Method:Classic General Q&A

Re: what data can be synchronized back to QB

jnoneiliv1 — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 15:05:51 GMT

Fran, That's fantastic. Wish I had it 4 years or so ago.

Yes, nuances. Like why does QB have a Name and FullName for some tables? I'm sure I've figured that one out some time ago, but now I forget. And all those address fields that QB holds and how they print on Checks, etc. Fun stuff. But, really once you have the basic idea of the data structure, it's really easy to customize. I think a basic understanding of the underlying data tables is fundamental to being able to even make modest customizations. I think Method does a great job of "hiding" some of the ugly bits, but without knowing a bit about relational table structure, I think a customizer is hobbled.

Great resource! TX.

Jamie

Re: what data can be synchronized back to QB

fran — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 22:02:00 GMT

Alex and James,

A great resource for QB tables is: http://doc.qodbc.com/qodbc/Qodbc_20_us.html.

All tables listed with Fields. Method is already set up to sync what fields can sync. So you don't really need to worry about that. But it does help to understand whats in each system. And how used. As there are nuances in QB that are helpful to know about.

Fran

Re: what data can be synchronized back to QB

jnoneiliv1 — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 16:43:55 GMT

Alex,

Yes, I agree, I think this info would be helpful. I would certainly have liked to have it. But, now I know.

If you'd like, you can private message me and I can send you some excel spreadsheets where I dumped IIF files with my QB data and did some attempt at mapping some fields etc. It might even just help to see some similiarities or differences in fields. Often I found myself doing things and wondering, if anyone else was doing the same thing.

Jamie

Re: what data can be synchronized back to QB

alexhuang — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 16:20:47 GMT

Hi James,

Thank you very much for so valuable information, that is exactly what I need now to finish my job, especially to export to IIF and those field QB do indexing, that does help a lot and save me weeks!

I think that Method:CRM should collect these valuable information to developer's manual. :)

Alex

Re: what data can be synchronized back to QB

fran — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 06:16:57 GMT

Hey Jeff, Just to add something special about QBCustom Fields. They are always Text fields... Just need to be aware of this if you do any customization with these fields in Method. Don't get me wrong. These fields sync fine between QB and Method.

Your question #4 asked about your ItemInventory screen. Changing the screen will not necessarily update QB. Its how your field/records for the underlying table (s) are updated that determines what goes over to QB. If you update or add New items on your sceen, all QB fields(including - custom ones) will go to QB.

Hope that helps.

Fran

Re: what data can be synchronized back to QB

jnoneiliv1 — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 18:07:35 GMT

Alex,

These are all very good questions, and it is very hard information to find in a good concise format. Just in case it helps you I'd like to offer my best understanding of the synching.

1. ALL fields in QB whether default or QB Custom fields are synch'd with Method. Method essentially creates an identical copy of the QB data structure in the cloud and then keeps it synchronized. This is actually pretty amazing and in some ways this is a backup of the data.

For every data table in QB, Method maintains a copy of that data table on the Method server and keeps that table synchronized with the QB table. QB will allow you to create up to 15 custom fields in QB. These custom fields actually already exist in the QB data table and therefore are also in the Method data table. If you use these "special" custom fields in your Method Screens, you can also use these fields and their data in QB. (The support for custom fields in QB was rapidly evolving a few years ago so I might be out of date, but Method has always fully supported and 100% replicated any custom field functionality possible in QB.)

So you really have 3 options when using data fields in your custom Method screen development.

1. You can use an existing QB field. These may already be in QB screens or Method screens, or there are some fields existing that are just not used yet.

2. You can create a custom field in QB, and then use that field also in Method. A good idea if you want to add it to the QB screen or keep a local copy of the data in your QB file.

3. You can add a custom field in Method and add it to the existing QB data table in Method. This will not synch down to QB.

Or, 4. You can create an entirely new data table in Method with new fields, which will not synch to QB.

You can operate on almost any QB field or Method field in your customization and Method really does a great job of making sure you can't really make a big mistake, but there are a few things to be aware of.

1. Like any database, there are key fields in the data tables that are very important for data table indexing and relational database functionality. For this reason it is a very good idea to try to be aware of parent child relationships and work from some Method parent screens. Method will prevent you from breaking things, but it's good to know.

2. There are a few fields that QB calculates and you cannot change them. For example the Amount field of an invoice item is always calculated by QTY x Price. You must let QB calculate that.

3. There are a few fields that can be auto indexed by both Method and QB, like Invoice number. You should let QB or Method do this. In general any data field that starts with "ref" should be avoided and let QB or Method deal with it. You can of course change these fields from screens, but don't try to provide logic for these fields.

A really good way to get started in understanding your data is to Export any List from QB to an IIF file. For example the Items table in QB can be exported as a List. If you have data in QB, you can open up the data in Excel and see where certain pieces of information are stored. Then when you look at the table in Method or go to build a screen you will know where important information is stored. You could of course let Method synch to QB then open up a table in Method and do the same thing.

Good Luck! Method's implementation of QB database synching is really awesome. The documentation is not really very well done and I do not believe there is any good document that really describes the data architecture very well, but someone will always help you and everything is done in a very logical way, so you can trust the Method functionality. If you start with the basic Method screens and work from there you can do almost anything you'd want.

Cheers,

James

Re: what data can be synchronized back to QB

jnoneiliv1 — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 18:05:41 GMT

Alex,

These are all very good questions, and it is very hard information to find in a good concise format. Just in case it helps you I'd like to offer my best understanding of the synching.

So you really have 3 options when using data fields in your custom Method screen development.

1. You can use an existing QB field. These may already be in QB screens or Method screens, or there are some fields existing that are just not used yet.

2. You can create a custom field in QB, and then use that field also in Method. A good idea if you want to add it to the QB screen or keep a local copy of the data in your QB file.

3. You can add a custom field in Method and add it to the existing QB data table in Method. This will not synch down to QB.

Or, 4. You can create an entirely new data table in Method with new fields, which will not synch to QB.

2. There are a few fields that QB calculates and you cannot change them. For example the Amount field of an invoice item is always calculated by QTY x Price. You must let QB calculate that.

Cheers,

James

Re: what data can be synchronized back to QB

alexhuang — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 06:05:31 GMT

Hi Jeff,

Thank you so much. That is exact what I need.

Alex

Re: what data can be synchronized back to QB

Method_Jeff — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 18:01:42 GMT

Hi Alex

Welcome to Method! Let us know if you have any problems or questions.

1 - Custom fields from Quickbooks will sync over to Method but any custom fields created in Method will not sync over to Quickbooks.

2 - If you haven't updated the custom fields labels in Quickbooks it should still show a name such as FieldCustom1 in both Method and Quickbooks. If you have updated the label in Quickbooks it will sync over to Method with the new name.

3 - Yes you can transfer screens from one account to another. When you are on the Screens tablink you can either scroll to the bottom and click the 'Copy/Import Screen...' button or hover over an existing table and click the Copy button on the left hand side. In the first step of the wizard choose 'Another Account' and enter the Account Name, Username and Password for whichever account you want to copy from. In the second step choose the screen and if necessary the name it will be saved as. In Step 3 choose where to put the tab link.

If you are copying a custom screen with a custom table it should come across with the screen copy.

4 - What changes do you mean? If you had a custom field from Quickbooks and added it to your ItemInventory screen it would update that field in Quickbooks. Similarly if it was a field that already exists but wasn't originally present on the screen this would also update.

Hopefully that answers all your questions. Let me know if you have any more or if you want anything to be clarified.

Jeff

what data can be synchronized back to QB

alexhuang — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 23:12:48 GMT

Hi all,

I'm new to Method:CRM, and working on QB Enterprise 14 Desktop and Method Pro.

After browsing several forum post regarding data synchronization to QB, I still have some questions and would like to ask you experts can shed me some lights:

1. is it still true that only custom field created in QB can be sync between Method and QB? I read that some post are back in 2011, want to make sure it is still true.

2. In Method, how do I know a field is custom field from QB?

3. Can I transfer screen/table/fields created in one company account to another? I'm asking is because I'm planning to build a system for my clients under my account, once everything is done, I'll transfer it to client's account.

4. if I change screen (i.e. ItemInventory) in Method, will this change be updated back to QB?

Thanks.

Alex