topic Re: iTunes Sync, lost data in ArcGIS Collector Questions

iTunes Sync, lost data

danbecker — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 18:25:37 GMT

we recently had a Collector Sync issue; so the solution was to grab the runtime.geodatabase using iTunes.

iOS device was connected, iTunes was launched, Sync button pressed.

Now iTunes, Apps/Collector shows the downloaded folder, but it's empty.

Ugh, any hope here to get the data?

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

RussRoberts — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 01:27:22 GMT

Did you see that the folder was empty after you click on the folder in itunes and click Save To? The save to will grab whatever is in that folder and bring it to your save location. From there you would see the downloaded data.

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

danbecker — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 01:58:01 GMT

yes, I highlighted all the contents in iTunes (userName_replicaID folder, basemaps folder and all the files) then hit SaveTo. The resulting folders on the C:/ drive where the runtime.geodatabase should have been were empty. iTunes also displayed a "zero" size of the folder. When I first saw that I got nervous.

Supposedly, the device owner said he was able to see the map and un-sync'd data in the "on device" tab of collector prior to the attempted iTunes dump. But, iTunes doesn't dump anything but blank folders.

Did the iTunes connection, then iTunes "SYNC" operation wipe the Collector app data before I was able to perform the SaveTo ?

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

RussRoberts — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 12:08:06 GMT

Sorry Dan, I have not seen that happen before when a device is being sync'd through iTunes and the data is wiped during that sync.

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

Anonymous User — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 12:32:31 GMT

We actually experienced something similar, over this past weekend, but our [data dump] didn't occur during an iTunes sync, but just the average everyday syncing function. The only issue was that the Collector app decided to install the newest version; 10.3.4, during the sync?

Both of the field biologist reported that during the syncing operation the app simply shutdown, then restarted itself, and all of the data had been lost. When I asked them to send me a screen shot of the App Store for updates, you can see where the app had updated.

Any chance to keep this from happening on future releases or Maybe an announcement email to all AGOL users that the Collector app is going to be updated on such and such date, so we can plan around that release date?

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

RussRoberts — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 12:47:53 GMT

The app does not choose when to update. This is an OS setting that lets the app update happen automatically without any interaction with the AppStore. You will need to go under settings, Itunes & App Stores and switch off Automatic Updates to prevent this from happening again.

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

Anonymous User — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 13:01:51 GMT

That is understood, but it is there a news feed or email blast that announces when the app will be updated? Why would it delete the data that was associated with the previous version of the app? Is it a complete overwrite during the install?

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

danbecker — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 13:33:46 GMT

I checked the device, it had v. 10.3.4.

Is that the issue? Non sync'd data was whipped during the iOS update to collector 10.3.4?

Edit:

Another surveyor successfully used iTunes to dump his data on the same day, everything was in tact. His device doesn't did auto update, was also at v. 10.3.4

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

Anonymous User — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 13:45:57 GMT

That's what we were seeing on our end; unsynced data being deleted after the update was applied to the app.

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

danbecker — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 13:52:54 GMT

I can't believe more people aren't reporting this.

Same here that's the only explanation we have also.

UHG.

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

Anonymous User — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 14:10:06 GMT

It would be nice if they would put out a bulletin of some sort warning of the upcoming release, but that could something that they are not aware of due to apple.

Funny thing is, this app has saved us A LOT of money; 6 digits worth, with respect to equipment purchases and we are excited to have this technology at our use. It's just like all other software packages; they have their corks, but if you know them, then you can adjust for them.

I'm eagerly awaiting the smart data form ability within the collector app.

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

RussRoberts — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 14:13:55 GMT

I will contact the team and let them know about the update issue you are seeing with offline data being lost after the update.

We post our update plans on the blogs.esri.com site.

Collector for ArcGIS v10.3.4 is out | ArcGIS Blog

Russ

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

Anonymous User — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 14:23:59 GMT

Thanks Russell for both updating the team and the blog link.

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

danbecker — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 15:04:32 GMT

[see my above edit; both iOS devices took the 10.3.4 update]

I'm not 100% sure if the app update is causing un-sync'd data to be erased. 1 survey appeared to have this happen to them; another surveyor's data was fine. Both using iOS Collector on iPhones; both devices took the auto update.

One thing that we did notice is that after the iTunes "save to" of all files/folders under the Collector app is that the "on device" tab of Collector gets cleared. It's like iTunes "save to" is removing/clearing the Collector app data.

Weird thing is that you can wire up the device to iTunes a 2nd, 3rd + time and perform another "save to" and the data is still there; view-able in iTunes and after its saved to PC disk.

iTunes must be modifying the Collector app data folders/files in some way that ver. 10.3.4 is unable to read.

We have not noticed this on previous Collector releases; someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

joshahmann — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 23:14:21 GMT

I think we just ran into the same problem. Here was our sequence of events.

1. User collected data all last week (10/5-9) offline using an iPad air

2. The user returned to the office on Friday (10/9) and connected to wifi but did not sync immediately.

3. The user went to sync and noticed that the map was no longer listed as being on the device

4. I connected the iPad to the iTunes today manually removed the existing folders.

5. there was an empty folder on with the users login name and an update time of 2:34 on 10/9 or just after he connected to wifi. But the folder is now empty.

When I talked to ESRI tech support on Friday they assured me that they had never heard of this issue before and it must have been user error or a hardware malfunction. Based on what I'm reading here I think the app update may have removed the data.

It would be great to get clarification on this from ESRI. I know have a field crew and project manager with little confidence in the collector app working.

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

MiaogengZhang — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 03:39:02 GMT

We apologize for inconveniences this have caused you. We are aware of this issue and have submitted an update to Apple’s App Store today that addresses this issue. We are trying to expedite the approval process.

If you have updated to 10.3.4, but have not yet launched the app, we recommend waiting for the update to avoid losing any edits on the device. Or you can copy the data from your device, however you need to do this before launching the app.

We apologize again for inconveniences. Once we got approval from Apple, I will update the post.

-Miaogeng

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

danbecker — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 04:35:03 GMT

thanks for the confirmation.

We had surveyors on the team loose 2 days worth of data. $$ loss has potential to be substantial especially if the client demands we re-travel, and re-navigate the transects.

For anyone trying; an iCloud restore (even if the iCloud backup was done prior to the app update) will not bring back the data. From our investigation and testing iCloud doesn't backup Collector app data.

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

Anonymous User — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 10:37:33 GMT

Thanks for getting back to us on this and it is unfortunate this occurred. We also lost a total of 4 days worth of work with this occurrence. We have sent out emails asking all of our employees to ensure that the iPad they are using doesn't have auto updated enabled within the app store. As we will start sending out email notifications to our field crews of app updates and how to complete them.

The Pros and Cons of the digital era. We've taken the notion that these types of issues can happen and luckily we did not have our typical field crews; 10 plus, within the field this past weekend.

ESRI - keep up the great work and I'm eagerly awaiting the next release for the smart data forms. Any chance of giving details on that update? Will Collector behave like the Survey123 app?

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

MiaogengZhang — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 15:55:45 GMT

I also recommend turning off automatic download of app updates. It is a good practice to synchronize all local edits you have before updating.

The coming release details are mentioned at Collector for ArcGIS v10.3.4 is out | ArcGIS Blog . It doesn't have smart data form capabilities yet. But we will work on it in the near future.

Re: iTunes Sync, lost data

Anonymous User — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 13:38:33 GMT

We just had a field crew member attempt to install; a clean install, for the Collector app, but it is not showing up within the App store any more?

Are they posting the update?