Navigating in Tapforms

[Tom Copeland]

I have a set of instructions for sending a file from an iPhone to an iMac, but I don’t know how to navigate well enough to follow them. They say, “Once a file has been downloaded to Dropbox, it will appear in the “Exports” folder and must be imported, again just by touching the name of the file.” I don’t know where the “Exports” folder is. I see the word “Export” on the iMac only in the file menu, but it seems to lead to creating an export, not importing one. I did try “Import,” but when I imported the file from Dropbox, the result was to lose 33 of the 2,435 records and most of the pictures. Do you think I followed the instructions properly? (Automatic synchying would, of course, be the ultimate solution, but all attempts have failed.)

[Brendan]

Hi Tom,

The Exports folder is on the iOS version, not the Mac version.

Which function did you use to export? Was it the Export Tap Forms Archive function?

If so, then once the file has been exported, go to the Tools area, then tap on Files, then tap on the Exports function.

From there tap on the file you exported, then tap on the Share function and send it to the Mac. It will end up in your downloads folder.

No records should disappear by doing an import as Tap Forms will add new records to a form and update existing ones from the data within the .tfarc file.

[Tom Copeland]

Thanks, Brendan. That clarifies things. Please check my list of the steps below. This is what I did. I want to make sure I made no mistakes:

1. Create an export of an up-to-date file with “Export Tap Forms Archive” in the “Tools” menu of the iPhone app. It will go to the “Exports” folder.
2. Go to the “Tools” area, then tap on “Files,” then tap on the “Exports” function.
3. From there tap on the file you exported, then tap on the “Share” function and send it to the Mac. It will end up in the Mac’s downloads folder.
4. In Tapforms on the Mac, locate “Import Tapforms Archive” in the dropdown “Files” menu, navigate to the Downloads folder, and click on the name of the archive folder.

Now, though, comes my tale of woe. First, a mere oddity: I wonder why the Mac tells me there are 2,440 records whereas the phone says there are 2,435 records. Much more disturbing, though, is the fact that the photos are missing from both devices. I may have 100 photos left out of 2000. I complained that they were missing from the Mac before, but I had not checked to see if they were still on the phone. Now I see that they are missing. So my earlier export made with the “Export” function rather then the “Export Tapforms Archive” function must synched them out of existence on the Mac, where before my meddling they may still have been safe. I will now try to recover them on the Mac using Time Machine. I would rather have a version with the photos but without the rather few alterations I made on the phone since the last successful synch.

Is there a way of recovering former versions of the phone’s file?

[Tom Copeland]

Follow-up: I successfully restored a September 2020 version of Tapforms, but several difficulties now face me. First, there seem to be no data; I will not fret because there is an iCloud icon with a down-arrow, suggesting that the data will appear soon. Second, a file is missing. I think it was created before September, but perhaps not; I may have to go back to the current damaged version of the app, make an archive of each undamaged file, and then restore them all once I get back my pictures, so again I am optimistic. The third problem is that apparently the September version precedes my latest upgrade, so when I launched the app I was asked to pay for an upgrade. I don’t mind, but the license number I entered was rejected, and I was unable to load PayPal too. Now I am running a TRIAL version of the program, and that very likely will not accommodate 2,435 records in the file in question.

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[Tom Copeland]

Brendan, in the first yet unanswered message above, I told you that I had done the steps I listed, but when I tried to replicate this process, I failed at the first step, “Create an export of an up-to-date file with ‘Export Tap Forms Archive’ in the ‘Tools’ menu of the iPhone app.” (I was trying to archive the newest file, one that has only six records in it and which is absent from the computer.) I could not find “Export Tap Forms Archive” in the “Tools” menu. Goodness knows how I created the archive of the larger file earlier.

[Brendan]

The Export Tap Forms Archive command is not in the Tools area. It’s in the action menu when viewing the list of records.

When you restored from Time Machine, did you restore the Tap Forms Documents folder? Or just the app?

You’ll want to restore the following folder instead to get all your data back:

~/Library/Containers/com.tapzapp.tapforms-mac/Data/Documents

To get there:

1. Copy the above path.
2. In the Finder, press command-shift-g or click on the Go menu and select Go to Folder…
3. Paste the above path into the field.
4. Press the Go button.

Now click the Time Machine button in the menubar and select Enter Time Machine. Then navigate back in time to a time when you had the most recent backups of that folder and restore the .tapforms documents within it.

[Brendan]

As for the license key, you may be trying to use an old license key for the old version if it says the key doesn’t match this product. I’ve just had Paddle.com re-send you your license key. Hopefully I got the right Tom Copeland :)

[Tom Copeland]

Oh, yes, the drop-down menu on the phone. Yes, that is the way I did it. I’ll correct my instructions.

When I restored from Time Machine, I did not restore the app, only the container.plist file and the Data folder in ~/Library/Containers/com.tapzapp.tapforms-mac/Data/Documents. Since that time, I have plucked out various versions of those items via Time Machine and have stored them on an external hard disk with the dates of the backup files; regardless of the dates on these backups, the contents consist of the files from 8/22 or 10/7, evidently the latest updates I performed.

The bottom line is that I have back whatever pictures I had on October 7, but whatever additions or deletions of files occurred between then and now are preserved only on the iPhone, which lacks most pictures. You will see that I have inquired in a post called “Exporting Pictures” whether this puzzle has a solution.

In spite of my difficulties, I am grateful to your app for helping me stave off boredom as I sit in isolation in a country of crazed rhinoceri thundering and trumpeting without masks, while my nice cozy home in Saint John, NB, sits tenantless. And of course I thank you for taking the time to respond to my inquiries.

Tom

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