DW doesn't recognize that there are files to synchronize (always an empty list)

[Guest]

In the past I did not have big problems with the synchronize feature of DW. But currently I have. I have a local folder and a remote folder (connected via SFTP). In the server settings in the site definition I activated "Maintain synchronization information" (of course).

When I upload files via right mouse click and the corresponding menu entry (I don't know the word in the English version), the upload is done correctly. But when I say "Synchronize", DW always tells me that there are no files to synchronize. Even if I create a completely new file, DW has nothing to upload!

I also tried this:

https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/kb/troubleshooting-synchronization-problems-dreamweaver-mac.html

But it did not help. What else can cause this problem?

I use the latest version of DW and Windows 10.

[Nancy OShea]

Are you working within a defined local site folder? 

Are all file residing on your primary hard drive and NOT a cloud drive like DropBox or Google Drive? 

If yes, try creating a new site definition file. 

For what it's worth, I NEVER use file sync.  Simply right click on your local site folder in Files Panel (F8).  Select >  Recently Modified files.  Hit the UP arrow to PUT files to server.

[Guest]

What is a "defined local site folder"?

The files are on my local and primary hard drive in the folder C:\wamp64\www\mysite\

If I click on the mentioned menu entry, the same check is done like when I click synchronize. I do not see any difference. But I will test on Monday whether this will recognize my changed files. But I guess it will not find deleted files which should be deleted on the remote side, or will it?

[Guest]

Defined Local Site folder = Site > Manage Sites... Given that you're using a local testing server adds another layer to this. Is Wamp server on and are all PHP & Apache processes running?

@Nancy OShea 

(the quote is something you posted in my other thread, but it belongs here)

Yes, I'm working within a defined local site folder. That's why I said "In the server settings in the site definition" in the first posting. 😉

Wampserver and all processes (Apache, MariaDB and PHP) are up and running. But the local server is defined as "testing server", while the server with the SFTP connection is defined as "remote server".

Today I tested the "Recently Modified files" feature. It does not recognize anything. So it's obviously the same as the synchronize feature. I have the problem at work and I just tested it at home, one local testing server and one remote SFTP server. Here it works. But as far as I remember it also worked for a short time at work.

If just changed files would not be recognized, it wouldn't be such a strange problem as it is now, where even new files are not detected as missing on the remote site.

[Nancy OShea]

Restoring Preferences often fixes unusual behavior in DW.

Also recreating your site cache may help.

[Guest]

Today I found the solution without resetting the preferences or creating a new site:

I just went to the server settings within the site definition and changed the root path (which was "/var/www/" in my case) to something else, saved, and edited it again (to the original value). Maybe I did a sync between entering the old and the new value.

There is absolutely no change visible in the exported site definition file, but now it works again!

[Guest]

I have to add another thing (edit is not possible):

Before I did what I said in the above post, the FTP log in DW only said this all the time:

The path was /var/www/temp2342.htm
(I'm not 100% sure about "The path was", but the file is correct)

I found a 9 year old posting which describes exactly the same problem:

https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/24291565/Dreeamweaver-8-will-only-upload-a-file-called-te...

So the real reason all the time was that DW only synchronized this single file (which does not and did never exist).

This problem should be fixed in DW 8.0.1 according to other websites, but it is still present in 21.1.

[Guest]

Sorry for the monolog aka triple post, but here is another thing I have to add (I think it could be useful for further "generations" which have this problem).

One day later, synchronizing does not work again! The exact FTP log entry is: Path was: /var/www/temp2342.htm

I have to change the root folder every day (like described above) to make it work again. And now I can say that it is necessary to do one sync with an alternative path before entering the correct value again.

I already posted this to Uservoice as a bug report. And by the way: the above linked posting in the other forum is 12 years old, not "only" 9.

[BenPleysier]

FYI. the 'temp2342.htm' file is created and re-created every time you hit the F12 key (preview). Because this file constantly changes, it is logical that it will be synced.

Judging by complaints from other users, I believe this to be a Dreamweaver bug that has not been fixed. Like @Nancy OShea , I never use sync.

With apologies for hijacking the topic.

[Guest]

But I never use the F12 key (or any other way to preview the page from within DW), because I open the website manually from outside.

And it does not seem logical to me, because this is the only file which is synced. Instead of syncing /var/www/* DW only syncs /var/www/temp2342.htm.

[BenPleysier]

Make sure that the following checkbos is not checked. Then delete the temp file and try sync again.

[Guest]

That checkbox already is unchecked and never was checked. And the temp file does not and did never exist (at least I never saw it and it does not exist right now).

So I don't know why DW always wants to make something with this file. I hope the developers will react to my bug report on Uservoice.

[Nancy OShea]

Sounds like a corrupted Configuration file to me.  Did you Restore Preferences as previously suggested?

The other option is to nuke DW (all versions) from your system with the Cleaner Tool.
https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

Restart computer.

Reinstall DW.

[Guest]

I just revoked the "correct answer" label, because the problem still exists AND meanwhile I cannot sync at all, not even with the trick described above (changing the root folder). DW does not want to sync ...

By the way, is it normal that the FTP log in DW is always completely empty (except for the "temp2342.htm" line), maybe when connecting to SFTP? Because that's the case.

My DW is the first installation on that PC (which means I never had any older versions installed). And the installation is not very old. So I'm still trying to avoid resetting everything, which makes it necessary to go though all the settings again. But maybe this is really the last and only option ...

Today I deleted several cache files of DW, which did not solve the problem.

Should I just delete the Dreamweaver folder(s) in the Users/AppData folder?

[Nancy OShea]

You have my answer above.  Use the Adobe Cleaner Tool to remove it and start over with a fresh install.

[Guest · Accepted solution]

Now I have the solution! It was not DW directly, but the server I was uploading to.

The root path in DW was "/var/www/". I was not allowed to write directly into that directory. But I could write into "htdocs" ("/var/www/htdocs/"). The local site root was "C:\wamp64\www\example.com\". On the local side all my files were also in "htdocs" ("C:\wamp64\www\example.com\htdocs\") and I only uploaded/synced those files.

This worked sometimes (which is strange), BUT: DW obviously checks for permission in "/var/www/" (via the temp html file) and because I do not have permission, DW does not sync anything.

So I had to adjust the folder rights on the server. So you could say, it was a server problem all the time. But why did it work sometimes and, even more important, why does DW check for permission in folders which I do not upload to?

If you ask why I do not set the htdocs folder as root path for FTP: it's complicated. 😉 It has do do with Git in some way.

[Nancy OShea]

Sounds like your site definition is not set up correctly.  The remote server's ROOT DIRECTORY should NEVER appear in your local site structure.  Otherwise you would end up with a duplicate folder on the remote server.  example . com / index.xxx   would become example . com / htdocs / index.xxx

Site > Manage Sites, Server, Root Directory

[Guest]

Yes, I know, but this work-around is neccesary in my case (because of using Git). I have a structure like this:

C:\mysites\example.com\
-- Git files
-- Project Documentation
---- readme.htm
---- doc.pdf
-- htdocs
---- index.html
---- logo.png

Because I cannot set two different root folders (one for Git and one for the real website), I have to do these strange things. 😉