[Offline mode] How can I use local files?

When reading the 2021 May update I was happy that Dynalist offers an offline mode. In the comments you can find the data folder path.

I expected opml and txt files - like when using the “Download backup” menu option. However I can only find .data files.

Questions

  • How can I convert those .data files into opml and txt?
  • If I copied all those data files let’s say 10 days ago, and today something goes wrong with my computer. But I have the copies. Can I just put one .data file from 10 days ago back into the data folder without problems?
  • In other words… how do I handle back-ups with .data files when I have Dynalist offline mode enabled all the time? @Erica
  • How can I convert those .data files into opml and txt?
    • The easiest way is to open the Dynalist desktop app, navigate to the document, and use copy and paste or Export.

    • The hard way is to open the ASCII in the file in a JSON parser, figure out the data structure, and spend hours custom programming a translator. A few people tried in the past few years, but we generally don’t get very far. I figured out how to convert it to a flat list. It’s stored database style (a couple dimensions) rather than as a hierarchical nested array (n-dimensions), so it’s not easy to figure out imo.

  • If I copied all those data files let’s say 10 days ago, and today something goes wrong with my computer. But I have the copies. Can I just put one .data file from 10 days ago back into the data folder without problems?
    • I think so, but it’s been a while since I tested that. Make a new document with some items, close the app, move it out of the folder, open the app, close the app, move it back in, open the app. Test if the app just loads every file in that folder. I thought it did.
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