How To Sync Offline Html5 Webdatabase With Centralised Database

I'd like to be able to do the following in a HTML5 (iPad) web app: upload data to an online database (which would be probably <50Mb in size if I was to build the online databas

Solution 1:

I haven't worked specifically with HTML5 local databases, but I have worked with mobile devices that require offline updates and resyncing to a central data store.

Whether the dataset is created on the server or on the offline client, I make sure its primary key is a UUID. I also make sure to timestamp the record each time its updated.

I also make not of when the last time the offline client was synced.

So, when resyncing to the central database, I first query the offline client for records that have changed since the last sync. I then query the central database to determine if any of those records have changed since the last sync.

If they haven't changed on the central database, I update them with the data from the offline client. If the records on the server have changed since last sync, I update them to the client.

If the UUID does not exist on the central server but does on the offline client, I insert it, and vice versa.

To purge records, I create a "purge" column, and when the sysnc query is run, I delete the record from each database (or mark it as inactive, depending on application requirements).

If both records have changed since last update, I have to either rely on user input to reconcile or a rule that specifies which record "wins".

I usually don't trust built-in database import functions, unless I'm importing into a completely empty database.

Solution 2:

Steps:

1. Keep a list of changes on the local database.
2. When connected to remote database, check for any changes since last sync on remote.
3. If changes on remote side has conflicts with local changes, inform the user on what to do.
4. For all other changes, proceed with sync:
   1. download all online changes which did not change locally.
   2. upload all local changes which did not change remotely.

This method can actually work on any combination of databases, provided there is a data convertor on one side.

Solution 3:

It looks to me, from a few sites I visited, that (as long as you are using SQLite for your Server db) it should be possible.

HTML5 webdatabases also use SQLite (although not all browsers support it and W3C seems to have dropped support for it)

so...

If you export the data using the .dump command and then import the data into the webdatabase using the $sqlite mydb.db < mydump.sql syntax you should be able to do this with some fidgeting with a php or java backend?

Then when you want to sync the "offline" data to your server just do the opposite dump from the webdatabase to a dump.sql file and import to the server database

This site explains exporting to and importing from SQLite dumps

SOURCE: dumping and restoring an SQLite DB

Solution 4:

HTML5 supports browser db SQLite , I have tried in Mozilla and chrome, and it works fine. I also have a requirement where I have some offline form, user punches the data and click on save, it saves in local browser db, and later when user syncs with the server or comes online, he can click on sync button which actually sync data from browser db any other datasource.