exact meaning of Backup, Export Form Template and upload to iCloud

[vderoy]

Hi,
I began to use FP just recently, but use it already on a daily base.
Except, I’m a bit confused, can someone please help me understand:

– What is the exact difference between Backup and Export Form Template?
Does Backup mean backing up everything (records and custom made layout)? I suppose not, as there is a separate export option for Records?
– There is no actual ‘save’ button like you would have in… let’s say ‘MS Word’. Does it mean that all changes made (adding records, editing records, changing layout,…) are automatically save? If so, when does this occur? Upon quiting the app?
– – If I choose to manually refresh on iCloud (so I can have this update on my iPad/iPhone), how do I know that this includes a change I made 2 sec before clicking ‘upload to iCloud’?
– How do I know if my last made change (in the Mac app) has been saved?
Can you please help me understand how this works?
Thank you for your comments/remarks.
Vincent

[Brendan]

Hello Vincent,

1. Backup is for making a complete backup of all your forms, file attachments, photos, etc. Tap Forms simply creates a zip file that contains all of this information. You can double-click on the zip file in the Finder to see exactly what’s in there if you like.

Export Form Template creates a single .tff file. For example “My Movie Library.tff”. It creates a file that contains only the form template. That is, the structure of the form including the form name, fields, and any Pick Lists you’ve defined. It will also include any forms you’re linking to when using a Link to Form field.

Export records is to create a CSV or XLSX file of just your records. It won’t export Pick Lists or anything like that. It’s good for importing your data into other apps, such as Excel or Numbers.

2. Tap Forms saves as you work with it. The only place there’s a Save button is when you’re editing a Note field and you close the Note. So when you create a new form or add a new field or delete a record or add a new record or type in a value and tab out of the field, that’s when Tap Forms will save things. It doesn’t need to save anything when you quit because everything is already saved (as long as you’ve exited any fields that you’ve just edited the values of).

3. You need to press the upload to iCloud button to send any changes you’ve made to your other devices via iCloud. You can actually think of the upload to iCloud button as a Save button if you like. At least with respect to iCloud. Nothing will go to iCloud unless you press that button. But you don’t need to press it on the receiving end. That will happen automatically in due course.

4. Tap Forms uses the modification dates of the field values, forms, fields, layouts, etc. to determine what to send to iCloud. So if you made a change by moving an object around in your layout or added a new record, as soon as you click the upload to iCloud button, those changes will be included in the sync file that Tap Forms generates and then uploads to iCloud.

Hope that answers your questions ok.

Thanks!

Brendan

[vderoy]

OK, thank you Brendan. It is getting clearer for me now.
Except, for me to be fully useful, I will have to wait on Dropbox sync possibility, because this iCloud sync is not working for me. I have read all possible threads on the subject and tried everything. I can’t seem to make it work properly.
On TF Mac, I have 160 records and on my iPhone and iPad, I have 136… It syncs, but those 24 new records won’t sync to my iDevices. I have to reset iCloud sync for it to be synced. Everytime.
I’m sure Dropbox sync will work better. This feature was coming, right?
Other than this sync issue: great app!! Thanks.
Vincent

[Brendan]

Hi Vincent,

Yes, I am currently working on Dropbox sync integration. It is coming along. Slowly, but it’s coming.

Thanks,

Brendan

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