We're having a problem sharing our solar accounts file on Dropbox. Too often, we get a file sharing conflict meaning that transactions entered by one user are overwritten by another user. We do make sure that only one of us is in Solar at any one time and that the dropbox folders are online and synced but we still seem to get the problem. Is there any kind of lock file that can be used so only one user at at time can have the account file open?

Hi David,

I'm afraid I don't know of any way to 'lock' a file within a Dropbox folder. It sounds like the file has not been synchronised correctly - note that if you edit the file on Computer A then you will need to synchronise the Dropbox folder on Computer A before you synchronise the Dropbox folder on Computer B. To reduce the chance of a conflict, check that the 'Date Modified' property of the file you are about to open matches the last time it was modified on the other computer.

In future we hope to produce an online version of Solar Accounts which will allow you to share your business data without the need for Dropbox and the associated risk of file conflicts. I'll record your email address to be notified if this version becomes available.

Regards

Hi Mark
I am having "conflicting copies" more and more often.
Due to working from 3 locations, I set the account file onto dropbox, but it appears that the file does not always synchronise.
Is there a way to set up an automatic "save" say every 2 minutes.
As I am travelling more and more, I find that I no longer wish to transport a useable sized laptop back and forth, when I have access to IT at my destinations. I rely on an I-pad mini for keeping myself up to date with communication and basic IT access.
I really love solar and have been happily using it for several years, but this is now becoming such a problem that I am looking to move to a cloud based solution.
Any idea of when you may be able to offer such a release!

Hi Stephen,

Sorry no, I cannot give you any indication about when we might release the online version of Solar Accounts.

In Solar Accounts whenever you click 'OK' in a transaction (eg. the Invoice window) the data is saved to your Solar Accounts file, so there is no point adding an extra 'save' every two minutes. I suspect the problem with Dropbox may be this: When you open your file Solar Accounts takes out an operating system 'file lock' to prevent other processes (including other instances of Solar Accounts) from modifying the file and causing data corruption. So Dropbox may not be able to view the file and synchronise while you have it open. However, I don't understand why it will not synchronise as soon as the file is closed. Perhaps you could try copying the file from your Dropbox folder to your Documents folder, editing the file, then copying it back to your Dropbox folder and explicitly syncing the folder. Alternatively just store the file on a USB memory stick instead of Dropbox.

I'm sorry I cannot be more helpful!

Cheers

Be careful,

I lost my file due to this issue.
I ended up with a previous vat quarter.

Dropbox is ok for backups, but I would be extremely careful if you use it to share when you move around. Its a nice idea and one that I thought would be good, but did not consider the flaw when I used it.

cheers
Joe.

For any users reading Joe's comment: If you find you have lost your data file please contact Solar Accounts support as we can often recover it based on an automatic backup saved to your hard drive.

For users who are worried about getting a 'sharing conflict' with Dropbox: The new online version of Solar Accounts provides most of the benefits of using Solar Accounts with Dropbox without the chance of a sharing conflict error as described above.

See this page for details:
https://www.solaraccounts.co.uk/switch-to-online.php