RecoX - The Record Exchange Tool

Written by Joern Stein, 2001

RecoX Main Page
-Introduction
-Latest Version/Download
-Installation
-Legal Issues
-Contact

Usage
-Quickstart
-Duplicates
-Tips
-FAQ
-Compatibility

UI Reference
-Main Screen
-Preferences
-Registration
-CatWizard
-BatchWizard

Version History

User interface description

Main Screen

Config:
All the synchronization settings made in this screen are stored under the name that is shown in the top right corner of the screen (default in the shown screenshot). You can store up to 16 configurations and retrieve them by tapping the name and selecting a new config from the list. Configurations are stored automatically. They can be added or deleted via the Config menu.
Database:
Here you can select the database that you would like to synchronize.  You can toggle the list between showing only databases that are know to work with RecoX or all databases (excluding applications and some databases that are known not to be synchronizable with RecoX). The latter is useful if you would like to try to synchronize a database so far unsupported by RecoX. If it works, send me the name of the application (or better, the Creator ID and the database type) and I will include it in later versions of RecoX. You can toggle the list by selecting the very first entry (Show All DBs/Tested DBs only)
Filter:
Here you can enter a filter string, only records that contain this string are selected for synchronization. Sorry, no wildcards are supported (yet).
If necessary you can scroll the text by tapping the arrows to the left and right of the field.
Category:
If you want to synchronize only selected categories, you have to specify the categories here. You can either use the Category Wizard or manually enter the category mappings in this field as described below (this is not for the faint of heart. If you don't understand the explanation, don't worry, just use the wizard).
To create a category mapping, you need to know the numbers of the categories on your Palm and the remote Palm. Tap the Category button to display the list of available categories. For each category you want to synchronize, enter its index number in the category string, separated by commas. Tapping a category in the category list inserts its number in the category string.
If you want to map a category number to a different one on the other Palm, look up the corresponding number on the other Palm and enter that number with a preceding dash.
An example:Alice uses the following category mapping for an Addressbook sync: 1,2-3,3-2,8-5, 9-4. When she syncs with Bob, all her Addresses in category 1 are kept in category 1 on Bobs Palm. Addresses in categories 2 and 3 are changed to 3 and 2 respectively. The same goes for Addresses in categories 8 and 9, which will be in category 5 and 4 on Bobs Palm.
Warning: if you enter a mapping where two categories on one device are mapped to one categories on the other device, then in the reverse mapping only the first pair is used. So if Alice uses 1-3,2-3 her Addresses from categories 1 and 2 are put into Bobs category 3, but entries from Bobs category 3 are put in Alices category 1.
You can scroll the text by tapping the arrows to the left and right of the field.
Dates/Range (Datebook only):
When synchronizing your datebook, you can enter a range of time. Only events that are in that range will be synchronized. By choosing either Dates or Range you can indicate whether you wish to select fixed start and end days or a variable date range that depends on the current date and that is selected by choosing the number of days before and after the current day. Tapping the All dates button sets the start data to January 1st 1904 and the end date to December 31st 2031, that should cover all zour appointments.
Send private:
If this box is checked and private records are visible, then they are also sent to the other Palm. If you also check the SendBack option, and private records are visible on the remote device, it will send them back to your Palm.
Send Back:
If this box is checked, the other Palm will immediately send it's data back after receiving and processing your data, so there is no need to start the program again. It will use the same settings as the Palm sending first.
If a category string is used, it will be reversed. Lets say that Alice from the above example has also checked the SendBack checkbox. Then after she has sent all her records, Bobs Palm will reverse the category mapping, resulting in a string 1,3-2,2-3,3-8,4-9. Please note, that Bobs category 3 is mapped to 2 different categories on Alices Palm (2 and 8). Only the first assignment of these two will be used as described above.
Cmp.  Data:
This option can be used to create unnecessary duplication of records that are exactly the same on both devices. For example if an address book entry is created with exactly the same data on both devices, it will be duplicated during normal synchronization. If the "Cmp. Data" option is turned on, this dupiclication will be avoided.
Delete Other:
If this checkbox is checked, RecoX will delete records, that have been deleted on the sending device, from the receiving device. If this checkbox is empty, deleted records will be marked and further changes will not be synchronized.
Always Sort:
RecoX recognizes some databases and sorts them by using their own sort algorithms, but for all others, it just appends new records at the end. Check this box to force RecoX to sort all unknown databases by byte-comparing the records.
Currently RecoX implements custom sort algorithms for the following databases:
  • Datebook
  • Addressbook
Sync!:
Tap this button to start the synchronization process.

Main Screen Menus

Config-New:
Create a new configuration. A dialog will ask you to supply a name for the configuration. Enter a name and press OK to accept it or Cancel if you changed your mind.
Config-Delete:
Delete the current profile. Note: If there is only one profile, it cannot be deleted.
Config-Category Wizard:
Select this option to go to the Category Wizard screen. Make sure both Palms are aligned for infrared data exchange, because they have to transmit category information. On the category wizard screen, select the categories you want to match and press Add or Del to add or delete a category mapping. The Clear button removes all mappings and you can go back to the main screen by hitting the Ok or Cancel buttons.
Config-Batch Wizard:
Select this option to go to the Batch Wizard screen. The Batch Wizard allows you to select a number of configurations and then performs synchronizations with the settings from each of the configurations.
Edit:
The edit menu offers the usual choices of cut, copy and paste, which will not be discussed here.
Adv.-List Databases:
Lists all internal databases and shows the information for which database and peer device they are used. The user has the choice to keep or delete each database. You can press the OK button to delete the databases selected so far and stop asking, or you can use the Cancel button to quit asking and not delete anything.
If you delete an internal database, RecoX will forget all about the synchronization state for a given database and remote user.
Adv.-Resend Deleted:
If a record is deleted from one device, it will not be synced again from the other device, even if it is changed there. To resend a record that has been deleted on the remote device, select this menu options. You will be presented with a screen to select those records that have been deleted on the remote device but not on the local device. For each record you can choose to send it at the next sync (Now) or after it changes on the local device the next time (Later). You can also skip a record or proceed to the next database or quit the process.
Adv.-SimSync:
Tap this to do all the things usually done at a sync process, but without sending data.This is very useful, when you want to use RecoX for the first time on two devices that are already in sync, because otherwise RecoX would exchange all records (matching the filter, category and date selection rules) even if they exist on both devices in the same or similar form.
Options-Preferences:
Go to the Preferences screen to make some global settings.
Options-Register:
Show a dialog to enter registration code that you receveived after registering the software.
Options-About:
Display information about RecoX
Options-Help:
Display some help.

Preferences Screen

In the preferences, you can make some global settings as described below. Press OK to accept your changes or Cancel if you changed your mind and want to discard your changes.

Always receive:

If this option is checked, RecoX will always accept incoming requests for synchronization. If you leave it unchecked, RecoX will ask you to agree if another Palm starts a synchronization and will not ask you again until you close the application and start it again.
Display finish message:
If this option is checked, RecoX will display a message after the synchronization is finished, showing some statistics about the number of records that have been transmitted. If this option is not checked, RecoX will just quit quietly and you'll have to check both Palms to see if they are finished with the synchronization.
Archive deleted records:
If this option is checked, records that are deleted during synchronization will be archived to your desktop at the next hotsync. Leave this option unchecked to remove the records permanently.

Registration

In the registration form you can enter the registration code that was sent to you upon registering the program. The program will store only valid codes, so if you accidentally overwrite your existing code, it will not be erased.
 

Category Wizard

The category wizard is used to easily configure the categroy mapping between your Palm and the other device.  If a category string was defined on the main screen, the mappings it defines will be shown on this screen. You can add new mappings, delete existing ones or clear out the whole list with the tap of a single button. To add a new mapping, select the source and destination categories from the Local Cat. and Remote Cat. dropdown lists and press Add to add them to the list. To remove a mapping, select it from the list and press Del. Press OK when you are finished and want to keep your changes or Cancel if you change your mind and want to discard your changes.

Batch Wizard

If you want to synchronize more than one database with RecoX, you can use the Batch Wizard to prepare a list of configurations that will be used during synchronization. RecoX will then read the settings from the first configuration, synchronize the databases and then start over and read the settings from the second configuration. So before you started the Batch Wizard you need to have the configurations defined for those databases that you want to sync.

Using the Batch Wizard

Create a new batch by selecting New... from the Batch Menu. In the upcoming dialog, enter a snappy name and tap OK to go back to the Batch Wizard screen. Then select a configuration from the list and tap Add to add it to the currently active batch. If you have mistakenly added a configuration that you don't want to sync, select it and press Del to remove it from the batch. If you want to change the order in which the configurations are processed during synchronization, select a config and tap the Up and Down buttons (the little triangles) to move them. If you want to remove all configurations, you need to download a form to beg for my permission to do so and mail it to me in triplicate. Well, actually, I'm kidding, I just wanted to see if you are still reading this. You may press the Clear button also.
The Sync button starts the synchronization with the currently active batch and the Back button takes you back to the main screen.


Last update: 2001-12-20, Joern Stein