Archiving time entries??

[rrkpl]

I have been happily using Time Master on iPad and iPhone since June (just purchased billing module - Nice!) and was wondering if there was a way to archive time entries. It seems at some point there will be a huge amount of entries and was wondering the best way to handle that.

[Adam]

You really don't need to delete stuff unless you really want to.  When we started development on Time Master, I imported over 1000 old entries (from a program on my old Palm Pilot) going back to 2000.  We worked very hard on keeping the app snappy despite having a huge amount of entries and the program runs very well even with thousands of records.

That being said, if you really want do delete stuff, we recommend that you do a Backup of Time Master with our free Time Master Central or if you have iOS 4, you can use the iTunes "Documents" folder to save a copy of the database.  That way, if you ever did need to restore it, or if you accidentally deleted more than you should have, you can restore it.

[BSartist]

I find that it takes about eight seconds to startup for me. That seems kind of long when you just want to go in there to restart or stop a timer. I don't think it was that slow when the database was empty. But maybe it's just becoming more noticeable as I use it more.

Bill

[Adam]

There are a lot of variables that determine how long it takes to "launch" the program.  The model has a lot to do with it.  If you have an older 3G, it takes longer than a iPhone 4.  If the iOS needs to 'free' up memory, it must do that while it's launching TM.  On my older 3G, sometimes it would take 5 seconds (with over 1000 records) and sometimes it would take 12 seconds.  With a 3GS or newer, it may take several seconds on the first launch when you have iOS 4+, but after it is "loaded" it only take 1 second to launch (multi-tasking).

If you are really curious, you can always make a Backup with Time Master Central (or the iTunes "File Sharing - Documents", do not rely on iTunes itself for backup).  Purge all your old entries and see how long it takes.  I believe that once you do this, you will find that the difference is very small.  You could then Restore your data back again.  Just make sure you Restore before entering any new data!

[DeepOvertone]

I have a concern regarding this issue. I have just started using this program and I have started to wonder what will happen when there are hundreds or thousands of entries in a particular screen. I feel like there should be an option to show only __________ from current month (or choose your own period). Fill in the blank with"time entries", "expenses", "invoices" so on and so forth.  I haven't accumulated enough entries in any area to see how much of a pain it is to have these all showing. If this is implemented, perhaps a button at the top that toggles between "show all/show current". If there is already a way to do this I'm sorry for my ignorance(newbie).

[DeepOvertone]

Ok, I just noticed the filter options under each area. Sorry about the above post. I didnt have my iPad in front of me as I was writing it.

[Adam]

As far as the amount of entries go, I'd be surprised if you have any slowdown yet.  I have over 1200 entries on my iPhone and one of our beta testers had well over 3000 and it runs just fine.  Of course, you can archive (do a Backup) and then purge items, but it really shouldn't slow you down that much.  We worked very hard to keep the database snappy (unlike a lot of other developers) and believe that you will be able to have years worth of data before you would need to purge any old records.