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Desktop Sync Overview

Updated

OVERVIEW:

The desktop sync process is an application that is installed on a client's machine/server and runs locally to pull data directly from the clients ERP system. The application utilizes a "Windows Task Scheduler" trigger to run automatically on a nightly/weekly basis. During the sync process, data is copied from a set of views in the database and imported into SARA's Azure Cloud environment. This process can take anywhere from 1 minute to a few hours depending on the amount of data being brought in during the sync.

 

There are two types of syncs that are available for most ERP syncs: An incremental sync (delta sync) or a full sync (re-initialized sync). An incremental sync utilizes certain update date fields, if they are available in your ERP system, to help cut down how long the sync runs by only pulling records from the last 2 weeks. This includes all open transactions as well as 2 weeks of historic data. A full sync will zero out all transactional data in the system and import the balances for every transaction from scratch. For more information on this, please see the article below for an overview on when you should use full syncs instead of incremental syncs.

 

Full Sync Overview

 

 

WHATS INSTALLED AND HOW ITS SETUP:

The SARA Sync application should be installed on a server that has direct access to the database on your network. It's worth noting that it does not need to be installed on the same server as the database, it just needs to be able to access it through the local network. Additionally, a Windows user with at least read only access to the database is required for the install. If that user cannot access the database/data from the machine the sync is installed to run on, neither will the sync.

 

During the install process, two folders will be installed on the machine: one at "C:\ProgramData\AnytimeCollect" and one at "C:\Program Files (x86)\AnytimeCollect" The Program Files (x86) folder will host the actual application files that can be used to launch the service for the setup while the Program Data folder will host the update files and logs for the sync progress. If an issue is discovered with the sync, you can review the logs folder in this folder for more information on why it failed.

 

 

REQUIREMENTS FOR INSTALL:

  • The server must have .NET Framework 4.7.2 or greater.

  • The server must be able to access the SQL database through the network.

  • Credentials for user that has SQL access is required.

  • Credentials for admin user in SARA is required.

  • Company IDs from ERP are required for the install

Below is a picture of the setup for the desktop sync. The information required for the setup can be different than the below depending on what ERP system you use, but will mainly resemble the information needed below. Typically, the setup requires the name of the database, the credentials of a windows user that has access to the database, the server the database is located on, and what companies we will be pulling from the database. An overview of the fields is broken down below the picture.

 

  • SQL Server - Machine name that hosts the ERP database/SQL Views

  • Trusted Connection - Uses Windows Authentication to log into the SQL Server. Will disable the Login and Password fields since you are opting to use Windows Authentication to access the views.

  • Login & Password - Credentials used to access the SQL Server. You should be able to use these exact credentials to manually log into the SQL Server. You can either enter a username and password or you can use Windows Authentication, you cannot use both.

  • Database - Name of the database that hosts your ERP data.

  • Companies to Import - These company ID's are pulled from the ERP system. These need to be separated with a pipe delimiter; no space required (i.e "ATC1|ATC2|ATC3|ATC4")

  • Re-Initialize - This option should only be selected if you intend to run the sync everyday as a re-init. Discuss with Project Team if this is intended. Typically, this will remain unselected.

  • Entities To Sync - Controls what this sync will pull every time it runs. Typically, all will remain checked unless you need to split off a specific entity onto it's own sync.

  • Schedule/Run Option - Mark the "Schedule Task" option, then select for it to run either daily or weekly (daily runs everyday, weekly allows you to choose days of the week.) At the bottom, renter the password for the user currently logged into the server. The username is displayed directly above the password field.

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