Understanding Conflict Files

The CTERA Portal keeps track of who has made updates to the files and when, detects file conflicts when updates occur simultaneously, and resolves those conflicts. The changes made in the most recent update are always saved to the original file. Other changes are not lost, but are saved as versions of the original file, with a filename to reflect the date and time of the changes.

The name of the conflict file is the same name as the original file with the date the conflict file was created. For example:
File in CTERA Portal: ExampleFile.txt
Conflict file in CTERA Portal: ExampleFile - Conflict On 2023_01_02 17_09_58.txt

When Is a Conflict Generated

A conflict is generated in the following situations:

• When more than one CTERA Agent is connected to the CTERA Portal and syncing to a shared folder. Any file created locally by a user and saved in the shared folder is synced to the CTERA Portal global file system and then from the CTERA Portal global file system to the every user sharing the folder.
  • When users simultaneously edit the same file.
    For example, when the user who created the file continues to edit it while a second user opens the files and also edits it. After the second user saves the file locally, it is synced to the CTERA Portal global file system and saved as a conflict file.
  • When a user is offline when editing the file.
    For example, when a user goes offline after syncing the file locally and then edits the file offline. If another user then edited the file while connected to the CTERA Portal, when the offline user goes back online and syncs the edited file to the cloud, this file has the last changes synced to the CTERA Portal file and this is the file that is saved. The edited file made by the other user, while the file was edited offline, is saved as a conflict file.
    Note

    If no other users edited the file while the file was edited offline, the CTERA Portal detects that not only is the edited version newer than the one on the CTERA Portal, but also no changes were performed by other users; therefore, the edited file is saved in the CTERA Portal global file system without a conflict file.

  • When a user deletes a file being edited by another user.
    For example, a user is editing a file and a second user deletes the local copy of the file, removing it from the local PC. When the edited file is saved, it is synced to the CTERA Portal and then back the local PC from which it was deleted. A conflict file is not created.
  • When a user renames a file being edited by another user.
    For example, a user is editing a file and a second user renames the local copy of the file. When the edited file is saved, it is synced to the CTERA Portal and then back the local PC from which it was renamed. The renamed file is also synced to the CTERA Portal and then from the CTERA Portal to the every user sharing the folder. Each user and the CTERA Portal now has two copies of the file: with the original name and the last updates and with the new name, without the last updates.
  • When a user deletes a subfolder containing a file being edited by another user.
    For example, a user is editing a file and a second user deletes the local copy of the folder which includes this file, removing it and the file from the local PC. The action is synced to the CTERA Portal deleting the folder and its files from the CTERA Portal and then from the CTERA Portal to the every user sharing the folder. When an attempt is made to save the edited file, there is no folder in which to save it and it must be saved to a new location. If the new location is a shared folder, it is then synced to the CTERA Portal as is any new file. A conflict file is not created.
  • When a user deletes a root shared folder.
    The root shared folder is synced back to the user’s local PC. A conflict file is not created.
• When more than one user is connected to a CTERA Edge Filer and users simultaneously edit the same file.
  For example, users open and edit the same file. The first user to open the file, will save it with the original name. All the other users will save their changes as conflict files.