syncing files

[Drew Cameron]

My laptop syncs with my iPad ok. when I edit on the laptop it shows the change on the iPad. However, my iPad states that it has 26 more files than the laptop.
what should I do to amend it?

[Brendan]

Hi Drew,

I would recommend following the Reset Sync procedure in the online manual to rectify this situation:

http://www.manula.com/manuals/tap-zapp/tap-forms-mac/3/en/topic/icloud-sync

It’s at the bottom of the above page.

Thanks

Brendan

[Drew Cameron]

Hi Brendan

Firstly thanks for a really quick response to my question. great service.

I’ve only just got around to trying what you said.
I followed your instructions but although it reduced the files, the iPad is still showing 37 too many.
I couldn’t understand why the instructions said at the end, to upload to iCloud on the iPad. However, I did and it added the extra files onto my Mac.
So I restored the database and started again without uploading from the iPad.
It says it all syncs ok but wrong amount of files still on the iPad .
I’ll keep resetting and see if it improves? unless you have any other suggestions?
btw, the files were originally uploaded from Bento

[Brendan]

Hi Drew,

Hmm… When you reset sync, what Tap Forms does is deletes all the sync files it had created in the cloud whenever you pressed the upload to cloud button. It also resets some internal counters. After you enable sync on each device and after each device displays all of the devices you’ve enabled in the list of Registered Devices, when you press the upload to cloud button on one device, the entire contents of the database from that device is uploaded to the cloud. Although technically all that happens is I write that file to a specific location on your device. iCloud or Dropbox then takes over to do the actual uploading. That’s why it doesn’t happen right away. Those things have their own schedules.

At some point in time later, the file will finish going up to the cloud, then it will start to download to your other device(s). So this large full database file from the original device now gets read in and processed by your devices which just received the file. If a record in your local database exists, Tap Forms updates it with the value in the sync file. If it’s not there, it inserts it into the database. It keeps doing this until it has finished processing the sync file. These records are the values of your forms, fields, layouts, searches, the actual records in your form, and the values of the fields for those records.

So basically Tap Forms merges the data. If the device receiving the sync file has more records, then those records will only make it over to the original sending device when you press the upload to cloud button on that device. Then it becomes the sender and the other devices will wait to receive its data.

Think of it like a game of ping-pong. Back and forth you press the upload to cloud button sending changes from one device to the other. But before you can hit the ball back and send the data back up to the cloud, you have to wait for the ball to reach your paddle (that’s the downloading part).

It really should only take one reset to get everything back in sync as long as you’re patient enough to allow it to do its thing.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Drew Cameron]

thanks

I’ll keep trying with it

[Drew Cameron]

sorry to be a nuisance.
I have done it several times but my mac still says 3484 files and my iPad 3521.

I have done some editing on the mac and uploaded it and it syncs perfectly with the iPad. there must be something else going on?

If I ever find out I will let you know :)

[Brendan]

Hi Drew,

Can you please try changing the First Sort Field on the form in question on your iPad and then change it back to what it was before? Then tap the upload to cloud button from the iPad. That will rewrite the modification dates on the iPad for all the records in that form. That will trigger Tap Forms to include all those records in the list of records to sync when you press the upload to cloud button. Your Mac should download them then.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Drew Cameron]

I want the iPad to mirror what I have on my Mac as that has the uptodate edits. If I upload from the iPad, won’t it change what is on the Mac?

[Brendan]

Eventually everything gets the same data. However, if you want the iPad’s contents to be exactly as you have it on the Mac right now, your best bet is to make a backup file on your Mac, copy it to your iPad via iTunes File Sharing or some cloud service. Then go to the Backup & Restore screen in Tap Forms and tap on the backup file that’s there (from iTunes File Sharing) or download it from the cloud if it’s not there yet. Then tap on the Restore Backup button. That’ll replace whatever is on the iPad with what you had on the Mac. Then you can reset sync and start over again.

But yes, if you press the upload to cloud button on the iPad, the data that’s on the iPad will be sent over to the Mac. If the Mac already has the data, nothing much will happen. If there’s new data on the iPad that’s not on the Mac, then that will be added. If there’s data that’s on the Mac that’s not on the iPad, nothing will happen to that. If you deleted some data on the iPad then that data will be also deleted on the Mac if it has that data.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Drew Cameron]

Hi brendan,

just to say that I can now sync files ok.

I’d also like to say that changing over from Bento to a new database was quite concerning and time-consuming. But even though it’s taken me a long while to work out the new System, the fact that you are always there ready to help and give advice and so promptly, has made it all worthwhile.
I would certainly recommend you and your database to anyone who asks me.

I hope I don’t keep pestering you too much!

Drew

[Brendan]

Hi Drew,

Thanks for the kind words!

Brendan

[Drew Cameron]

Hello,

sorry to bother you again.
My macbook and iPad are not seeing each other in the registered devices.
I have rebooted both devices and reset the sync but no joy.
the iPad only shows itself. The macbook sees both devices but only a sync from the iPad that was made in October.
I have tried to search the forum but haven’t found anything.
Could you offer some more advice please?

Drew

[Brendan]

Hi Drew,

Did you do the reset on each device? If so you shouldn’t see such an old last sync date displayed because when you do that, Tap Forms deletes the TFSyncDevice files from the device which it uses to generate that list of Registered Devices.

Are you using the latest OS versions on each device?

Thanks,

Brendan

[Drew Cameron]

Hi Brendan

No, there are updates available for both devices. I’ll try that :)

[Drew Cameron]

I updated the iPad software. The iMac is uptodate.
I have reset both and synced.
Nothing has changed unfortunately.
Not sure what else to try?

[Brendan]

Hi Drew,

When you say nothing has changed, do you mean that you still see the old sync dates even after you’ve done the Reset Sync procedure on all your devices?

Do all devices still see each other now? Or does each device only see itself?

Thanks,

Brendan

[Drew Cameron]

It is the same as before but here are the subtle details.

The macbook shows the last sync exactly when I did it.
It also shows the iPad but the sync date is last October.
On the iPad, it doesn’t show any other registered devices, only itself and the correct date when it was last synced

I guess that means that the iPad is the problem?

[Brendan]

Hi Drew,

Well that’s entirely very strange. Because when you press the Reset Sync button on each device, Tap Forms clears out the registration files so there should be no listing for any of your devices until you re-enable sync on each device. And when you do that, the last sync date is also cleared so you shouldn’t see any sync date at all initially. So I’m a bit puzzled why this is the case for you. Does this October date just keep re-appearing even after you’ve reset sync on each device?

Also, what OS versions are you using on all your devices now? You said you updated. But are you using OS X 10.11 on your Mac and iOS 9.2 on your iOS devices?

Thanks,

Brendan

[Drew Cameron]

Hi Brendan,

Yes that October date keeps re-appearing.
The iPad software is 9.2
but the Mac is Yosemite 10.10.5
the only upgrade offered is to El Capitan

[Drew Cameron]

I’ve rebooted, and reset sync again but it still shows the same.
in the data file on dropbox, it shows the TF file from my macbook. Should there be one from the iPad too?
I’ve tried reading some forums but I’m getting confused.

[Drew Cameron]

Hello Brendan,

It’s been over a week now since my second to last post. I hope you are ok??

I hope you are getting these messages?
While I have been waiting, I thought that I would try and see if it would sync using an iPad 1.
However the only version that would work is 3.1.3 and there isn’t a dropbox option with it, so dead end I’m afraid :(

[Drew Cameron]

Another update. I’ve noticed that when I sync on the macbook it shows the date when it was last synced.
On the iPad, it hasn’t got a date. I’m guessing the iPad is not syncing properly? Should I completely reinstall do you thinK?

[Brendan]

Hi Drew,

So are you trying to sync between Tap Forms 3.1.3 and the latest Mac version? It so, then that won’t work. Especially as you’ve discovered there’s no Dropbox option in 3.1.3.

Thanks,

Brendan

P.S. Sorry for the delayed response. I’ve been busy working on the next version so I ignored the forum over the weekend.

[Drew Cameron]

Hi

I’m sure the Forum takes up too much of your time sometimes :)

I’m sorry, you’ve taken that post out of context.
I’m still not getting anywhere with the syncing and thought I would try an iPad 1 to see if that worked but it didn’t.

Let me repeat the problem –

My macbook and iPad are not seeing each other in the registered devices.
I have rebooted both devices and reset the sync but no joy.
the iPad only shows itself with the date it last synced. The macbook sees both devices but only a sync from the iPad that was made in October.
The iPad software is 9.2
the Mac is Yosemite 10.10.5

Reading the forums, I see that it’s a topic of much concern but I haven’t found a solution yet.

Drew

[Brendan]

Hi Drew,

And you’re sure you’re logged into the same account on your iPad as you are on your Mac?

One thing that has worked for others in the past is to go to Settings > General > Reset and then tapped on the Reset Network Settings button.

Another thing to try is to logout of iCloud and then log back in again. Or just turn off iCloud Drive and then turn it on again.

I’m still not sure why that October date keeps coming back though. It makes no sense because when you press the Reset Sync button, Tap Forms clears out the shared iCloud Drive folder that stores the TFSyncDevice files that Tap Forms creates whenever you press the Enable Sync button.

When you press the Reset Sync button do you even see the list of registered devices clear out? And if so, when you re-enable sync on each device, without you even pressing the upload to cloud button that somehow that October date from the iPad shows again? That would seem counterintuitive if the sync files are being deleted from the reset sync function.

[Drew Cameron]

Hi Brendan,

to quickly answer two of the questions,
I’m not using iCloud because I’m close to running out of space, so I’m using dropbox.
Hope that’s ok?

When I pressed the reset sync, the registered devices did clear out and when I enabled sync, the October appeared straight away.

So I unregistered both devices from dropbox and then synced back on.
The result is a success!!

so you can now forget about me and get on with the updates :)

thanks

[Brendan]

Hi Drew,

Oh that’s great to hear!

Dropbox does maintain a cache of files independently of Tap Forms actually. So I guess it must have reloaded that cached file. I should have thought to ask you to logout of Dropbox. Because that will clear any cached Dropbox files.

I’m glad you’re back in business!

Thanks!

Brendan

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