Allow arbitrary folders to be synchronized

[ThomasSteinbach]

Currently the nextCloud app will create a one to one folder representation of the remote server when synchronizing a directory. However it would be really helpful on a mobile device to map a device directory to a remote server directory.

A use case would be syncronizing a workspace directory of an app on the mobile device with a dedicated directory path on the remote server. For instance a directory with pictures often edited by a mobile app synchronized with a subpath of 'Photos' on the remote server. Or you want to synchronize a shared folder with music into your music library directory on your mobile device...

This would assume issue #19 to be working, such that changes on the mobile device are propagated to the remote server.

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[AndyScherzinger]

Afaik also a work in progress, by @tobiasKaminsky Branch can be found here: https://github.com/nextcloud/android/tree/extendInstantUpload

It probably isn't a 100% fit to your description but this is what we try to achieve on the branch:

This allows to choose any folder on the phone to sync in one direction to owncloud, just like the instant upload does this for images. This can fix the problem of not using the correct NEW_PHOTO Action and it can also help to "backup" important folders (like WhatsApp Images).

So this issue is probably an extension to the branch as to do the same thing but in a 2-way-sync manor.

[ThomasSteinbach]

Would there be a persistent relationship between the 'instantly uploaded folder' on the mobile device and the target directory on the nextCloud server? Meaning that if I instatly upload the folder again, the app just consider the files that have changed since the last upload.

[tobiasKaminsky]

I am not sure if the android permission system allows this. Imagine we take whatsapp folder to synchronise 2-way to server/whatsapp. If we delete files on the server this means that the files are also deleted in whatsapp folder by our app.

That is why I first wanted to extend instant upload as it is read only...

[mHahnle]

It should be work. Currently I'm using the Andoird app "FolderSync" to 2-way-sync multiple directories between Android and Nextcloud. Would be awesome if this functionality would be provided by the Nextcloud app itself.

[codethief]

I second @ThomasSteinbach's request. Along with proper 2-way sync, this is the number one feature I am waiting for.

[spacemanspiff2007]

+1

[Micha-Btz]

@tobiasKaminsky is it included in the nextcloud beta app in f-droid store or must i compile this branch by myself?

[AndyScherzinger]

@Micha-Btz This is not implemented yet and the started implementation has to be changed too due to the Android N changes, so the mentioned implementations isn't available yet. So Yes you would have to compile the branch yourself at this moment. Sorry :(

[tobiasKaminsky]

Although we made great progress with the latest beta, as I understand we still need a custom folder for auto upload. @AndyScherzinger this is something you have on your roadmap, right?

[AndyScherzinger]

Exactly,yes :)

[spacemanspiff2007]

This would be a huge step foreward since I keep my notes already in a custom folder. In which version is the available (I still got 1.4.1 from the playstore.

[mario]

This will hopefully be in 1.5.0.

On Wed, 15 Feb 2017 at 12:54, spacemanspiff2007 notifications@github.com wrote:

This would be a huge step foreward since I keep my notes already in a custom folder. In which version is the available (I still got 1.4.1 from the playstore.

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[tobiasKaminsky]

@mario be careful with ETAs, we do not want to disappoint people and I do not know how much time @AndyScherzinger has is the upcoming weeks ;-)

[mario]

@tobiasKaminsky I hope he'll have the time, but if not, I'm also not completely useless :P

p.s. I'm not sure I understand this issue completely though - is it just to allow "custom" folders as part of Auto Upload @tobiasKaminsky?

[mario]

P.S.2. also, I said hopefully :D

[tobiasKaminsky]

As I understand (and planned with Andy in #285) it should be possible to use any folder across the device with any content as source folder for auto upload, with a nice folder picker. Currently the folders are picked when they contain images or videos. But still it should only be auto upload.

[mario]

Understood - thanks for the clarification :)

[ThomasSteinbach]

Finally "it should be possible to use any folder across the device" as target for any folder on the Nextcloud.

Example Use Case: I have a password vault file on my Nextcloud under "workspaces/<appname>/vaults/...". Now I want to be able to pair the vaults directory on Nextcloud with the corresponding working directory of my Android app on the smartphones SD card.

Another Use Case could simply be pairing a subfolder of my music library on Nextcloud with the default music directory on my Android device.

[tobiasKaminsky]

This is planned for the next steps, see #285. First complete 1 way sync: device -> server After that the other steps ;-)

[ThomasSteinbach]

Sorry for the confusion. I didn't meant sync. I replaced sync with pair in my previous comment.

I just wanted to highlight that the user might select on both sides, the server and smartphone, an arbitrary folder location for exchanging files. Or is selecting an arbitrary folder on the Nextcloud server a future feature too?

[tobiasKaminsky]

As described in #285 currently there is only the way device -> server. The other way around is planned. As for the auto upload you can change the target folder on the server, e.g. in which folder on the server you want to store your uploaded images from the camera.

[codethief]

@tobiasKaminsky I am really confused right now. Wasn't this issue here about picking an arbitrary folder on the device to correspond to a chosen folder on the server? I don't understand at all what auto-upload functionality has to do with this…

[tobiasKaminsky]

@codethief as we do not have a real sync mechanism we can only extend auto upload (on the short term). Again, see #285 as it is described there how we want to proceed.

Maybe I am understanding it wrong, then please write it a little more in detail.

[leoauri]

+1, my number one feature request for nextcloud android client :)

[ianp5a]

+1. I'm trying to recommend Nextcloud to Android users. Who sync their contacts and calendars. But for many, the Nextcloud app only gets used as a photo backup. And others don't use it at all.

[mario]

@AndyScherzinger can we now close this issue?

[AndyScherzinger]

Afaik yes, what do you think @tobiasKaminsky

[mi-hol]

@tobiasKaminsky seems this question hasn't got a final conclusion. Actually its the same question a friend asked when I recommended nextcloud instead of buying a NAS,

[glow12121]

Hi,

As of now, it seems this functionality has not been implemented. That is there is no proper synchronization both ways on the Android Nextcloud app. Or am I wrong?

It should be something like Metactrl apps do for Dropbox, Google Drive, Mega, etc.: if there are file or folder changes on the server, the app implements them on the Android storage, and vise-versa.

[AndyScherzinger]

You are right with both statements: the app doesn't implement this yet and there are other apps out there supporting this for multiple cloud storage products including Nextcloud.

[glow12121]

You are right with both statements: the app doesn't implement this yet and there are other apps out there supporting this for multiple cloud storage products including Nextcloud.

Interestingly, I've just found that when it's about the Notes folder, used by the native Notes app, synchronization occurs immediately. Say, when I make changes in the Notes folder on my PC, the NC client sends them to the server and in a few seconds I see those changes on my phone. Maybe this functionality has already been implemented in a certain app module, just not yet applied to all synchronized items? I cannot dig into this deeper because I am not a coder.

[AndyScherzinger]

My guess is rather in that case that it is a text file which the Android clients opens via a webview on the server itself so it seems to be but isn't. Also if a file exists already and has been downloaded then the Nc client keeps it in sync but (not arbitrary) so we don't sync folders and their subfolders, just files already downloaded.

[glow12121]

My guess is rather in that case that it is a text file which the Android clients opens via a webview on the server itself so it seems to be but isn't. Also if a file exists already and has been downloaded then the Nc client keeps it in sync but (not arbitrary) so we don't sync folders and their subfolders, just files already downloaded.

Thank you for the reply. It would be nice to see this functionality some time in the future.

[assignUser]

This ~160$ bug bounty from #19 seems relevant https://www.bountysource.com/issues/35153835-allow-2-way-sync

[cukabeka]

I can second that. Please make this happen, would be extremely helpful to see that.

[aaronwi]

7 years later, no progress? Just to sync download any folder or file automatically for that matter