Note about Offline/Online usage
DICEFlow application works in Offline mode in both Desktop and Mobile formats. What does that mean? Most of the application usage works offline and the user is expected to sync local changes to the server. User is adequately prompted to sync with visual cues. Please understand the following points w.r.t usage of the application.
☞ We also provide a View-only Online mode (ONLY on Desktop) which is useful to view and export the data; Please read more details in the section, Offline mode doesn't work for me - I have too much data, below.
What happens during login?
Internet is required for the login (first time and subsequent) process.
User enters the Phone number, Password and if required, Org Code
Post successful authentication, Server prepares data for the logged in user based on their Role and assigned Location/s for the user in the configuration
Server sends down entire data (Members, Groups, Workflows, User Profile information) to the user's application
Data is loaded into the application and User can now start using the application without being connected to the Internet
Where is my data?
DICEFlow uses the Chrome Web Engine locally to store/manage the data brought down to the application. So, any changes you make to Chrome's data storage might affect the DICEFlow application data. For e.g. if you Clear Site Settings (option in Chrome settings menu on both Mobile and Desktop), you will lose local data. It is critical that user doesn't do such destructive operations on the Chrome browser in Desktop and Android devices.
☞ Since you are downloading all applicable data for your login to your device (Desktop/Laptop/Mobile), you have to be aware of your devices RAM and Storage space requirements w.r.t amount of data downloaded.
What can I do offline and for what do I need Internet?
DICEFlow application can be used on the Mobile and Desktop in a completely offline state for most operations except the following:
Login
Sync
Add a User (on Desktop) - need Internet to check applicable license
Fetch Remaining Data - Overtime, users tend to accumulate a lot of data on their phones. To restrict the amount of data, Superuser can set thresholds per Role - This function ignores the threshold (if applied) and brings down all data for the user from the Server
Get clean data - This function helps user to revert the state of local data to a point after last successful sync. As a result, user will lose local changes made since last successful sync
Get Timeline - Timeline of each workflows gives a trail of who did what, when. Since Release 4.12.1, this is now available only in Online mode.
For ALL other operations in the system, Internet is not needed
What happens during sync?
Internet is required for sync process.
When user makes any local changes - for e.g. Update a Member, Continue a Workflow - user is shown a red exclamation mark on the (Desktop/Mobile) Sync buttons prominently - they can click/touch Sync button to push the local changes to the Server;
Sync also brings down changes made by other users on Members, Groups, Workflows assigned to the logged in user
I see Sync and Refresh buttons on different screens when I am online user on Desktop
On the pages you see Sync button (Dashboard, Structure, Users, Reports, Languages), you can make changes even when online and sync the changes to the server; For e.g. you can add a User and sync the same to server
On the pages you see Refresh button (Members, Groups, Workflows), you cannot add/edit any entity when online. You can only bring down changes from the server using this button. For e.g. you can get latest Member list and changes in each of the Members.
Offline mode doesn't work for me - I have too much data
For users who have too much data AND are only interested in viewing/exporting data, we have a Online mode of login. We suggest a new user account be created for such users where the Is online toggle is enabled. What can and cannot such users do, is explained below:
Can do:
View/Export Members, Groups and Workflows data
Add/Update/View/Export/Archive Structure, Users, Reports and Data screens, if requisite permissions are applied for the logged in user
Cannot do:
View dashboard
Add/Update/Archive Members, Groups
Add/Execute/Archive Workflows
So, how would you go about setting up users who have access to large data but wanting to execute some workflow types?
Create 2 accounts with slight change in their phone numbers; Say user's actual phone number is 9845612345; Create the Offline account using this phone number; Create the Online account with the phone number, 9845612346; Did you notice the subtle difference in numbers?
User logs into DICEFlow in a normal Chrome browser window/tab using Offline account phone number
User logs into DICEFlow in a incognito Chrome browser window/tab using Online account phone number
Above is a recommended strategy of managing users with mixed use of the application.