Question about syncing. We'll be using the a...

Question about syncing.

We’ll be using the app I’m working on to log passengers and cars boarding our ferry. The log data will get saved up to the spreadsheet when the ferry operator (delayed) syncs.

Over time that will add lots of great daily log data to our spreadsheet, which we can then use for a variety of purposes. That also means though that, over time, the ferry log data on the app side will also grow and grow and grow when we sync (right?) . That’s not really necessary.

I can always use slices to filter the rows that will be visible, but I don’t really want the app to bloat.

So the question: is there a way to prevent a table from being read into the app from the spreadsheet when syncing, while allowing data to be copied into that table on the spreadsheet? A one-way sync, in other words.

From reading the documentation on syncing that would not seem to be possible, but I’m asking just in case.

Editing and cleaning up the spreadsheet is of course an option, but that would add extra work for our office.

EDIT: Oops. I just realized that there would also need to be a way to clear the data for that table on the app side once that data is saved into the spreadsheet. So I don’t imagine any of this is possible…

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+Charlie Wells Security filters are the way to do this. They work like slices but limit data sent from the server to the app. When the app syncs it reads back the latest table data and replaces its current data, so this should also clear the any data that had been added through the app if it’s excluded by the filter. Security Filters: The Essentials help.appsheet.com

Super, thanks @Adam_Stone_AppSheet ! I’ll give that a try. You guys have thought of everything; so awesome.

No problem, glad you got it working!

+Charlie Wells for sure, I don’t charge for education lol…

@Adam_Stone_AppSheet but just to make sure: that will allow me to start the session on the app with a clear table, right? I’ll read the documentation.

+Charlie Wells well, not exactly, and it depends on how you set it up. It’s a filter. So it only lets rows into the app that meet whatever filter you engage…

So for example you could have a table for shifts. Where Joe checks in to his shift… Then while logging cars it’ll be recording the shift I’d… So you would have a slice on shifts showing just Joe’s active shift, and then have a security filter on the log showing just log records that have that shift id

@Grant_Stead Ah. I was wondering about that. Jumped the gun in my excitement. I already have slices that do exactly what you describe. Come sync time it new data gets added to the spreadsheet, leaving all the data physically in the app, regardless of what filter views I’ve set up (right?). Then all the data stays in the app, happily mirroring the data on the spreadsheet.

Thing is. I don’t want all the data that’s been written to the spreadsheet over time to keep getting synced into the app. I don’t need to have data that the operators logged from the last week, month, year to still be physically present in the app data.

So the only way to do what I want would be to edit and clean up the spreadsheet, correct? Haven’t had time to check out the documentation yet, so no, I haven’t RTFM :=)

Charlie, Slice != Security Filter. As Grant suggested, you really should look into using security filters rather than slices.

+Charlie Wells Charlie, sometimes I’ve found it’s super easy to have a quick call to explain certain things. Feel free to give me a buzz. My info is all over my website. steadglobal.com

@Grant_Stead @praveen thanks guys! Grant, thanks for offering a phone consult! I’ll check out the doc on security filters before I call. I’ll look for sample apps that illustrate this too.

@Grant_Stead and @praveen, I’m watching the webinar video on security filters and it looks like that will do the trick! I’ll just filter data sent from the spreadsheet to the app based on the date stamp on it, so I’ll only show today’s data, say.

Yep, RTFM :=)

I’ll call if I can’t get that to work, but it should be straightforward. Thank you!

(thanks again, @Adam_Stone_AppSheet !)

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