Problems with iCloud

[Patrice Hof]

Hi Brendan,
Always trying to solve my syncing issue, here are some questions, and perhaps some clue (I try to be as clear as possible! and the notices are not to be read chronologically):

Clue 1
I’m analyzing the content of the folder Attachments in /Library/Mobile Documents/Tap Forms HD/Tap Forms HD/Share/. I’ve found two folders named like FC9C2F59-… with other folders inside, and finally with the pdf files. At the root of Attachment Folder, I also find copies of a couple of pdf files (all of them related to a specific form, and not those from the other form), as well as a xxx-copy.pdf and a png document of mine which never have been attached to any record. Is there a possible explanation?

I deleted from my DB all the attachment files (all pdf), saved the DB on dropbox. And when I restore it on an other mac, the attachment files are always present in the restored DB. Is it ok?

When I deleted the pdf from the records, they disappeared from the folders /Attachment/FC9C2F59-…like, but not from the root of Attachment Folder. Is it ok?

The folders FC9C2F59-…like, without pdf file inside, are always present. Is it ok?

I tried to manually delete the pdf files at the root, but they re-appeared automatically. Is it ok?

When I search my DB with the keyword “pdf”, TF displays the records that had before a pdf attachment, even if the attachment field is empty. This occurs in one form only (the one which has copies of pdf at the root of the Attachment folder), and not in the other form that also contained records with attachments. Is it ok?

Clue 2
After having deleted Documents & Data from iCloud Storage and reboot the mac, I notice that the folder Tap Forms HD is always present in /Library/Mobile Documents/ with its whole content. Is it ok?

I closed TF, and manually moved this folder on my desktop. A new empty folder “Tap Forms HD” has been automatically created. I relaunched TF and activate iCloud Sync, so as to upload the data to iCloud Drive.

The /Library/Mobile Documents/Tap Forms HD Folder weighs 156 Mo on both mac, but iCloud Storage Management panel indicates 205 Mo and the zip file saved on dropbox weighs 132 Mo. Is it ok?

At this time the bidirectional sync between 2 macs seems to work correctly.

Clue 3
I deleted TF from my iphone and my ipad in order to clear all TF data. Switch off/switch on and then I re-installed TF as if it was a brand new device. I set the encryption key and activate iCloud sync on the iphone. Both of the macs recognize the iphone. I give now time for TF to sync on the iphone since it has an new empty DB. I hope it will be able to download the real DB from iCloud…

[Patrice Hof]

Follow-up:
Syncing on the iphone just finishes at the moment.
Both macs and the iphone indicate the date and hour of last sync, but the DB hasn’t been downloaded to the iphone. TF on my iphone still contains the 7 exemplary forms… even after a full reboot of the iphone… Is it ok?

On my ipad, iCloud sync is not activated yet. However, the main mac already appears in the list of registered devices. Is it ok?

Thanks a lot for your help
patrice

[Patrice Hof]

Follow-up
This morning, I restored the DB from dropbox on my iphone. Fortunately, none of the attached pdf appear in the document field.

So did I with the ipad.

All the devices appear now in the list of registered devices, exept the MBA, which is at my office. I’ll deal with it on monday. The icon of the 2 macs doesn’t appear in the list of registered devices on iphone and ipad.

The sync seems to work correctly beetween ipad and iphone, but when the automatic download of changes begins, a message at the very top of the screen indicates “62489 remaining rows” (lignes restantes in French) and takes 1-2 minutes to annonce that the sync is complete, even if the change is 2 words in only one record. Is it ok?

It’s time for me to switch on the 2 macs and see what happens…

[Patrice Hof]

Follow-up
I added some records and changed some other existing records, and the sync works bidirectionally between ipad and iphone.
I’ve just switched on the 2 macs, TF is running for 45 minutes and neither of the macs updates the DB, as if the automatic download from iCloud doesn’t start. Download is automatic at startup, isn’t it?

In the list of registered devices, TF 3.0.1 displays the same devices as before the shut down 2 days ago, without the device added yesterday (ipad), while the ipad displays the 4 devices, without icon for the 2 macs.

At this stage, I have the feeling that iOS/TF 3.9.2 devices correctly communicate with each other through iCloud. OSX/TF 3.0.1 devices also correctly communicate with each other through iCloud, but iCloud prevents a correct communication and synchronisation between iOS and OSX devices.

Does anybody experience this problem?
The attached pdf could have been part of the problem?

When I monitor iCloud activity (brctl log -w), I only have these messages.

<blockquote cite=”
0.000 [2014-12-07 11:31:38.016] brc.sync sync-up BRCSyncUpOperation.m:304
sending 1 items to the cloud for com.apple.CloudDocs
3.118 [2014-12-07 11:31:41.134] cloudkit.operation.callback sync-down BRCSyncDownOperation.m:245
received 1 items from the cloud for com.apple.CloudDocs
[CRIT] 58.562 [2014-12-07 11:32:36.578] NSXPCConnection.user.493 accountsession BRCAccountSession.m:129
Assertion failed: ![_xpcClients containsObject:client]
[CRIT] 58.563 [2014-12-07 11:32:36.579] NSXPCConnection.user.493 accountsession BRCAccountSession.m:129
Assertion failed: ![_xpcClients containsObject:client]
[CRIT] 58.573 [2014-12-07 11:32:36.589] NSXPCConnection.user.493 accountsession BRCAccountSession.m:129
Assertion failed: ![_xpcClients containsObject:client]
[CRIT] 407.057 [2014-12-07 11:38:25.073] NSXPCConnection.user.504 accountsession BRCAccountSession.m:129
Assertion failed: ![_xpcClients containsObject:client]
[CRIT] 407.058 [2014-12-07 11:38:25.074] NSXPCConnection.user.504 accountsession BRCAccountSession.m:129
Assertion failed: ![_xpcClients containsObject:client]
[CRIT] 1304.696 [2014-12-07 11:53:22.712] NSXPCConnection.user.572 accountsession BRCAccountSession.m:129
Assertion failed: ![_xpcClients containsObject:client]
[CRIT] 1304.696 [2014-12-07 11:53:22.712] NSXPCConnection.user.572 accountsession BRCAccountSession.m:129
Assertion failed: ![_xpcClients containsObject:client]
[CRIT] 1304.773 [2014-12-07 11:53:22.789] NSXPCConnection.user.572 accountsession BRCAccountSession.m:129
Assertion failed: ![_xpcClients containsObject:client]”>

I’m not an expert, but I understand that iCloud didn’t transfer anything to my macs. Am I right?
Thanks for your help
patrice

[Brendan]

Hi Patrice,

Thanks for the very clear explanations of what’s happening.

The Tap Forms HD folder is the mobile documents folder that has been allocated to Tap Forms. I have no idea why Apple is actually calling the folder “Tap Forms HD” as that’s my iPad version, but even if you didn’t own the iPad version, it would say that still. They changed the way that’s displayed in the Finder on Yosemite. It used to display as my organization identifier prefixed to com~clickspace~tapforms. My old company name used to be ClickSpace Technologies Inc, but I renamed it to Tap Zapp Software, so that’s why there’s still “clickspace” in the name of the folder. It’s something I can’t change or everyone will lose access to their Tap Forms iCloud data.

Anyway, if the brctl command doesn’t display anything with tapforms (or clickspace) in the name then it would seem that for some reason iCloud Drive just isn’t syncing anything on your Macs.

Have you tried logging out of iCloud on your Macs and logging back in?

Also, the dates will possibly be updated before a sync has actually taken place because the TFSyncDevice files (which contain the date information) are separate files from the TFSyncDoc files (which contain the actual data) and will be synced at different times.

[Patrice Hof]

Follow-up and expected end of the story
I took time for the 2 macs to initiate the sync operation (about 70 min), but that happened.
I’ve experienced ever since a smooth syncing process, between all devices.
This morning, I’ve added the last mac to the process, and iCloud Sync works.

Remaining questions:
1) In the list of registered devices, why are the icon of 2 devices missing? How to fix it?
2) In the folder /Mobile Documents/…/Attachements, why do I still find something, whereas all attached files have been removed from the related records?
3) What will happen if I delete the content of the Attachments folder manually in the Finder?

For those who didn’t read the previous topic on my syncing problems, I investigated the attachment folder because the brctl command displayed some errors implicating pdf files attached to records in two forms of my DB. It’s why I tried to remove the pdf from my DB before syncing again from scratch.

I hope it was the source of my problems, and that they are now definitely solved.

Brendan, before attaching some files again, would you please answer the question 3 above?

Thanks for your help, and I hope my misadventure can help other users.
patrice

[Brendan]

Hi Patrice,

1. I’ve seen this happen to me before, but it went away when I reset iCloud sync on each device and waited a while for all devices to catch up to each other.

2. Were they multi-file attachments or single file attachments? It may not be deleting them in some circumstances that I would need to investigate.

3. There will be no harm done if you delete the contents of the Attachments folder in the Finder. iCloud will simply sync the deletion command to your other devices and the contents will also be deleted on your other devices. When you attach any other files, Tap Forms will add them there.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Author]

Posts