Overview

Sharing a Folder

Starting a DataSheet

Updating Content

Summary

Overview

The previous article demonstrated sharing of datasheets with a many-to-one relationship: 2 devices, 1 Dropbox account. The same process applies for many-to-many sharing. This article describes a scenario where 2 users, each with their own mobile device and their own Dropbox account, can collaborate on creation of a datasheet.

Sharing a Folder

For two Dropbox users to share datasheets, the first step is to select a folder to use for sharing:

Identify the collaborator by email, and initiate the request:

The collaborator will have the option of adding the shared folder:

Now both Dropbox users share the folder. The default path is /Collaboration, although it can be renamed after sharing.

Starting a DataSheet

Collaborator #1 opens the MMDS app, and creates a new datasheet, containing some anti-malarial compounds:

The datasheet is linked to MolSync...

... and stored in the pinned Collaboration folder:

Collaborator #2 opens MolSync, locates the newly created Collaboration folder, and links the datasheet to MMDS:

At this point, both collaborators have a link to the same shared datasheet.

Updating Content

Either collaborator can add or modify content, and update the data in the shared folder:

When sharing documents, it is a good idea to use the View New and View Current features to confirm that the content is correct:

View New	View Current

In this case, the new datasheet contains 4 anti-malarial compounds, while the datasheet currently stored in the Dropbox folder only has 3.

MolSync combined with Dropbox does not have an explicit collision-resolution mechanism, so if two collaborators are submitting new content without having updated first, a clash can result. While Dropbox has a rollback mechanism which tracks earlier versions of files, it is sometimes more convenient to use the Backup feature when uploading new shared content:

When a datasheet file is backed up rather than replaced, the previous file is simply renamed. It continues to be listed in the folder, and can be viewed using MolSync:

Either collaborator can update MMDS with the datasheet content from Dropbox:

Summary

The previous article described using two mobile devices to access data on a single Dropbox account. By making use of the Dropbox folder sharing capability, the same workflow applies when two users, each with their own Dropbox account, need to collaborate on a document.

See Also

Introduction to MolSync (iOS), MolSync Remote Procedure Calls, Sharing Data with MolSync: Case Study 1, Sharing Molecules and Data (BlackBerry), Sharing Molecules and Data (iOS), Tweeting Chemical Data with MolSync