Issue with linked files when using Adobe Suite on Mac

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rosner wrote:

It appears that the problem stems from each user having a unique home folder name. Dropbox, unable to locate the identical home folder name, breaks the links.

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You're correct that the issue is due to having different home folder names. The reason this happens is because most applications, when embedding links to other files, use the full path to the file starting at the top of the drive. This means the user's home folder will be included in the link. When another user tries to open the main file, the application is unable to find the linked files because the paths don't match.

However, this isn't a Dropbox issue and Dropbox isn't causing it or breaking the links. It's simply how the applications work. The links aren't changing or breaking. They're just pointing to a file that doesn't exist in that path for the other user.

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1. Ensure each computer has a home folder with the same name.

2. Place the Dropbox folder at a higher level than the home folder ...

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Option two would have been the preferred method before Apple's File Provider API. Now, however, Apple forces Dropbox to use the CloudStorage folder, so you can't move the Dropbox folder to a higher level.

Most applications deal with linked files the same way, using the full path, but some MAY work with a relative path or an environment variable set to a person's Dropbox folder and using that in place of the full path. Failing that, the only other option would be to make sure each computer uses the same home folder name.