Restore Via Dropbox and Sharing between users?

[Bob B]

Hi Brendan,

Thanks for Tap Forms!

I am having a problem accessing the backup zip file from Dropbox on both my iPhone 4 and iPad3. Whenever I try to access it via “Tools/Backup and Restore/Arrow in upper right corner/Download from Dropbox” I get the error message pop up “Unable to Connect. Tap Forms is unable to access your Dropbox files at this time. Please try again later.” Is there a particular folder in Dropbox that I need to put the archive zip file in order for it to be seen by Tap Forms? I made my own “Tap Forms” folder in Dropbox and uploaded the zip back up file generated within Tap Forms Backup utility (through iTunes app file sharing) there. Both my iPhone and iPad have the Dropbox app installed FWIW.

I know that syncing between my devices using iCloud would be the easiest way to do this but ultimately what I am trying to do is put a copy of my database archive onto a friends iPod touch (latest generation/ looks like iPhone 5). i figured if he could upload my backup zip to his Dropbox account he could restore to his device my database, could this actually work?

Thanks in advance, Bob-

[Brendan]

Hi Bob,

Tap Forms stores its backups in Dropbox within a Backups folder which is within the Tap Forms folder which is at the root of your Dropbox account.

You could also grab the backup file and email it to your friend if it’s not too big. On his iPod he should use the “Open In…” function to open the file in Tap Forms. Tap Forms will recognize the backup file and bring him right to the Backup & Restore screen where he can tap on the file to restore it.

I’m not sure why you’re having troubles with accessing your Dropbox folder though. Are you able to access Dropbox via the Dropbox app?

Thanks,

Brendan

[Bob B]

Hi Brendan,

I got it working. I didn’t see a Tap Forms folder in my Dropbox account so I figured that was where the problem was. I hadn’t uploaded the backup to Dropbox from Tap Forms itself but I had uploaded the iTunes back up file itself without a folder from my PC’s hard drive, the file names I assume are the same but Tap Forms didn’t see the folders it needed.

I just didn’t know how to upload directly from Tap Forms to Dropbox. I finally figured it out when I highlighted a back up file in “tools/Backup & Restore and THEN clicked the arrow on the upper right corner, the option to upload to Dropbox was now there.

In light of this, I have a feature suggestion for a future build that might help low tech users like myself and another question if you don’t mind..

Suggestion: If possible it would be great to have an “Upload to Dropbox” button when clicking on a backup file in addition to the scary red “Restore Backup” button. I finally figured it out but it would have been a no brainer if the additional upload option were available as described above.

Question: I plan on copying my Dropbox “Tap Forms” folder to a thumb drive and let my friend with the iPod upload it to his Dropbox account and then download it to his copy of Tap Forms. The questions is that I have a form in my database that is encrypted. All of my other forms are not encrypted. Will he be able to delete this form without having to enter an encryption key? (I will most likely be installing the backup myself).

Thanks so much, Bob-

[Brendan]

Hi Bob,

Yes, your friend will be able to delete the form without being able to see the contents of it. At least not the encrypted data.

All he does is goes to the Edit Form screen for that form, then tap the action menu button then tap on “Delete Form”.

Thanks!

Brendan

[JerryG]

Bob mentions that a form in his database is encrypted, but not the whole DB. How do you encrypt a form but not the whole DB in tap forms?
Thx

[Brendan]

Hi Jerry,

You’re not really encrypting just a single form. Encryption is either at the full database level, or the field level. With field-level encryption, you’re just encrypting the contents of a single field. Well, you can encrypt multiple fields within a form if you like, but usually you just limit it to your most sensitive data. For example, the username and password fields, but not the account name or website address.

To turn on field-level encryption, the first thing you do is go to the Security Settings area, then tap on the Set Encryption Key button if you haven’t already done that. Once that’s done, go to the Customize Forms area, pick your form, then tap on any of the fields in the form that you would like to encrypt. Next, tap on the Encrypt Field Value button to turn field-level encryption on for that one field.

Now, whenever you try to access that form’s records, Tap Forms will know that it has at least one encrypted field and it will prompt you for your encryption key.

That’s pretty much all there is to that.

A couple things to note though. With encrypted fields, you cannot sort on them properly. This is because the sorting is done at the database level and the values stored on disk are just garbage like. So they cannot be sorted. Also, with field-level encryption, people can still read your other non-encrypted bits of data if they get a hold of your database file. For maximum security, it’s best to use database-level encryption.

Also note, that if you export any records or email any records, a CSV file will be generated and stored in the Exports folder in the Files area. Those files are not encrypted.

Thanks!

Brendan

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