Disconnected scenario

[cjm51213]

Hi Folks,

If I am not connected -- say in the truck, or on an airplane, then I can't get to my list.  Admittedly, the paper list is a pretty good substitute, but I still have my question.  Is there a local copy sync?  I suspect I could do this manually, but copying the MySQL database to my local machine \<adda>, <yadda>, <yadda>.  Is there a more automatic way?  Maybe a circulated but unsupported sync script?

Thanks,

Chris.

[Andrew]

Hi there,


there is a backup routine: Configure > Admin > Create a backup of the database to save locally
which creates a mysql file which you can run as a source file on another machine. But, we don't yet have a direct import feature, or a way to automate syncing. Having said that, someone else might have written one, so watch this space.


Regards,
Andrew

[cjm51213]

Hi Folks,

Well, since you had the foresight to use MySQL, there is a replication feature provide by the database.  This is very good, but does not solve the problem, since with "MySQL replication, the updates are one way, meaning anything I do while "disconnected" get's lost and will not propagate back to my "official" list.  The complete solution is "MySQL Cluster" which provides *synchronization* among a set of databases.  I have not yet implemented this, but I HAVE put it on my list.  :-)

Give me some time and then check in and I will tell you all if it is worth the trouble or not.  Obviously, if your database is hosted, you will be constrained by your hosting company, but if you host yourself, and this is not difficult, then this is a real possibility and *probably* not terribly difficult.  More on this story as it develops.

Chris.

[BrunoDeBarros]

One could use Google Gears for implementing this, actually. It would allow the use of gtd-php in the browser while being offline.
If Andrew doesn't mind, I'd love to help out with that.

[Andrew]

One could use Google Gears for implementing this, actually. It would allow the use of gtd-php in the browser while being offline. Smiley
If Andrew doesn't mind, I'd love to help out with that.

I don't mind at all - I love the idea. Please do go ahead. Is there anything you need from the dev team to help?

[BrunoDeBarros]

I don't have any requirements yet, but I will have to start by making some sort of plugin that makes the entire thing run with AJAX. From there, I could use Google Gears to make the website work offline and I'd have to sync an offline SQLite database with the online MySQL database, but if the whole website was using AJAX, it'd be much easier (simply have a function query the server when there's internet, and have it query the local SQLite database when there isn't).

It would be quite a bit of an undertaking, so I'm going to start small and start by solving tickets and seeing if I can help out with some patches, get to know the code and all. No point starting something this big without knowing the system inside out.