Why are there Prism 10 temporary files (.prismb) being synced to my OneDrive and/or Google Drive?

The problem

When working with a Prism file in the legacy format (.pzfx) in Prism version 10.0.0, you may observe an unexpected continuous syncing of a Prism temporary file (.prismb) and its contents to cloud services such as Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive. This issue was fixed in Prism version 10.0.1. Here is an example of what this might look like in a list of synced files:

Microsoft OneDrive

Google Drive

Why does this happen?

When you open a file using a legacy file format (.pzfx or .pzf file extension), Prism 10 loads the file content in Compatibility Mode. While working in compatibility mode, all of Prism's functionality is available, but Prism is not working with the legacy file directly as it does with files in the current file format (with the .prism extension). Because of this, when Autosave occurs in compatibility mode, a temporary file is created with the .prismb file extension (a "Prism backup" file). This backup file uses the same file format structure as files with the .prism extension, and its content is visible to cloud services such as OneDrive or Google Drive after it is created. Once the file is (manually) saved back to the legacy format (or the application is closed without saving the file), the backup file is deleted.

This is why it appears as though these cloud services are syncing a large number of files when working in compatibility mode (or that a large number of files are being deleted after saving your work back to the legacy file format).

What can I do to fix the issue?

Update to Prism 10.0.1 or later

The issue reported here was fixed with the release of Prism 10.0.1. The backup file created when a file in compatibility mode is autosaved is no longer synced to cloud services such as Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive. This should eliminate the problem of file contents continuously being synced and deleted.

What if I can't update from Prism 10.0.0?

• Switch from the legacy .pzfx and .pzf formats to the new .prism format. Simply use "Save As..." to save the file in the new file format
• Save the file in a local folder on your computer while working with the file. Then when you are done working with the file, move it to a OneDrive or Google Drive synced folder
• (Not recommended): adjust the "Auto Save" options on the "File & Printer" tab of Prism's settings dialog. First, uncheck the box beside "Every time a different sheet is viewed". This will disable autosave when switching between different sheets of the project. Additionally, you may also increase the interval to auto save from the default of 5 minutes to the maximum of 100 minutes. Note that it is impossible at the time of this writing to completely disable autosave as it is a system-wide feature on macOS