Working Offline

If the Therefore™ Anywhere feature is installed, users can copy some or all documents from a category to their local repository and work with them offline.

When they connect to the Therefore™ Server again, all changes will be synchronized: documents changed on the server are downloaded to the local repository and offline changes are uploaded to the server.

If version conflicts occur they can be resolved by the user.

Therefore™ Anywhere Migration

Starting with Therefore™ 2026 for On-Premises users and the Therefore™ Online v35 server upgrade for Therefore™ Online users, support of SQL CE 4.0 (SQL Compact) as the offline database used by Therefore™ Anywhere is discontinued. Therefore™ Anywhere now requires SQL Express in order to function. Administrators can find instructions on how to migrate the SQL CE 4.0 database to SQL Express below.

Prerequisites

In order for Therefore™ Anywhere to function, the following components need to be installed on a client PC, meaning a PC where Therefore™ Navigator is running.

As in previous versions of Therefore™, only Named Users for which the option 'Work Offline' has been checked can use Therefore™ Anywhere and take documents offline. This option can be found by right-clicking on the Therefore™ root object > selecting 'License' > 'Named Users' tab > checking the checkbox in the column labeled 'Work Offline'.

Creating a New Offline Database

This option is for users who want to use Therefore™ Anywhere with a new offline database instead of migrating an existing one.

Once the prerequisites are fulfilled, the creation of a new offline database can be done in the same way as in older versions of Therefore™, namely by right-clicking on a Therefore™ document or case definition in the Therefore™ Navigator hit-list and selecting the option 'Make Available Offline'.

Migrating an Existing Offline Database

This option is for users who want to use Therefore™ Anywhere with a an existing offline database.

To keep using the old offline database it needs to be migrated from SQL CE 4.0 to SQL Express.

  • Unpack the Therefore™ Anywhere Upgrade Kit zip archive and save the 'ExportSqlCe40.exe' utility to the client PC.

  • Copy the PowerShell script 'AnywhereUpdate.ps1' from the kit to the same folder as 'ExportSqlCe40.exe'.

  • Run the script 'AnywhereUpdate.ps1' with administrator privileges.

  • While running the script, enter the SQL Express instance name to which the offline database will be migrated. By default this is '.\SQLEXPRESS'.

  • Running the script creates a logfile called 'export_log.txt' where the process can be reviewed.

After running the script, the options related to Therefore™ Anywhere - Synchronization tab, 'Work Offline/Connect to Server' - should be visible in the UI again.

Therefore™ Anywhere Migration

Starting with Therefore™ 2026 for On-Premises users and the Therefore™ Online v35 server upgrade for Therefore™ Online users, support of SQL CE 4.0 (SQL Compact) as the offline database used by Therefore™ Anywhere is discontinued. Therefore™ Anywhere now requires SQL Express in order to function. Administrators can find instructions on how to migrate the SQL CE 4.0 database to SQL Express below.

Prerequisites

In order for Therefore™ Anywhere to function, the following components need to be installed on a client PC, meaning a PC where Therefore™ Navigator is running.

As in previous versions of Therefore™, only Named Users for which the option 'Work Offline' has been checked can use Therefore™ Anywhere and take documents offline. This option can be found by right-clicking on the Therefore™ root object > selecting 'License' > 'Named Users' tab > checking the checkbox in the column labeled 'Work Offline'.

Creating a New Offline Database

This option is for users who want to use Therefore™ Anywhere with a new offline database instead of migrating an existing one.

Once the prerequisites are fulfilled, the creation of a new offline database can be done in the same way as in older versions of Therefore™, namely by right-clicking on a Therefore™ document or case definition in the Therefore™ Navigator hit-list and selecting the option 'Make Available Offline'.

Migrating an Existing Offline Database

This option is for users who want to use Therefore™ Anywhere with a an existing offline database.

To keep using the old offline database it needs to be migrated from SQL CE 4.0 to SQL Express.

  • Unpack the Therefore™ Anywhere Upgrade Kit zip archive and save the 'ExportSqlCe40.exe' utility to the client PC.

  • Copy the PowerShell script 'AnywhereUpdate.ps1' from the kit to the same folder as 'ExportSqlCe40.exe'.

  • Run the script 'AnywhereUpdate.ps1' with administrator privileges.

  • While running the script, enter the SQL Express instance name to which the offline database will be migrated. By default this is '.\SQLEXPRESS'.

  • Running the script creates a logfile called 'export_log.txt' where the process can be reviewed.

After running the script, the options related to Therefore™ Anywhere - Synchronization tab, 'Work Offline/Connect to Server' - should be visible in the UI again.

Working Offline

  1. Right-click on the category containing the documents that should be taken offline. Click 'Make Available Offline' to take the documents offline. It is also possible to do a document search and then take individual documents offline.

    All cases and their documents can be taken offline by right-clicking on the case definition and selecting 'Make Available Offline'.

  2. In the filter define a subset of documents to take offline. Click 'Apply' when done. Therefore™ will now create an offline copy of these documents. If this is the first time the feature is being used, Therefore™ will proceed to create an offline SQL database from scratch which may take some time.

  3. A status button at the bottom right of the screen labeled 'Connected to Server' is displayed. Click on the button and select the option to 'Work Offline'. The status button is changed to Working Offline.

  4. When the system should be synchronized click on the Working Offline status button and choose 'Connect to Server'.

    If a conflict arises during synchronization it can be resolved from the Synchronization tab of the ribbon menu.

    To do so, right-click on a conflicting document. A context menu will open with the option to view the local version, the server version, or the original version. Decide which version to keep and select the relevant option:

    • Discard Local Changes: revert to the version on the server

    • Overwrite Server Changes: keep the local version

    If the desired version is a mix between the two documents check the document out and make the edits manually. Checking the document back in will create a new version and resolve the conflict.

  5. The Status button opens a dialog that displays the synchronization status. Synchronization can also be started manually by clicking the Start button.