Keeping Your ACT! Databases In Synch

by Rich Spitz

February, 1998

One of the common most requests I get from ACT! users is: "I want to use ACT! on my laptop and share my database with those on my network. How do I keep them current?"

ACT! does this through direct synchronization, also referred to as floppy to floppy synchronization.

ACT!Tip: Though I am using the term floppy, synchronization can be done with any removable media such as a Zip drive, Syquest or LS120.

In this article I will cover direct synchronization. The overall concept is this: You have a database on your laptop — which you take everywhere, and a database on the network.

When you return to the office, you plug your laptop into the network and match up, or synchronize, the laptop’s database with the network’s database so that both of them are the same.

There are several ways to set this up, so don’t be surprised if you hear a different method being described by an ACT! Certified Consultant or from someone technical support.

Here is the scenario:

• Joe is a user on the system.

• He works both in and outside the office. He keeps his ACT! database in the c:\act\database directory on his laptop.

• When Joe is in the office, he connects to a database on the network’s F:\ drive. It is called Central.dbf. On Joe’s computer he has the same database called Joe.dbf.

Joe’s objective is to have a current ACT! database with him no matter where he happens to be.

Setting Up Synchronization

This is how he should set it up. His database should be a setup as a single user where he is the administrator.

ACT!Tip: There has to be at least one administrator of the network database. Though, you can have multiple administrators.

ACT!Tip: For maximum efficiency, always compress and reindex both databases before synchronizing them This also prevents deleted records from showing up in either of the databases.

Lets go through the synchronization setup to see how this works from the Joe’s laptop:

1. Open Joe.dbf and select File, Synchronize. The Synchronize dialog box opens.

2. Select Setup. The Synchronization Setup Wizard appears where you select the Direct Synchronization With Another Database option.

3. Select the database with which you want to synchronize data. In this example, it would be F:\ACT\DATABASE\CENTRAL.DBF, which you can select by clicking the browse button.

4. Next, ACT! asks if you want to synchronize Notes/History and/or Activities.

5. Next, ACT! asks which group, if any, you want to synch with.

6. Next ACT! asks if you do, or don’t, want to send and receive your private records. If Joe is keeping private records on his local database, he may not want to synchronize them to the network.

7. Next ACT! asks if you do or don’t want to send and receive database field definitions. Database field definitions include field names, and field drop-downs menus. Here we will select Send field database and definitions and Newest field definitions from either database.

8. The last Wizard asks if you want to send only the updated records, or all records. This option is only displayed the first time you perform a synchronization. Thereafter only changed records are synchronized.

ACT!Tip: The first time you synchronize databases you should select the All Records option. This insures that you have the same starting point.

9. Click the Finish button. ACT! returns to the Synchronize dialog box.

Click the Synchronize button and watch the action happen as ACT! synchronizes the two databases.

Now both databases will be identical. Any changes to contact records that were made on the laptop will be recorded in the network database. And vice versa.

Automatic Synchronization

If you would like to setup an automatic synchronization schedule select Edit, Preferences, which opens the Preferences dialog box. Then select the Synchronization tab.