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Every Time I Edit a File in Import Folder, Evernote Creates a Duplicate


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I created a Shared Notebook, and I used the Tools | Import Folders feature to link folders on my file system that I want included into a shared index.   Unfortunately, every time I edit an Excel file in one of those folders, Evernote is importing TWO "new" files.   One of these is the original Excel file, and the second one is the automatically-created backup of this file.   I edit some of these files 30 times a day.   If I am doing a long edit I am constantly saving updates to the file system, and there Evernote goes and uploads these as new files.   This is a real disaster because I end up with 60 new files that are all actually duplicates from the standpoint of people using the Notebook.  If this is EverNote's idea of version control, it is not a useful implementation of the idea.   This behavior makes the feature nearly unusable for actively maintained folders.

Plan A: I looked for a way to turn off the automatic updating on a per-folder basis.  I don't see that as an option!   That isn't a good design.   How can Evernote not see that actively maintained folders are going to generate lots of updates that create duplicate files?

Plan B: Is there a way to alter this behavior globally?    At this point, I would be okay with leaving the automatic updates turned off in some global option, and then once a week I do the update manually.    

Plan C: Assuming none of the above are possible, then would I be able to at least delete the entries in the Import folder function, and ever week when I want to do the update I would re-establish those entries and then when the update is finished I delete the entries again?   Something tells me that if I do this, when I re-establish the Import Folder to the same files, I will end up with the entire Notebook duplicated.

Plan D: Assuming nothing about this feature actually works for this application, then I am left with the possibility that I have to create the Notebook, import the folders, then immediately delete the Import Folder links.  Once a week, I then have to delete the entire Notebook, recreate it from scratch, and resend invitations to Share the Notebook.   That could get old fast, for both the content creator and the content users.

This is pretty frustrating.

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That's the way it's designed to work. This is an import facility (get stuff into Evernote easily), not a sync facility (make sure that the two things are the same). If you want to edit a file that's in Evernote, you need to activate it from Evernote.

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1 hour ago, persistentone said:

Unfortunately, every time I edit an Excel file in one of those folders, Evernote is importing

You may not want to edit the files directly in your import foder
Your software might be doing automatic updates every x minutes
So, move the file elsewhere, edit and move back when completed

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49 minutes ago, DTLow said:

So, move the file elsewhere, edit and move back when completed

Even so, this will not accomplish what the user wants, which is to update the file in Evernote. They'll get a new note, every time.

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4 hours ago, persistentone said:

If this is EverNote's idea of version control, it is not a useful implementation of the idea.   This behavior makes the feature nearly unusable for actively maintained folders.

This is not in any way anyone's idea of version control. It's not a version control system, Evernote's Import Folders are an import facility: the fact that it's named "Import folders' should be a clue.

4 hours ago, persistentone said:

This is pretty frustrating.

That's a pretty common result when you try to use a facility in a way that it's not designed to be used.

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4 hours ago, persistentone said:

Unfortunately, every time I edit an Excel file in one of those folders

Put the Excel file in a note and edit it from there.  Delete the original from the import folder and let the EN version be the master.  Note history will be your version control.  Or see your other post where the same issue is discussed.

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14 minutes ago, csihilling said:

Put the Excel file in a note and edit it from there.  Delete the original from the import folder and let the EN version be the master.  Note history will be your version.  Or see your other post where the same issue is discussed.

I actually use the delete option on my import folder.
I have no reason to keep the original file after importing into Evernote
The file is now an attachment to an EN Note

This applies to pdfs, spreadsheets, images, word-processing documents .....

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1 minute ago, DTLow said:

I actually use the delete option on my import folder.
I have no reason to keep the original file after importing into Evernote

This applies to pdfs, spreadsheets, images, word-processing documents .....

Yup.

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18 hours ago, jefito said:

This is not in any way anyone's idea of version control. It's not a version control system, Evernote's Import Folders are an import facility: the fact that it's named "Import folders' should be a clue.

That's a pretty common result when you try to use a facility in a way that it's not designed to be used.

 
 

EverNote isn't a version control system, and I don't want it to be a version control system.

The Import Folder feature could have two easily implemented features that would mitigate this problem:

1) Allow, on a per-folder basis, to suspend automatic importing.   Either allow manual imports, or require automatic import to be periodically turned on.

2) As an option, allow EverNote to import updates of files by overwriting the original imported file.   For the case where EverNote is being used only as an index, and no new content is created in EverNote, that's a very desirable feature.

And this feature is not frustrating because I am trying to use it in a way that it was not designed.  It is frustrating because it was very badly designed for exactly the purpose it was intended.  If you wanted to have a one-time import, design a one-time import.   There is no planet on which creating 60 copies of one file and multiplying that bizarre effect - every week continuously - would be considered a good implementation of a folder import feature.  It's bizarre. It's inconvenient.   It's extremely frustrating because to work around it will require me to do things that render the value of the feature almost zero.

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6 minutes ago, csihilling said:

@persistentone

Why do you want to maintain the file outside of EN once you put it into EN?  Just wondering, not trying to be snarky.

 

1) Security policy on the file

2) Backup programs in place to get offsite backups.

3) Multiple precise version control through Dropbox

EverNote is a great full text index, and it is cloud-based.   EverNote is not a great file system, security control system, backup system, or version control system.   So I want to use EverNote for what it does well, and I don't want to use EverNote for what it does poorly.

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Well, if you want to use EN for search of the files you are importing and don't think EN's history function is adequate for versioning, you would be better off deleting/adding the file to the note whenever the file is updated.  

33 minutes ago, persistentone said:

If you wanted to have a one-time import, design a one-time import.

EN is designed for single import, not overwrite.  Any change in the import folder creates a note, no linkage to previously created notes.  Add a feature request if you like in the feedback forum for some sort of updating import functionality.

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On 2017-03-06 at 3:07 AM, persistentone said:

This behavior makes the feature nearly unusable for actively maintained folders.

I agree with you.The import folder feature fails as a syncing tool

As you found out, file edits are a problem, and deleted files don't register (Win)

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7 hours ago, persistentone said:

And this feature is not frustrating because I am trying to use it in a way that it was not designed.  It is frustrating because it was very badly designed for exactly the purpose it was intended.  If you wanted to have a one-time import, design a one-time import.   There is no planet on which creating 60 copies of one file and multiplying that bizarre effect - every week continuously - would be considered a good implementation of a folder import feature.  It's bizarre. It's inconvenient.   It's extremely frustrating because to work around it will require me to do things that render the value of the feature almost zero.

Sorry, but I respectfully disagree. It works fine as designed: a one-way import facility. Updating a note in an import folder will import it again, as a separate note, because it's a one-time import facility. It is not designed as a syncing facility, which is exactly what you appear to be trying to use it for. Sorry that it doesn't meet your use case, but it's not designed for that. The value of import folders may therefore be zero to you, but to me and I suspect many other users, it's very useful indeed. You can use a screwdriver to drive a nail, too, but you're probably not going to be happy about it.

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On 3/6/2017 at 11:57 PM, persistentone said:

EverNote isn't a version control system, and I don't want it to be a version control system.

The Import Folder feature could have two easily implemented features that would mitigate this problem:

1) Allow, on a per-folder basis, to suspend automatic importing.   Either allow manual imports, or require automatic import to be periodically turned on.

2) As an option, allow EverNote to import updates of files by overwriting the original imported file.   For the case where EverNote is being used only as an index, and no new content is created in EverNote, that's a very desirable feature.

And this feature is not frustrating because I am trying to use it in a way that it was not designed.  It is frustrating because it was very badly designed for exactly the purpose it was intended.  If you wanted to have a one-time import, design a one-time import.   There is no planet on which creating 60 copies of one file and multiplying that bizarre effect - every week continuously - would be considered a good implementation of a folder import feature.  It's bizarre. It's inconvenient.   It's extremely frustrating because to work around it will require me to do things that render the value of the feature almost zero.

I agree that these features would be helpful. For people who want to maintain multiple Evernote accounts and occasionally move notes from one to the other than this would be great.

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