Sync clears my buddy list

[support]

Dive Log will populate it's internal database with a subset of the data available in the selected Contact if you choose one of your Contacts as a Buddy on IOS (vs creating an "Unlinked Buddy"). The exact data that is populated into your Logbook database is dependent on which fields are populated in your Contact within the iPhone/iPad's address book and the current settings of your device. Just to be 100% clear, you are always in control of where this data goes. We never move any data off your iPhone/iPad unless you make explicit decisions to do so. Examples of when your logbook is copied off the device include when you sync with a compatible desktop application, when you backup your device to iTunes or when your device backs up to iCloud (if you have that enabled). You data is never sent to any other server or service (i.e. it is only transferred to iCloud (within your private iCloud data area) or to a PC/Mac controlled by you). We (More Mobile Software) never have access to this information.

When Dive Log loads the Buddy data from it's internal database, it will attempt to uniquely match the Buddy with a Contact on your iPhone/iPad (if you have granted access to the Contacts for Dive Log). If it is able to uniquely match your Buddy to an existing Contact, Dive Log will display the Contact rather than the data stored internally in your logbook. Note that the desktop apps generally display the data stored in your logbook rather than performing this matching step. There are some advantages to displaying the actual Contact entry on the iPhone/iPad as any data that is not stored in your logbook is also available to interact with when you select a "linked" Buddy. Additionally, if you have multiple sources of address book data (iCloud and Google or MS Exchange for example) and have iOS's Unified Info support turned on in the Settings App, Dive Log will show the Unified Info when considering that Buddy.

Now, to directly answer your question, Dive Log's database's Buddy table support significantly fewer fields than Contacts does. The fields available for Buddies are: First Name, Last Name, 2 lines of Address, City, State (or Province), ZIP (or Postal Code), Country, Phone number, Mobile number, Fax number, Email address, Birthdate, URL and Notes. Dive Log will attempt to populate each of these fields with data available in the chosen Contact. In most cases, you'll have multiple values for each of the above fields in Contacts, so Dive Log will always choose the "Home" value first and then will use the "Work" value if there is no "Home" value. Finally, if there is no "Home" or "Work" value, it will choose the first value that it is given by the address book framework. One additional note, Dive Log does follow the "Unified Info" setting for your device, so if you have the same Contact appear in two address book sources then Dive Log will look at the unified data for that Contact and pull the data from that in the same order as a above. One example of this would be if you had a friend "Joe Blow" that was in your iPhone Contacts with his "home information" and also showed up in your MS Exchange address book with his "work information", Dive Log would get the Unified Info and pull out the "Home" information to store in it's internal database. However, when you viewed this Buddy in Dive Log, you would see his Unified Information.

If you want to experiment to see how a given Contact is imported, you can add a Buddy using a Contact and then turn off Dive Log's access to Contacts (in the Settings App's Privacy->Contacts section) and then look at the Buddy within Dive Log (it will show up as Unlinked while access to the address book is disabled). The fields that we transferred to the database for that Buddy will be displayed.

I hope that helps. Contacts access is one of the most complex parts of iOS and subsequently of Dive Log. We have tried to strike a balance between function, convenience and performance and have tried to ensure that control of your data remains in your hands.

Cheers,

Greg

[mdu]

Nice and very detailed information. Thanks a lot!