Using a network client offline for extended periods

With the summer season coming to an end for many parks, we're getting questions about taking a computer "offline" to use during the winter for reservations.  If you only use one computer (or don't use networking and need to just copy the database back and forth between the main computer and a laptop), then this is a simple matter of using the Backup and Restore functions to transfer the database when needed.

However there is a special consideration if you're using the networking functionality and your laptop (or whatever computer you'll be using "offline" for an extended period) is a client on the network instead of the Master.

You can either make the laptop act as the Master while you're disconnected or select the "Work Offline" option under Network Functions (which would have to be done each time you use it), but the main thing is to avoid changing "This workstation's ID" of a workstation -- this would cause problems with synchronizing data later, so avoid changing this for any reason.

The recommended procedure would be to go into the Network Setup and change the "Master (server) workstation ID" to match "This workstation's ID" (e.g. '2').  Now it won't need to connect with the old master since it's considered a master itself.  of course, be sure that all computers are synchronized and up to date before doing this, and avoid using the other computers again until you're ready to connect back up as described below.

When you're ready to connect back to the original master, first make a Backup from the laptop BEFORE connecting back up to the server (otherwise all of your new data could be lost), and use the Restore function to restore the backup to the server.  Then go back into Network Setup on the laptop and change the Master's ID back to 0 (or whatever it was before), and it should connect to the original master as usual.

If you don't have a way to transfer a backup from the laptop to the original master, then an alternative would be to change the Network Setup of ALL of the computers so that the laptop is the new master (e.g. change the "Master ID" on all of them to '2' so they connect with the laptop -- and you will also need to change the Master's IP address to the laptop's IP address).  Then it will be able to transfer the whole database from the laptop to the other computers. Once they're all in sync, you can change the network settings back to their original settings, restoring the original Master.