From: Fred Lindberg
Date: March 11 1999 9:25pm
Subject: Re: Database Synchronization Methods?
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On Thu, 11 Mar 1999 21:19:36 GMT, John "Chris" Wren wrote:

>	Obviously there *has* to be a cleaner and more efficient
>method than what I'm doing.
>
>	What database terminology am I looking for when I do this?
>Access calls it 'replication', but as near as I can tell, Access only
>supports replication within Access databases (and they want you to use
>the stupid 'Briefcase' mechanism).

A common way is to use a time stamp updated with each change.

Look at only records that have changed since last sync, join/link the 2
versions via the primary key. If the record has changed only in one db,
make the corresponding change in the other db. If it has changed in
both, implement some reconciliation scheme (the simplest is to make the
latest update take precedence).

Probably, you need to lock that databases while you do this to
distinguish updates made by you in syncing from real updates.

AFAIK, the "briefcase" uses the newest version. Does it really look at
the data?


-Sincerely, Fred

(Frederik Lindberg, Infectious Diseases, WashU, St. Louis, MO, USA)