Offline Time Tracking

Offline time tracking allows users to record time entries and create categories without a connection to the central server computer. Users who work out of the office, who travel or work from multiple locations can use the offline time tracking feature to track their time directly to their own notebook/laptop computer where ever they go. Remote users who may only have a temporary or slow connection to the central server computer have the option of tracking their time directly to their own desktop computer at the remote location which may improve responsiveness and reduce connectivity errors and therefore provide a better user experience.

Periodically, when the user is back at the office or a connection to the central server computer is available, the user synchronizes changes with the server. The synchronization is bi-directional. The user's changes are saved to the server and changes made by other users are retrieved from the server and saved back to the user's computer.

If you need to track your time without a connection to the central server computer then you need to select to work offline. You must do this prior to disconnecting the network connection or your computer from the central server computer. When you select to work offline changes are automatically synchronized. The first time that you select to work offline a copy of all categories and all of your previous time entries are copied to your computer. The first time, and any time that a large number of changes are made to the central database, the synchronization process may take several minutes as the data is loaded, merged, and saved.

•	You may add new categories and category templates and modify, move and delete these.

•	Existing categories and category templates may not be modified, moved, cut and pasted, or deleted.

•	You may only view, add, modify or delete your own time entries. User selection will not be displayed in the Edit Time Entries and Reports windows.

•	You cannot view the server status or backup or restore the database.

1.	If this is the first time that you are working offline you must first log in to the server computer using Complete Time Tracking Professional.

2.	Select Work Offline from the File menu in the main tracking window.

3.	Any changes will be synchronized and you will be disconnected from the server computer and working locally from the data stored on your computer. The text (offline) will be displayed in the title bar of the main tracking window.

The server, online status and user name that you are logged in as are displayed in the About window which can be viewed by selecting About from the Help menu on the main tracking window.

If you have worked offline before a Work Offline option will be displayed on the login window. If you have logged off or restarted Complete Time Tracking Professional you can continue to work offline by selecting the Work Offline option on the login window when logging in to Complete Time Tracking Professional.

If you do not select Work Offline on the login window you will be logged in, and online, directly to the server computer and changes that you have made offline will not be synchronized until you work offline and select to Synchronize the changes or Work Online.

Changes are automatically synchronized when you select to Work Offline or Work Online from the options in the File menu on the main tracking window. You may also periodically select to synchronize your changes. Your online/offline status will not be affected. A connection to the central server computer is required to synchronize changes.

Synchronizing changes manually is useful if you are currently working online and will soon be working offline. You can control when the synchronization takes place so that the bulk of the changes can be synchronized whilst you work on something else and a final quick synchronization automatically performed as you are about to leave the office or disconnect from the network and select to work offline. Synchronizing changes manually is also useful when you are working offline and want to save your time entries to the central database or retrieve any category changes that other users have made and continue to work offline.

Note: If you use more than one user account in Complete Time Tracking Professional you will need to log in and synchronize each user to synchronize all changes.

1.	From the File menu on the main tracking window select Synchronize.

2.	The changes will be synchronized. Your online/offline status will not be affected.

Note: The synchronize option is only enabled if you have previously selected to work offline.

If you or other users have made a large number of changes, such as adding many categories using category templates, the synchronization process may take several minutes. A progress window is displayed to show you how much of the synchronization process has been completed.

When you are back in the office or when a connection to the central server computer is available you can select to work online again. When you select to work online changes are synchronized and the categories and your time entries are copied to your computer. A connection to the central server computer is required to synchronize changes.

1.	From the File menu on the main tracking window select Work Online.

2.	The changes will be synchronized. You are now connected and logged in directly to the central server computer.

Working online has the benefit that other users see your changes more readily and you see their changes more readily. You should work online when possible as this also minimizes the chance of merge conflicts.

During the synchronization process changes made by you are combined with changes made by other users on the central server computer while you were offline. This process is called merging changes. This is a complex process that is handled automatically.

In the case where both you and another user made changes to the same or a dependent item a conflict occurs. Conflict resolution is the process of determining how to handle these conflicts. Conflict resolution is currently automatic. Complete Time Tracking Professional determines how to handle each conflict. Generally speaking, changes made by other users on the server have precedence over changes that you have made offline.

•	Adding time entries or subcategories to a category that was deleted by another user. Resolution: Time entries and subcategories are also deleted.

•	Adding a subcategory with the same description as a subcategory added to the same group by another user. Resolution: A suffix is added you your subcategory to create a unique description.

•	Modifying the same time entry as another user. Resolution: The later change will be applied.

•	Deleting a time entry that another user modified or vice versa. Resolution: The time entry is deleted.

Important: You should aim to synchronize changes frequently. This helps to minimize conflicts as you and other users have more chance to see each others changes earlier and avoid a conflicting change. When in doubt discuss your changes with the other users, particularly when deleting categories which has a much greater possibility to cause conflicts.