12-19-2024, 02:49 AM
It might be fair comment to say that two-way sync is a feature that perhaps should be deprecated as it can't achieve what most people would expect it to do, (which to me is magically work out the latest versions of things from the two sources and work out what has been deleted and come up with the latest result, or alternatively completely overwrite the slave copy from the master, deleting any orphan files). That's not what it does, but MS provides other methods of distributing songs, and experienced users use these ways to use multiple devices, so it is a matter of exploring the best way of solving your issue. From what you have said, my advice is to set aside two-way sync and look at other methods of keeping devices in line, whilst minimising your efforts.
There are several ways of keeping identical copies across devices, and one of the quickest & easiest ways is to use backup, either via the Companion (which is super-speedy) or via the backup option within the App itself to a Cloud service.
The way I would tackle the different versions would be having two different versions of the song using the same file. You then have your own annotations and yet share the same file. What I do find a little awkward is that if I wanted to update a file, I would like to go into the song, select the file and import a replacement file, but that isn't how it works - I may not have entirely understood the existing mechanism but I find it hit and miss as to whether an import will associate with a song I have, and as I have different versions which may or may not be different files, I'd prefer a more explicit mechanism (thinks, time for a suggestion).
Your other option is to consider whether, once issued, does your music change much, or are you actually trying to solve a theoretical problem, and it might be easier just to maintain two independent devices, while keeping a common source folder on the main PC. So I have evolved one place I put my source music, and consider that the synchronised source from which I can take versions as and when. If I update something, I now try and make sure I stick with the same file-naming convention (e.g. add the instrument it is for if it is unique to the instrument). So then if there is an update, I can import it, and MobileSheets should prompt to slide the new version in under the annotations, which if the layout hasn't changed, should keep the annotations intact.
There are several ways of keeping identical copies across devices, and one of the quickest & easiest ways is to use backup, either via the Companion (which is super-speedy) or via the backup option within the App itself to a Cloud service.
The way I would tackle the different versions would be having two different versions of the song using the same file. You then have your own annotations and yet share the same file. What I do find a little awkward is that if I wanted to update a file, I would like to go into the song, select the file and import a replacement file, but that isn't how it works - I may not have entirely understood the existing mechanism but I find it hit and miss as to whether an import will associate with a song I have, and as I have different versions which may or may not be different files, I'd prefer a more explicit mechanism (thinks, time for a suggestion).
Your other option is to consider whether, once issued, does your music change much, or are you actually trying to solve a theoretical problem, and it might be easier just to maintain two independent devices, while keeping a common source folder on the main PC. So I have evolved one place I put my source music, and consider that the synchronised source from which I can take versions as and when. If I update something, I now try and make sure I stick with the same file-naming convention (e.g. add the instrument it is for if it is unique to the instrument). So then if there is an update, I can import it, and MobileSheets should prompt to slide the new version in under the annotations, which if the layout hasn't changed, should keep the annotations intact.