Can't open transferred .notes files in Ubuntu or Windows

[Bruce Ferguson]

Binary package hint: tomboy

I recently had to revert to Windows after a couple of years running Ubuntu. I understood that I could transfer my tomboy notes by simply backing up the the .notes files, installing Tomboy on Windows, and copying the notes files into the Windows Tomboy directory (C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\tomboy\notes). See http://www.linickx.com/archives/790/tomboy-on-windows. However, the notes do not appear when I open Tomboy, nor do they open when I double click them.

I tried to get around the problem by installing Ubuntu 10.04 in Vbox, but the same thing happens there (Tomboy does not recognize notes I paste into /home/bruce/.local/share/tomboy).

I was able to recover text of a couple of key notes using Firefox, but that is clumsy and tedious.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Tomboy 1.2.1 (Ubuntu), 1.2.2 (Windows)
Ubuntu 10.04 in Windows 7 Virtual Box

[Sandy Armstrong (sanfordarmstrong)]

Did you make sure to restart Tomboy after copying over the .note files? Tomboy does not support modifying the contents of the note directory while it's running.

[Bruce Ferguson (bgfecosur)]

Thank you, Sandy! I now have recovered all (or almost all) of my notes. It's a bit more complicated than you suggest, however. What I figured out, by trial and error, is that if I start up my machine, copy files into the Tomboy folder and then run Tomboy everything works. However if I run Tomboy, close it, and then copy .note files into to the Tomboy folder during the same session, those new .note files do not appear in Tomboy. This is true in Windows 7 as well as Ubuntu 10.04.
Thanks again for your help and your work with Tomboy.

[Sandy Armstrong (sanfordarmstrong)]

Bruce, it sounds like you are not really quitting Tomboy properly during the times that it doesn't work. I recommend checking the process list if you're not sure.

You said "almost all" of your notes. You are missing notes? Do you know if you have the .note files for them?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[k singh (triveni-2com)]

There is no way to associate .note files with Tomboy as it is not listed in the set of applications under Nautilus. Gnote is listed as an application under Nautilus but after associating .note files with it, it also does not open them. The only workaround is to move the .note files to ~/.local/share/tomboy and then start Tomboy.