Synchronising

[MattWhite]

VueMinder allows for use on up to 5 computers for an individual owner. To move the data from computer to computer on a daily basis, could this be accomplished by synchronising the VueMinder folder using a flash drive? Or is there a better way? Perhaps a single VueMinder folder could be established on the flash drive, as I see it only takes up <20Mb?

[VueSoft]

There are a couple possibilities...

If your computers are all connected to the same network, you could use the calendar publish/subscribe feature (from the Share menu) to set up sharing of calendars between your computers. If one of your computers is usually left running, or acts as a file server for the others, you could create a shared folder on that computer and publish all calendars to that shared location. If you need to modify the same calendar on multiple computers, you'll need to set up the calendar to be both published and subscribed, using the same file location. The benefit to this approach is that synchronization is completely automated.

If that's not an option because your computers aren't networked, you can use the Backup/Restore feature (from the File menu) to manually synchronize between computers. Simply set the backup location to your flash drive, and then on a different computer, restore from the flash drive. It's not automated, but it accomplishes the same end result as the publish/subscribe feature.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if this doesn't answer your question.

[MattWhite]

Thank you - yes, I meant separate, non-networked computers. Thank you for your suggestions.
I can see the 3 files that the backup action produces. I will see how I can make this work. It seems that I can't publish or subscribe to the flash drive.
Still, why do none of the files in the VueMinder folder show changes? This is where I originally looked for modified files to synchronise. I thought that using a 3rd party backup/restore program for the VueMinder folder, I might be able to semi-automate a quasi-synchronisation. Might this not work?
Regards,
Matt

[VueSoft]

The VueMinder data files are stored in a hidden Application Data directory, not where VueMinder is installed.

On Win XP, the files are under:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Local Settings\Application Data\VueSoft\VueMinder

On Vista, they're under:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Vuesoft\VueMinder

Regardless, VueMinder only reads from these when the program starts. It writes every time a change is made, but doesn't read back in the changes because they're already in memory. So, synchronizing this folder won't really work. You'd still need to use the backup/restore approach.

It's possible you could publish/subscribe to the flash drive instead of using backup/restore. If the flash drive isn't connected, the synchronization won't happen. But otherwise, I think it should work. Have you tried it?

I've been considering making a version of VueMinder that can be installed onto a flash drive, and run completely from that drive. Would this be of benefit to you?

[MattWhite]

Thank you. I now see what you mean.
I tried publishing to the flash drive before the last post, but it didn't work for me. I have taken your suggestion and tried again. Now it does work! Don't know why this has changed - probably I made a mistake earlier.
This has now solved my difficulty, as I am now able to synchronise my home VueMinder with my work VueMinder, one-way. I don't make diary changes at work; I only use it as a reference copy. And my work computer is not connected to the Internet, so using a flash drive to synchronise my various data files is important and somewhat challenging.
Your idea to have it working entirely off a flash drive is interesting. This would remove my current necessity to make the VueMinder data flow only one-way. If you achieve this task, please let me know.
I have been very satisfied with your trial program and assistance, and have now bought VueMinder.
Best wishes,
Matt