GO Contact Sync Mod / Bugs / #1296 Synchronisation of contacts makes plenty of new duplicities (new contact items) and throws lot of various warnings and erros. Contact sync unusable at 4.0.9 (was OK at 3.10.13)

guy - 2021-07-18

i am having a similar problem- updated from 4.0.9 to 4.1.01 first sync since the update i am getting a lot of merge prompts which indicate that an outlook contact does not exist any more (doing a contacts search at the same time shows the missing contact exists in outlook.
after choosing to keep google contact i get 2 contacts on outlook.
there are a lot of such merge messages and the other choice is to remove the google contact which would mean to delete the contact from google- that is not the desired result.
what should i do and can you fix this?

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Florian Saller - 2021-07-23

status: open --> pending-release

assigned_to: Florian Saller
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Florian Saller - 2021-07-23

Please try again with new version 4.1.11, I found some places in the code, which could be responsible for this behavior. I consider it as a bug of the new Google People API, but I found a way to workaround it (I hope). Will monitor alson my hand. Until further notice, I would advice to keep the "Prompt delete" option switched on. You should also check your recycle bin for deleted contacts (on Google side as well as on Outlook side) to recover your incidentally deleted contacts!!!

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Martin Adamek - 2021-10-17

I found a time and courage, and after 3 months of not syncing contacts (syncing calendar only; it is OK), due to problems with new Google api in version 4.0.9 at beggining of July,
I installed 4.1.18 and I tried to sync contacts.
I thought I will make separeated reports, one for each issue, but it will be better to keep it together for context (so, some information are repeated in some points).

1)
"Removing Google duplicated contacts" takes 46 minutes for cca 3 thousand of contact items.
Would it be possible to add a checkbox to switch this feature (phase) off?

2)
An error occured:
2021-10-17 19:50:46 | Warning | Exception Accessing Google contact: /name of person was here/ internal. Skipping: Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection.
Parameter name: index
- the same text of error for three various contact items during searching of duplicated contact items at Google side.

3)
It should be possible to minimaze pop-up alert window "Conflict detected". To it would be possible to check situation at Outlook as well as at Google, directly at each place (including formating and hyperlinks at decription; including photos; categories; ...), not having alert window at highest z-layer at the screen.

4)
Generally, already for years, including versions 3.x and old API,
there are lot of contact items being updated from Google to Outlook,
when the most of them I did not change.
And, fortunately, there is not visible some damage.
And it are not pictures added at Google, it are also contacts without pictures.
There are always tens of changed items without known reasons during each succesfull synchronisation (I have about 3k items).
And very often there is this warning + information:
2021-10-17 21:20:21 | Warning | Outlook contact notes body not updated, because it is RTF, otherwise it will overwrite it by plain text: (name)
2021-10-17 21:20:22 | Information | Updated Outlook contact from Google: "(the same name as at previous line)".

5)
I have had 3280 contact items in MSO (with some duplicities and few new items) and 3032 contact items at Google (after 3 months of non-syncing, when I was making new items in MSO only, not in Google; and there are not some duplicities at Google) before sync;
then SW was resolving duplicities;
and then the SW is syncing 3404 items (in the same synchronisation run).

5b)
Even when There is written "Syncing contact 3404 of 3404" at the top of the windows,
it still continues syncing more and more contact item at yellow log text field!
Like:
2021-10-17 21:50:45 | Information | Updated Google contact from Outlook: "(name)".
Tens and tens such new lines being written in yellow log multiline text field; when there is "3404 of 3404" written at the top.

6)
The synchronisation took 2 hours and 18 minutes.

Calendar was almost immediately, in this context; the mos of time is for contacts.
The longest (and less useful) part is searching of duplicities at Google side. Please, make this phase optional.

Matching also took long time (about 37 minutes; so little bit shorter time then searching of duplicities).
I did not reset matches today, so it was normal synchronisation, using old matches.
I did not changed lot of contact items in last 3 months from previous sync; it could be about 5 - 10 new items and about 10 - 20 items changed.
But lot of items changed itself magically at Google side, the same way as all years before.
But since version 4 it is very slow.
(I updated from 3.10.13 to 4.0.9 at July, so I can not see difference, if the slow contact sync is caused by some new changes, since I was using quite old version before. But I guess it is related to new Google API.)

7)
In last phase of sync the Sw sometimes told that item does not exist at MSO anymore, and asked if to delete it at Google, or to keep at Google.
Some of them were 1 piece at MSO and 1 piece at Google (so I choosed to keep it).

8)
Already version 4.09. at July deleted me skype id from IM field for some contacts.
It depends if the person have old classic skype ID, or new generation of MS Skype id. It were all pieces of one that type, which were deleted from all contacts.

9)
Generally, I think lot of problems is caused by description (detailed notes, multiline field), its formatting, and especially by URLs in it.

10)
Some solution of this tragical situation would be to sync contacts from outlook to google only,
after deleting of all items at google,
with price of new settings of ring-tones at phones,
with price of loosing names from call logs.
But I would like not to lose matches of calendar items, since calendar is OK.

a)
Please, would it be possible to split link "Reset Matches" to two separate ones?
One for calendar (I do not need it now), one for contacts (I need it; since I have already more then 3400 contact items, instead of real cca 2800; each synchronisation means hundreds of new duplicities).

b)
Please, would it be possilbe to split 3xmerge and 2xonedirectiononly choices
to one set for calendar and one set for contacts?
It would be some emergency solution, to sync calendar normal way,
and to sync contacts from MSO to Google only.

11)
Number of contact items:
I started with 3280 at MSO and 3032 at Google;
having not any piece at Google, which would not be at MSO (adding new items to MSO only in last 3 months since prev sync; not to Google);
and after 2,5 hours of one sync, including phase of duplicities removing,
I have 3405 at MSO and 3377 at Google.
Guessing it is about 2800 - 2900 real unique items in distinct view.

"2021-10-17 21:55:43 | Information | Sync complete. Synced: 1878 out of 35656. Deleted: 1. Skipped: 15716. Errors: 0."

(
I think that 15k7 skipped items are calendar items before limit for sync, it is OK.
But I do not understand that number 36656.

When syncing appointments only, it is cca 16,5 thousand items in total only; sync of calendar takes 2 minutes with result: "2021-10-17 22:16:42 | Information | Sync complete. Synced: 7 out of 16515. Deleted: 0. Skipped: 15715. Errors: 0.".
)

Please, add possibility to sync calendar normal way like now,
and to sync contacts with option reset matches, overwrite everything at google, just copy everything from MSO to Google without any exploring of items.

(Keeping possibility to disable syncing of contacts, as it is now.)

12)
Description (notes) in contacts at Google is full of numerical HTML entities like "í" instead of "í", etc..
It is big problem to read such notes; and it also can be reason of all sync/duplicity problems.
It is possible, that problems are caused by Czech characters "říšžčýůňúíďáéó", Polish characters "źśćńłóąęż" (+ capitals of them) and some another characters from some languages
when they are used in description with some type of formating of text.

13)
Order of processing items (order in which they are shown at top status line or at log text) is related to dat when I create the item.
From very old ones to the newest ones.
It is obviously ordered by some internal id (primary key), which is not shown to user, but which keeps information about order of creating each item (related to each other).
And after some set of unique contact, there is always package of duplicites added by one synchronisation.
It could be a tool for user for manual removing of duplicities.
Some simple manager window, table with list of all contacts, sorted by id, with checkboxes to delete chosen lines (to move it to recycle bin).

I think possibility to sync calendar normal way
and to sync contacts one direction from MSO to Google with contacts matches reset (having possibility to do not sync contacts; as it is now)
would be some emergency solution for this situation.

Or to solute problems with national characters being encoded to html numerical entities, if it is the reason.
(But diacritic is ok in both of duplicite items in OK; problem is at Google only. Sometimes difference between duplicite contact items in MSO can be just font-color in description (notes)).
I am almost sure that source of problems is in desription (notes) - formating, diacritics, hypertext
(Plus that deleting of skype id from instant messages field, it is separate problem.)

Thanks a lot.

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Martin Adamek - 2021-10-18

I have one more suggestion
- for new mode of synchronisation,
which I would appreciate for contacts:

Synchronise new items from MSO to Google,
synchronise changes from MSO to Google,
synchronise NEW items from Google to MSO;
but do NOT synchronise any changes (of already existing items) from Google to MSO.

(It is not about merge win MSO;
this is about do not sync any changes of old items from Google, even if did not change in MSO.)

It would be also protection against unwanted magical changes of items at Google, which is strange behavior of Google already for years (including old API and v 3.x).

This new 1,5 direction mode would allow to sync new contacts from phone/Google to MSO (e.g. saved from call log, from SMS, ...),
and it also would be protecting contact items from damage caused by strange Google behavior.

And all merge/direction settings could be one set for calendar and one set for contacts.
And functionality "Reset matches" should be also separate, one for calendar and one for contacts,
as told above.

And, one cosmetic suggestion:
One-choice list (exactly one has to be chosen) should use round buttons;
that squere+nike buttons look like multiple (0-N) choice.

Thanks for your work,
I hope this could be way how to make sync usable even under new API.

(
I will remove my hundreds of contact items duplicities manually;
and then I would like to reset contact matches and force all contacts from MSO to Google;
but keeping normal sync (keep matches; using normal both direction sync) of calendar, since calendar sync works OK.
)

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Martin Adamek - 2021-10-19

Additional info - what I see when I am cleaning hundreds of duplicities manually:

14)
Lot of items have damaged "save as" field in Outlook. My own content or MSO pattern (e.g. Company (Surname, Firstname) ) was replaced by Google pattern "Firstname Surname".
I think it can be even from version 3, from unwanted updates Google->MSO.
It would be really great to have possibility of 1,5 direction sync as I suggested above, to do not allow to Google changes my existing MSO contacts.

15)
Differences in contact description (notes) between duplicities is possible to see
if there is email address, which is hypertext,
or if there is URL with some another text (where e.g. name or somea nother normal text, not URL, is hypertext).
Email address is kind of type of that hypertext with another text. vs. link, since it contains "mailto:" in hyperlink address.
In such cases it is possible to see that duplicities have differences from original items.

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Florian Saller - 2021-11-16

Hi Martin, thanks a lot for this detailed Error report, highly appreciated. I need some time to look thru all the items, some can be explained, others I need to dig further, please be patient, and keep reporting issues if you find some!

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Luke Durkan - 2022-01-18

Similar problem this side. Cannot sync my google contacts to outlook.

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Florian Saller - 2022-01-28

I fundamentally Restructured the handling how and when to delete a contact, especially for SyncOptions GoogleToOutlookOnly and OutlookToGoogleOnly, will be part of 4.1.28 version, pleaes doublecheck and feedback, if it is solved (and if not, please provide me your log and problem description, incl. screenshot how your GCSM settings)

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SkyBeam - 2022-03-08

I think version 4.1.28 has provided a major improvement. I don't get random duplicates on Google Contacts any more and also GCSM seems not to try deleting many contacts and failing to match.

I think only once I still run into an issue where GCSM unexpectedly asked me to delete on Google side a some contacts which it thought they vanished from Outlook. I think the reason was some intermittent failure of GCSM to connect to the local Outlook. Perhaps error handling there should be improved. If connectivity to Outlook fails GCSM should neither start deleting messages from Google. Also sometimes GCSM failing to connect to google even though Outlook process is running for days. Only way to resolve it is to close down GCSM and re-launch it.

So I think the sync algorithm improved or even working fine now. But error handling and connection to local outlook (and potentially error handling on Google connection) could be improved.

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#1296 Synchronisation of contacts makes plenty of new duplicities (new contact items) and throws lot of various warnings and erros. Contact sync unusable at 4.0.9 (was OK at 3.10.13)

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