configuration files mayhem

Hi all,

I really appreciate CLion, but I sometimes run into problems, and this one really got my nerves (please find at the end a summary list).

I have latest CLion and I do share the configuration using my jetbrains account. I have 3 instances, 2 on linux, one on windows I almost never use. Till this day, the sharing of configuration (keymap, code color scheme, code 'indentation', macros, general settings) went fine, even though I never managed to understand the dataflow here.

Then went hell on earth.

I had the bad idea to lose I shortcut I could not find the corresponding function for. Since it occured in one linux instance, I was like 'meh, just see how I did it in the windows instance'. I switched it on, and... the shortcut was lost here too. Sync magic! I really wish I had an history feature for the jetbrains configuration server, or something like push & pull (*).

So, I just unregistered the windows instance of CLion I almost never used, and I reinstalled the software in vanilla mode. I know it was overkill, but at least it let me find back a lot of shortcut functions that were either lost or masked by compiz shortcuts. Oh my, what did I just did...

The day after, at work on the linux instance, the configuration was reset to vanilla too, except for some shortcut which survived, who knows how. I was still confident, because I made some .jar backup of my settings. But I lost any confidence and self-esteem when the import of the jar did not save the day at all. Indeed, I went through the archive, and there was like nothing, just a few files without significant content.

Just by luck, I made regular copies of my config folder inside '.CLion' directory. With a bit of time, I managed to retrieve, inside jba_config, the 'Emacs copy' custom keymap I spent so much time on. Also, my precious coding color scheme, and even my precious code indentation config file. There is a menu option to import the code color scheme, but for the rest of it, you seem to have to copy these files manually into config.

Alas, I lost my macros (could not find the file where they are stored, I'd love to know wich one), but since I just had a few simple ones, I managed to make them quickly. Good thing: the keymap contains their names, and they are automatically mapped once restored. The rest of the lost settings is not worth mentioning.

The way I tell you about the problem and the solution I finally found seems to show me as a whinner or ranter. But I actually lost a LOT of time coming to that conclusion, just because the IDE Sync feature continuously erased my settings. The only way for me to get a propely configured CLion after the restoration of the config folder was to UNPLUG the network cable, and it was erased again everytime I replug the network cable.

IDE Sync seems to erase my config as soon as it can. Thanks for that. But alas, if I deactivate the plugin, my 'just restored' custom settings do not seem to be accounted for. Hence a very deadly loop was installed, and lasted a long time before I managed to locate where my actual settings were stored (not in the .jar backup anyway) so that I could force CLion to use them once the Sync was shut down for good.

I tried to give a shot to the 'Settings Repository plugin', but since I use a custom git server on ssh, it takes so many failed attempts to connect that it becomes irritating. I could go to a GitHub instance, but since I don't know what is pushed, I don't want to disclose sensitive info.

So, to sum it up:

• please fix the .jar export that contains nothing valuable
• please clarify the dataflow for IDE sync, which seems to be somewhat destructive in my use case. For the least, the basic workflow needs better documentation inside the IDE.
• please tell me where macros will be stored.

I am close to the point where I will consider making the config directory a git repository, and manage it all myself. I'm not sure I want to, so please clarify things before I definitely override the mechanism you wanted us to use.

Also, even though I do not use Windows a lot for development, I would like the IDE sync to work somehow so that my keymap made on linux will be translated on windows (I noticed there was a linux specific directory, so I guess my current keymap file will not work for windows).

Best regards,