How to make evernote NOT TO DUPLICATE FILES OR NOTES

[exceles 25]

I really don't like posting to evernote things like this because its time consuming and I don't remember one single time I got evernote to fix or care about something I was crying about, so me writing this shows how annoying this problem is, enough of blah: 

I wish there was an option to deactivate duplicate notes or files.

Countless times I have been modifying a file attached in a note that was actually a copy of my original note and I find out days after the changes when, after opening the file I don't see the changes I know I did until I see there is a little (1) or [1] at the end of my file name meaning I am working with a copy, WTF????

I go to the folder  C:\Evernote_PATH\Databases\Attachments, and there are copy's of the same file, named something like this FILENAME[1].xlsm.backup and one with the original name, I delete everything and it works again normal until I attempt to open again the file when the file is already open...

 

Ok.... so lets talk about workarounds.

Deleting all that folder seems to work, I have a shortcut in my desk to the [Databases\Attachments]  folder and now every time I open a file I look at it's name to see if it has changed and if it has changed, then I close the file, go to the folder, remove everything and reopen it, annoying but it works, the only problem is that I forget sometimes and it happens again.

I have lost many hours counting together every time I forget and this happens because I lost all  the work, when I realize some times I can fix it starting from the backup file in the evernote temp folder of ***** but other times I accidentally delete the original file, even if you do go with care its impossible not to make a mistake after hours, days, months.... we are humans so...

I DID NOT want to come to evernote last year crying about this because I know I am not going to get a solution so , for my excel files, I created this macro so every time I open a workbook, the first thing its going to check is if the filename contains (1) or [1] meaning its a copy:

Private Sub Workbook_Open()

    If InStr(1, Me.Name, "[1]", vbTextCompare) > 0 Or _

    InStr(1, Me.Name, "(1)", vbTextCompare) > 0 Then

        MsgBox "OJO, estas trabajando con una COPIA: " & Me.Name

    End If

End Sub

 

 

It would be MUCH COOLER if evernote would let me choose if I want to create a new file or not.

CREATING A COPY OF AN EXCEL WORKBOOK DOES NOT WORK FOR ME

I do not need a copy of any of my files,

If I want to make a copy, I ctrl+c and ctrl+v and rename to whatever I want...

The automatic auto copy and rename of a file in the temporal folder [Databases\Attachments] is the worse time consuming piece of programming ***** I have step into evernote in the past 2.5 years and I literally hate not having control over my files.

 

 

Also related with duplicating notes in the conflicting changes... I wish there were also an option to forbid evernote to duplicate any of my notes, I prefer loosing last changes rather than having a note magically duplicated by that global wonderful mind of evernote that always knows what is best for me.

 

 

I don't expect any changes from evernote but.... like lottery, if you don't buy there is no chances of winning, and to find another reason to think that this letter was not a completely waste of time, I'd like to think that maybe someone with my same problem finds that VBA warning code useful for their excel projects integrated with evernote.

 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,957]

I'm hesitant to jump in, because I don't use Evernote for this kind of purpose, but I wonder if the problem could be caused by Evernote automatically syncing a note while the attached document is open for editing in Excel or the like. That might cause EN to create a duplicate copy of the note, with the previous version of the attachment, since it knows the attachment is open in Excel and therefore EN can't write to it. A solution might be to go to Tools > Options > Sync, and either turn automatic syncing off, or set it to a longer period, e.g., once a day. Of course, you'd then need to remember to sync the note manually after you finish working on the attachment and close it in Excel or whatever.

[exceles 25]

Hello Dave and thanks for helping.

 

My fault for bringing out the note duplication matter, that is a completely different issue

It happens when I try to open a file that is already open, instead of telling me it is open or prompt the active opened window to activate mode, instead of that it just creates a copy.

Another way is if you are working with a file and the computer suddenly shuts down or evernote crash or you terminate the program from kill process, then evernote do not close the file in the trash and next time you attempt to open the file it just a copy because you manually have to go to the temporary folder of evernote to delete the file that tells evernote that you are working with it.

 

 

This is how I understand it works:

You open a file MyFile.doc

If databases\Attachments folder is empty of files related to the OT file then:

Evernote creates 3 files in the databases\Attachments

~$ MyFile.doc
MyFile.doc.eninfo
MyFile.doc 

You save changes in the file and close it.
evernote automatically delete those 3 files and creates a new one:
MyFile.doc.backup 

if you reopen the file, this time it will have 4 files, and no matter if you change the file or not, as soon as you close it, evernote kills the 3 files and updates the  MyFile.doc.backup

 

That is how it works if it goes right.

If you reopen the file when its open, it will double the number of files by creating a new line with the ending (1) (2), ...., (N), as many copies as you double click in the file to open. 

~$ MyFile[1].doc
MyFile[1].doc.eninfo
MyFile[1].doc
MyFile[1].doc.backup
~$ MyFile.doc
MyFile.doc.eninfo
MyFile.doc
MyFile.doc.backup

 

If you don't realize in this moment that you are on a copy, then you will save the changes in the [1] file, and when you close it, evernote will remove the 3 of each line leaving only the backup, and when you reopen, you wont reopen [1], you will open the original one finding out (if you are lucky) that the changes you did does not exist and you have to be smart to go to the temp folder and open the backup file to copy the changes into the original one.

 

 

All this if you closed the evernote right...

What if evernote gets unexpectedly closed for example by hard plugging off your computer or by a crash of evernote for some reason or by selecting evernote in the process list and kill it?

That you wont be able to open the original file until you delete all the related files in the temp folder

MyFile[1].doc.eninfo
MyFile[1].doc
MyFile[1].doc.backup

 

 

 

So... That's it,
I have a workaround,
I know how it happens,
I know to avoid it
I know what to do to make it less pain in the ass...

 

 

But... It would be awesome if evernote just put a single checkbox in options for every single awesome automated stuff that thinks for itself because, if you think it, almost every problem anyone have with evernote is because evernote force the user to do what he think its right instead of let the user choose.

 

 

Choosing is the key, I think there should be an option like this:

[X] Create a copy of the file if there is a copy of it in the Temp folder when attempting to open the file.

I would just uncheck it and would be happy, and the rest of the evernote users could happily make lots of copies of their files and reopen them as many times as they want that I would not care and we would all be happy with the customization possibilities.

 

EDIT:

I just realized, It could also be because it could exist different notes with same filename...

when opening them at the same time, evernote just adds a [1] [2] etc and internally hook the handler to the file so it should not be a problem but.. I would not be here if there was not a problem at all, so another solution:

What if it just, instead of sequentially increase a meaning less counter [1][2][3], .... [N] it would just take SOMETHING UNIQUE about the file, it hash, the ID of the container note or something that would not be confused by accident by another note and create those 3 files with that UNIQUE string?

 

 

 

[gazumped 11,664]

Hi.  When you say that Evernote 'opens another file while the first file is still open' (f I understood you correctly) - do you mean that you inadvertently left a file open on your system,  or do you mean that because there's a file in 'databases/attachments' you're assuming that Evernote still has that file open?

Let me explain what (I think) happens in Windows when you add and edit a file to Evernote.

If you add Example.xlsx to an Evernote note,  the content of that file is sucked into the Evernote database for storage.  The original file is not required and should be deleted or archived.

When you wish to work on that file,  Excel Windows can't access the database directly to make changes.  Evernote puts a temporary copy of the file into databases/attachments so Excel can have access.

If you then save the file normally,  the changes will go back into the Evernote version,  stored in the database.

However; for some reason Evernote doesn't clean up that copy in databases/attachments,  so the next time you want to edit the file, Evernote/ Windows can't save a temporary file with exactly the same name as the original,  so it adds a (1) after the name.

What you can do,  without affecting your database at all, is to delete the content of databases/attachments on a regular basis.  It's also possible,  provided that you don't normally use the <filename>(x),xslx format,  to Save As the Example(1).xslx file back over the 'original' databases/attachments/Example.xslx,  when it will be sucked back into the note when the file is closed.

I don't know why Evernote leave everything in the databases/attachments folder without any house cleaning or maintenance - it may be that having the file there means quicker access next time you view it - provided it has not been changed in the meanwhile;  or it may be that there's no way for them to determine when you have finished viewing or editing it.  They may also be giving you the option to keep history copies of the various edits to one file.

There are no feature requests pending to have this folder cleaned out - or even to have a tool built into Evernote to empty it manually - so you could make such a suggestion in the Windows Feedback forum if you wish.

Alternatively you might like to keep a  eye on the latest development to link to a file in Google Drive from Evernote - if you kept your files in GDrive and used the link for access,  you should have no more of this (1) nonsense at any time.  Windows Desktop doesn't yet have that feature,  but (we are told) it is 'coming soon'...

[exceles 25]

Yeah probably it is like you say.
I'll just be carefull and hopefully evernote will improve this in the future.

 

Sorry for the delay answering but for some reason I am not getting emails from the discussions update, in options I have setup to  sent emails but I dont get any, don't know if I have to open a new thread asking for this other thing about not receiving mails from this forum.

Thanks Gazumped for your time and explanation.