[pauljohn]

is it possible to connect Mobilesheets program to mobilesheets companion using a USB or similar cable?

[Geoff Bacon]

Go to Companion | Settings and "Enable Advanced Connection options"
The Connection submenu will then show USB options (never used it)


I believe that Mike recommends wifi because it is much faster.
Also, as most people use wifi, there is less chance of bugs/problems in that bit of code.

Geoff

PS: Is there a reason why you can't use wifi?

[Zubersoft]

The USB connection is problematic because it requires special drivers to work. I'm basically using a hack where I leverage Android development tools to allow raw data to be sent over USB. Otherwise Android doesn't normally allow this (it's considered a security risk). So you have to have the same kind of drivers on your machine that an Android developer like myself would use to interface with the device. If you have a Samsung device, the kies 3 installation takes care of installing the right drivers, so it's not as big of a deal in that case. If you have a different kind of device, there is no guarantee that you will have an easy time finding drivers that will work, or that they will be configured correctly for development use.  For those kinds of devices, I usually recommend people try this: http://adb.clockworkmod.com/

The universal ADB driver has worked for me with devices that didn't have a driver from the manufacturer.  That's why I usually recommend people stick with WiFi - it's just simpler to use and works for most people.

Mike

[pauljohn]

The USB connection is problematic because it requires special drivers to work. I'm basically using a hack where I leverage Android development tools to allow raw data to be sent over USB. Otherwise Android doesn't normally allow this (it's considered a security risk). So you have to have the same kind of drivers on your machine that an Android developer like myself would use to interface with the device. If you have a Samsung device, the kies 3 installation takes care of installing the right drivers, so it's not as big of a deal in that case. If you have a different kind of device, there is no guarantee that you will have an easy time finding drivers that will work, or that they will be configured correctly for development use.  For those kinds of devices, I usually recommend people try this: http://adb.clockworkmod.com/

The universal ADB driver has worked for me with devices that didn't have a driver from the manufacturer.  That's why I usually recommend people stick with WiFi - it's just simpler to use and works for most people.

Mike

Thanks for your replies. I use wifi at home but when I was away recently I needed to load backup files but could not use wifi. It sounds a bit too complicated to use USB.

[Geoff Bacon]

You can connect the tablet via USB (just plug it in) and use normal windows file operations (i.e. windows explorer) to transfer the files into it's downloads folder.

Having got the files on the tablet, use the MSP import function to move them into the database.

Doing it in two separate operations like this means that you know the files have transferred properly before attempting to update the database.


It works for me- but then I also have a samsung tablet!

Geoff

[jhnewman]

I have two(2) different versions of Mobil sheet.4.1.7 and 2.1.2. do I need two different companions?

[Zubersoft]

Yes, both are available at www.zubersoft.com/mobilesheets/companion.html. The companion at the bottom is for v4.1.6 (the older MobileSheets). Is there a reason you aren't just using MobileSheetsPro? As a side note, v2.1.2 is also out of date, so you should consider updating.

[GraemeJ]

Thanks for your replies. I use wifi at home but when I was away recently I needed to load backup files but could not use wifi. It sounds a bit too complicated to use USB.

Although I always do backups via Companion, I also do a second one to the tablets external card.  I have never needed to use this second backup but, should you have done this, it would have solved your problem.