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Families - Transferring files iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch

Author: Reference Number: AA-00479 Views: 18701 Created: 2013-11-12 01:10 PM Last Updated: 2016-09-29 10:19 AM 0 Rating/ Voters

To transfer Legacy family files from your PC to your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad or vice versa, you must run the Families Sync application on your PC. Families Sync should be installed on the same PC which you use to run iTunes to sync your device and, ideally, the same PC which you use to run Legacy. If you install on a different PC, it should have access to the family file(s) you wish to sync and also access to the Legacy installation folder in order to retrieve settings from Legacy. The first time you run it, it will ask you to locate the the Legacy installation folder.

There are two different ways to transfer family files - via Wi-Fi or USB. To transfer your files via Wi-Fi you need to be able to connect between your device and your PC over Wi-Fi. To transfer via USB you need to connect your device to the PC using the USB cable and to have iTunes installed. Each method has its pros and cons:

• The advantage of Wi-Fi connection is that the transfer is managed entirely by Families Sync and does not involve swapping between PC applications. However it is quite slow for large files, and a few people experience problems configuring their Wi-Fi network to achieve satisfactory transfers.
• Transfer via USB is very much faster than via Wi-Fi so is more suitable for large family files and/or including a large number of pictures. It is the only option if you do not have a Wi-Fi connection. The only disadvantage compared with Wi-Fi is that it is slightly more complex as it requires switching between using Families Sync and iTunes.

Transfer using USB


Ensure that you have iTunes installed on your PC, and connect your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad to the PC using the USB cable. iTunes will normally start up automatically but, if not, start it from the Start Menu. Select your device under the DEVICES section at the left side of the iTunes screen. Select the Apps tab and scroll down to the section headed "File Sharing". You should see an entry for the Families app - select this and a list of the files on your device will be displayed under "Families Documents". Files with the extension .sqlite are your family files. Any other files or folders are used by Families and can be ignored. Run Families Sync and select the tab "Sync using USB/iTunes".


Transferring a file to the device

1. Select the option "Write Legacy file to Device and click Next. A file selection dialog is displayed.
2. The source folder defaults to the value specified for Default Path for Family Files to Transfer to Device in the Families Sync options. Navigate to the folder containing the file to transfer, select the file and click Open (or double-click the filename).
3. The file will be converted to the format required by Families. As part of the conversion any pictures associated with the file will normally be retrieved and included in the converted file. Inclusion of pictures may be disabled by selecting the Options>Settings menu item and unchecking Copy Pictures. To reduce transfer time and storage requirement on the device, the resolution of each picture is reduced if necessary to limit its size. When transferring via USB a default resolution of 1024 is used, but can be overridden if required by selecting the Options>Settings menu item and adjusting the Maximum Picture Resolution setting.
4. On completion of conversion the screen will display information on the requirements for connecting your device and running iTunes. Click Next when you are ready to transfer the file.
5. Switch to the iTunes window and click the "Add..." button at the bottom of the Families Documents list - a file selection dialog will be displayed.
6. Navigate to the folder Documents\FamiliesSync  (or My Documents\FamiliesSync if you're using Windows XP or Vista). Select the file with the same name as your family file and the extension ".sqlite" and click Open (or double-click the filename).
7. If a file of the same name already exists on the device, a warning dialog will be displayed. Click Replace if you're happy to overwrite the file.
8. The file will now be copied to the device. The status panel at the top of the iTunes window will show a progress bar "Copying files from ...".
9. On completion of the transfer your file should be shown on the Families screen on your device. Click Finish.
 

Transferring a file from the device

1. Select the option "Read Legacy file from Device and click Next. The screen will display information on the requirements for connecting your device and running iTunes. Click Next when you are ready to transfer the file.
2. Switch to the iTunes window and select the family file to transfer from the list displayed under "Families Documents". Click the "Save to..." button at the bottom of the Families Documents list. A folder selection dialog will be displayed.
3. Navigate to the folder Documents\FamiliesSync  (or My Documents\FamiliesSync if you're using Windows XP or Vista) and click Select Folder. This folder will be used to hold the sqlite file prior to conversion to Legacy format.
4. If a file of the same name as that being transferred already exists in the folder, a warning dialog will be displayed. Click Replace if you're happy to overwrite the file.
5. The file will now be copied from the device to the folder. The status panel at the top of the iTunes window will show a progress bar "Copying files from ...".
6. On completion of the transfer, switch to the Families Sync window and click Next. A file selection dialog is displayed, allowing selection of the folder and filename to which the Legacy file is to be written. The destination folder defaults to the value specified for Default Path for Family Files Transferred from Device in the Families Sync options. The destination filename defaults to the name of the file on your device with a suffix specified in Filename Suffix in the Families Sync options. The intention of the suffix is to enable you to distinguish between the files originally sent to your device and the file transferred back from your device. It is strongly recommended that you do not directly overwrite the original family file which was transferred to your device unless you have made a backup of the file.
7. Navigate to the required folder and edit the file name if required then click Save.
8. The file will be converted to Legacy format. Pictures which were transferred to the device will not be rewritten when transferred back, as they will not have changed. However, any pictures newly added within the Families app will be written to Legacy's default location for picture files.
9. After transferring a file from the device, it may either be opened directly with Legacy or may be merged into another Legacy file. The latter option may be used, for example, if a subset of a family file was exported for transfer to an iPhone, and you now wish to import new and changed records to the main file. Note that any new individuals which have been added by the Families app will have unique IntelliShare values, so it should be possible to use Legacy's IntelliShare feature to merge the data.

 
Transfer using Wi-Fi

With Families Sync running, run Families on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, and tap the Sync button on the Family Files page. Note that Wi-Fi must be enabled on your device - if it is not, a warning message will be displayed. Your device should be detected by Families Sync and its details displayed in the left pane. With some combinations of network and computer configurations, Families Sync may fail to detect the device automatically. In this case, click the button "Locate Device by Address" and enter the address displayed in the Families Sync View on your device, e.g. 192.168.0.30:5050. The device will be located and added to the left pane. A list of the family files currently held on the device will be displayed in the right pane.


File Size Considerations

It is not possible to specify a definitive maximum size of family file which Families will support as there are too many variable factors. However, the Families app uses a highly efficient database implementation and users have successfully displayed and edited files containing over 300,000 individuals on an iPhone. The factors which are affected by file size are:

Conversion and transfer time
The time taken to convert a file for transfer to or from a device is primarily dependent on the number of individuals and families in the file, and the number of pictures to be transferred. The time taken to transfer a file to or from the device is directly proportional to the file size. The file transferred to the device is a SqLite file converted from the Legacy FDB file, with the addition of picture data. A SqLite file is smaller than its FDB equivalent, but a large number of pictures will add significantly to the file size. The size of picture data will also depend on the Maximum Picture Resolution option; by default higher resolution pictures are transferred to an iPad than to an iPhone and therefore the file size will be larger. The file size being transferred is displayed by both Families Sync and Families during a Wi-Fi transfer. A poor quality Wi-Fi connection may adversely affect the transfer time. Transfer via USB will be very much faster than via Wi-Fi.
Data storage on the device
There needs to be sufficient free disk storage on your device to accommodate the family file to be transferred. You can check this using the Settings app and selecting General>About. The Available value shows the free storage size and the Capacity value shows the total storage size.
Memory usage on the device
The device (iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad) has a fixed amount of memory, of which only a proportion is available for an app. Families manages its memory efficiently but with a very large family file there may be some operations which result in memory warnings, causing the app to exit the current view or, in extreme situations, to exit the app. 
Speed of operation


Some operations which are related to the amount of data involved, such as viewing the index, may take longer with large file sizes.

More information on working with Families 1.0 can be found on the devleoper's website at http://www.telgen.co.uk/families/