Folders with the same name got replaced by sync

[ohmyohmyohmy]

Which version of floccus are you using?

5.9.0

How many bookmarks do you have, roughly?

Goodness. 2.1 mbs worth based on the xbel file. Didn't keep count.

Are you using other means to sync bookmarks in parallel to floccus?

No

Sync method

WebDAV

Which browser are you using? In case you are using the phone App, specify the Android or iOS version and device please.

Firefox 149.0.0, Chrome 147.0.7727.55, Brave 1.88.138

Which version of Nextcloud Bookmarks are you using? (if relevant)

none

Which version of Nextcloud? (if relevant)

none

What kind of WebDAV server are you using? (if relevant)

dufs -A on a local folder serving at http://127.0.0.1

Describe the Bug

Before using floccus, I had a massive collection of bookmarks in Firefox's Bookmarks Toolbar. Here's my tree format

-Bookmarks Toolbar
-Bookmarks Menu
-Other Bookmarks

I copied everything from bookmarks toolbar into other bookmarks in preparation for [Bookmarks Toolbar] being replaced by the sync from Chrome and Brave which had less than 100 bookmarks. So this becomes the general tree structure.

-Bookmarks Toolbar
-Bookmarks Menu
-Other Bookmarks
      - Bookmarks Toolbar

After running the sync successfully, the Bookmarks Toolbar got synced as expected. But when I check [Other Bookmarks > Bookmarks Toolbar] which was supposed to be the backup, it got replaced by the sync too!

Expected Behavior

I expected [Other Bookmarks > Bookmarks Toolbar] to be left untouched, not synced as well.

To Reproduce

I don't know if I can reproduce it, nor do I want to. I'm still trying to recover my bookmarks, which gives me Parse Error: Entity expansion limit exceeded: 1001 > 1000

Debug log provided

• I have provided a debug log file

[github-actions]

Hello! 👋

Thank you for taking the time to open this issue with floccus. I know it's frustrating when software causes problems. You have made the right choice to come here and open an issue to make sure your problem gets looked at and if possible solved. Let me give you a short introduction on what to expect from this issue tracker to avoid misunderstandings. I'm Marcel. I created floccus a few years ago, and have been maintaining it since. I currently work for Nextcloud which leaves me with less time for side projects like this one than I used to have. I still try to answer all issues and if possible fix all bugs here, but it sometimes takes a while until I get to it. Until then, please be patient. It helps when you stick around to answer follow up questions I may have, as very few bugs can be fixed directly from the first bug report, without any interaction. If information is missing in your bug report and the issue cannot be solved without it, I will have to close the issue after a while. Note also that GitHub in general is a place where people meet to make software better together. Nobody here is under any obligation to help you, solve your problems or deliver on any expectations or demands you may have, but if enough people come together we can collaborate to make this software better. For everyone. Thus, if you can, you could also have a look at other issues to see whether you can help other people with your knowledge and experience. If you have coding experience it would also be awesome if you could step up to dive into the code and try to fix the odd bug yourself. Everyone will be thankful for extra helping hands! If you cannot lend a helping hand, to continue the development and maintenance of this project in a sustainable way, I ask that you donate to the project when opening an issue (or at least once your issue is solved), if you're not a donor already. You can find donation options at https://floccus.org/donate/. Thank you!

One last word: If you feel, at any point, like you need to vent, this is not the place for it; you can go to the Nextcloud forum, to twitter or somewhere else. But this is a technical issue tracker, so please make sure to focus on the tech and keep your opinions to yourself.

Thank you for reading through this primer. I look forward to working with you on this issue! Cheers! 💙

[ohmyohmyohmy]

This is not a Floccus bug. This seems like a Firefox bug. I did a small experiment. I turned off floccus on Firefox, and tried creating a new folder in [Other Bookmarks > Bookmarks Toolbar] called Tester.

The same folder immediately appears on [Bookmarks Toolbar] !

I suspect then when you make a copy by copying and pasting the Bookmarks Toolbar, it "syncs" itself within Firefox.

[ohmyohmyohmy]

This phenomenon is reproducible when you copy any "first level folder" (Bookmarks Toolbar, Bookmarks Menu, or Other Bookmarks) and paste it into any folder anywhere. Then, when you make changes in either one, it gets copied into the other mirror. If you make say 3 copies of the first-level-folder, all 3 copies get synced!

[marcelklehr]

This is not a Floccus bug.

So, this is a bug in Firefox? Or should I reopen here?

[mayziran]

This phenomenon is reproducible when you copy any "first level folder" (Bookmarks Toolbar, Bookmarks Menu, or Other Bookmarks) and paste it into any folder anywhere. Then, when you make changes in either one, it gets copied into the other mirror. If you make say 3 copies of the first-level-folder, all 3 copies get synced!

The problem I encountered is as follows:
There is a folder named "AI" in the root directory, and another folder also named "AI" in a second-level directory. The contents of the root directory folder were all synced into this second-level directory folder. Not only that, the errors were all caused by folders with the same name — many bookmark folders at different levels became messed up. The way I use it is: the Chrome extension on my PC only uploads, while the Chrome extension in Lemur Browser on my Android phone only downloads.

[ohmyohmyohmy]

This is not a Floccus bug.

So, this is a bug in Firefox? Or should I reopen here?

The initial issue I was opening this for seems to be a Firefox issue. However, I've had instances where folders with similar names get synced wrongly and have bookmarks misplaced, or shifted. I can't reproduce it consistently, but it appears that others have the similar issue, like mayziran above.