes painful, limitation. I’m not going to beat around the bush about it: it’s bad. It keeps me up at night. We want to fix it. We’ve prototyped fixes for it.
Unfortunately, at present we’re limited by the file system interface (MacFUSE) that we’re built on. We hope that the developers of MacFUSE will support cache flushing soon. When they do, we’ll have a beta version out very shortly afterwords. I’m sorry to say that until that time our hands are tied. -
Inappropriate?That makes sense, it's impossible to ensure that I have the latest version of the file if it has been edited remotely. But just to confirm, the truncating problem is fixed right? I used to open up a file and scroll to the bottom, and a third of the file would be missing. Mid-function, a huge chunk of a relatively small file would be gone. Nobody has experienced this lately, right?
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Inappropriate?We took the “file truncation” complaint very seriously. We spent hours looking for the problem, and we posted a bounty on our forum for anyone that could reproduce it. But we’ve never seen file truncation ourselves, except for when the file has been edited remotely outside of ExpanDrive.
It’s been quite a while (and a number of minor releases) since we’ve had any reports of truncation as well. -
Inappropriate?I think I suggested this once before, but one thing that would make this limitation much less painful is if ExpanDrive had user-accessible "clear cache" button. That way, I could make my changes on the server, then click the clear cache button to let ExpanDrive know that files had changed.
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Inappropriate?It just happened to me, my file got truncated (a coworker was trying to edit the file too). I opened the file, then my coworker opened and added some things, then I closed it and reopened it to find that it had been truncated. It appears the number of bytes that he had added to the file had been cut off from the end. So I suppose ExpanDrive or MacFuse or something had cached the file size then only loaded that many bytes when I tried to open the file?
Anyway, it'll still do the truncating thing if you're not careful. -
Inappropriate?MacFUSE 1.9, in experimental developer release, now supports the feature we needed to have full cache coherency. Any problems with "truncate" have been fixed, but this takes it a step further.
ExpanDrive 1.2.11 [just release] adds experimental support to let us detect and update our cache if the file has been changed on the server.1 Comment
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This answers the question
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I just installed the new version, and am a bit confused. My test was to create a file in TextMate, then edit it on the server, then return to TextMate. On a local drive, TextMate will pick up the change. It still does not pick up the change with ExpanDrive.
Can you explain what it is that ExpanDrive is doing differently now? -
Inappropriate?If you have the latest MacFUSE experimental "developer" release [1.9], this functionality will work.
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