Synchronize TipLink data with your Ezhelp data

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It is not uncommon for you to make changes to your program after you have done manual editing of your Ezhelp content.

To restore the balance between your program tooltips and the Ezhelp data, the data in the Ezhelp file needs to be updated.

Without TipLink Reporter this means that you can not use the utility template that ships with Ezhelp to generate a new data file without losing your changes. As a result you have to go through each screen in your program, activate the Ezhelp for each control and check to see that it is up to date. This process can take hours and is very prone to mistakes.


TipLink Reporter can safely synchronize TipLink data with your existing Ezhelp data file.

This means that you can quickly add new entries to your Ezhelp data file without needing to type them manually!

Note: Remember to run the TipLink Reporter utility template and export the data from your program again, then analyze the data and make changes BEFORE you synchronize with your Ezhelp data file.


To synchronize your current data with an existing Ezhelp data file follow these steps:

Click the EZSynch button on the Ezhelp menu:



Next you will see this screen:



A note about file safety...

We know that people make mistakes. Because of this we have built automatic safeguards into the TipLink Reporter. Before any export or synchronization process the TipLink Reporter will make a copy of your current Ezhelp data file for this application.

These copies are in the same folder as the original and have a numeric extension such as 001, 002, 003 added to the filename. This number is auto-incrementing and the copies stay around until YOU decide to delete them in Windows Explorer.

You can elect not to have the backup copy made, but do so at your own risk!

If you have made customizations to the data using the Ezhelp editor and the file is exported the changes are lost. If you accidentally do this (with the backup enabled) you can just delete the new export file and rename the original.

Note:

If you decide to delete the backup copies at some point in the future and want to reset the numbering scheme, it is stored in a local TipLink.INI file (in the same folder) in the Export section under LastSaveNumber:


To reset the numbering, just delete the LastSaveNumber entry.




Deciding what synchronization mode is right for you...

To give you complete control over the synchronization process, there are three modes of operation:

Note:

These modes only apply to situations where the data for a control in the Ezhelp file does NOT match the data in the TipLink file. If there is no corresponding entry in the Ezhelp file, it will be added automatically.

·	Do NOT Synchronize

This mode will leave any data in the Ezhelp file that is different from the TipLink file intact. If there is no corresponding entry (such as when you have added a new control to your program) then a new entry will be made for it in your Ezhelp data file.

·	ALWAYS Synchronize

This mode will ALWAYS overwrite the data in your existing Ezhelp file with the current data from the TipLink file. It has the same effect as EXPORTING the TipLink data.

·

PROMPT

This mode will stop at any control entry where the data does not match and PROMPT you to decide if you want to overwrite the data in the Ezhelp file with the new data from the TipLink file. You will see this screen:

You have three choices:

Select YES to synchronize the data
Select NO to skip the synchronization of this control

You can also CANCEL the synchronization process (Note - changes are NOT rolled back, but your backup file should be intact if you elected to allow the program to create one).


After the synchronization is complete you should see this screen:



After the synchronization is complete your Ezhelp data will be re imported to update the view.