Ok… I know about setting the Plist entry to enable file sharing so that the contents of an iPhone/IPad apps /DOCUMENTS directory will appear in iTunes when the device is connected to the desktop computer…
The question is… Can an XOJO Desktop app detect that file? and if so, can it update the file in such a manner that the iPhone/iPad app will be able to use said changes?
Have you looked into using iCloud? I think you can register the bundles so the apps can talk and send data to each other, and I believe this is the recommended method.
yes… but
a) I don’t trust iCloud (or any other remote storage system not under my control)
b) since I don’t trust it, I’m not going to force/require/reccommend my customers use it
And I have found a series of steps where the user maintains direct control of the files,
https://forum.xojo.com/5012-sync-two-db
This (my opinion) will actually be more secure as it doesn’t expose the data to WiFi (unless the user so chooses), and gives them control as to when and how the data moves
I’ve seen apps where the “I” device contacts a desktop app via WiFi and they chat about what records to update etc… .which is fine for a few hundred (thousand) records in one or two tables… but this database currently has 47 tables and while they are not “huge”, there could be a lot of updates. I think the way I described above lets the desktop do all the work, and interact with the user for conflicts etc
There are indeed apps that can access the iPhone as a USB drive.
http://www.ehow.com/how_7737700_use-iphone-usb-drive-itunes.html among other links, cites several for Mac and PC.
On SO, I found a thread about accessing the iPhone as a drive :
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5844586/where-is-the-mount-point-for-the-ipod-iphone-in-mac/5845648#5845648
It talks about a LibiMobileDevice library meant to do just what you describe. Not quite sure how it can be used in Xojo. Maybe Christian can help ?
Thanks… I think I will (for now) go with the iTunes solution, as it does not require the end user to install anything “else” on their computer as they must have iTunes anyways
iTunes is not required anymore to use an iOS device 
Updates and such is OTA(Over the Air) and backups are mostly done to iCloud.
That said, I do think most have iTunes installed…It is pre-installed on OS X, not on Windows though 
How does one INSTALL software on an iPhone/iPad on a Windows machine without the use of iTunes?
as I’ve said. I don’t trust the cloud, and won’t require that anyone else trust it either
[quote=213701:@Dave S]How does one INSTALL software on an iPhone/iPad on a Windows machine without the use of iTunes?
as I’ve said. I don’t trust the cloud, and won’t require that anyone else trust it either[/quote]
You should simply instruct the user how to install iTunes as a requisite.
But they must have already installed iTunes or they wouldn’t have been able to download any apps to start with…
but no matter,
[quote=213742:@Dave S]But they must have already installed iTunes or they wouldn’t have been able to download any apps to start with…
but no matter,[/quote]
Not any more. It is entirely possible to purchase and use an iPhone without having iTunes on your computer. You can’t backup your phone so it might not be the smartest, but it will still work.
iCloud!
quit with the iCloud… that is never going to happen with any device I own, or any software I create.
Heck even the company I work for forbids the use of an iCloud enabled app on any device.
Did you ever tried iCloud? Its not that bad you descibe as ‘untrusty’.
Dixit Bob Dylan: ‘Passion is a young man’s game, older people gotta be wise’
Because my apps are for my personnal use and fun, I don’t mind NSA spying on them so I am looking for a way to access a sqlite file located in my iCloud drive from my iPad with Xojo. I am using iTune sharing now, but it would be cool to spare the trouble.