Store OSCAR data on dropbox; use by 2 computers?

[Liteheart1]

I currently just starting using OSCAR on Mac laptop and had allowed OSCAR installation to set its data folder in the default Documents folder. I realize now that what would be more convenient would be to have OSCAR app installed on both my laptop and add OSCAR as well to Mac desktop especially as later has larger display and would be easier at times for preparing forum chart uploads to work on that display. 1) Can I accomplish this by having OSCAR data folder on dropbox? (I am willing to take the risk that such storage location might be more vulnerable to hacking, etc.).

2) How would I accomplish above: specifically should I first on laptop copy exisiting OSCAR_Data folder and all subfolders to the Dropbox location? How then do I change in OSCAR where future SD card imports should be saved?

3) Then on Mac desktop after DL of app if during installation OSCAR asks to establish folder for data, should I simply browse to existing/newly established dropbox location?

Thanks for your assistance.

[Liteheart1]

P.S. I never used Sleepy Head or any other CPAP software as I only began treatment a few days ago. I can't yet edit in this forum so have to do a new post.

[DeepBreathing]

It should be possible to do as you suggest so long as the Dropbox location can appear as a disk drive to your operating system. However it would need a little bit of jiggery-pokery in the configuration files. First thing is to see if Dropbox will cooperate with your operating system.

I can't yet edit in this forum so have to do a new post.

I don't see any reason why you can't edit your posts. However there is a time limit on editing, depending on your membership status. See here: http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...84#pid3284

[Liteheart1]

It should be possible to do as you suggest so long as the Dropbox location can appear as a disk drive to your operating system. However it would need a little bit of jiggery-pokery in the configuration files. First thing is to see if Dropbox will cooperate with your operating system.

Thanks can you elaborate a little bit on "... Dropbox location can appear as a disk drive to OS ..." What and which configuration files need jiggery-pokery?

It seems from little bit that I know of computers that my suggested approach might be prone to crashes or other problems, correct? But regardless I think it is worth trying to setup and test. For starters how do I change for my laptop the location of the OSCAR_data folder? I certainly know how to copy the existing folder to a dropbox location, but where in OSCAR can I tell it where to find the folder?

I guess a less convenient approach to using OSCAR might be to have the OSCAR_data folder on a thumb drive.

[Jeff8356]

Dropbox shows up as a folder in "/Users/<username>/Dropbox" (aka ~/Dropbox)
Oscar also has a command line switch (--datadir) which should make manually editing the appropriate xml config files unnecessary. I'm in the process of testing it with Google Drive. Will post the instructions after all the syncing is done.

Another option would be to create a shared folder on one of your Mac's and use that instead. Would eliminate being at the mercy of your internet connection, any potential problems that may arise with storing your data in the cloud, and running out of storage space in Dropbox. Only drawback would be that you would need to have the computer hosting the shared folder running at the same time you use the second computer.

[Jeff8356]

Using 2 computers and Dropbox seems to work alright.  Will work with Google Drive also.

Make a backup of your data on your computer first.
Assuming that you installed OSCAR in the default location (/Applications) and you are using the default data folder (~/Documents/OSCAR_Data)

Create a folder in Dropbox to store the shared data.  Copy the contents of the current ~/Documents/OSCAR_Data folder to the new Dropbox folder and wait for everything to sync.

To tell OSCAR where the new data folder is, open Terminal (Applications>Other>Terminal) and type the following:

Code:

open -a /Applications/OSCAR.app --args --datadir ~/Dropbox/

(you should be able to copy/paste the above code into Terminal)

A small window will popup asking you to confirm, click "NO".  A Finder window will then open, navigate to your new Dropbox data folder, then click "Open".
Oscar will now look for the data in your new Dropbox folder.
You will need to run the above code on your second computer also.  After that they should both be using the new data location, and all the appropriate xml settings files should be updated.

Note:  Only one version of OSCAR can use the data folder at a time.  So you would need to quit OSCAR on your laptop in order to use the data on your desktop computer, and vice-versa.  Otherwise you will get a warning about another computer having the files locked already.

[Liteheart1]

       

Jeff8356 pid='334943' dateline='1582036462']Note:  Only one version of OSCAR can use the data folder at a time.  So you would need to quit OSCAR on your laptop in order to use the data on your desktop computer, and vice-versa.  Otherwise you will get a warning about another computer having the files locked already.

Thanks Jeff; my comment and a few more ?s ... got things up and running with OSCAR_data folder being on Dropbox. Understand that OSCAR app would give warning about locked file if a second access from the "other" computer were requested. That's much better than allowing simultaneous use and game of the one who saves last wins. Only on my desktop OSCAR does it ask for my password when launching app. Where can I override that so that no password is asked for. On laptop no PW is requested. OK if this is not easy to "fix."

1) What might be the range of storage used for a year of OSCAR files imported from ResMed? I assume that one would typically be saving 2 or more years of data. Not sure I'd run out of Dropbox storage room but as you mention and suggest alternative I want to plan and makedecision at the outset.
2) OSCAR preferences | import: 
It seems like there is little downside (correct?) to now checking the first check box (unchecekd as default) [] Compress card backups ...

But what about the other check box [] Compress session data ... How much of a hit in performance and responsiveness in moving between days does one experience? I imagine that while as one new to treatment I might move between days quite a bit, that after 3 or 4 months of treatment one might do that somewhat infrequently, correct? I expect that compressing session data would result in the biggest reduction in session data.

3) ResMed; S card; & OSCAR (see attached JPG file): trying to understand why ResMed and SDcard  taken from it and imported into OSCAR does not show all of the time I had unit and mask on. My 2nd sleep night did show everything in OSCAR even though there was about a 10 minute bathroom break when I turned the unit off and then back on . The pattern yesterday was a bit more complex and hopefully was an anomaly in "lost" data:
A) in afternoon I was on machine for about 40 minutes which is the only data that is on SDcard. I did a bunch of mask adjustments to both manually understand what masks leaks feel like, correct them, and then to see what it then looks like in OSCAR. This was very helpful.
B) I took SDcard out and imported to my laptop. Probably later in the evening I also imported it into Dropbox via the desktop. As a precaution I probably slid the write protect slider to lock on the SDcard.
C) I unlocked the SDcard and put back into Resmed around midnight and started a true sleep session. I understand that OSCAR considers a "day" as the 24 hours from noon until noon the next calendar day. The events shown in datalog from about 2AM and ending (turn machine off) at 6:55AM are not showing in OSCAR even though I imported the SDcard again - all that shows is 41 minutes. I'd love to "recover/see" the rest of data in OSCAR to see particularly whether my practicing with mask and air leaks improved things at all yesterday.

4) Hopefully finally I took an OSCAR screenshot but it was NOT saved to the screenshot subfolder in Dropbox, but to a folder in Documents. Do I need to go into terminal and point the destination for screenshots to the correct location?

Sorry for so many ?s but hopefully this will be useful for others who also want to view their data in OSCAR and to do so from 2 or more devices.

[Jeff8356]

I will answer these as best I can in the order you asked......

The password issue, is it your Mac asking for your admin password to run OSCAR?  Or is it OSCAR asking for a password to open your profile?  The is a setting in OSCAR where you can set a password. Go to your Profile screen, select your profile, and click "Edit Profile" (in the right side pane).

1) Storage range.....  Not sure I can accurately answer this as it will depend on how large your daily files are.  I have seen some users say they get 1 year on their SD card, others say 2+ years.  My Dropbox is only 2.5GB whereas my Google Drive is 15GB.  So for my data, my best guess, maybe 1.5 - 2 years of data in Dropbox, and maybe 6-7 years in Google.  Big difference.  Part of why I suggested the alternative storage idea.

2)Compressing data...  I don't know, never used that option.  While testing Dropbox/Google I did notice a minor delay in switching between days due to Oscar having to get the files from the cloud.  Not sure how much much more delay (if any) compressing the data would cause.

3)Missing session....  OSCAR will only import data once for any day.  It looks like you imported your data in the evening, but the attachment shows you had two sessions.  Open OSCAR and go into the Daily view and select that particular day from the calendar.  From the top menu bar click "Data > Advanced > Purge Current Selected Day".  This will remove the data for that day.  Import your data from your SD card again and it should show both sessions.

4)Screenshot location....  Double check that OSCAR is using the new data location.  Open OSCAR, from the top menubar  click "OSCAR > About OSCAR", the window that opens should have a link on the right side "Show Data Folder".  A Finder window should open showing the data folder being used.  If it's correct, then it may be something internal to the OSCAR coding causing it to only use the original data location in ~/Documents.  The developers are always adding new features and fixing things so it may be an option of changing the screenshot location in the next release.
Another way of getting your screenshots is to use Mac's built in screen shot tool.  "Shift-Command-3" takes a screen shot, "Shift-Command-4" will give you crosshairs that allow you to select only a certain area of the screen.  Just note the size of the file before you try to upload.  Laptop's should be fine, but for your desktop it would depend on the size and resolution of your screen.

Hope this helps....

[Liteheart1]

I will answer these as best I can in the order you asked......

The password issue, is it your Mac asking for your admin password to run OSCAR?  Or is it OSCAR asking for a password to open your profile?  The is a setting in OSCAR where you can set a password. Go to your Profile screen, select your profile, and click "Edit Profile" (in the right side pane). It is OSCAR and your answer was great; fixed.

1) Storage range.....  Not sure I can accurately answer this as it will depend on how large your daily files are.  I have seen some users say they get 1 year on their SD card, others say 2+ years.  My Dropbox is only 2.5GB whereas my Google Drive is 15GB.  So for my data, my best guess, maybe 1.5 - 2 years of data in Dropbox, and maybe 6-7 years in Google.  Big difference.  Part of why I suggested the alternative storage idea. Very helpful, I have free DP acct with 4GB so will need to plan for a transition in a year or two.

2)Compressing data...  I don't know, never used that option.  While testing Dropbox/Google I did notice a minor delay in switching between days due to Oscar having to get the files from the cloud.  Not sure how much much more delay (if any) compressing the data would cause. Thanks, I might experiment while I don't have a lot of data and see for myself whether compression still allows adequate performance.

3)Missing session....  OSCAR will only import data once for any day.  It looks like you imported your data in the evening, but the attachment shows you had two sessions.  Open OSCAR and go into the Daily view and select that particular day from the calendar.  From the top menu bar click "Data > Advanced > Purge Current Selected Day".  This will remove the data for that day.  Import your data from your SD card again and it should show both sessions. Excellent and good to know that only 1 import per day is allowed and work around. I did the purge and thus saw all my data from yesterday and good to know that my mask adjustments which has slightly loosened the mask straps made my leaks far worse. (I realize for my experiment about impact of compression is that in Finder I'd probably delete all of the data and then re-import with compression and see the impact. But basically you are giving me the info I need so I can fish for myself without falling into any OSCAR gotchas.

4)Screenshot location....  Double check that OSCAR is using the new data location.  Open OSCAR, from the top menubar  click "OSCAR > About OSCAR", the window that opens should have a link on the right side "Show Data Folder".  A Finder window should open showing the data folder being used.  If it's correct, then it may be something internal to the OSCAR coding causing it to only use the original data location in ~/Documents.  Helpful to know; it shows the orignal Documents location and NOT the new DP location so I might need to uninstall and reinstall to force the installation to ask me and I can point to the correct location; or perhaps I can edit OSCAR in some wahy to point to correct place. If developers made it easier to see the Location and to change the Location of stored information that'd be nice, bjut not perhaps a high priority. The developers are always adding new features and fixing things so it may be an option of changing the screenshot location in the next releas. 
Another way of getting your screenshots is to use Mac's built in screen shot tool.  "Shift-Command-3" takes a screen shot, "Shift-Command-4" will give you crosshairs that allow you to select only a certain area of the screen.  Just note the size of the file before you try to upload.  Laptop's should be fine, but for your desktop it would depend on the size and resolution of your screen. Thanks, I typically use SnagIt for screen captures especially if wanting to annotate them. Have some familiarity with built in Apple capability and will explore more.

You  answered all of my ?s for now, so very grateful to you for cutting my learning curve; and I think I can handle other things from here on this topic. I would call it very possible to accomplish seeing OSCAR data from multiple devices by using a cloud storage for the OSCAR-data folder. Of course YMMV and moving around daily data views would depend on your internet speed. I don't have copper or fiber connection, but satellite dish so will need to take that into consideration, but so far has seemed OK for performance.

Hope this helps....