iCloud - Getting Started
Enabling or Disabling iCloud Operations
By default, the iCloud operations are disabled. Users who want to use iCloud with Istoriam will have to enable that feature.
iCloud operations can be enabled (or disabled) under the iCloud menu option.
Please refer to the “What happens when iCloud operations are disabled” and “What happens when you re-enable iCloud operations” sections later in this document for more details on those events.
Automatic disabling
There are instances where the application will disable iCloud. Example of such instances are:
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An error that cannot be addressed by the app was detected (see "Dealing with errors" for more details on this issue).
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A task is taking too much time and you decide to abort it (see “iCloud Alerts” for more on this subject).
You can at any time re-enable iCloud operations. Please refer to the “What happens when you re-enable iCloud operations” section for more details on what happens when you re-enable iCloud.
Status indicator
When iCloud operations are enabled, the cloud icon on the Display Toolbar will appear clear (i.e., with not strike through line) .
When iCloud operations are disabled, the cloud icon on the Display Toolbar will appear with a strike through line.
iCloud Alerts
iCloud operations require the exchange of data across the network.
If the network connection is good and reliable, those transactions should be relatively transparent to you.
However, if the network connection is bad, those transactions might take some time to complete. When this is the case, an alert window will appear informing you of the action that is currently in progress and providing you with a mechanism to abort it. You can then decide to wait for the transaction to complete or you can decide to abort the transaction altogether. If you decide to abort the transaction, iCloud operations will be disabled in the app. You can re-enable iCloud operations under the iCloud menu option.
When an iCloud transaction is taking place, all the icons on the Toolbar will turn gray (i.e., they are being disabled). The reason for this is to ensure that no modifications are made to the local database during the synchronization process.
What happens when iCloud operations are disabled
When iCloud operations are disabled, the application will stop tracking changes made to the local database and will stop receiving notifications of changes made to the iCloud database.
You can continue working on the local database but none of the changes made will be synced with iCloud.
What happens when you re-enable iCloud operations
When you re-enable iCloud operations, the application will check both the iCloud and the local database for data.
If neither has data, then the iCloud configuration is verified and the operations are activated.
If data is detected only on the local database, then the application will automatically upload that data to iCloud.
Similarly, if data is detected only on the iCloud database, then the application will automatically download that data to the local database.
If data is detected on both databases, you will be asked to select which of the two databases you want to sync on: the local database or the iCloud one. If you select the local database, then the current content on the iCloud database is deleted and replaced with the one in your local database. Conversely, if you select to sync on the iCloud database, your local database is deleted and the content of the iCloud database is downloaded to your iPad.
The reason for the last scenario is that the application stopped monitoring changes made to the local database when iCloud operations were disabled and stopped receiving change notifications from iCloud. Hence the application cannot determine, when you re-enable iCloud, if the two databases (the local one and the one on iCloud) are still in sync or not.
Please note that based on the size of your application, as well as the quality of the network, the full upload or download of the database could take some time.