Sharing PIM data with Multiple devices

[loc4me]

I searched for a long time for a solution to this problem and I did not find any suitable answers to my problem. I fianlly figured out a solution and I am posting it to maybe help someone in the future who is having the same problem.

I regularly use two palm devices. A TX and a Lifedrive. The problem i have is keeping the Calendar, Contacts, Memos, etc. In Sync. Basicly the PIM apps.

Here is the solution. It works regardless of if you have multiple profiles on the Palm desktop and would like to share the Contacts, Calendar, etc. data or if you use two different computers with two seperate palm desktops running.

All you have to do is pick your favorite version of a Folder/directory sychronizer. There are MANY freeware choices for this. Lots of people use Allway Sync. I personly have chosen other versions b/c of the small memory footprint but Allway is probably the best b/c of its special algorithm to determine which is the newest file. Others just use the time stamp that your computer assigns to the file and unless your system times are exatly the same you could run into problems. You can check out Dsynchronize at http://dimio.altervista.org/eng/. Also http://www.grigsoft.com/winsin.htm has another good one.

Once you have your app, all you have to do is select the directories that you want to keep in sync. For example. Navigate to your palm folder in programfiles. ex. C:\Program Files\palmOne\{truncated user name}\address for the Address book entries. Or C:\Program Files\palmOne\{truncated user name}\datebook for your calendar entries. Add these destinations into the sync app you just downloaded and you can choose which is the source and which is the desitnation. Most programs have a bi-ways sync which allows you to keep both folders the same. Otherwise you can choose one to have priority over the other and just mirror the source directory.

Very very simple. Hope this helps someone as much as it did me. Post any questions if you have any.

-Mark

[tk_421]

Do these programs sync the folders automatically, or do you have to d it yourself after syncing a device?

Also, you can just beam the PIM databases from the LD to the TX with Resco Explorer. It shouldn't be too hard.

[loc4me]

Yeah. They can sync them automatically. The version i am using does it in realtime. If you make a change to one it changes the other at the same time. You can also do it manually or have it done at log on or log off. Or anytime for that matter.

Yeah I tired the beaming database thing but that was not what i was looking for. I wanted to be able to enter meetings and contacts and all that and when i sync it would automatically mirror that data to the other palm database so i could pic up either palm and it would have the most current data on it. It work PERFECT for me. I am very happy with this solution. The "beaming" method took to much work and if i forgot to do it then i was just SOL.

[tk_421]

It syncs in real time? Wow, that is really nice. I will definitely try it out, as it is something that I have been trying to do myself. I'll definitely let you know how everything is going. Thanks a million times for the hint!

[The Palmster]

Thanks a whole lot, loc4me! I've always wanted to have this option but didn't think it was possible. Maybe I should go out and buy me a Fossil Palm watch now that I can keep all of my PIMs synchronized on two devices!!!!

[loc4me]

NO PROBLEM! I am just glad that all that this is useful to someone else. I searched the forums to no avail hoping someone else had figured out a solution. After a little contemplation I realized what i really needed was an automatic rsync (linux, Unix). After a little research I found a couple apps that could perform a similar task and BINGO. It was a perfect soulution to my problem. :)

-Mark

[Chou Chou]

I searched for a long time for a solution to this problem and I did not find any suitable answers to my problem. I fianlly figured out a solution and I am posting it to maybe help someone in the future who is having the same problem.

I regularly use two palm devices. A TX and a Lifedrive. The problem i have is keeping the Calendar, Contacts, Memos, etc. In Sync. Basicly the PIM apps.

Here is the solution. It works regardless of if you have multiple profiles on the Palm desktop and would like to share the Contacts, Calendar, etc. data or if you use two different computers with two seperate palm desktops running.

All you have to do is pick your favorite version of a Folder/directory sychronizer. There are MANY freeware choices for this. Lots of people use Allway Sync. I personly have chosen other versions b/c of the small memory footprint but Allway is probably the best b/c of its special algorithm to determine which is the newest file. Others just use the time stamp that your computer assigns to the file and unless your system times are exatly the same you could run into problems. You can check out Dsynchronize at http://dimio.altervista.org/eng/. Also http://www.grigsoft.com/winsin.htm has another good one.

Once you have your app, all you have to do is select the directories that you want to keep in sync. For example. Navigate to your palm folder in programfiles. ex. C:\Program Files\palmOne\{truncated user name}\address for the Address book entries. Or C:\Program Files\palmOne\{truncated user name}\datebook for your calendar entries. Add these destinations into the sync app you just downloaded and you can choose which is the source and which is the desitnation. Most programs have a bi-ways sync which allows you to keep both folders the same. Otherwise you can choose one to have priority over the other and just mirror the source directory.

Very very simple. Hope this helps someone as much as it did me. Post any questions if you have any.

-Mark

I have a Palm TX and Sony TH55. Would this software work with these two PDAs and not duplicate the entries??

[potter]

Knowing how the normal Hotsync algorithm works, I do not think this method of syncing two devices is working as well as your think it is.

A simple test:
Hotsync device 1.
After the Hotsync, the file sync software should copy the dat file(s) for device 1 over the dat file(s) for device 2.
Hotsync device 2.
After the Hotsync, the file sync software should copy the dat file(s) for device 2 over the dat file(s) for device 1.
Hotsync device 1.
After the Hotsync, the file sync software should copy the dat file(s) for device 1 over the dat file(s) for device 2.
At this point the two devices should be identical; running with that assumption:
On device 1, find an exist record and make a minor change to it.
Hotsync device 1.
After the Hotsync, the file sync software should copy the dat file(s) for device 1 over the dat file(s) for device 2.
Hotsync device 2.
After the Hotsync, the file sync software should copy the dat file(s) for device 2 over the dat file(s) for device 1.
Check device 2 for the change that was made on device 1. I am reasonably sure, in this case, the change will not appear.

[loc4me]

I have a Palm TX and Sony TH55. Would this software work with these two PDAs and not duplicate the entries??

I am not sure. I know Sony does things a bit different than Palm does so I am not sure how this method will work. Also I dont have any sony decives running PalmOS to test. Give it a try and report back for those who do have a Sony device and are also interested if it works.

[loc4me]

Knowing how the normal Hotsync algorithm works, I do not think this method of syncing two devices is working as well as your think it is.

A simple test:
Hotsync device 1.
After the Hotsync, the file sync software should copy the dat file(s) for device 1 over the dat file(s) for device 2.
Hotsync device 2.
After the Hotsync, the file sync software should copy the dat file(s) for device 2 over the dat file(s) for device 1.
Hotsync device 1.
After the Hotsync, the file sync software should copy the dat file(s) for device 1 over the dat file(s) for device 2.
At this point the two devices should be identical; running with that assumption:
On device 1, find an exist record and make a minor change to it.
Hotsync device 1.
After the Hotsync, the file sync software should copy the dat file(s) for device 1 over the dat file(s) for device 2.
Hotsync device 2.
After the Hotsync, the file sync software should copy the dat file(s) for device 2 over the dat file(s) for device 1.
Check device 2 for the change that was made on device 1. I am reasonably sure, in this case, the change will not appear.

This setup works for me but here is what i "think" is your problem. In syncing your palm with the desktop you get a choice on which database is the so called "master". If you choose custom in the Hotsync menu you can see the options for the desktop to over write the handheld or the handheld to over write the desktop or the default is synchronize.

The situation that you metioned works for my setup but here is where i think it could fail. If you make a change on both handhelds and then synced both to different computers, you could run into a problem as both databases are being changed at similar times. I am using the Dsynchronize program and as long as i wait a minute between syncs i have not had aproblem. Dsynchronize only checks the time stamp on the modification of the dat file to see which is the "correct" one. If you are using a prog like allway sync then it has a more sophisticated sync algorithim and is better at determining the proper file.

Make sure that in the custom hotsync menu that you have the checkbox for synchronize checked. This allows you to make a change on both the desktop and the handheld between syncs and both changes with be reflected on the desktop and handheld after synchronization.

Let me know if you have anymore questions but so far this "fix" has not faultered for me. Good luck.

[Josser]

This procedure will not syncronize the data, it just overwrites the older second file with the newer first. Any different data on the second file is lost.

I use SyncUS to keep my PDAs in sync and it works perfectly.

( 8(|)

[loc4me]

This procedure will not syncronize the data, it just overwrites the older second file with the newer first. Any different data on the second file is lost.

I use SyncUS to keep my PDAs in sync and it works perfectly.

( 8(|)

Right. That is the purpose of this, To have the exact same copy of the built-in PIM apps databases available to two different handhelds. Even though it is replacing the dat file with the newer one, it is effectively the same as synchronizing them. When i use one handheld, make changes to the PIM databases and sycn, the program copies over that dat file into the 2nd handheld's directory so that the new changes are available to Palm Desktop and the handheld after a sync. I dont need the program to read the individual entries in the dat file.

The only way you would lose entires would be if you are setting this up for the first time. The program will automatically take the "newer" file and make that the dat file available to the PIM apps. After that you will not lose entries b/c the dat files will be the same except for the changes you make to a single dat file.

This is not a solution for everyone. Some will not like it and have other methods of doing a similar task. This works best for me for several reasons.
1) It's Free (as in Freeware)
2) It is automated and automatically copies/syncs the files
3) Works across networks and VPN which allows me to stay in sycn with multiple computers at differnet locations.
4) The app uses very little resources and has a small memory footprint. The app itself is only 155kb (Dsynchronize)
5) Works not only for the built in PIM apps but allows me to keep music, pics, documents and any other content i choose in sync.

-Mark

[kennyd]

Thanks for the post. This is very helpful. One unfortunate grief which is relative to "Palm" and not this process is, the catagories from a non "enhanced" pim device are not preserved in an "enhanced" pim device. When I switch devices I replace the new pim directories with the old ones. This transfers the content but does not preserve catagories. Is there a way to preserve catagories across the differing pim cnofigurations?

[loc4me]

Thanks for the post. This is very helpful. One unfortunate grief which is relative to "Palm" and not this process is, the categories from a non "enhanced" pim device are not preserved in an "enhanced" pim device. When I switch devices I replace the new pim directories with the old ones. This transfers the content but does not preserve categories. Is there a way to preserve categories across the differing pim configurations?

I really have no idea. I only have the newer versions of palm's hand helds, LD and TX. I am not sure how to help you. This might not be a great fix for you bc the way that it works it is just replaces the .dat file in each directory with the newer version. If you are using legacy versions of plam desktop it may have some bugs that I am totally unaware of. Good Luck though.