Orphan records – Sync Issue – Bugs in v2.0

[gzamba]

Hi Brendan,

1. I have the following problem…
After a previous mixup I am left with several (33) orphan records that are not connected to any main record…
As you can see in my screenshot (don’t mind the greek – just look at the (33) and the empty records list), there seem to be 33 orphan records that cannot be displayed and cannot be deleted…
Is there a way to get rid of them without deleting the 109 main records?

2. I also have the following issue with syncing via iCloud
I have finalized my database on my mac and tried to force-sync it to my ipad and iphone, but the changes do not seem to go through… It says that it is syncing, but I can still see all the other orphan records that where present before the final changes and clean-up of my database…
How can I make sure that all the changes on the mac version are forced on to the iPad and iphone versions?

3. I have noticed a few bugs on v2.0
the first one is that the program often crashes when I use lists
and the second one that I only noticed once and cannot repeat it, is that when in the multi column list view, the top part of the window displaying the current record was not visible and could not be uncovered by scrolling upwards… (not sure if this make sense, but this is the best way I could describe this…).

Many thanks for this great program

George

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[Brendan]

Hi George,

1. Click on the Edit button to bring up the Edit Form sheet. Then select a First Sort Field. Then click the Done button. Your 33 records should re-appear.

2. Well I’m not sure what you mean by forcing a sync as syncing in Tap Forms is always half manual and half automatic. I have some documentation that will help describe to you how it works and also a demonstration video which shows it in action:

http://www.manula.com/manuals/tap-zapp/tap-forms-mac/2.0/en/topic/icloud-sync

3. I have fixed the pick lists bug for version 2.0.1 which I submitted to Apple for review a few days ago.

Thanks!

Brendan

[gzamba]

thanks for the help.
1. the form in question had only 6 photo fields and no text fields, so I could not select a First Sort Field…
I managed to get around this by adding a text field, then deleting the records and then removing the text field…
Is this a problem (having only photo fields in a form)?

2. I know how to initiate a sync… My problem is this:
After the problems I have had with my database and the orphan records that appeared, I worked on the mac version and managed to get the database to where I want it, including setting up an encryption key and encrypting the database (since it contains sensitive patient data).
My correct database has 109 main records and no child records.
the other versions have 107 main records and some 200 child records linked through 6 forms.
Now I want to sync the mac version of the database (which is the most current and correct one) to my other devices (i.e. my iPad, my iphone and my office mac), AND OVER-WRITE them.

[gzamba]

this is the result of initiating a sync from the mac and then waiting for the other two devices (iPad and iphone) to sync…

(I will post the iphone screenshots in another message as it only allows me to upload only 4 attachments)

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[gzamba]

here are the iphone screenshots

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[Brendan]

Ok, so ya, the sorting could be an issue if you don’t have any fields that are sortable. Could you put the creation date there perhaps and sort by that?

Also, I notice you’re not using the latest Tap Forms on your iPhone 5. I can’t guarantee syncing will work between different versions.

However, if you want to get the Mac version’s content completely over to the iOS versions, then you can click on the Reset iCloud Sync button, then re-enable iCloud sync on each device. Once you see all devices re-appear in the list of Registered devices, click on the upload to iCloud button on your Mac. Then wait for your iOS devices to auto-sync. That should get you back in business.

Thanks!

Brendan

[gzamba]

Dear Brendan,

thanks for your instructions…
I followed them to the letter but there seem to be several problems still.
1. the changes from the mac version were passed on to the other devices (i.e. iPad, iphone and office mac) but all the orphan records in those devices are still there!
I thought of deleting them, but I can find no way of selecting them all together and then deleting them as one can do on the mac version…
Furthermore, there seem to be different orphan records left on each device, one has 144, the other has 142, etc)
2. the mac version of my database was encrypted but this does not seem to be passed on to the other devices.
Am I supposed to encrypt the database again on the other devices?
I removed the encryption and initiated a new sync from the mac but this did not seem to make a difference…

Can I just remove everything from the other devices, leave only the mac version, and then reset the iCloud sync and hope for the best?

This type of sync problems are exactly the ones that made me abandon tap forms in the beginning of last year. I hoped syncing would have matured by now…

P.S. My iphone 5 is running 3.1.3 because I have not installed ios7…

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[gzamba]

Hello!
Anybody listening?

any thoughts on how to fix my sync issues?

any help would be appreciated

Thanks,
George

[Brendan]

Hi George,

Oh I’m sorry I didn’t reply to your post before.

1. So you added a text or date field to your form and set that as the First Sort field and you still don’t see any records in the list? Try adding a Checkmark field and see what happens. It should create all the values for each record. The records should display at least the value of the checkmark field if you make it one of the first fields in the form. Also, to delete all records on an iOS device, just tap on the form and tap on the action menu button and tap on “Delete All Records”. Doing this will also cause the records to be deleted on your other devices after you upload those changes to iCloud.

2. Yes, each database can/should be encrypted independently. You can even use different keys if you like. The data sent up to iCloud is encrypted using a different random key plus algorithms.

You could always delete Tap Forms from your iOS devices and then reset iCloud Sync on your Mac, then re-install on your iOS devices, then re-enable sync on each device. Then click the upload to iCloud button on your Mac. Your other devices will be given a copy of the data from your Mac then.

Again, sorry for taking so long to reply.

Thanks,

Brendan

[gzamba]

Hello Brendan,

I managed to get the syncing going by uninstalling tap forms from all other devices except my mac, per your instructions…

My question regarding encryption was regarding the one database that is being synced across my devices.
I have encrypted it on my mac, but when I open it on my iPad or iphone there is no encryption…
That’s why I was asking about encrypting the database separately on each device…
We are talking about the same database syncing via iCloud between mac, iPad and iphone… The database is encrypted on the mac, then synced to the cloud, and from then down to the iOS devices, but no password is required to open the supposedly encrypted database on the iOS devices…

Is there some tweaking required?

Many thanks for your help
George

[Brendan]

Hi George,

It’s not actually the same database file that’s being synced across devices. Tap Forms creates a series of TFSyncDoc files which contain all your data. Those files themselves are encrypted. Tap Forms knows how to decrypt them, so that’s why you weren’t prompted for a key. You can encrypt them separately on each device. To increase security I plan on augmenting this with a user supplied key in a future update. No, the key is not stored internally in the app or anywhere. It’s randomly generated.

Thanks!

Brendan

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