New iPad, Sync Issues, Tapforms Upgrade

[Brian Cleary]

All:

I have been running TapForms 3.5.19 (Build 756) on my iMac. I have version 4.0.7 (384) on my iPhone. I have version 4.0.7 (309) on my iPad. It’s been working like a charm until I bought a new iPad a few days ago. I can get my iMac and my iPhone to sync but not my new iPad. I have been using dropbox to sync. I have reset sync and done everything other thing I know to do but with no luck. Two questions: Is there something I can do to allow all three devices to sync with each other as before I started using the new iPad? Secondly, I have read about the new TapForms 5 Upgrade. At some point I assume the versions I am using will cease to work or at least become outdated. Is it time to upgrade? I have hundreds of hours worth of work into my database and would need to be assured that it will transfer to the new version and that I can sync through all my devices. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Leo]

Hi Brian,

you can try resetting the sync and set up sync again….BUT

I recommend you to do the upgrade. It is way much better in sync options, instant sync, wifi sync… and the version 5 has a lot more features and a few great features are coming.

Yu can migrate the version 4 database without problems to version 5. And setting up syncing is a piece of cake.

[Brendan]

Hi Brian,

I’ve found that if you follow the Reset Sync procedure precisely as outlined in the online user manual here, then you can get all your devices to sync again:

https://www.tapforms.com/help-mac/3/en/topic/icloud-sync

The instructions are at the bottom.

You can also try choosing the None sync option to sign-out of Dropbox and then select it again to sign-in again.

Oh, also, if you had restored your iPad from a backup rather than installing it new, then you should uninstall Tap Forms and re-install it from the App Store. There’s a setting which uniquely identifies each device that Tap Forms uses to keep track of each sync device. If you had restored from a backup, then you may have multiple devices now with that same unique identifier. So uninstalling and re-installing it should fix that.

And yes, as Leo said, sync in version 5 is much better and is fully automatic.

Also, in June, Dropbox will be shutting down their sync servers that handle requests from their now deprecated Dropbox Sync API that Tap Forms 3/4 uses. Tap Forms 5 uses an all new sync system.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Brian Cleary]

Thanks for the responses. Never thought to reinstall app on my new iPad. I purchased Tap Forms 5 for my mac and the updated apps for my iPad and iPhone. Installed per the instructions and sent my document from my iMac to both the iPad and iPhone. Thought I was about set to go, but can’t seem to sync. Got a cloudant account and signed in on each device. When I tried sync, I got a message (that I can’t remember or recreate) about something being too large. Also, I have selected auto sync but is there also a sync button to manually sync (I know there was on the old version). I love the product. Thanks for the help.

[Brian Cleary]

Below is the sync failed message I receive upon trying to Sync:
“Error sending to Cloudant server.: the request entity is too large”

[Brendan]

Hi Brian,

There does seem to be a problem with Cloudant if you have files that are really big that you’re trying to sync. Do you have any photos or file attachments that are quite large? You may need to remove the ones that are too large.

[Brian Cleary]

I don’t think any of my attachments are that big but I’m not sure. I have deleted fields that contained photos or videos. This is somewhat problematic for me but I’ll figure something out. To not be able to access other attachments really makes this much less beneficial. Is there a way to look at what is attached to each record without having to scroll through each?

[Brendan]

Hi Brian,

Well, on the Mac if you show the file in the Finder, then right-click on it and choose the “Show Package Contents” function, you can navigate inside into the “db-….” folder and then into the “attachments” folder.

Sort by size and see if there are any really big files there. The big ones may be causing the problem.

[Brian Cleary]

Leo and Brendan:

With all due respect this upgrade has been a disaster for me. I have followed the steps to sync with no success as noted above. I have also deleted every field that has an attachment or photo in it, yet have still received an “request entity too large” message. Given this I have attempted to simply use the old version which I kept on my mac and devices, but can’t seem to get that to sync even between just my mac and iPhone. Is it possible that having both versions on the mac and devices is somehow causing a problem?

Would nearby sync be a better solution than Cloudant sync and, if so, do all three devices actually need to be nearby each other or simply have wi-fi access? I travel and the beauty of this has been my ability to enter info on an iPad and have my iMac up to date upon return home.

I have spent almost two full days trying to recreate my ability to sync across three devices. No luck. Very frustrating. At this point, I would gladly resort to the old version (or any other solution) if it could somehow work. Any suggestions?

[Leo]

I have a lot of attachments, PDF and photo. No problems at all. But I’ve set the size for photo’s overall to medium. This way no over 500 – 1000 Mb photo is saved.

Don’t know what you problem exist of but you can try that.

You can check the sync mode on the right bottom whenever you edit something. There is flashing a number/number.

[Brendan]

Hi Brian,

If you would like to make a backup of your database document and send it to me, I could try it out and see what might be causing the problems you’re having. Sorry for this trouble.

You can certainly give Nearby a shot. However, it does require that all your devices are on the same WiFi network with the same database document opened at the same time.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Brian Cleary]

Thank you. I am away from my computer until later tonight. I am going to give it one more try starting from scratch. If it’s still a problem I will take you up on this. Is there a good email for you?

[Brendan]

support@tapforms.com is my support email address.

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