APDL Palm Legacy importer

[rmcgrath]

Hi,
Saw in the newsletter that the ability to import my Palm data into the iOS APDL is available. Awesome, it will be good to have all the data in one place. One step closer to retiring the Palm, just waiting for the LBP import functionality. When I started it I got an error message and by the time I got to this page I completely forgot what the error was. A small box with a short error and an ok button. The page still says importing data but it's been about 15 minutes and I suspect it is just stuck. How long do I wait to be sure and what happens if I just close the window and start again? Just so you know, my Palm APDL data goes back to 2002.

 

[Neal Culiner]

It may have run into an error. You can give it another try but if you want send me your zip file to support@nc-software.com and I can test it for you.

 

[rmcgrath]

Neal,
I tried it again and got the same error message, "Callback request failed due to an internal server error." Per your suggestion, I emailed to you a copy of the zip file. Please let me know if it's something in the file, something on my end like a specific browser incompatibility (received the error using Chrome) or something on your end. Thanks.
Rob

 

[rmcgrath]

Update: Tried using Internet Explorer (version 11) and received the same error message.

 

[Neal Culiner]

It's a server side error, not on your end, I got an email notification of the incident. Please send me the zip file you're using and I'll investigate it.

 

[Neal Culiner]

Rob - let me know when you send the zip file, I haven't received it yet. What is the file size as it may be too big it could get kicked back.

 

[rmcgrath]

Neal,
I ran it again after you said you fixed the server error. It allowed me to run the importer and told me to sync my APDL. It seems to be in a never-ending sync now. The calendar doesn't show previous trips and the sync doesn't stop. The iPod is set for the screen to go dark after a few minutes. Would that be effecting the sync?
Am I the first to use the legacy importer and that's how you found the server error? Or could the size of the data file have something to do with it? My Palm APDL goes back to 2002. If so, would it make a difference to only check a small amount of months at a time and let the sync run then do more? Let me know what you think.
Rob

 

[Neal Culiner]

Rob,

No, you're not the first to use it, you had an error in a departure/destination airport that exceeded the allowed 4 characters so code was added to trap for that. You have A LOT of data that was imported so it may take some time. If the problem remains there is an alternative option which will cause APDL to sync in 1 year cycles instead which we can try, reply to your prior support ticket for instructions if needed.

 

[rmcgrath]

There are many occurences over the years where I didn't include the aircraft number in the Palm apdl. Each of these (about 300) wants attention. Is there a way to tell the new apdl to ignore these?

 

[Neal Culiner]

No, I can create a case on how far back CrossCheck looks and that may resolve this scenario.

 

[rmcgrath]

I thought I'd check before going through all of them. Many of the 300 cross check issues have an in time or out time missing, or are a deadhead. But a good number are just a/c number. I just made a number and assigned number and am assigning all the missing a/c to that fictitious plane.
I assume your solution would mean reimporting the zip file again?

 

[Neal Culiner]

No, my solution is to ignore anything outside the max legality window (365 back). Yes, stubbing in your best guess is the solution to fill the holes but some people just leave them and they can probably be ignored. I created a case, we will weigh the options.

 

[rmcgrath]

It's just the a/c numbers that aren't important. If there are any flights that are missing an in or out time I want to correct them. This is a good way to find those legs where I forgot to enter an in time, etc. If I understand it correctly, missing times mean an incomplete leg and therefore didn't import into LBP using the pda wizard so that means inaccurate flight time. After finding the omission using the iPod I can correct it in the Palm and it should trigger a reimpoting of that month to reflect the new, more accurate info. Please correct me if any of these assumptions are incorrect. Thanks.

 

[rmcgrath]

Neal,
After making the corrections to the Palm APDL, there were many months in the past that had changes so when I sync'd the Palm all those months got changed. When I do the PDA wizard sync in LBP it only looks at changes since the last update. If I change the date to see the changes from previous years will it make duplicates of entries or only add the new items?

 

[Neal Culiner]

Rob,

If you change the sync on or after date it will remove and replace all of the Palm APDL entries in Logbook Pro. I would advise against this and just leave it as is unless you feel there is critical information that was changed in the Palm that you want reflected in Logbook Pro if for other purposes than correcting APDL's (iOS) CrossCheck. Backup first if you wish to do it and then you can set your on or after date to 1/1/2001 to do a full reimport from Palm.

 

[rmcgrath]

Neal,
because of the missed time entries (mostly in times on the last leg), there were about 50 or 60 entries that got corrected in the Palm. After syncing the Palm, I did the back up and used the between function of the PDA wizard, doing just one year at a time. it all seemed to work out and those missing legs added about a hundred hours to my time (not that I need it). more importantly, the iOS APDL isn't yelling at me that i have cross check errors to correct.

 

[rmcgrath]

Neal,
You made mention previously of a possible change to APDL where it would ignore anything over a year. Is that something that might be coming out in the near future? Since importing my previous data it now takes a long time to do the cross check and that causes the whole program to run very slowly. After about 5 minutes the cross check finally finishes but by then I've made the entries I have to make (while dealing with the lag). Then when I go to input, say, the in time by that time it has to go through the cross check process again. It doesn't find any from the previous data, obviously, since that has already been checked and corrected but it still takes a long time to check it anyway. Is there a way to not check previous data unless something has been accessed or modified? Or at least tell it not to look back more than 365 days? Thanks.
Rob

 

[Neal Culiner]

Rob,

As mentioned (somewhere on this forum) it has been fixed and we are only looking back 1 year (legality window) in the upcoming 7.2 release. The beta team gets the 7.2 BETA today so as soon as we complete the test cycles we'll send to Apple. Due to a MAJOR new feature, testing is likely going to take several weeks, thank you for your patience.

 

[rmcgrath]

Neal,
Thanks for the update on the update. I'm looking forward to it.
Rob