Conflict handling when syncing

Feature Requests
#1

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

I edited the same text block on Android and Desktop with different texts while the Android app was offline. When going online the changes I made in the Android app where gone and overridden with the text from the Desktop.

(No harm done, I was just testing and playing around :wink: )

Describe the solution you’d like

A conflict warning with both texts still there would be nice.

Describe alternatives you’ve considered

Not editing the same text on two devices when you know one it offline.

Additional context

Nothing to add other than, I really enjoy working with Anytype (testing it for just one day).

6 Likes
#2

There could also be a setting somewhere that lets you prioritize devices when handling merge conflicts, probably in an ordered list (e.g. updates from phone get first priority, then from tablet, then from desktop). That way, if you have a workflow that involves a device that you frequently use to edit documents while offline, you don’t have to go in and handle every merge conflict individually.

#3

@roncz Does this still happen? I know sync has been an issue for many users, so please test it again after updating to the latest versions.

#4

@“div3xi”, I just tested it again and the behavior still seems to be the same. The changes made on the mobile while offline are overridden with the ones from the desktop.

I just updates the desktop (Windows) app.

I did another test with the same steps and this time the changes from the mobile have been taken and the ones from the desktop were gone.

Here are the steps again:

Steps:

    1. Open a page on desktop and mobile.
    1. Disconnect the mobile from the Internet.
    1. Add some text to the page on the desktop.
    1. Add some text to the page on the desktop.
    1. Connect the mobile to the Internet again and wait for sync.

Result:

After sync only one text is available on the page on mobile and desktop. This can either be the one from the mobile or from the desktop.

Not sure that the expected behavior should be. Google docs for example tries to mix the texts and take both changes.

I hope this helps.

#5

It is not a sync issue, it’s how it works.

We have the automatic conflict resolution called CRDT with logic that works like this: https://www.inkandswitch.com/local-first.html#crdts

If you see that data was gone, you can simply find it in history and revert the latest version or copy concrete lines

When you changing the document being offline from different places you can be sure that newly created blocks would be merged without any problems. But if you want to change one block from different places… in the decentralised world you never know what device were first. We were thinking about manual conflict resolution for such cases, but it’s algorithmically complex task.

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#6

Thanks @Vova, this is great to know and indeed I can see all the changes in the history.

I also tried to edit two different text blocks, one on the mobile and one on desktop and it works just as you said. So, all fine.

Thanks again and sorry for the confusion.

1 Like