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[GH-ISSUE #478] [Bug]: "invalid schema" shows misleading "Update required" error message #25955
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Originally created by @albertogasparin on GitHub (Jan 17, 2023).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues/478
Verified issue does not already exist?
I have searched and found no existing issue
What happened?
After creating, removing and recreating a file on my laptop, sync broke on my iPad and was not able to make it work until I triggered reset sync from the laptop itself. The error message showing up on the iPad was "Update required" even if was using the latest web version directly from the server 😕
I thought the problem was on some cache on iPad, so deleted all data there (tried network caches, local dbs, ...) but Actual would still start syncing and then log an "invalid schema" error in the console.
Turns out the problem (likely) was the server sending a partial file even when no file was available on the device. I saw from the logs that "Got meta for documents-Actual-My-Finances-ea6e8ff-db.sqlite" size was very different between the broken sync (300KB) vs when the full sync happened (1.1MB).
I think it would be helpful to improve the messaging on the error (or have a complete different errors for these "invalid schema" exceptions) and provide a way for the device where this error occurs to discard local data and have the server send a full sync again.
App: 23.1.12 | Server: 23.1.12
What error did you receive?
No response
Where are you hosting Actual?
Fly.io
What browsers are you seeing the problem on?
Safari
Operating System
Mobile Device
@Kidglove57 commented on GitHub (Jan 18, 2023):
I am a non technical user. I agree the wording of the message is misleading - I had got so used to it that I did not report it.
In your situation, I
a) close the file on my iPad,then
b) delete that file on the iPad being very careful to select local only.
C) I then click on the file again to re-download it and all is well
Please excuse me if I have misunderstood.
@jlongster commented on GitHub (Jan 18, 2023):
The reason that is the error message is because 95% of the time the reason this happens is because the app has been updated with some new fields in the database, and another client has started using these new fields. An older version of the app will then run into this error, and the likely fix is it just needs an update. The error shouldn't be any scarier than that.
It's weird that you ran into "invalid schema" -- usually local db problems are more like a corrupt database entirely. I'd be curious to dig into what happened more. If anyone runs into this again, it could be worth looking at what changes are trying to be applied and why they aren't working. Usually, if there's a bug (and it's usually the browser's problem of messing with the persisted data) with the db in the browser it'll mess up the data in more serious ways that shows other error messages.
@jlongster commented on GitHub (Jan 18, 2023):
And yes @Kidglove57 is right. You can always delete a file locally and then select it to re-download it.
I don't trust the iPad browser's storage to be honest. I've heard these kinds of problem before and it might not be good enough to run a fully local app. But I haven't looked into it more :)
@Kidglove57 commented on GitHub (Jan 18, 2023):
I have been using Actual open source on my iPad for quite some months and this is the only issue I have run into on iPad. In other words having to re-download the file after I had (for example)re-imported it on laptop.
I do export regularly though, just in case, so that I have a backup!
However, I have run into a similar error from time to time in Safari on my laptop. And I have solved it by deleting the local version and re-downloading. After doing so, I have immediately tested my existing Actual links in Firefox and Brave on laptop and found that there were no issues with them. This is leading me to wonder if there is something "unique" about the way Safari handles the cached data? To reiterate Safari is the only browser in which I have had an issue with Actual, on laptop or iPad
@j-f1 commented on GitHub (Jan 18, 2023):
Maybe it would be helpful to add a bit more info to this error? For example I hit it while testing locally because I added a column (for #268) to my budget and now I get the error. Maybe there could be more detailed diagnostic info in the message? (there definitely was in my case)
@jlongster commented on GitHub (Jan 18, 2023):
@Kidglove57 Actual stresses browser's local persistence layer because it stores everything locally. That means the implementation (called IndexedDB) must be rock solid to have a smooth and solid experience 100% of the time. Safari's unfortunately is not quite there; it's a complex thing to get right and Safari tends to have less devs working on it than Chrome/Firefox. (I personally use Safari! I do love it but have to accept this tradeoff)
@j-f1 Yeah for sure. It could be better, y'all feel free to change it however you like. Just wanted to give some context for why it was written that way in the first place.
@j-f1 commented on GitHub (Feb 21, 2023):
Update: with #671, there is now more information logged into the console.
@MatissJanis commented on GitHub (Mar 30, 2023):
👋 Hey @albertogasparin just checking in if this issue is still something you experience in the latest version?
If not - lets close it off. :)