# Syncing your &handheld; with a PC

This chapter describes the synchronization process that &kpilot; uses, focusing on the &kpilot; daemon functionality. You may sync your &handheld; using the internal viewers and / or conduits, depending on your personal preferences. Conduits allow external applications to interface with the data on your &handheld;.

It is a good idea to make a backup of your &handheld; regularly. Other than making backups, it should rarely be necessary to do anything other than drop your &handheld; on the cradle and press the &HotSync; button. The &kpilot; daemon icon in the system tray will flash indicating that a sync is under way.

&kpilot; Daemon Pop-Up Menu
&kpilot; daemon popup menu

&kpilot; daemon popup menu

To which type of sync &kpilot; will perform next, you can use the main application File menu, or right click the &kpilot; daemon icon located in the system tray, and select one of the menu items under the Next Sync sub menu.

If you hover over the &kpilot; daemon icon, a tooltip will appear showing you what the type of sync &kpilot; will perform next.

In short, the sync types are:

- HotSync (once): this option offers a nice balance between speed and data safety.

- FastSync (once): only sync those databases that have conduits.

- FullSync (once): the safest option, but takes the longest time to complete.

- Backup (once): copy all the data from the &handheld; to the PC.

- Restore from Backup (once): copy the data from a previous backup from the PC to the &handheld;, erasing the data previously held there.

  Use the restore functionality with care, as you can lose all the new data entered on the &handheld; since the last backup.

- Copy Handheld to PC (once): run all conduits and sync all databases, but instead of merging the information from both sources, just copy the handheld data to the PC.

  Use with care, as this option erases the changes you made in your PC since the last sync.

- Copy PC to Handheld (once): run all conduits and sync all databases, but instead of merging the information from both sources, just copy the PC data to the handheld.

  Use with care, as this option erases the changes you made in your handheld since the last sync.

Alternatively, you can change the default syncing behavior of &kpilot; by choosing the most suitable option in the &HotSync; configure dialog.

To configure the conduits or the sync process, you do not need to open the main &kpilot; application, as the Configure KPilot... menu item is available on the &kpilot; daemon popup menu as well.

## Backing up your &handheld; data

On every backup, &kpilot; stores a copy of all your &handheld; data under the `$KDEHOME/share/apps/kpilot/DBBackup/User Name/` folder, allowing you to restore that copy later, if needed. The `$KDEHOME` environment variable (typically `/home/Login Name/.kde/`) points to the folder that contains your configuration and data for the &kde; applications.

It is a good idea to backup your data often. To perform a backup, you can click the Next Sync Backup on the &kpilot; daemon icon popup menu or the File Backup menu item on the main &kpilot; application menu in order to make the next sync a backup. Then, just press the &HotSync; button.

## Restoring Your &handheld; Data

The restore operation consist of transferring all the data previously saved on the PC to the &handheld;, effectively erasing all the new data held by the device by returning it to a previous state.

Use the restore functionality with care, as you can lose all the new data entered on the &handheld; since the last backup.

The data saved on the last backup is located on the `$KDEHOME/share/apps/kpilot/DBBackup/User Name/` folder. The `$KDEHOME` environment variable (typically `/home/Login Name/.kde/`) points to the folder that contains your configuration and data for the &kde; applications.

The most common use for the restore functionality is to recover from a hardware or software failure on the device. The restore function can be accessed from the main &kpilot; application, and from the &kpilot; daemon. be careful, as restoring the data is not a common operation. In order to restore the data at the next sync, click the File Restore menu item, then press the &HotSync; button.

## Selecting the Synchronization Type

There are three ways to sync your &handheld;, HotSync, FastSync or FullSync.

When you press the &HotSync; button on your &handheld;, &kpilot;'s will run the default sync operation (usually a HotSync). You can select the default sync operation in the &HotSync; configure dialog. Alternatively, you can click one of the sync options on the main &kpilot; application File menu or on the &kpilot; daemon popup Next Sync submenu.

Using the &HotSync; configure dialog is the only way to change the default sync operation. The main &kpilot; application File menu items or the &kpilot; daemon popup Next Sync submenu items change only the type of sync that will be performed next.

&kpilot; Daemon Pop-Up Menu
&kpilot; daemon popup menu

&kpilot; daemon popup menu

For more information on the sync types, please refer to the descriptions available in .

## Syncing your &handheld; Data Using Conduits

Conduits are programs that interface your &handheld; data with PC applications or sync your &handheld; data with files that can be used by PC applications.

Conduits can be set up by selecting Settings Configure KPilot... , or using the daemon pop up menu and clicking the Configure KPilot... menu item.

&kpilot; Daemon Pop-Up Menu
&kpilot; daemon popup menu

&kpilot; daemon popup menu

The Conduits tree in the configuration dialog collects all the installed conduits available. The conduits can be enabled and disabled by clicking on the check box to the left of the conduit's name. Conduits can have an extensive configuration of their own, and may be supplied by third parties. Most of the conduits require some initial configuration, so it is strongly recommended to check the section detailing the default conduits configuration before using them.

The default conduits are the following:

KNotes / Memos

  Synchronizes the Memo Pad application with &knotes;.

  The conduit only synchronizes the Memo Pad data if &knotes; is running. If you want to enable this functionality, please remember to start &knotes; first, or check if it is already running (tip: look for the &knotes; icon in the system tray).

Notepad

  Exports the free hand notes of the &handheld;'s Notepad application as pictures to the PC.

Time Synchronization

  Sets the &handheld;'s time to that of the desktop machine. Useful for keeping the clock of the &handheld; accurate.

Calendar (KOrganizer)

  Synchronizes the Datebook application with &korganizer; or with a iCalendar file of your choice.

Palm DOC

  Automatically converts, installs and sync text files in the &PalmPilot; DOC format, so you can read the text files with most DOC-capable applications on the &handheld;. There are many free or open source Palm DOC readers, and some Palm DOC editors for your handheld.

  Any plain text file can be easily converted. For instance, you can download and convert the public domain books provided by the Gutenberg Project and read them in your &handheld;.

Addressbook

  Synchronizes the Address application with &kaddressbook; or with a vCard file of your choice.

System Information

  Writes information about your &handheld;, (such as OS version, RAM available, and the list of databases) to a file. Useful mostly for debugging purposes.

ToDo's (KOrganizer)

  Synchronizes the Todo list application with &korganizer; or with a iCalendar file of your choice.

MAL (AvantGo) Conduit

  Synchronizes your &handheld; with the &AvantGo; server. The &AvantGo; server offers general content (news, guides, stock quotes, &etc;) in a format that is suitable for reading in a &handheld;. To use this conduit, you need to register, subscribe the channels you select and install the &AvantGo; software on your &handheld;.

Mail

  Sends mail written on the &handheld; through &kmail;. There is no provision for receiving mail, however.

Perl
Python
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  These conduits are intended as a programming demonstration, and serve no practical purpose during a &HotSync;. They are not normally listed, but you may see them on some systems.

The Conduit Setup Dialog
The Conduit Setup Dialog

The Conduit Setup Dialog

## Resolving Conflicts

Data records can be changed both on the &handheld; and on the PC. If one record has incompatible changes in both the &handheld; and the PC, (such as changing a phone number in different ways on both sides), the conflicting change needs to be resolved so that both the &handheld; and the PC are in sync again.

A popup dialog may appear, asking you how to resolve the conflict, or you may have a general rule to automatically handle these conflicts (depending on your conflict resolution choice). Note that you can define different resolution choices for different conduits in the conduits configuration dialog.