Re: OpenOffice, Go-OO, ODBC, Offline Data Entry

On Wed, 2010-08-18 at 09:07 -0400, Shawn Green (MySQL) wrote:
> Hello Casey,
> 
> You need to have two sets of your data. Central and Remote. The Remote 
> data will have all of the field information in it but possibly none of 
> the filled out forms (to save space). Then as the field person adds data 
> to their forms, they start filling in their local copy of the dataset.
> 
> Normal MySQL replication will not help you get the data from your Remote 
> databases back into your Central database. The flow would be wrong.
> 
> What you will need to design is a "resync" script/process that the 
> remote worker uses when they return to the home network. This would then 
> upload and merge any new forms to the Central dataset along with any 
> corrections to the personal data that they may have needed to make in 
> the field. That way the next time the remote worker leaves the home 
> network, their "fill in the blanks" information will be as complete as 
> possible.
> 
> You might consider conditionally loading certain rows of completed form 
> data into the remote worker's dataset before they need to "go remote" 
> just so that they have that data for reference in the field.
> 
> How you designate new or changed rows of data is completely up to you. 
> Some rely on timestamps, some rely on version numbers, some rely on a 
> flag (0=unchanged, 1=changed). You may need a combination of these 
> techniques (timestamps for the Central data, flag for the remote data). 
>   Find out what works best for your situation.
> 
> Overall, it comes down to a balancing act between what your remote 
> agents need away from the central system, how much space you want to 
> consume on their local devices, and how much exposure you want to risk 
> should a remote machine fall into the wrong hands (you may want to 
> encrypt part or all of the remote dataset using a key provided by the 
> remote agent during login to their application, for example)
> 


Thank you very much for the advice Shawn. I see what you mean. At least
now I know it is possible to achieve. I have zero experience with this
kind of direct database programing myself, so this is likely to be a bit
of a challenge for me. I don't suppose you might be able to recommend
any online reading material to me which might speed along the learning
process for me in regards to the creation of such a script?


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