Configuring conflict handling

When working with more than one person on files, there may be situations where there are conflicts during the synchronization. For example if two persons are working on the same file, the last one who saves the file also wins during the synchronization which is triggered as soon as the file is being saved.

Conflict handling

In the case of a file conflict the client keeps the newest file version (by last modification date) at the original place (e.g. BalanceSheet.xls). All other members of the folder will receive this copy, however will also keep the previous version in their file archive, so nothing should get lost. The overwritten version can be restored from the file archive then. Furthermore they will get a notification in their client about the conflict and a warning symbol next to the folder in which the conflict happened.

Overview:

Enabling conflict handling

Conflict handling is enabled by default.

Disabling conflict handling will cause that there is no warning issued in the client user interface and the overwritten file will not get saved in the file archive.

To disable conflict handling:

Enable the Expert Mode.
Click on Preferences in the main window.
Click on Expert Settings.
Uncheck the Enable conflict handling checkbox.

Resolving conflict on files

This opens the restore wizard which enables users to restore previous file-versions in original location. In addition for situation where users are not certain which version to restore, it is possible to restore previous file-version in an alternative location.

To restore previous files:

Click on the notification icon in PowerFolder client
Select the conflict problem
Click on Resolve and Restore Wizard will be displayed
Choose the file-version and the location you wish to restore
Click on Next and finish the process

If restoring conflicted files is not desired then the conflict notification can be removed by clicking on 'Clean up' button.

This feature is implemented in PowerFolder version 11 SP 2