Dropbox Sync Settings

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Sync content from your Dropbox account to Kiosk Pro. This allows you to store files locally on the iPad and remotely update them via your own Dropbox account.

Overview

Our integration with Dropbox API allows you to sync content from your Dropbox account to the Kiosk Pro documents folder on your device. This means you can store files locally on the iPad and have the ability to remotely update them via your Dropbox account. 

Content Location on Dropbox

Once you've linked Kiosk Pro with your Dropbox account, Kiosk Pro will create a folder structure in Dropbox: Apps > Kiosk Pro. If you're using a Dropbox Business account, this folder structure will be located in your user folder (not the main company folder).

Inside the Kiosk Pro folder will be two folders:

• A Shared Content folder, named 'SharedContent' by default, but can be renamed in Kiosk Pro settings. Files placed into the Shared Content folder will sync to all of your kiosks that have a Shared Content folder of the same name. This is helpful if you have multiple kiosks that use the same content.
• A Unique Content folder, named after the Unique iPad ID you set in Kiosk Pro settings. A unique ID must be set in order to sync unique content to a kiosk. Files placed into the Unique Content folder will only sync to your kiosk with the Unique iPad ID that matches this folder's name.

If you update or delete a file on Dropbox, the same will happen to the file in Kiosk Pro. You can use the Dropbox Synchronization for any file type, including your remote settings .xml file.

Content Location on the Device

Shared Content folders on Dropbox sync directly into the main Kiosk Pro documents folder on your device, while Unique Content folders on Dropbox sync into a folder called 'UniqueContent' inside the Kiosk Pro documents folder. This means the file paths for each folder are different.

For example, if your homepage is in the Kiosk Pro documents folder and is linking to a PDF in the Shared Content folder, the path from your homepage would just be 'example.pdf'. If the PDF is in the Unique Content folder, the path from your homepage would be 'UniqueContent/example.pdf'.

Example

You have three kiosks. Each of the three kiosks uses a different video for the screensaver, but display the same HTML file as the homepage.

You can set up all three devices to point to the same Shared Content folder and put the HTML file into that Shared Content folder to sync it to every kiosk. You can then use the Unique Content folder for each kiosk to sync the different versions of the video file used for the screensaver to each one.

Quick Start Instructions

Here are the basic steps for getting the Dropbox Sync feature set up:

1

In Kiosk Pro settings, scroll down to the Remote Management & Notifications category and tap Dropbox Sync. Turn on the Enable Dropbox Sync toggle then select Account Information and "Link" to login to your Dropbox account.

2

If you only have one kiosk, or if you have multiple kiosks and all of them will use the same content, skip to step 3.

Otherwise, if you need to send different content to each kiosk, go back to the main app settings and scroll up to the Identification category. Set a Unique iPad ID to identify each of your kiosks. This ID will generate a folder in your Dropbox account specifically for each kiosk.

3

Go back to the main app settings and tap "Run Kiosk Presentation" to start the presentation. This will generate the Kiosk Pro folder structure in your Dropbox account.

A Shared Content Folder will be created for content you want to share between all kiosks. A Unique Content Folder will be created for each kiosk that has a Unique iPad ID (and named based on this ID)

Note: If you're using a Dropbox Business account, this folder structure will be located in your user folder (not the main company folder).

The folder structure generated in Dropbox.

4

In Dropbox, add the files you want to use to the Shared Content folder and/or Unique Content folder(s).

5

In Kiosk Pro, run the kiosk presentation again to sync the new files to Kiosk Pro.

Note: Files will only sync to Kiosk Pro while the presentation is running (not while the app settings are open).

Enable Dropbox Sync

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This toggle controls the Dropbox Sync feature.

Note: Content will only sync between Dropbox and Kiosk Pro when the kiosk presentation is running (not while the app settings screen is shown). To display a visual indication that sync is occurring, you can turn on Show Update Indicator under the Update Policies category of the Remote Management and Notifications section.

Account Information

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This setting is used to login to your Dropbox account. This can only be done manually at the iPad. To login:

1. In Kiosk Pro settings, scroll down to the Remote Update category and select Dropbox Sync > Account Information.
2. Tap "Link" and log into your Dropbox account.
3. Go back to the Dropbox Sync sub-category and your account name should now be to the right of Account Information where it previously said "Link".

Note: If the "Apps" or "Kiosk Pro" folder are deleted from Dropbox, Kiosk Pro will log out of your Dropbox account.

To unlink your Dropbox account:

1. In Kiosk Pro settings, scroll down to the Remote Update category and select Dropbox Sync > Account Information.
2. Tap "Unlink".
3. A notification confirming that your account had been unlinked will appear. Tap "OK".

Clear Sync History

You can clear all previous Dropbox sync history and requests by tapping "Clear Sync History" in the bottom navigation of the Account Information window. This can be useful if you're seeing problems with Dropbox not syncing as it will start a fresh sync process the next time you run the presentation.

Shared Content Folder

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Define the name of your Shared Content Folder in Dropbox. This allows you to have multiple Shared Content Folders for specific groups of kiosks.

When Kiosk Pro syncs with Dropbox for the first time, the Shared Content Folder will be created automatically, named after this setting.

Files placed into the Shared Content Folder in Dropbox will sync to all of your kiosks that have a Shared Content Folder of the same name. The contents of this folder will sync directly to Kiosk Pro's documents folder. For example, if you want to set your Homepage to a file "start.html" that is placed in your Shared Content Folder in Dropbox, the filepath would just be "start.html".

This folder syncs one-way: changes made to files in the Shared Content Folder on Dropbox will happen in Kiosk Pro's documents folder as well. However, changing files in Kiosk Pro's documents folder will not affect the Shared Content Folder on Dropbox.

Restricted Sync List

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Restrict certain files and folders in the Shared Content Folder from syncing to your kiosk. This setting only applies to the Shared Content Folder - it does not apply to the Unique Content Folder.

The path is relative to the Shared Content Folder, so the input should start with the file or folder name you want to restrict. For example, if you set this to video.mp4, this video file will not sync from Dropbox to the kiosk. Multiple files that need to be restricted can be separated with semicolons. For example, video.mp4;demo.pdf will restrict both files from syncing.

You can also use wildcards (*) to stand in for certain parts of a path. For example, *.pdf would restrict any PDF file from syncing.

Unique Content Folder

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The Unique Content Folder syncs content to and from a specific kiosk.

When Kiosk Pro syncs with Dropbox for the first time, if you have a Unique iPad ID set, a Unique Content Folder will be created automatically in Dropbox. This folder will be named the same as your Unique iPad ID. For example, if your Unique iPad ID is set to store123, the folder in Dropbox will be called "store123".

A folder will also be created in Kiosk Pro's documents folder named "UniqueContent". Files placed into the Unique Content Folder in Dropbox will sync to the "UniqueContent" folder in Kiosk Pro. For example, if you want to set your Homepage to a file "start.html" that is placed in your Unique Content Folder in Dropbox, the filepath would be "UniqueContent/start.html".

Changes made to files in the Unique Content Folder in Dropbox will happen in Kiosk Pro's documents folder as well. However, changes made to files in the "UniqueContent" folder in Kiosk Pro will only sync to Dropbox when a JavaScript API call is triggered to change a file.

The only time files in Kiosk Pro's Unique Content folder will sync to Dropbox is when a JavaScript API call is triggered to make changes to a file. For example, when using the Store Form Data API to save form data to a CSV file.

Log Sync Sessions

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Automatically create a log of sync sessions that shows which files have been synced from Dropbox.

A Unique iPad ID must be set in Kiosk Pro for this setting to work. This log includes any changes made to files on the device by Dropbox, including timestamps of file creation, modification, and deletion. The log is stored in .csv format in the Unique Content Folder.

As an example, if your Unique iPad ID is set as store123, the sync log would be named '__store123_syncLog__.csv' and would be located at:

• Dropbox: Apps/Kiosk Pro/Hallway/__store123_syncLog__.csv OR Company/User/Apps/Kiosk Pro/Hallway/__store123_syncLog__.csv
• Kiosk Pro: UniqueContent/__store123_syncLog__.csv

Note: While testing, make sure the .csv document is not left open during a sync session as this could possibly cause a scenario where the sync log is overwritten and does not accurately reflect the state of the kiosk. Changes to the sync log itself are not logged (as this would create a feedback loop).

Limitations

The only limitation that we've run up against to date in using Dropbox is the number of files to be transferred.

We don't have a hard number here since this limitation appears to be a function of how the Dropbox API communicates, but we've only seen issues with syncing projects with a very large number of files (>1,000). A vast majority of projects do not come up against this limit, but if you are architecting a new project where you plan to use Dropbox sync, we recommend doing so in a way that keeps the total number of files required to a minimum.