How to let Dropbox treat symbolic link AS IT IS?

Question

If I create a symlink inside Dropbox folder, pointing to another file also inside Dropbox folder (say, to maintain certain directory stucture), then Dropbox will try to de-reference the symlink and treat it as an normal file, instead of syncing it as a symlink. This could be very frustrating sometimes since I don't want to copies of the same file.

So my question is, is that a way to let Dropbox sync symbolic link just AS IT IS?

Answer 1

In the cloud the directory structure is not the same as in your computer. Therefore there is no way it will synchronize the symbolic link as it is.

In your computer, the link points to the absolute path to your original file (or folder). It looks like the following:

Original folder path: /Users/username/home/Documents/Dropbox/MyFolder/
Symbolic link: symlink -> /Users/username/home/Documents/Dropbox/MyFolder/

Since the cloud can't point to this same directory structure it will de-reference it and copy your files (on the cloud) all over again.

Links are great in Dropbox when it points to something outside your dropbox folder. This way the outside files will be copied to the cloud but wont be copied in your computer.

UPDATE: On the matter of relative symbolic links, I guess Dropbox can't sync as it is because your dropbox directory structure may be different from your colleagues.

For example:

       Your structure:   Dropbox/Projects/  
                           - coolfile.txt
                           - SharedDirectory/

Your friend structure:   Dropbox/SharedDirectory/

Relative Symbolic link inside SharedDirectory:  link -> ../coolfile.txt

The link will work your structure but not on your friends.

UPDATE2: links inside Dropbox are also being used to share content from within a shared folder with someone outside that group.