Changes to preferences/themes/etc. not updating when using Dropbox on OS X, restart required

[MattDMo]

ST3 Build 3054 on OS X 10.8.5 using any recent version of Dropbox (currently 2.4.6)

ST2: I have symlinks pointing ~/Library/Application Support/Sublime Text 2/Packages to my Dropbox folder, with no issues at all. I can change .sublime-settings files, install new packages from Package Control, etc. and the changes are applied immediately.

However, using the same setup with ST3 (Installed Packages and Packages symlinked to Dropbox), even the smallest change requires a full restart of the program - changing a setting, installing a plugin, altering a menu item, etc. If I quit ST3, delete the symlinks, and copy the Packages and Installed Packages files back to ~/Library/Application Support/Sublime Text 3/ and restart ST3, things work perfectly.

I use multiple machines for my work, and I'd really like to be able to share my settings via Dropbox among them. Please let me know if you need any more details or troubleshooting.

Matt

EDIT
I don't seem to have this issue with XP, Win7, or Linux, for some reason.

[FichteFoll]

I read something about this and that it is OS or NTFS-dependant that applications might not get file system change events if the changes are within a symlink. This is also the reason why you can't link to something from your dropbox folder and have it still sync because it does not get change events (for some reason). That, however, does not seem to apply to ST because it works if I link the Packages folder to a folder in my dropbox (Win7, ST3).

So yes, maybe it's an OSX/ST3 issue.

[MattDMo]

I'm not at home now to try it, but I wonder if creating a hard link would work? For example:

$ ln "~/Dropbox/Sublime/ST3_Mac/Installed Packages" "~/Library/Application Support/Sublime Text 3/Installed Packages"
$ ln "~/Dropbox/Sublime/ST3_Mac/Packages" "~/Library/Application Support/Sublime Text 3/Packages"

I'm not sure exactly how the OS differentiates between symlinks and hardlinks, but it could be a workaround. I'll let you know...

[goerwin]

Maybe it's too late but in case anyone is having this problem, I was having it too and just managed to solve it recently by following the official tutorial here. Basically I was trying to sync the Packages and Installed Packages folders instead of just the Packages/User folder.

[keith-hall]

related: #1154

[wbond]

I looked through the source code and since 2012, the code has added watches for symlinked dirs on OS X (only). I also have tested symlinking the User package to another folder and also inside of my dropbox machine on macOS Sierra, and it works properly in all situations.

My hunch is that this was fixed either through something Dropbox did, or a fix to FSEvents by Apple.

Please note that this is only in regards to Macs. Linux and Windows machines don't currently handle symlinks within the data dir.