Problem with libreOffice base

Hello,
i made a database in libreoffice base and i want to share this file with my friend because we need to work on this file parallel. when i tried to do it with the writer (i used the google drive for shere) for example, there wasnt a problem. but there is no option to “remote file” in the base files.
what can i do??
thank you very much!!
Tal

@TAL2: In the future, please do not check the community wiki checkbox. See guidelines for asking.

Apparently Base with embedded setup does not allow remote file locations.

To test this, I first put a copy of an ODB file on Google Drive. Then, from the LibreOffice Start Center, I went to Remote Files as described at Using Remote Files. So far, so good. It loaded the file from Google Drive.

However, trying to view a table produced the following error message.

The connection to the data source "New Database" could not be established.

The given URL contains no valid local file system path. Please check the location of your database file.

To fix this, I went to Save As and saved a copy of the file to the local machine. Now everything worked properly.

After changes were made, I had to open Google Drive via Chrome Web Browser and drag the file to upload it, because I do not see any way for LibreOffice to save Base files remotely.

Now, what you should be using is a split database setup with an engine such as MySQL. In that case, the ideal way is to connect remotely to a database server. However, for personal use, most of us do not have access to a networked database server machine.

Instead, what I have done in the past is to use MyISAM tables which get saved on the local machine as text files. Then set up a script to copy any changed tables along with the ODB file to and from the shared drive. Not nearly as convenient as the remote functionality that LibreOffice Writer has, but it gets the job done.

@jimk Using a Google client & synced folder would eliminate all that ‘save as’ and using a browser. After initial log in, just copy & past to/from the synced folder.

Agreed. I went about it the way I did not because it was easier but in order to determine what functionality LibreOffice provides.

Hello @TAL2,

This is NOT a problem with Base. Using a remote storage service for Base is more complex. Base is only a front end to a database. Many use it with the default embedded HSQLDB. But many (including myself) also use it with a variety of DB’s. This presents a problem in trying to open, save & close as happens in Writer or Calc for example.

You can still use Google Drive or another service such as DropBox by utilizing a client program and a synchronized folder. Google Drive only has clients for Windows & Mac. For Linux you need to use a third party client such as CloudCross or Ocamlfuse (those are free but there are more which have a cost). Have tested both & are very slow. Personally I would prefer using DropBox which has clients available for Windows, Mac, Linux & Android.

Once you have a process set, the files(s) sync from the storage(cloud) to the specified folder. Then, especially with Base, copy what is to be worked with to a local folder & work with it from there. When ready to store it again, just copy from local folder to synced folder & the updated version is stored in the cloud. Most have built in versioning.

References:

Google Drive

Cloud Cross

Ocamlfuse

DropBox

Some sharing info on DropBox - Sharing database using Dropbox

If this answers your question please tick the :heavy_check_mark: (upper left area of answer). It helps others to know there was an accepted answer.

Normally I use Dropbox as well. My answer discusses Google Drive because that’s what LibreOffice gives as an option for remote storage.