Shared files & folders

A shared project is a real folder on each person’s computer. You work with its files in the Explorer as usual, and every change reaches the others while they work. Owners and editors can change files. Reviewers and viewers can open and read them.

Create, rename, move and delete

New file, New folder, Rename, drag and drop, and Delete all work as in any project. The change appears on everyone’s computer within moments.

When someone renames or moves a file you have open, your tab follows it, and you keep typing in the same place. Renaming a whole folder moves everyone’s open files with it.

If two people rename the same file at the same moment, one name wins on every computer. The person whose name lost sees it in Activity, with both names.

Recently deleted

Deleting a file in a shared project doesn’t erase it. The file goes to Recently deleted in the Live collaboration pane. Each entry shows the file’s name, the folder it was in and who deleted it.

Select Restore to bring a file back for everyone, with its content as it was when it was deleted.

When a file you have open is deleted

If someone deletes a file you’re working in, a notice above the editor says who deleted it, with Restore beside it. Dismiss hides the notice.

If you edit a file while someone else deletes it, for example while you’re offline, your edits aren’t lost. Oleafly tells you they’re in Recently deleted, and you can restore the file from there.

Two files with the same name

When two people add a file with the same name and path at the same time, Oleafly keeps both. One keeps the name. The other gets the name of the person who added it, such as plan (from Bob Smith).tex, on every computer.

Oleafly tells both people. The one whose file was renamed sees its new name and why. The other sees that someone else added a file with the same name, and what that file is called now.

Neither file’s content is lost. Compare them, keep what you need and delete the other.

Names that don’t work on every computer

Some computers treat Intro.tex and intro.tex as the same file, and some characters can’t appear in names on every system. When a shared name can’t be used as it is on your computer, Oleafly gives the file a slightly different name on your disk. The Explorer marks that file. Hover over the mark to see which other file it clashes with. The name in the shared project doesn’t change.

Figures and other files

Images, PDFs, data files and fonts are shared like text files. When you add or replace one, it uploads in the background and reaches everyone once the upload finishes.

File size limit

Each server sets a largest size for one file, 50 MB unless its admin changed it. A file over that limit stays on your computer only. Oleafly tells you which file, how big it is and what the server allows. Make it smaller, for example by exporting the figure at a lower resolution, and save it again.

Uploads that wait or fail

A notice above the editor lists files that are waiting to be shared, for example while you’re offline. They go out by themselves when the connection is back.

If an upload fails, the notice lists the files that couldn’t be shared. Select Retry to try again, or Dismiss to hide the notice.

Two people replace the same figure

If two people replace the same figure at the same time, Oleafly keeps both versions. One keeps the name. The other is saved beside it, named after the person whose version it is, such as plot (from Alice Chen).png. The person whose version was renamed is told what it’s called now.

Line endings

A file that uses Windows line endings keeps them on every computer, even after other people edit it. Git won’t show every line as changed after a co-author on another system edits the file.

What isn’t shared

Build output, Oleafly settings and Git history stay on each computer, and everyone compiles their own PDF. The main document, the engine and the other compile settings are shared. Compile and export has the details.