Tags bug syncing via Dropbox?

Hello. I seem to have run into a bug of sorts, and couldn't find the proper avenue to submit it.


I'm presently working with two Macs - a Macbook Air and an iMac, both using the same Dropbox account. Initially, I was trying to look for a way to sync tags given a similar Dropbox file structure for both computers. I ran into this situation:


• Renamed the red tag to "Factory" (or any other name for this matter) on both Macbook Air and the iMac.

• On the Macbook Air: tagged a number of folders and files inside the Dropbox folder.

• A short while later, the same files on the iMac updated and showed a red-colored tag. Everything checked out so far.

• Clicked on "Factory" on the iMac. No files visible, in spite of the files inside the Dropbox folder clearly having a red tag.

• Checked properties of the synced files on the iMac. The tag shows the word "red" with a transparent color instead of "Factory" with a red color. Is this an OS X issue or Dropbox's?


Since this kind of syncing wasn't working, I played around trying different things. I somehow ended up tagging a certain file with TWO red tags, one named "Red" and another named "Factory". My tagged file had two red tags on it. Odd bug #1?


So, I tried something different. I untagged all files and started from scratch. I changed the red tag name on both Macs back to the default name "Red". I repeated the procedure mentioned above from the second bullet point. This time, clicking on "Red" on the iMac showed all files correctly.


So working with Dropbox requires that all tags on all Macs be set to their default names (red, orange, yellow, etc.). Perhaps someone can think of a workaround?

MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2013), OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Oct 23, 2013 9:28 PM

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3 replies

Oct 24, 2013 10:02 AM in response to corpski

I have a Mac pro and a MacBook Pro both connected to my iCloud account.


On my devices the available tags on both machines stay completely in sync.

If I add some choices or change the order of the tags in the sidebar on one device, the other changes automatically (I did not choose this and wonder how you would defeat it if you wanted to keep both machines individually configured).


When I copy a file from one device to the other the tag assignments copy.


Dropbox is a another matter, on the device (call it Mac1) that created it the file can have multiple tags. Only the last tag added/changed shows up on the other device's (call it Mac2) Dropbox folder when it arrives . If you change it on Mac2, the original file on Mac1 loses its multiple tags when it syncs and gets the last one added by Mac2.


My guess is this is a Dropbox handling of extended attributes issue.

Oct 24, 2013 10:00 AM in response to corpski

I somehow ended up tagging a certain file with TWO red tags, one named "Red" and another named "Factory". My tagged file had two red tags on it. Odd bug #1?

This is not a bug. You can have many different tags on a file and you can assign the same color to them. The number of tag names can far exceed the color choices of which there are only 7 (or no color).


Tags are differentiated by their names, not their color.


For an excellent in-depth explanation read ...

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/os-x-10-9/9/#tags-implementation-details

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Tags bug syncing via Dropbox?

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