How to synchronize if collaboration ends involuntary (crash, etc..)

Plug Ins Rhino Sync
1

Hi RhinoSync-Team,

currently testing the sync plug-in. Damn that´s a sexy UI and concept!

Just happened to crash Rhino before being able to synchronize the central file.
As usual I can re-open or make use of back-up files from the Rhino.Sync cache directory.

But I can´t find a way to connect my cache file back to the central file to synchronize.
Maybe I´m just missing a button in the UI?
Maybe this restriction is inevatable to avoid unwanted overwrites?

Is there anything to do in this case?
Otherwise I feel like either my work is somewhat lost or I need to manually merge cache and central file?

2

Hi Dominik, thanks for the kind words, and sorry about the crash.

The good news is that your work is still there. The less good news is that you are not missing a button: there is currently no way to reconnect a cached file to the central model, so for now this is a manual rescue.

Which version are you on? You will find it in the Rhino Sync panel next to your name, or in the About dialog. It matters twice over: the cache moved in 0.0.40.1, so the folder to look in depends on it, and there has been a lot of stability work recently, so it also tells us whether your crash is one we have already fixed.

Where your file is

On 0.0.40.1 and later:

Windows   %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rhino.Sync\Cache\<CentralName>_<guid>_<yourname>.3dm

macOS ~/Library/Caches/Rhino.Sync/<CentralName>_<guid>_<yourname>.3dm

On anything older:

Windows   C:\ProgramData\Rhino.Sync\Cache\<CentralName>_<guid>_<yourname>.3dm

macOS ~/Rhino.Sync/Cache/<CentralName>_<guid>_<yourname>.3dm

ProgramData is hidden by default on Windows, so paste the path into the Explorer address bar rather than browsing to it.

That is the file you were actually drawing in, not a partial backup. It is only cleaned up when a session ends normally, which is exactly why it survived the crash. Copy it somewhere else before you do anything else.

Getting the work back into the central model

Starting collaboration again is safe. Each session takes a fresh copy of the central file under its own name, so it will not touch the file you just rescued.

  1. Copy the cached 3dm somewhere safe, and open it to check your work is there
  2. Start collaboration on the central file as usual
  3. Copy the missing geometry out of the rescued file and paste it into the collaborating document
  4. Synchronize

Pasted objects arrive as new objects owned by you, so they upload normally.

The case that needs care: if what you lost was changes to objects that already existed in the central file, rather than new geometry, then pasting will leave you with both versions side by side. You would also need to delete the old ones, and that only works if nobody else is holding them.

On the wider point

You are right that this should not be a manual job, and it is on our list. Recovering from a crash is the one moment where the tool should be doing the work for you, not asking you to merge by hand.

Thanks for the clear write-up, it is a genuinely useful report.

3

Hi MKS DTECH,

I´m currently on 0.0.43.1.
Altough I think the crash happend while using the predecessor.
The crash was most likely not caused by RhinoSync btw.

I was able to find the cache file and push it back to the central file.
Glad to hear that you´re thinking of this issue for the future - mindful, that this seems to be tricky to solve. (at least I recall a colleauge having similar issues with revit collaborations)