GoZync3

Getting Started

These are the notes for GoZync 3. Docs for the latest version of GoZync--GoZync 4--can be found here. GoZync 4 is a free upgrade and is highly recommended (hint: it's faster).

Getting to know GoZync

In addition to the GoZync framework itself, GoZync ships with two sample files. In the "Local" folder, you'll find "QuickContact.fmp12". This file will eventually be the remote file on your iPad. In the folder "Host" you'll see "QuickContact Hosted.fmp12" which is the hosted version of the solution, the file in which your data will end up.

Using these two sample files, you can start playing with GoZync and see how it works before you integrate it into your workflow. These sample files are for basic usage, such as jotting down contacts you meet at a trade show. You can enter some brief details about the contact and associate a photo with them. You can then Zync this info back to your server, using QuickContact to aggregate the contacts made by a number of your employees.

Check out this map of GoZync before returning here to start playing around.

Entering your GoZync License

When you purchased GoZync, you received an email that contains your license code. (If you're playing with the free version you can skip this section, as there is a temporary license in there for you already).

You'll need to enter your license into GoZyncLicense.fmp12 (in the Hosts folder) before you can start using GoZync.

Learn how to enter your license... Adding Licenses ...before returning here to start playing with GoZync.

Playing with GoZync in FileMaker Pro

Before implementing remote Zync, you can use GoZync locally to see how it works.

1. Open all the FileMaker files in the Host and Local folder and navigate to QuickContact.fmp12. You'll see some sample data there.

The first screen is a list view. Click "new" at the top to make a new contact. When you're done, click the orange arrow to come back to this list view. You'll see that you're newly created contact isn't yet "uploaded".

2. Click "Zync" and GoZync will send that record to the host and pull down any new contacts.

3. Check out the hosted file, QuickContactHosted, and you'll see your new contact. Visit the Inbox tab of GoZyncHosted and the "package" sent up from the mobile file is listed there as "processed".

That is the basic way GoZync works, though it is much more impressive when your local files are running in FileMaker Go.

As you're integrating GoZync into your files, you may want to work like this – with both the local and hosted version of GoZync and of your solution on the same machine – rather than uploading things to your server. This will ensure that you don't accidentally compromise data while you're learning the ropes.

Checking it out using FileMaker Server

Next you'll likely want to serve the files in the Host folder.

1. Quit FileMaker and upload these to your FileMaker Server. You're just playing around now, so you can password protect the files if you want, or do that later.

2. Once the files from Host are on your FileMaker Server, open GoZyncMobile.fmp12 and change the file references that says "yourserver.com" to point to your newly served instance of GoZyncHosted. Here's how:

From FileMaker's menu, select File / Manage / External Data Sources... and edit the source named "GoZyncHosted".

The source has two file references, a local one that looks like "file:../Host/GoZyncHosted" which you'll leave alone in each case, and one that looks like:

fmnet:/yourserver.com/GoZyncHosted

Replace "yourserver.com" with the name or IP address of your server.

Then close FileMaker Pro.

3. Now change the name of the folder "Host" to "xHost". This will temporarily break GoZyncMobile's ability to find the local versions of the Hosted files, so it will instead look for the ones on your server. (You have to do this when all the relevant GoZync files are closed, hence closing FileMaker Pro in the previous step.)

4. At this point you can repeat the steps from "Playing with GoZync..." above, this time uploading contacts from your local copy of QuickContact.fmp12 to the served instance of QuickContactHosted.

Playing on FileMaker Go.

Now that you've pointed your copy of GoZyncMobile.fmp12 at your server, you're ready to place the mobile files on your iPad and see how GoZync really works. Once QuickContact.fmp12 is on your device, it can download new copies of itself, but you'll need to get it there manually the first time. To do this, either email the file to yourself and check that mail on your iPad, or use iTunes to drag the file over to your iPad. (Make sure QuickContact.fmp12 is closed before you do any of this.)

Once QuickContact.fmp12 is on your device, you can resume the "Playing with GoZync..." steps at the start of this article, this time uploading contacts from your iPad's copy of QuickContact.fmp12 to the served instance of QuickContactHosted.

Downloading New Mobile Files.

The last thing to check out is how a Zync'ed file can download new copies of itself.

Downloading Visit the home layout in QuickContact and click "Check for Updates". If this is your first time doing this, you should get a new version of the file (provided you've already synced your contacts).

Uploading. You can learn more about how to upload a new version here: distributing mobile files

Next Steps.

Now that you've gotten a sense for how this works, you can start integrating this with your own files. Instructions can be found here: Integration.

Enjoy!