My first iCloud Sync problem

[Stan TAYLOR]

From the off iCloud Sync was pure magic and up until today it has remained that way.
I can offer background information leading up to this problem if required. The latter lead to the following situation.

One important Field had somehow changed Type without deleting the original content.
Changing a Field Type is of course not an option when fully populated. I resigned myself to Deleting the Database using the Also Delete from iCloud button.
The same Database was also similarly Deleted from the iPhone and iPad.

Restoring from a BackUp proceeded without any problem until the Sync Process. The Sync run time was very short and, seemingly, progress was only made by Disabling iCloud Sync and after a short period Enabling iCloud.
The result was not as expected, the new Databases on both Devices had only 471 Records compared to the Mac’s 500+ Records.
Deleting both the Device problem Databases, and then Disabling iCloud Sync on the iPhone, enabled the complete Database to appear on the iPad.
Enabling iCloud Sync on the iPhone, repeating the ‘turn off-turn on’ trick, and everything else have failed to reinstate the Database.

Please can you help?

[Brendan]

Hi Stan,

Are you using the latest updates of Tap Forms for Mac and iOS?

The spinner that appears when you enable iCloud sync is just a short process which creates the document placeholder in iCloud if it doesn’t already exist. So that bit is short. A few moments later though is when the real sync takes place.

Maybe on the Mac version try adding a new field and then populating that field with a value using the Advanced Find & Replace. That should update the modification dates for every record, which will then cause all of them to sync across.

[Stan TAYLOR]

Hi Brendan

Are you using the latest updates of Tap Forms for Mac and iOS?

Mac was running Latest TF v5.1.3 (Build 860)
iPhone & iPad were not running the TF v5.1.1 Released 11 May 2017
Note: This did not prevent the iPad from Syncing the Database in it’s entirety.
Both Devices were duly Updated to TF v5.1.1.

The spinner that appears when you enable iCloud sync is just a short process..

During Sync both Devices ran through a whole series [Captured by Screen Shots] of:

✩✩Brief Spinner action – Fetching – Receiving (numerals running up from 1 to 200) – e.g Sending (42/60) < (164/60) and on other occasions e.g. Sending (400/25388) < (3400/25388)
The latter sets seemed to stop around 3900 to 4100, I never witnessed anything over 4200.

Maybe on the Mac version try adding a new field and then populating that field with a value…….

Prior to following your Directions the iPhone failed to display the DB Folder Icon by hitting the My Forms or ∨ buttons.
After following your directions and Updating to TF v5.1.1 the DB Folder Icon is present but despite many iterations of the ✩✩Sync Actions
it still does not contain a Form or Content [Please see Attached image].

Attachments:

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[Stan TAYLOR]

Having posted the my last message above I turned on the iPhone and hit the Sync button [top right] to pick it into action.
It took 4 or 5 attempts and then a Sync got underway.
The Fetch/Receiving process was counted as it repeated approximately 20 times.

S… Law kicked in and the Form/Content is now in place.

I was so engrossed in resolving this problem that I did not stop to view the App Store Update Notification(s) as soon as they became available.
Until I counted the Fetch/Receiving processes my guess would have been 10 to 12. The number of times an individual process was witnessed must surely be approximately 150 t0 180 times.
I understand that the problem will need to be reliably repeatable in order to find a resolution but it will be a major undertaking to replicate the actions that preceded the onset of the problem

Thanks for your help, best wishes.

[Brendan]

Hi Stan,

It’s the initial Enable iCloud Sync spinner that you see there on the Sync Settings screen that takes only a few seconds. That’s what I was referring to.

The actual sync process can go on for quite a while fetching, receiving, sending, etc… It does that in batches of 200 or so.

I’m glad it finally worked for you though.

Hopefully it’ll just continue on like normal from now on.

[Stan TAYLOR]

Hi Brendan

I was so relieved to make some progress and Posted too soon.
The Database only contained 474 Records out of the 511 on the Mac.
Of course I tried over and over and…….. With zero success.
I created and populated a New Field and ‘encouraged’ a Sync to take place.
Unlike the previous scenario the only way to achieve a Sync was using the Disable-Enable ‘switch’. Still no progress.
I Disabled the iPad iCloud Sync and with the exception of the iPad followed the procedure for Deleting the Database outlined in Reply #23081. Additionally the Database residing in the Library > Containers >……>Documents was also Deleted just in case this could be part of the problem.
After Restoring from Backup Syncing did not need so much prodding and compared to recent experiences the Database Icon appeared quite quickly in My Forms. It was still lacking any Form/Content but after a very short period the iCloud Icon with Downward Pointing Arrow appeared to the Right of the Listing in the Start/Option Window [Please tell me what this should be called]. Things seemed to be looking good?
Disappointingly, despite the earlier promise of progress, further Syncing could not be encouraged to occur, it was so mule like even a beating would probably not have had any effect.

With nothing to lose and possible experience to gain it was considered that as the Database had it’s ‘foot in the door’ [PlaceHolder?] there was a possibility that a Sync via Local WiFi may be possible.
The process, once I remembered to hit the + Signs, was straightforward and the progress was rapid and stable. The iPhone first stage of the Sync Sending (269/31879) quickly romped up to (4363/31879).
At the same time it was seen that the Mac was displaying somewhat similar ‘Sending’ information. I confess to accept that the Mac would need to be Sending [to the iPhone at this time] and this begs the question ‘Should the iPhone be Sync Receiving‘ rather than as indicated ‘Sync Sending‘?
The ‘Fetch-Receive’stage was repeated at least 25 times in a shorter time frame than would have been the case via iCloud.

This time the Result is the real thing, all 511 Records are in place and accessible.
There is a nice bonus, thank you Brendan, in the area that kicked all this off namely File Attachment. The ‘Eye of the Apple’ Icon or more accurately ‘Quick View’ facility makes review of Attached Files very quick and smooth.
I could not resist comparing the alternative ‘Open’ Attached File Option then it took time for my grey matter to ‘think Smart Phone and Gestures’, regarding how to Close the File. It needs a ‘Pinch’ to make it disappear.

At the end of the day [actually well into the beginning of another now] it was an enjoyable experience, especially with the much appreciated support that flows so freely in the TFF.

[Stan TAYLOR]

PS. To round everything off I should have made it clear that on reverting from the temporary use of Local WiFi Sync to iCloud Sync, making a change on the Mac it takes approximately 3 seconds from hitting the Save button for the iPhone to be updated. The ‘magic’ has returned.
The iPad was brought back into play and the speed of the entire Sync was really rapid.

[Stan TAYLOR]

Good Morning Brendan.

Unfortunately the saga continues, although everything has settled down with only Device Sync Failures remaining. The iPhone fails at most sessions where all Records have been updated, and often during lesser updates. The iPad fails less often and usually during larger updates.

I would be happy to send you a copy of the Database involved, just let me know the Format best suited to your workflow.
I would prefer to place the File into Dropbox and send you the Link.

Thanks for your time, best wishes.

[Brendan]

Hi Stan,

Sure, you can email me a backup file of your database and I can give that a go.

However, it could be a very network dependent issue.

Just send me the link to my support@tapforms.com account.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Stan TAYLOR]

Hi Brendan.

I appreciate your thoughts regarding possible System problems, my Mac is long of tooth and mine are falling out.
The kit is Mac Pro [early 2008] 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 8GB RAM [due to Brown Out, usually 32GB] + SSDs , iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6+.
It seemed reasonable to spend most of this weekend to resolve the problems rather than bother you with reviewing the problematic DB.

Since the advent of TF v5.1.1, it has been set up to use iCloud and not revisited until this series of events occurred.
When Preferences > Sync was opened, TF was using Nearby whilst the Devices were using iCloud. After resetting to iCloud and further ‘test’ syncing it again reverted of its own accord to Nearby.
This iCloud-Nearby switch occurred again and again, until several hours later clicking on Enable iCloud Sync failed completely and the ‘Spinning Gearwheel’ merely churned on and on.

Everything in System Preferences > iCloud is set up properly, and refreshing the Plist did not help.
My solution was to Restore successively earlier BackUps until I found one that offered the option to enable iCloud Sync.

I wiped the Devices of all things TF and Started Over.
Once functional again the iPad Synced Problem DB had 10 or so Records less than the Mac, whilst the iPhone had only approximately 25% of those Records.
My solution was to Duplicate the ‘missing’ Records and then Delete the Originals. This rectified the situation on the iPad and several hours later the appropriate number of Records appeared on the iPhone.

With limited knowledge, it seems probable the cause of this problem was User Intervention whilst Syncing and [possibly?] other processes were in progress?

QUESTIONS:
1 Can you speculate as to the cause of this scenario?
2 IIRC setting Sync to iCloud was done only once and it applied to all the Databases, is this correct? Mine now had to be Individually applied and I am reluctant to attempt further investigation.
3 Is there any means of transferring the Data to a fresh Database?

Thanks for your time, best wishes

[Brendan]

1. You may have still had Nearby sync enabled by having devices listed there. Before you switched to iCloud, did you first remove the devices from the list of Nearby devices? If not, that may have caused an issue. Two competing sync services.

2. No, switching to iCloud is on a per database document basis. All settings in Tap Forms 5 are now on a per database document basis.

3. Yes. You can use the Export Tap Forms Archive command in the File menu to export each form. Then create a new document and use the Import Tap Forms Archive command.

[Stan TAYLOR]

Thanks for the info Brendan.

Item 2 is the probably the main issue. I had a set of well and truly messed up settings.
Perhaps a Warning not to fall into this trap would be useful?

I am possibly guilty of not waiting for Syncs to complete, perhaps the Sync Indicator could be coloured/emboldened/ or otherwise more prominently displayed?

Not knocking it, still loving it.

[Author]

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