transferring forms from Mac to iPad without sync?

[Hans S]

Former Bento user here. Happy to have found Tap Forms as a new home for our Bento records. And also great to see a developer (Brendan) so actively involved in connecting with their users.

My apologies if this has been answered elsewhere —

We had several Bento database sets that were on an iPad — not synced or connected with a Mac or any other devices.

Have successfully done the following:
-Transferred the Bento files from the iPad to a Mac.
-Exported the Bento files.
-Imported the Bento files into Tap Forms on the Mac.

Now we would like to transfer the Tap Forms forms back into the iPad, but want to avoid the sync process (Mac is not Yosemite, different iCloud accounts, and we simply don’t need sync) — we just need the forms on the iPad, not on the Mac.

Is there a way to export or send the forms from the Mac to the iPad, and be done with it?

Thanks!

[Brendan]

Hello Hans,

You sure can. Use the Backup command from the File menu on the Mac version to create a backup .zip file of your database. Then using iTunes File Sharing, copy the backup file into the Tap Forms HD Documents area. Now, launch Tap Forms HD on your iPad and tap on the Tools button, then the Backup & Restore function. Then tap on your backup file that should be visible there. Then tap on the Restore Backup button.

Now you’ll have your data in Tap Forms HD on your iPad.

Thanks!

Brendan

[Hans S]

Thanks Brendan — I got part of the way there —

I successfully created the backup .zip on the Mac, and using iTunes File Sharing I “added” the .zip file to the Tap Forms HD Docs area on the iPad.

After tapping on the backup file in the “Backup and Restore” function and then hitting Restore, it gives me a “Restore Failure” error.

I’m seeing two possible problems here —

1] after copying the .zip (about 3.5 GB) into the iPad, there’s just over 1 GB of free space left. I’m going to guess that I need a full 3.5-4 GB to do the restore, since the backup .zip will probably stay intact as the database files are constructed, yes?

2] Although the backup .zip is approx 3.5 GB — in the “Backup and Restore” window, it shows the backup file size to be about 17 billion GB!

Suggestions?

[Brendan]

Hi Hans,

1. Yes, you would probably need even more than 3.5 GB to restore that file depending on the types of files you have. Especially considering the file is compressed and will be expanded during the restore process. You could always unzip the backup file and take out the TapForms_db.sqlite file and put it over top the exiting one in iTunes File Sharing. At least you’ll get the database there, but not all your extra files (photos, etc.).

2. It’s probably too big to display the file size properly in the app.

Which kind of iPad is it? It could be a 32 bit iPad perhaps? That may be causing the weird file size issue.

[Hans S]

1] In the hopes of bypassing the “unpacking” process, is there a way to simply copy the photos as well? What would the folder structure be — would that be translatable from the Mac to the iPad?

2] Yes, it’s a 3rd-gen iPad (2012) (A5X chip), which is a 32-bit chip. Other than the funky file size display, should this work otherwise?

[Brendan]

Hi Hans,

1. The tricky part is to get the photos directly into the Photos folder. For that you’ll need a third party app such as iExplorer from http://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer

Unfortunately iTunes File Sharing won’t let you drill down into folders.

2. I’m not entirely sure. I don’t have any backup files that big and I no longer have a 32 bit iPad to test with. Give it a try and see what happens.

[Author]

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