Syncing With Google Docs
Syncing Overview
Google Docs is an online service for creating, editing, and viewing documents. NoteMaster can sync its notes and categories with the Google Docs service, allowing you to backup your notes, view and edit them online, and tranfer them to and from your computer.
NoteMaster will sync to a specific folder in Google Docs, what we call the sync folder. The sync folder represents the location in which all NoteMaster notea and categories will be stored. The sync folder must be created manually in Google Docs, and must be located in the root level. Using a sync folder allows you to store other documents in Google Docs that you do not want to be synced with NoteMaster, since only those documents in the sync folder will be synced.
Syncing Notes and Categories
Syncing with Google Docs allows you to maintain a copy of your NoteMaster notes and categories on the Google Docs service. Notes and categories are converted to and from the equivalent Google entities in the following ways:
NoteMaster categories are converted to and from Google Docs folders.
NoteMaster categories:
And the equivalent Google Docs folders:
NoteMaster notes are converted to and from Google Docs documents. Notes beloinging to a categoriy are stored as documents in an equivalent folder. Uncategorized notes are stored as documents in the sync folder itself.
NoteMaster notes:
And the equivalent Google Docs documents:
Note Conversion
When converting from a NoteMaster note to a Google Docs document, all note text, images and formatting is preserved and the document should look nearly identical to the note.
This is not the case when converting the other direction. Since documents in Google Docs contain features, styles, and formatting options not available in NoteMaster, NoteMaster will do its best to convert the documents into a format closest to one it can use. There may, however be some loss of formatting during this conversion. As long as you stick with the elements that NoteMaster can understand (paragraphs, headers, images) you should be able to convert a document to a note completely intact.
Getting Started: Google Docs Preparation
In order to sync with Google Docs, you must have a Google account. If you do not already have a Google account, you can create one by visiting this web page: https://www.google.com/accounts/ManageAccount
Once you have a Google account, you must prepare it for syncing by creating a Google Docs folder to sync with. Here are the steps:
Sync Settings
The sync settings can be found within the NoteMaster app, by tapping the Settings icon from the category list toolbar.
The sync settings are located in the section labeled "Note Syncing".
Performing a Sync
In NoteMaster, syncing to Google Docs is always a manual process initiated by the user. To start a sync, press the Sync icon on the category list toolbar:
Tap the Sync icon to start the sync. If the “Default Action” setting is set to “Ask”, NoteMaster will ask you what kind of sync action you wish to perform.
You can press the Stop button at any time to interrupt the sync. Doing so may result in a partial sync, but you can choose to sync again at any time to complete it.
Syncing How-To
This section will address some common syncing scenarios and show how to configure NoteMaster to handle them.
Mirrored Two-Way Syncing
Maintain an exact synced copy of your notes in Google Docs. Use the “Full Sync” sync action, and set “Allow Delete” to ON. And updates, additions, or deletions you make in either NoteMaster or Google Docs will be synced to the other side.
Mirrored Two-Way Syncing (with archiving)
Maintain an exact synced copy of your notes in Google Docs. Use the “Full Sync” sync action, and set “Allow Delete” to OFF. And updates or additions you make in either NoteMaster or Google Docs will be synced to the other side. However, any deleted notes or folders will still be kept on the other side, allowing you to keep an “archive” of all notes you’ve ever created.
Backup Only
If you only wish to maintain a backup of your notes, use the “Local to Remote” sync action, and set “Allow Delete” to OFF. Each sync will backup your latest note changes to Google Docs.
To restore a backup, use the “Remote to Local” sync action to restore the notes you had prevously backed up.
Importing Notes From Outside NoteMaster
If you have notes that you have created using a different piece of software, you may be able to upload them into Google Docs. Google Docs supports many different types of documents including Plan Text (.txt), Rich Text (.rtf), Microsoft Word (.doc), OpenDocument Text (.odt), HTML (.html), and StarOffice(.sxw). Once the notes are in your Google Docs sync folder, you can perform a sync (either “Remote to Local” or “Full Sync”) to transfer them to NoteMaster.
Transferring Notes To And From Your Computer
While you cannot transfer notes to and from your computer directly, you can tranfer notes to and from Google Docs. To tranfer a note to your computer, first sync with Google Docs, and then save it from Google Docs to your computer. To transfer a note to your computer, first upload it to Google Docs, then perform a sync.
Syncing Overview
Google Docs is an online service for creating, editing, and viewing documents. NoteMaster can sync its notes and categories with the Google Docs service, allowing you to backup your notes, view and edit them online, and tranfer them to and from your computer.
NoteMaster will sync to a specific folder in Google Docs, what we call the sync folder. The sync folder represents the location in which all NoteMaster notea and categories will be stored. The sync folder must be created manually in Google Docs, and must be located in the root level. Using a sync folder allows you to store other documents in Google Docs that you do not want to be synced with NoteMaster, since only those documents in the sync folder will be synced.
Syncing Notes and Categories
Syncing with Google Docs allows you to maintain a copy of your NoteMaster notes and categories on the Google Docs service. Notes and categories are converted to and from the equivalent Google entities in the following ways:
NoteMaster categories are converted to and from Google Docs folders.
NoteMaster categories:
And the equivalent Google Docs folders:
NoteMaster notes are converted to and from Google Docs documents. Notes beloinging to a categoriy are stored as documents in an equivalent folder. Uncategorized notes are stored as documents in the sync folder itself.
NoteMaster notes:
And the equivalent Google Docs documents:
Note Conversion
When converting from a NoteMaster note to a Google Docs document, all note text, images and formatting is preserved and the document should look nearly identical to the note.
This is not the case when converting the other direction. Since documents in Google Docs contain features, styles, and formatting options not available in NoteMaster, NoteMaster will do its best to convert the documents into a format closest to one it can use. There may, however be some loss of formatting during this conversion. As long as you stick with the elements that NoteMaster can understand (paragraphs, headers, images) you should be able to convert a document to a note completely intact.
Getting Started: Google Docs Preparation
In order to sync with Google Docs, you must have a Google account. If you do not already have a Google account, you can create one by visiting this web page: https://www.google.com/accounts/ManageAccount
Once you have a Google account, you must prepare it for syncing by creating a Google Docs folder to sync with. Here are the steps:
- Go to the Google Docs page. You can get there directly at this address: http://docs.google.com
- Create a new folder to be used as a sync folder. To create a new folder, use the “New” menu. and choose“Folder”.
- Name your new folder something like “NoteMaster sync”.
Sync Settings
The sync settings can be found within the NoteMaster app, by tapping the Settings icon from the category list toolbar.
The sync settings are located in the section labeled "Note Syncing".
- Login - This is your Google login name.
- Password - This is your Google password.
- Sync Folder - This is the Google Docs folder you want to sync to. You will be presented with a list of all top-level folders in Google Docs. The Login and Password settings (above) must be set first so that the list of possible folders can be retrieved from Google. Note that changing this folder after you’ve synced to a previous folder will cause the sync system to be reset (see #6 below, “Reset Sync System”).
- Default Action - This is the action that will be performed when you start a sync.
The options are as follows:
- Full Sync - Transfer new and updated notes from NoteMaster to Google Docs AND transfer new and updated documents from Google Docs to NoteMaster. This is the option you would normally use if you want to use full two-way syncing between NoteMaster and Google Docs.
- Local to Remote - Transfer new and updated notes from NoteMaster to Google Docs ONLY. Updates made within Google Docs will NOT be transferred to NoteMaster. Use this option if you just want to backup your notes to Google Docs.
- Remote to Local - Transfer new and updated documents from Google Docs to NoteMaster ONLY. Updates made within NoteMaser will NOT be transferred to Google Docs. Use this option if you just want to import documents into NoteMaster.
- Ask - You will be prompted to choose one of the above three options every time to start the sync process
- Allow Delete - Allow for syncing of delete actions. A note or document deleted in one place will be deleted in the other place as part of the sync. Having this options set to “ON” will allow true mirrored syncing; that is, the list notes and categories in NoteMaster will exactly match the list of documents and folders in Google Docs. Setting it to “OFF” prevents notes and documents from ever being deleted during a sync.
- Image Compression - The type of lossy compression to be applied to images in notes uploaded to the Google Docs™ program. Since Google Docs™ has a size limit of 500K for each note uploaded to its service, it can be beneficial to apply compression to the images in order to keep the note size smaller. None means that no lossy compression will be used and that the image will be uploaded at full quality. Values of Low, Medium, and High indicate that lossy compression will be used.
- Reset Sync System - A button to be used when you want to “start over” with your syncing setup. NoteMaster maintains some internal data to keep track of syncing operations. This internal data allows NoteMaster to know which notes or documents need to be updated during a sync operation. Pressing the “Reset Sync System” button causes NoteMaster to reset its internal data so that you can start over. You should never need to use this button during normal operation.
Performing a Sync
In NoteMaster, syncing to Google Docs is always a manual process initiated by the user. To start a sync, press the Sync icon on the category list toolbar:
Tap the Sync icon to start the sync. If the “Default Action” setting is set to “Ask”, NoteMaster will ask you what kind of sync action you wish to perform.
- Full Sync - Transfer new and updated notes from NoteMaster to Google Docs AND transfer new and updated documents from Google Docs to NoteMaster. This is the option you would normally use if you want to use full two-way syncing between NoteMaster and Google Docs.
- Local to Remote - Transfer new and updated notes from NoteMaster to Google Docs ONLY. Updates made within Google Docs will NOT be transferred to NoteMaster. Use this option if you just want to backup your notes to Google Docs.
- Remote to Local - Transfer new and updated documents from Google Docs to NoteMaster ONLY. Updates made within NoteMaser will NOT be transferred to Google Docs. Use this option if you just want to import documents into NoteMaster.
You can press the Stop button at any time to interrupt the sync. Doing so may result in a partial sync, but you can choose to sync again at any time to complete it.
Syncing How-To
This section will address some common syncing scenarios and show how to configure NoteMaster to handle them.
Mirrored Two-Way Syncing
Maintain an exact synced copy of your notes in Google Docs. Use the “Full Sync” sync action, and set “Allow Delete” to ON. And updates, additions, or deletions you make in either NoteMaster or Google Docs will be synced to the other side.
Mirrored Two-Way Syncing (with archiving)
Maintain an exact synced copy of your notes in Google Docs. Use the “Full Sync” sync action, and set “Allow Delete” to OFF. And updates or additions you make in either NoteMaster or Google Docs will be synced to the other side. However, any deleted notes or folders will still be kept on the other side, allowing you to keep an “archive” of all notes you’ve ever created.
Backup Only
If you only wish to maintain a backup of your notes, use the “Local to Remote” sync action, and set “Allow Delete” to OFF. Each sync will backup your latest note changes to Google Docs.
To restore a backup, use the “Remote to Local” sync action to restore the notes you had prevously backed up.
Importing Notes From Outside NoteMaster
If you have notes that you have created using a different piece of software, you may be able to upload them into Google Docs. Google Docs supports many different types of documents including Plan Text (.txt), Rich Text (.rtf), Microsoft Word (.doc), OpenDocument Text (.odt), HTML (.html), and StarOffice(.sxw). Once the notes are in your Google Docs sync folder, you can perform a sync (either “Remote to Local” or “Full Sync”) to transfer them to NoteMaster.
Transferring Notes To And From Your Computer
While you cannot transfer notes to and from your computer directly, you can tranfer notes to and from Google Docs. To tranfer a note to your computer, first sync with Google Docs, and then save it from Google Docs to your computer. To transfer a note to your computer, first upload it to Google Docs, then perform a sync.
[Sleeker_special_clear]