[gman]

After complete backup via tablet the restored files are missing pdfs and audio. The folders exist in data but either contain the audio file or are missing pdfs. I need precise directions to make certain I am following the procedure correctly. I recall having similar problems but eventually the restore worked.

I am strictly using the tablet and have not attempted to use the pc.

It all started when I attempted to edit a song. After the edit it started pulling the wrong pdf?

Any ideas?

[Zubersoft]

Where are you selecting to restore the backup to? Are you selecting restore to original location, internal storage, SD card or removable storage? When you edit a song, what are the copy options you have selected? The way the app is currently set up, it will try to put all of your song files in one location, unless you change the default behavior in the copy options (the hammer and wrench on the song editor screen). This means that if you edit a song that was saving to internal storage, and the copy options are set to SD card, it will copy the song from internal storage to your SD card. You can disable this behavior by turning off the copy, in which case files will always be used from wherever you add them.

As for the backup/restore missing PDFs and audio files, this is something that I thought I finally fixed. Are you sure the songs that were backed up weren't pointing to invalid file locations? That should be the only way that files are skipped. We will get to the bottom of this.

Mike

[gman]

Your response is helpful. I now better understand how the app works but there are many confusing issues to resolve. I have never deliberately changed the default copy setting. This may have been changed accidentally and accounts for confused paths and not finding files.

Here is the confusion:
Original location - when restoring to a new tablet what does this mean?

SD card and internal memory - aren't they the same on most tablets?

Removable memory is clear - so I can store everything on a micro sd or usb drive?

Your tool setting called "copy" seems more like storage location or path. I thought it literally meant duplicate?

I personally want a single location for all MS data. Apparently the last copy (path) setting is sticky? So once changed it stays that way?

Now that I better understand the app I see the value of on the fly path options for big docs like Fakebook.

Why not have a global storage option and allow exceptions with warnings that back ups etc may not work if not stored in original location?

The Jelly Bean changes appear to not affect anything when correct path is used. IT DOES ADD 0 TO SD.

I realize that much of this could resolved with the documentation you are working on.

[Zubersoft]

Original location means the restore will put all of the files back in the directories where they were first located when the backup file was created. If you had some files in internal storage, some in SD card, and some in removable storage, this option would ensure that those files would be extracted back in those locations.

SD card and internal storage are on the same SD card for most tablets, but there is one important difference: you can't browse to internal storage. It is kept completely hidden from everything except MobileSheets. This means you can never have access to the files for any reason. I would recommend SD card to everyone over internal storage. I only exposed internal storage as an option in case there is some oddball tablet that does not support the SD card option (this is known as external storage in Google's documentation). If you need to access the files in the SD card location, the path is /sdcard/android/data/com.zubersoft.mobilesheets/files.

You absolutely can store everything on a micro SD or usb drive using removable storage. While I intended for removable storage to be used as a way to access an external SD card, you can actually point it to any folder you want. If you want to store all of your files in one particular folder (regardless of which SD card it is on), just point removable storage to that location and you can use that option as the default for everything.

The copy options allows for several things. The default behavior will make a copy of the original file, but will leave the original file intact. You can also have it delete the original file after making a copy, in which case it really is just the storage location for all of your files.

The copy options are persisted, or as you called it, sticky. Once you change it, it stays like that for all song creation and editing until you change it again. I decided that this was best, as it allows you to easily set up your preferred way of operating, and you wouldn't have to change it very often. I know that for me personally, I like having all of my files on my external SD card, so I just leave the copy options set to that, and I never have to worry about moving files myself. Does this work for you?

Fakebooks and other large pdfs are definitely the reason that I provided a way to not make copies of files. Moving those monster files around takes time, and if you have to split your files among multiple cards, it's probably easiest to disable the copy options and just add the files from folders that you manage yourself. The copy option dialog is essentially the global storage option.

The sdcard0 change has caused a few problems, but until I get the update on my tablet, I'm going to have a hard time knowing if I fixed everything correctly. I'll make sure to resolve this as soon as I can. Hopefully all of this information will be useful. I'm still working hard on trying to update the manual, but I want to finish annotations first. Once the manual is updated, this should resolve a lot of the confusion. I also need to do some more work to make some of the options more intuitive, and provide explanations inside the application. If I could work full time, I could do so much more with MobileSheets, but hopefully it's good enough for most people for now.

Mike

[gman]

Mike Thanks for the help and info. I failed to note that my backup testing has been to friends tablets etc. I am wondering how you can restore to a tablet with original locations that may not exist? Would MS create new directories? My restore to sd did work on my wife's tablet.

I am up and running with no glitches with Jelly Bean.

Thanks again - the above information is helpful.

[Zubersoft]

You can try restoring to a tablet without the original directories, as it attempts to create directories that don't exist, but you will run into serious errors if the tablet can't create those directories. This would happen, for example, if you stored things on an SD card on one tablet, and the path to that SD card wouldn't exist on the second tablet.

I would suggest that people always choose an option other than Restore to Original when restoring to a tablet different than their own. This is a much safer approach.