Hey everyone,
I’m having some trouble with Google Drive and my Eclipse setup. I moved my dev stuff from Dropbox to save some cash, but now I’m running into problems.
Google Drive won’t sync some Eclipse-related folders. They’re mostly in the .metadata directory, like:
.metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.core.resources/.projects/ProjectA/
.metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.core.resources/.projects/ProjectB/
I checked the folder properties but couldn’t spot anything weird. Eclipse isn’t even running right now.
Has anyone else dealt with this? Any ideas on how to fix it? I really don’t want to go back to Dropbox if I can help it.
Thanks for any help you can give!
I’ve encountered this issue before with Eclipse and cloud syncing. The problem lies in how Eclipse manages its metadata, which can conflict with Google Drive’s sync mechanisms.
A solution that worked for me was to create a separate workspace for each project outside the Google Drive folder. This keeps the .metadata folder isolated from syncing issues. You can then selectively sync only the actual project folders.
Another approach is to use a version control system like Git for your code, and keep your Eclipse workspace local. This separates your code management from file syncing, which is generally a better practice for development work.
If you must use Google Drive, consider using symbolic links to connect your Eclipse workspace to the synced folder. This can sometimes bypass the syncing conflicts while maintaining your desired folder structure.
I’ve dealt with similar sync issues when using cloud storage for development projects. In my experience, the problem often stems from the way Eclipse creates and manages metadata files. These can change frequently and contain a lot of small files, which can trip up sync services.
One workaround I’ve found effective is to exclude the .metadata folder from syncing entirely. You can do this in Google Drive settings by adding it to the ignored files list. This way, your actual project files sync, but the Eclipse-specific metadata stays local.
For version control, I’d recommend using Git instead. It handles these kinds of files much better and gives you more control. You could host your repos on GitHub or GitLab for free, which might be a good alternative to paid cloud storage for code.
If you absolutely need to sync everything, you might want to look into using rsync or a similar tool that’s better suited for handling lots of small files and frequent changes. It’s a bit more work to set up, but it could solve your syncing headaches.
yo, i had this prob too. google drive’s not great with eclipse stuff. what i did was move the .metadata folder outta the synced area. keeps things smooth.
if ur worried bout losing work, maybe try github? it’s free and handles code way better than drive. just a thought, mate.