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Forum Discussion
mike160304
7 years agoCollaborator | Level 9
Cannot edit some text files in Dropbox on iPhone?
In the Dropbox app on iPhone SE, I can open all my text files, but in some of them I do not get the Edit icon (looks like a cursor) at bottom left, so cannot edit them.
In others, I get the Edi...
- 7 years ago
K-C-L (and others following)
Thanks! You're onto the right cause, and solution ...well, workaround.
Dropbox App editor won't handle either certain characters (extended) or Windows Notepad default ANSI files. A pretty obvious shortcoming. These get rendered in a non-editable file - which looks like monospaced courier, but doesn't make a space for each <spacebar>. Go figure.
Anyway, the workarounds are:
- Convert all your Notepad ANSI files to UTF-8 (open file in Notepad, Save As..., dropdown box -> choose UTF-8 and Save. (Save all new files as UTF-8). This is what I am doing.
- Open the file in Dropbox App. Select a word, then Select All. Copy. Create new file (Text). Paste into the window, name, and Create. Kinda klugy.
Those both work - I've tested.
- There is a way to change Notepad default to UTF-8, which would prevent this from re-occurring, but you have to touch the Registry (I don't want to do that)
- Download Notepad++ which apparently can set a default without touching the Registry (cannot verify). Reportedly Notepad++ takes less resources too (don't know about that either)
OK, a PITA. But do-able. I guess.
But, the real problem is Dropbox App cannot show text files (.txt) in monospaced font (e.g. Menlo or Courier). This is basically a disqualifier for Dropbox for musicians who use text files to create Tab, or Notation files, or chord charts. That's a lot of people left out in the cold. Since they all share files, so Dropbox could / should own this market, but have shut themselves out.
Minato
Dropbox Staff
Hey mike160304,
Dropbox doesn’t have a built in editor. What program do you use to edit the file?
If you’d like to use an editor, you’ll have to download/export the file, edit it and then upload it again.
The mobile app doesn’t download the files locally, like the desktop app does.
Let me know if this helps!
mike160304
7 years agoCollaborator | Level 9
As I said originally, the Dropbox iPhone app does allow me to edit some Notepad .txt files, but not others. I am trying find out why.
Please see the reply from Rich - his description of what happens is exactly what I see, when it works. But sometimes the Edit icon at bottom left is missing, even though it is still a Notepad .txt file.
Mike
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