Does anyone have any idea when such apps may be available?
RM8 can export a file that can be read by the existing apps in the app stores.
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In other words, the mobile app is already available for RM8. It’s just that it’s the old mobile app from RM7 can be made to work with your RM8 data.
To get your RM8 database to the mobile app, do a File > Export > Dropbox. This procedure will place a copy of your RM8 database in Dropbox that can be used by the app. The copy of your RM8 database that is placed in Dropbox by this procedure will be reformatted slightly to a format the app can understand and it will have an RMGC file extension that the app can understand instead of the RMTREE extension used by RM8 itself.
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Thanks to both of you for bringing me uptodate on this, I just wan’t aware. Is the app file automatically kept updated as changes and additions are made to the rmtree file? And while I realize it’s not a priority item right now, do you think the apps will be updated at some point so that they’re not just read only apps but fully interactive and able to make changes etc right from the apps?
The app file is updated only when you update it yourself. It’s not automatic.
RM has always said that if the app is ever updated so that it’s fully interactive, it will not be included free with the desktop RM but instead will be a separate product that will need to be purchased. But they have never made any commitment as to when or actually if a fully interactive app will ever be included in the product line.
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I don’t relish the idea of trying to enter data on my phone! I suppose I could work with a tablet but give me a monitor - the bigger the better - every time!
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I agree that it’s much easier using a large desktop monitor, yet when I’m out of town and not able to access RM8 it sure would be nice to be able to access it on my iPad or, as a last resort, my phone.
Thanks, Jerry, for all your help and guidance on this matter, it’s most appreciated. Actually I was trying to respond to you in the community website but somehow it would let me do any responded after I had to Terry. It was as if there was something left unfinished but I couldn’t quite figure out why. So I appreciate another opportunity to say thanks.
I haven’t used DropBox for a number of years now, having plenty of cloud space with iCloud and Google, so I find I’m quite rusty with DB. Although I’ve exported one of my trees to DropBox 3 or 4 times now, and get confirmation that it was sent there, I haven’t yet been able to find the actual file in DB or of course RM Mobile either. I don’t expect you to offer any help in that department, of course, and am definitely not asking so I will proceed, in the next few days, to figure out what I must do.
Thanks again, Jerry,
Bob
Let me help a little bit anyway. I use an iPhone and an iPad, but I assume the process is similar for an Android. This is a broad outline rather than super detailed steps.
You have to install both the Dropbox app and the RM mobile app on your mobile device. Get to the point where your Dropbox app can see your Dropbox files. If you get that far, then the RM mobile app should be able to see the RMGC file and open it.
But before you do any of that, you should use your computer - windows or Mac - to go to your Dropbox\Appdata\RootsMagic 8 folder and verify that there is an RMGC file there. Your mobile device won’t be able to see the file until you get it there successfully on your computer.
Since you already have plenty of cloud space with iCloud and Google, you probably know that that only thing you will ever need to put into Dropbox will be your RMGC file. A free Dropbox account has far more space than you will ever need just to hold an RMGC file.
I used backslashes on Dropbox\Appdata\RootsMagic 8 because I’m a Windows users. I think that it’s forward slashes on a Mac, e.g. Dropbox/Appdata/RootsMagic 8
Thanks so much, Jerry, for duty beyond the call! I won’t have a chance to get back to it today and possibly not until Thursday, but I’ll certainly keep you posted.
I finally got it, Jerry, but with different routing in the end. At first, I realized that my problem appeared to be that my RM8 mobile app and Dropbox weren’t in sync. DB wasn’t recognizing RM8 and/or vice versa because I just wasn’t seeing the file in DB on my Mac. I tried the various ways to accomplish that (following directions in the RM App and also some documentation I found on the RM site, albeit rather old I think) and finally got that straightened out. Then I still wasn’t seeing the RMGC file in DB, after exporting it to DB once again. So I went to the Document files on my Mac, found an RMGC file, brought it into DB and, voila! It all seems to work fine. And now, hopefully, as my rmtree grows and changes I’ll be able to update the RM App file just by exporting to DB again.
Again, Jerry, I can’t thank you enough for ‘hanging in there’ for me.
Bob
I found app at Amazon apps, installed it, got RMGC file but I continually get a message "no app available to read file. RMGC file was saved to my Dropbox but the RM app can’t find my Dropbox. Having difficulty finding the usefulness of RM8. Considering going back to RM7. What am I missing?
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Thanks for the information. I did find the app at Amazon apps but does not read my dropbox . I have found that I’m only allowed two devices to access dropbox and I already have two devices connected to dropbox so add another device for $11.00 a month or give up and scream.
The app at Amazon apps IS NOT a viable option (ie. it is an early version written before Dropbox changed it’s means of operation). Use the rootsmagic.com link from the wiki to get a compatible version.