Offline Manager

Synchronization

Since offline clients use their local Aurea CRM database and configuration files, they need to synchronize their data with the Aurea CRM web server. During Synchronization:

• Changed CRM.designer configurations used on the client are transferred as (read-only) XML files (*. gz),
• Changes to the Aurea CRM database are exchanged between client and server via the Aurea CRM win Communication module.

When data is communicated between client and server, only delta information is exchanged to reduce the transfer volumes. A conflict resolution process ensures to communicate the latest changes, e.g. if two different reps modified the same field of the same record.

The user is prompted to start synchronization at regular intervals (default: 24 hours). The date and time of the last successful synchronization is determined based on the time stamp saved in the Communication Log info area (C3). For further details, see Communication Logs.

The synchronization interval is configurable via the Offline.MaxTimeLimitForSync Web Configuration parameter. For further details, see  Offline.MaxTimeLimitForSync.

The synchronization prompt is displayed on login and logout when in offline mode.

The synchronization process can be started:

• by clicking Yes in the prompt,
• or by clicking on the Offline Synchronization button on the Offline Manager page.

When first starting the Offline Manager, users must provide their user name and password in order to be able to access the server.

The Remember me check box allows users to save their credentials in a browser cookie for all subsequent synchronization cycles.

See the below image for the task sequence of the synchronization process.

On the server you can display ongoing synchronization jobs in the Job Manager (Administration > Job Manager).

If the communication file received from the server contains data model changes, the user is prompted to restart CRM.launcher which then performs an iisreset.

After successfully completing the synchronization the user can choose between offline or online mode:

• Navigate to online server: Starts Aurea CRM web in online mode.
• Apply changes and stay offline: Invalidates the cache and stays in offline mode.

If an error occurs during synchronization (e.g. mmco.exe not found), Offline Manager displays a message and the error is written to the web.log file.

If a synchronization attempt failed (e.g. due to loss of the network connection), the communication files are not deleted but remain in the .. \out directory. The files are downloaded and processed at the next synchronization attempt.

Before synchronizing, CRM.launcher compares the client version number with the server version number:

• If the client has a different service pack number, the user is prompted to upgrade his Aurea CRM web offline version using CRM.launcher. For further details, see CRM.launcher.
• If the client has a different hotfix number, the synchronization process is launched.

Communication Logs

In Aurea CRM web you can view the communication logs of your offline users by selecting the Com. Protocols menu item (D_ComProtocols) from the M_Reps context menu. The menu action is displayed only for reps that have a station number assigned (ID:117). (Alternatively you can view all communication protocols via Administration > Jobs & Logs > Communication Log).

For information on exporting a communication log as an HTML report, see Communication Log in the Aurea CRM web Administrator Guide.

For a detailed description of the communication log's contents, see Communication Logs in the Aurea CRM win Administrator Guide.