CintaNotes Forum

A little context: I am running CintaNotes in four different computers right now and synching notes between all of them is getting to be an headache. I thought it would be much easier if prior to make an import one could chose to: a) make a full import, disregarding possible duplicates; and b) make a merge import, where only new/different notes would be imported, based on header details (date, title, possibly tags).

I have looked into other solutions (I use a portable CN, I also use Dropbox for synching) but none seems as straightforward as this.

All input welcome. TIA,

Midas wrote:A little context: I am running CintaNotes in four different computers right now and synching notes between all of them is getting to be an headache. I thought it would be much easier if prior to make an import one could chose to: a) make a full import, disregarding possible duplicates; and b) make a merge import, where only new/different notes would be imported, based on header details (date, title, possibly tags).

I have looked into other solutions (I use a portable CN, I also use Dropbox for syching) but none seems as straightforward as this.

All input welcome. TIA,

I guess you are using up to 4 all at the same time, otherwise you could have your data on a stick. Tricky. Nod.

Noddy330 wrote:[...]
I guess you are using up to 4 all at the same time, otherwise you could have your data on a stick. Tricky. Nod.

I thought of that, but then the risk of data loss increases significantly (pendrives aren't good for high rate read/writing) and one can't escape program lagging noticeably on older hardware... If used only for synching, then Dropbox is much more convenient.

Midas wrote:

Noddy330 wrote:I guess you are using up to 4 all at the same time, otherwise you could have your data on a stick. Tricky. Nod.

I thought of that, but then the risk of data loss increases significantly (pendrives aren't good for high rate read/writing) and one can't escape program lagging noticeably on older hardware... If used only for synching, then Dropbox is much more convenient.

I run mine from a stick and performance is good.
I start CN from a BAT with priority /high - from STARTUP folder.
Amongst my many backup strategies, e.g. backup CN data every time I start CN, I take a manual copy of my stick before I remove it from any PC.
Works for me, but may not suit others.
Nod

Noddy330 wrote:[...]
I run mine from a stick and performance is good.
I start CN from a BAT with priority /high - from STARTUP folder.
Amongst my many backup strategies, e.g. backup CN data every time I start CN, I take a manual copy of my stick before I remove it from any PC.
Works for me, but may not suit others.
Nod

It's useful to know different strategies, thanks for sharing.

If pressed to do it, I will run CN from the 'stick', but I won't do it routinely for previously stated reasons. As for backing up (although LOCKSS, that's still more copies to manage...) my current stick is a fast 8GB Sandisk Cruzer Contour, which takes about five minutes to backup, be it filebased or as image (RAW) -- I don't think your solution is viable for me. Of course I could handpick the targets, but that feels rather self-defeating in terms of backing-up behaviour.

I have a batch of other pendrives, but the smaller one is 2GB and takes even longer to backup...

Midas wrote:

Noddy330 wrote:[...]
I run mine from a stick and performance is good.
I start CN from a BAT with priority /high - from STARTUP folder.
Amongst my many backup strategies, e.g. backup CN data every time I start CN, I take a manual copy of my stick before I remove it from any PC.
Works for me, but may not suit others.
Nod

It's useful to know different strategies, thanks for sharing.

If pressed to do it, I will run CN from the 'stick', but I won't do it routinely for previously stated reasons. As for backing up (although LOCKSS, that's still more copies to manage...) my current stick is a fast 8GB Sandisk Cruzer Contour, which takes about five minutes to backup, be it filebased or as image (RAW) -- I don't think your solution is viable for me. Of course I could handpick the targets, but that feels rather self-defeating in terms of backing-up behaviour.

I have a batch of other pendrives, but the smaller one is 2GB and takes even longer to backup...

I keep a master backup and daily only backup (using xxcopy) the changed files on my 8gb stick. Nod

Noddy330 wrote:I keep a master backup and daily only backup (using xxcopy) the changed files on my 8gb stick. Nod

This is my basic strategy as well. I generally carry around several flash drives. I run CintaNotes off of a fast 1GB drive and use it on three different machines. One of the three has a master that is also backed up to DropBox, all of them have an incremental backup on each use. A larger drive has files I don't use or change as often.

It just came to my mind that although related to backup strategy, the original suggestion regarded importing with CintaNotes and it's still relevant, no matter whatever backup strategy one chooses -- in my case, however good I might backup my notebooks, in the end I'd still have four different, although perfectly backed-up, notebooks...

Midas wrote:It just came to my mind that although related to backup strategy, the original suggestion regarded importing with CintaNotes and it's still relevant, no matter whatever backup strategy one chooses -- in my case, however good I might backup my notebooks, in the end I'd still have four different, although perfectly backed-up, notebooks...

I know the “home / work / many PCs” problem, and I would like to see a solution to your original query – but I just don’t think it is solvable.
My own solution is to keep all the data together, maybe removing ‘old’ data occasionally, selecting data by key word / strings / tags, and using the same data on all PCs.
I’m a fan of no-folders (antifiling) at http://cnxn.ca/nofolderstutorial.html, which is why I’m against tabs being something special.
Put all your data in a big heap and select what you want by key word, strings, tags, attributes, etc.
Soapbox /off.
Well, it works for me, but maybe not for you. Nod

I’d prefer to see a suggested implementation before I vote on the [poll].
As per my last post, super idea, but …
Nod

Noddy330 wrote:I know the “home / work / many PCs” problem, and I would like to see a solution to your original query – but I just don’t think it is solvable.
My own solution is to keep all the data together, maybe removing ‘old’ data occasionally, selecting data by key word / strings / tags, and using the same data on all PCs.
I’m a fan of no-folders (antifiling) at http://cnxn.ca/nofolderstutorial.html, which is why I’m against tabs being something special.
Put all your data in a big heap and select what you want by key word, strings, tags, attributes, etc.
Soapbox /off.
Well, it works for me, but maybe not for you. Nod

I beg to differ regarding the no resolvability of my multiple notebook predicament -- I work professionally with document databases where this same problem emerges all the time, but since the appropriate feature, similar to what I requested, is available then it's easily solved. Free open source and portable Keepass password manager, which I use version 1.xx portable, is another example that has settled the problem -- each entry is compared on import and if they mach, then it is acted upon following your instruction (skip, overwrite, etc.).

On the other hand the no folder strategy you suggested looks rather interesting -- I still use OE, but the time for a sturdier option is nearing. I do think that things are slowly but steadily going that way, although it's still too early to detect a dominant trend. Unfortunately, folders are still an important resource for me, especially because I run a myriad portable programs and need to visually get a sense of the structure. My rule of thumb: if its deeper than 3 levels, than it's too deep.