QGIS update leads to wrong path files after cable export

[lorenzomorning]

We have currently updated our QGIS in the whole company from version 3.28 to the newer 3.40. Now we face the following problem: If we work (using the newer 3.40) with an QGIS project that was created with the older version 3.28 and we use the (cable) export function of QField Sync, the dataset paths of the created QGIS project copy still lead to the original datasets. Therefore, after the transfer to our tablet these datasets cannot be found. We ensured that within the project settings the paths are set to relative.

Is this a common issue and can it be fixed in future QFieldSync Releases?

Currently we us one of these two workarounds:

• Setting the dataset paths manually after the export
• Set up a complete new QGIS project with 3.40 and drag and drop all layers from the older version into the new one and continue in there

[SeqLaz]

Hi @lorenzomorning,

Could you work using a new profile in QGIS?

This will not use cached information on the new profile.

[lorenzomorning]

Your suggested workaround do their job! Thank you @SeqLaz

[SeqLaz]

Great @lorenzomorning!

Glad to know your project is working correctly now!

[suricactus]

@lorenzomorning which of the two suggestions? I would like to have a look at this issue next month so it would be great to know exactly what solved the problem for you and how it was different from what you were doing so far.

[lorenzomorning]

@suricactus . For me the VACUUM on my geopackages didn't solve the problem of the wrong file paths. In my case I had to export to the default QField export folder located at C:\Users\lorenz.beck\QField\export. As normally we export directly into our project related folders that are not stored at C:\ this workaround isn't handy, unfortunately. Therefore, we stick to the workaround of setting up a new QGIS project from scratch with the newest QGIS version 3.40.4 and continue in there.
But it would great if an export from older QGIS project to other folders will work in future with upgraded QGIS versions. Thanks a lot for your development! :)

[lorenzomorning]

Short update on the bug. We even detected the misleading paths now using a fresh QGIS 3.40.4 project. I will keep an eye on this :)

[lorenzomorning]

Hi QField developers @suricactus @SeqLaz ,
unfortunately we are still observing the described problems, when we export our QField projects via cable export option to folders outside of the default location C:\Users\lorenz.beck\QField\export. The exported project does not have the updated dataset paths to the export folder location but is still referencing to the original datasets from which they were exported. We are still using QGIS 3.40.4 with adapted user profiles. Do other users have the same problem? :)
Cheers and thanks for your work!

[ahellers]

I have a similar problem using QGIS 3.40 and qfieldsync 4.18: Whenever I export a project (using cable export) with "offline editing" layers, at least some of these layers have the wrong path in the exporter offline project. In these cases, the path still points to the original gpkg files of the desktop QGIS projekt and the layer are missing or empty in the newly created data.gpkg file. Is there any solution for that?

[lorenzomorning]

@ahellers the disucussion has been moved from QField/discussions to QField/issues :) here you can find the bug report that should also relate to your issue #6800. Could you please post your comment there to raise the importance of this issue.
Meanwhile I found out that this problems only occurs for data that is stored at the same location as the qgis project - just as the developers suggest. For data that is stored outside this folder, the paths are updated in the exported qgis project. Storing your data outside the projects home directory might help you fixing of your problem.

[ahellers]

I already opended a new issue on github: opengisch/qfieldsync#742.

Just one comment: In my case paths are not updated while packaging independent of the location of the directory, the data was stored...