[SOLVED] How do you sync only a subset of all the database records?

[dennislittlefield]

How do you sync only a subset of the database records?  What if you only care about a small group of records?  It would help the file be smaller on your iPhone.

Dennis

[DrK]

I'm sorry that this is "solved" as it seems that a mobile database would be much more efficient if you only had records that you needed. The FM database I used in the past on the Palm could only pull found records (it would execute the script before syncing). There must be a more elegant way to do this. As a physician, I do not need access to all my patients in my database, only the active patients.

Maybe if someone could show me an example of how to pull 850 records from 4280 records, as well as from linked records, I would understand. Would the database be two-syncing? My current Db is horribly slow, and that with only a few fields. I am not fully implemented, as I am waiting for the encryption to be restated, but may not be able to use FMTouch if it has to have my entire database.

[jpruden]

The way *I* would handle this situation would be to create a clone of the original database, find the records in the master file, then import the master into the clone.

The clone is now a copy of the original with only the found records. Sync this database to FMTouch and you've got your set.

Not quite as slick as the internal script, but infinitely simpler to implement for less savvy users. 

[DrK]

But this would only be a static snapshot of the database, not a dynamic set. I would like to find a decent workaround for this, if FMtouch will never have this function. Any ideas would be appreciated. I was thinking of creating a portal to the original database that would only include active files, not inactive (for me).

Any other ideas? (I know this is "closed" but would still like a solution beyond "it can't do that". The FM community always seems to come up with something I never considered)

Thanks.

[jpruden]

The solution is only as static as you'd like it to be... the portal is probably a workable solution, but I wouldn't want to carry around the *whole* thing with me.

If you change the layouts, make a new clone and replace the old one.

If you change the data, it's pretty simple to set up a script that would run when you open the clone that would:

1. Delete the records in the subset database.
2. Perform a find in the original database that would find the records you'd like to sync.
3. Import the found set into the clone.

You can even have it sync back to the original database if you'd prefer.

Honestly, I mostly use FMTouch as a snapshot type of solution, but there are LOTS of ways to make FileMaker Pro do all of the work. Expecting too much from FMTouch will make it a monster... not exactly what we want on our phones...

[DrK]

That's an interesting solution with a clean import on sync. As I plan to have the FM touch database be a "Read Only" database, that should work fine. I'll hack it out. Thanks for the idea. I'm only a medium-use FM Pro person, not an expert. So some things that may be obvious to you can be an enlightenment to me.

Thanks. I'll let you know how it works out.

[Michael Petrov]

That's an interesting solution with a clean import on sync. As I plan to have the FM touch database be a "Read Only" database, that should work fine. I'll hack it out. Thanks for the idea. I'm only a medium-use FM Pro person, not an expert. So some things that may be obvious to you can be an enlightenment to me.

Thanks. I'll let you know how it works out.

In that case don't forget about the read only switch in the database settings which will make sure you don't make mistakes when browsing through your data.

[DrK]

Saw that. I did a test run and it worked great. It took the longest for the new database to import from the main database. The import into Fm Touch was very fast! Thanks.

PS Has anyone considered putting out some database templates for use with FMTouch (Contacts, inventory, etc)? I would love to see a test Db with different font sizes and styles to pick out the best to use with a specific database. For instance, in this database (as it is a view, only) I plan on using much smaller typeface so I can fit it on one screen, rather than the usual larger type for input. Any plans on doing this?

[Michael Petrov]

Saw that. I did a test run and it worked great. It took the longest for the new database to import from the main database. The import into Fm Touch was very fast! Thanks.

PS Has anyone considered putting out some database templates for use with FMTouch (Contacts, inventory, etc)? I would love to see a test Db with different font sizes and styles to pick out the best to use with a specific database. For instance, in this database (as it is a view, only) I plan on using much smaller typeface so I can fit it on one screen, rather than the usual larger type for input. Any plans on doing this?

We are going to be opening an FMTouch App Store within days which will have both paid and free premaid ready to customize solutions specifically designed with FMTouch in mind.