Manual Synchronization

When changes have been made to the same record in both datafiles, iData has no way of deciding which changes to keep and which changes to ignore. Therefore, you will be given a chance to compare all such records in both files and to manually update the local datafile however you wish.

After all automatic sychronization changes are completed, if any manual changes are required, iData will open the remote datafile for you. "-REMOTE" will be added to the file name in the title bar of the remote datafile, to make it easier to identify.

When the remote datafile opens, most of its toolbar buttons and menu items will be disabled, and its Find Box will be blacked out.This is because no changes can be made to the remote datafile. All changes must be made in the local datafile, then both datafiles will be updated on disk to match the local datafile. Furthermore, you will not be able to manually navigate among records in the remote datafile.

The way iData controls the manual synchronization process is by opening a Synchronize Records window, as shown below:

The text at the top of the dialog explains the process. Notice that record numbers may not match in the two datafiles. This is because records may have been reordered in either datafile since the last time they were synchronized. iData uses a unique identifier attached to each record, rather than relying on changeable record numbers.

    1. Select a pair of records in the list to cause those two records two be shown in the two datafiles.  You may click directly on a pair in the list, or you can use the Previous and Next buttons to move from record to record.

    2. Make any desired changes to the record in the local datafile, referring to the matching record in the remote datafile as necessary. When you are done, click the Finished With This Record button, and the record pair will be removed from the list.

    3. Continue with the process until no more records remain in the list.

    4. Click the Done button.

        a. in the case of WiFi synchronization, the temporary copy of the remote datafile will close and will then be deleted on the Mac. Then the local datafile will be written to iData Mobile Plus.

        b. in the case of Dropbox synchronization,  the temporary copy of the remote datafile will close and will then be deleted on the Mac. Then the local datafile will be written to Dropbox. After this operation is completed, iData Mobile Plus must be used to read the updated datafile from Dropbox. See the iData Mobile Plus User Guide to learn how to do this.

        c. In the case of local synchronization, the remote datafile will close, and will then be overwritten by the local copy.

You can abort the synchronization process either by clicking the Cancel button in the Synchronize Records window or by closing either datafile window.