PB size limit for syncing

I would like to thoughtfully offer some feedback.

I request that Logos not have PB size limits. I understand why they are there, concern for total server storage needed etc. This is interesting that we are discussing a 10MB limit on compile PB files now moved to 20MB, on the week when Dropbox nwo offers one tir of paid access to their servers - 1 TB!  And that was a catchup move, not groundbreaking.  What if someone ONLY has a single 200MB file, are they a worse problem than the user who has 500 5-MB files (which I am sure there are many)?

Currently you can't tell what compiled PB files have been uploaded, or sync'd. That will make management of this difficult for users who have both size files.That can change of course. In my case, I have 243 PB files, 6 are over 20MB, of which one is 150MB and one is 380MB. If I have 237 files syncd one way, and 6 syncd another way (the way I do now to ensure I have my PBs on my laptops), is that really better? I don't think I will use this solution in that case, as it does not appear that makes my life easier. Yet I will suffer or be forced into handling two ways of syncing once these server-sync'd files are then the only way to move files to mobile devices. That will be an ugly solution for me.

Today's digital world has solved this challenge with a model that has now been readily accepted - no need to adopt a new one.I would suggest giving every user some amount of space that Logos can live with, for free, for PBs. If they use it on one file or many, it's up to them. But they get a "can't upload error - out of space" when it's gone. Then offer an economical one-or-tier pricing for heavy users. That 1% will be willing to pay some for the space to have all of their PBs sync'd. I suspect the next stage is the server-located PBs will be what gets down to future version of mobile apps, and if so that's even another reason I want ALL of my PBs supported, not just some.

In closing, in addition to making current sync/upload/download status clear, please make the error messages really good on this - there will be tons of support cases on PBs not syncing properly, the messages should be clear it is because you are out of space, network error, file integrity problem, etc. etc. as example. If not, be prepared to look at lots of logs on the forums to diagnose user problems with sync'ing. If you are unsure of this, note we still get posts on the forum as late as this month, "How do I know what resources have downloaded?" We need good status/error messages with this!

Thanks for listening!

I thought the better model, the one I thought they were shooting for, is to have a central store for all PBs. Assuming a lot of people that use PBs are using many of the same PBs, it would make most sense to have a single copy of each public PB on the server and would also allow a shared unique identifier to be assigned the first time a PB is uploaded and then shared to others who use the same PB. That would also make it easy for Logos to special case some large PBs without being inundated with requests. Maybe they are still doing some of that under the hood?

Randy - as I recall that was something they had planned down the line. first step was to get syncing to function, then allow us to share them with each other.

Obviously one would need to select which books can go to the central repository. I have titles that are ok on my computer, but that I can't share. Mostly texts my profs are writing. Most of them are flattered and happy to share what they are working on with students when they ask.

Simon said:

Maybe its a good idea to offer a limited amount of MB's for free, and sell extra space to store PBB's as a subscription.

What if we were given some control over our synced PBB.  For example a Please sync this PBB.  Then when synced to all of our devices we remove the file from the cloud and sync the next one?

[Yes, if we got a new device we would have to run the Please sync command again.] 

I am no expert, but it seems to me that syncing PB's in the same way other library resources are handled; storing PB's in some sort of public store; and making PB's available on mobile devices are three different challenges. This early beta feature probably has to be considered in the context of all three issues.  

Mark Barnes said:

I'd gladly pay a small fee to have additional storage space

[Y]

Honestly for the few large books I have, its not that big of a deal to sync them via Dropbox.  Logos would be better.  But if not.  DB works hassle free with sync software.  

The very short simplified answer is to sync *.lbspbb files from each computer to a DB folder.  

That answer presumes you can find the lbspbb files and folder on each computer.  Folder location varies with operating system and other details.  

Everyone has their style, but I use "Everything" search to quickly find files and locations.  My favorite sync software is syncback.  You can do the whole thing manually, maybe faster.   

An alternative, if you have only one or a few PBB's to copy, is to locate the specific lbspbb created when you made the PBB and just copy that file.  You can find the lbspbb file name by opening the book, going to Info and at the very bottom you will see "Support Info." The bottom line is the file name.  You could also find it by creation time or your preferred method.

It sounds complicated, but its not.    This may  be too hastily written, but if it works, good.  If not, I or someone can explain better when we get time.  

Should there be any problems with the book showing up, you may also need to enter the Scan command in the Logos command bar:

Scan <Folder location of the file being copied>

That will move the file to the right location.  Also watch for and allow time for indexing of the new book.  I guess we are suppose to say PB for the book and PBB for the personal book builder. Right?