How about CouchDB

[Helmut Janetzko]

Hi,

is CouchDB Sync still available in Tap Forms Pro?

Helmut

[Brendan]

Hi Helmut,

No, CouchDB is no longer included in Tap Forms Pro. There are a couple reasons for this. First, the version of CouchbaseLite that I was using inside Tap Forms 5 was no longer supported by the company that made it. They wanted everyone to move to a new version which only supported their own back-end sync server software. It no longer supported the standard Apache CouchDB server software, which would also have excluded the IBM Cloudant software. Plus that version of CouchbaseLite was Intel based and I wanted to move to Apple Silicon.

So two years ago I went on a hunt for a different database solution that would still let me sync to other devices. I ended up using Apple’s CoreData database along side a regular SQLite database file. For syncing, I bought a license to Ensembles, which was written by the people that write the Agenda app.

But Tap Forms Pro does offer a WebDAV solution for syncing now. Which means instead of setting up your own CouchDB server you can setup your own WebDAV server an it will sync to that.

So that’s my reasoning for this change.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Helmut Janetzko]

Hi Brendan,

sorry to hear that.
I’m using Apache CouchDB V 3.2.2. on my Silicon Mac and it still works fine.
V 3.4.3 didnt work, so I switched back to V 3.2.2. :-)

The iCloud-Sync was not working as it should, so I choosed CouchDB.
Maybe I will try WebDAV.

Thx

Helmut

[Cornelius Fischer]

Hi Brendan

That’s to bad with CouchDB. I’m using TapForms 5 to organise my business and created a big CRM database which is synced using CouchDB with my team.

Is there a way to use WebDav instead of CouchDB using a NAS system? As I have all my clients contact data stored in my TapForms database, I do not want to use a public cloud system to sync like iCloud or Dropbox.

[Cornelius Fischer]

Hi Brendan

Just read a bit more about WebDav. So the sync – using a Synology NAS server – should be no problem, right?
Do I understand this right, I will have a TapForms Database File like mydatabase.tfpro stored on my NAS and the clients connect with WebDav to the directory on the NAS for the sync?

How about working simultaneously with several clients on the same database? Is this working? Right now with CouchDB several users can edit the same database at the same time. Just with the limitation, that it’s not possible to edit the same field entry. Which is absolutely fine. I just need a sync where e.g. my wife can edit a client entry while I edit for example a job entry within the same database at the same time.

[Brendan]

Hi Cornelius,

No, you won’t store your .tfpro document on your NAS. You will login to your NAS via the Tap Forms Sync Service screen and let Tap Forms write the sync data to the chosen location on your NAS.

Yes, you should be able to collaborate on the same document and sync. WebDAV is a bit of a manual sync though. Although it will upload automatically when a change is made, getting the changes would required you to click the Sync Now button. Or when the document opens it will get the changes made to the server. WebDAV just doesn’t have a notification system to let Tap Forms know when there’s changes on the server. Although when you do make changes and Tap Forms syncs, it should also get the changes made on the server at the same time.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Cornelius Fischer]

Hi Brendan

Thanks for that explanation. To bad you skipped the CouchDB support. This was quite a sweet spot for collaboration with TapForms. Especially with hosting the CouchDB on own local NAS server.

Currently I’m not sure if I will switch to the new TapForms Pro, as the sync with WebDav sounds okay, but not optimal. And using iCloud is currently no option for me, due to privacy concerns.

[Daniel Leu]

I’ve been using WebDav on my NAS (Qnap) without any issues. I would have preferred to have CouchDB support, but at least there’s still a local synchronization option available.

Cheers, Daniel
---
See https://lab.danielleu.com/tapformspro/ for scripts and tips&tricks

[Brendan]

It would have been nice to have also CouchDB sync, but it was not possible with the switch to CoreData and the fact, as I mentioned above, that the version of CouchbaseLite I was using, which supported syncing to a CouchDB server, was no longer supported by the newer version of CouchbaseLite. They required their own Couchbase Server software to run in order to sync. They also removed Nearby Sync as an option too, plus some other things that I was using such as RTree support for searching records based on geo locations. Now maybe things have changed with them since I made the decision to switch to CoreData. But it would be a monumental effort again to switch everything back to CouchbaseLite for my database engine.

I’m really sorry that this has caused you this trouble. But that’s why I added support for WebDAV so that it could lessen the impact of not supporting CouchbaseLite anymore.

[Cornelius Fischer]

Ciao Daniel 🇨🇭

Are you using TapForms with WebDav alone or with collaboration partners? My biggest concern is the missing auto-sync as I know my team. They will forget to sync/update manually and then don’t see entries that have changed during the day. For example my back office employee who is writing the bills.

And did you also sync from external locations with WebDav? How stable is the connection with routing through the local router/firewall? I guess that should work without any problems, but still I have some concerns.

[Helmut Janetzko]

I changed from TF5 to TFP and now I am using iCloudsync, instead of CouchDB, which worked very well in TF5.
iCloudsync in TFP works, as far as I experienced until now, very good too.
The automatic sync is not so fast like in CouchDB, but only some seconds behind, and that’s ok with me.

I will stay with iCloudsync.

[Cornelius Fischer]

@ Helmut
iCloud and any other public cloud is currently no option for me due to privacy reasons. I’m using TapForms as CRM database for my business. I keep track of my jobs and clients contact details with TapForms. Thats why I need a private cloud sync.

[Helmut Janetzko]

Hey Cornelius,

I get it — data privacy is sacred, especially when you’re handling sensitive customer data. Totally makes sense.

But if I understood you right, you’ve got this internal network with a bunch of TapForm clients all hooked up to a big database you built yourself — and thanks to CouchDB, everything stays nice and cozy inside your own four digital walls.

Now, with iCloud sync, the data gets sent — super securely encrypted — to Apple’s Fort Knox of servers. So, before anyone could even think about hacking your stuff, they’d first have to crack Apple’s iCloud. Good luck with that.

Honestly? If someone really had it out for you, I think they’d have a way easier time sneaking into your local setup than breaking into Apple’s digital fortress.

But hey — data privacy is everything, right? 😉 Just my humble opinion…

[Brendan]

One other option for data privacy is to simply set a sync password in Tap Forms. You can only do it when sync is OFF though. Tap Forms Pro will then encrypt the files that get synced to the cloud using your own password as the encryption key. So even if someone were to hack into Apple’s iCloud servers, they’d have to also know your sync password to decrypt the data.

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