Field Service Assistant





FAQ - Please review these questions before sending an email!

- Will this program work on other platforms?
- Do you plan on writing a version of FieldService for any other mobile platforms?
- Can I put the Daily Text, the NWT, or the WT CDROM on my iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad?
- Will you write a custom program just for me?
- You have a problem with simple addition, the report screen doesn't add the time properly!
- Will this program work on the iPad?
- How do I make the program work in Spanish, or another language?
- How do I delete the contact group "Return Visits ..." after I deleted Field Service Assistant?
- After updating to version 3.2.2, the date in the "Record Time" tab won't advance to Today
- How do I change a study back to a return visit?
- Field Service just crashes, what can I do?
- How to I migrate my data to a new phone?



Please read the instructions on this website and the Frequenlty Asked Questions before sending an email. Please understand that I have a full time job, and I spend close to 50 hours per month in service.  Work on this program is done in spare time.  So far, the program has 3,000 hours of development time spanning about 40 months. Bug reports are welcome and encouraged!  Please be respectful, not demanding or self entitled, keeping in mind that you did not pay anything for the program and you are getting support for free!  If you expect me to help you, then I expect common courtesy from you.  That is fair, right?  This means a properly formatted EMAIL THAT IS SIGNED BY YOU!  The words "Please", and "Thank you" are appreciated.  Please understand that there are over 86,000 users and only one person is writing the code, doing the videos, the artwork, and doing customer support for 86,000+ people.  It is impossible to support everyone.  Send an email only if it is REALLY important.  If you still have unanswered questions, or would like to report a bug or make a suggestion, please send an email by clicking here.  UNSIGNED EMAILS WILL NOT RECEIVE A RESPONSE.

Information that is useful to include:

- Computer OS (Mac, Win XP, Vista, Win 7, etc.)

- Version of the OS (iOS 2.x, iOS 3.x, iOS 4.x)

- Version of FieldService
- If you are syncing contacts via gmail exchange or Microsoft Exchange
- Crash reports

- Version of FieldService:
You can find this by launching the settings application on your iPhone/iPod/iPad.
Go to Settings > FieldService. The version is at the end of the settings.

- Crash reports
Field Service generated a crash report when it crashed. You can retrieve it and send it for analysis.
First, connect your iPhone/iPod/iPad to your computer, and sync your device via iTunes. After you have done this, your crash report has been moved to your computer. You can find your crash report in the following locations:

Mac:
[your home folder]/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/[device_name]

Windows XP:
\Documents and Settings\[your_username]\Application Data\Apple Computer\Logs\Crash Reporter\Mobile Device\[device_name]

Windows Vista and 7:
\Users\[your_username]\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\Logs\CrashReporter\Mobile Device\[device_name]

If you are having trouble finding a crash report, this website explains how to find the crash reports:

http://aplus.rs/apple/how-to-find-crash-logs-for-iphone-applications-on-mac-vista-and-xp/


After you have found your crash reports, you can email them to here.





Will this program work on other platforms?

Field Service Assistant only works on iOS (iPhone, iPod touch and iPad).





Do you plan on writing a version of FieldService for any other phones (Android, Windows mobile, Blackberry, etc.)?

The first version of FieldService took a year to write during nights and weekends, this includes learning a new operating system (Cocoa Touch) and a new language (Objective C).
It would be great to have a version of FieldService for all of the different phone platforms, but there are simply no resources available to do the work.

Here are some alternatives you can try:

For Windows Mobile: My Ministry
For Android: Service Time
For Blackberry: FieldBerry
For Linux, Windows, Nokia N9/950, N900
 FieldService
Other Devices: No Information





Can I put the Daily Text, the NWT, or the WT CDROM on my iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad?

The daily text, NWT, Bible teach book, latest magazines are easy to install on your mobile device.


First, make sure you have iBooks installed on your iPhone/iPod/iPad.  If you don't, it is a free download:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibooks/id364709193?mt=8

To download the daily text, navigate to
http://www.jw.org/index.html?option=QrYQCsVrGlBBX

To download the NWT, navigate to:
http://www.jw.org/index.html?option=QrYQCsVrGlVlYR

It you would like to download the latest magazines, navigate here:
http://www.jw.org/index.html?option=QrYQCsVrGZNT

PDF files look exactly like the printed publication.  EPUB documents have all of the cited scriptures included.

Once you have downloaded the publication on your device, a button will appear "Open in iBooks".  Touch this button.  The publication will be saved in iBooks for your enjoyment.

You can put the CDROM program on the iPhone or iPod touch, but it requires some work. First, you need to get a copy of the converted CDROM data into .pdb format. You now have to find somone that has the files that knows you. I do not distribute these files. (There was, some time ago, a group on Yahoo groups, where you could download these files, but it is closed now.) The files you need is:
- WTPub-EN-DX-2008a.pdb
- WTPub-EN-Full-2008a.pdb

Next, you will need to purchase the program called iSilo for iPhone and iPod, it currently costs $10. Here is the link:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284979163&mt=8
iSilo has instructions for how to transfer the files you downloaded onto the iPhone/iPod touch. Here is a link to the instructions:
http://www.isilo.com/iPhone/iSilo/

Follow those diretions, and you should have the CDROM on your device.





Will you write a program just for me?

It takes considerable effort to write a program for the iPhone, there are no resources available to do this.  I spend roughly 50 hours per month in the ministry, I have a full time job, and I work on this program and provide support in the evening after work.  Every minute of every day is scheduled.  Lots of people ask for me to write them a program so they can make money.  Is that fair?  Would you ask a secular iPhone developer to give you thousands of hours of development time for free so you can make money?  Please do not ask me this question, there are NO exceptions.


If you want to learn how to write a program on your own, the development tools, documentation, along with tutorials are freely available.


Here is a link to the developer website

http://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/index.action

Registration is free, but a Macintosh is required for development.


What it takes to write a release an iPhone app:

01.  Understanding of computer programming concepts, algorithms, memory management, etc.
02.  Knowledge of C, Objective-C, XCode, Interface builder, international localization, etc.
03.  Understanding of iOS libraries and APIs
04.  Understanding of Apple's user interface guidelines
05.  Web page server and support website, knowledge of html
06.  Some means of customer support
07.  Setup of a company such as an LLC for liability protection is recommended.
08.  Photoshop/GIMP experience for icon design
09.  Developer fees from Apple, web hosting fees, and legal fees.
10.  Marketing to build visibility and create demand.
11.  Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of time!

You have a problem with simple addition, the report screen doesn't add the time properly!

The math is correct!
Time recorded in the report screen is shown in hours, not hours and minutes. There are no colons to separate hours and minutes, there is a decimal point to show time in hours.
The "Record Time" screen explains that you can "Enter time with a . (Ex. 2.5), or a : (Ex. 2:30). Take the example of 2 and 1/2 hours. 2 and 1/2 hours is 2.5 hours, it is also 2 hours and 30 minutes which is denoted as 2:30.
If you enter your time with a colon, it will be converted to hours in the "Report" screen. If you enter 2:30, this will appear as 2.5 in the "Report" screen.

Since all of the time is displayed in hours in the "Report" screen, the numbers are easy to add because there is only one unit (hours) instead of two (hours and minutes).
If you don't like this, you can change the time to display in hours and minutes with a colon. Go to Settings > FieldService, and then set the "Hours and Minutes" to "ON".





Will this program work on the iPad?

It works beginning with version 2.7.7. Basic support for the iPad started with version 3.2.2.

How do I make the program work in Spanish, or another language?

If your language is supported by field service, Launch the settings application.
Settings > General > International
Set your keyboard to one you like, Spanish or English, or the language of your choice. Set the region format to the country of your choice, this is how you will see dates and numbers.
Next, set your language to Spanish, or to the the language you prefer.





I deleted Field Service Assistant, and I can't delete the contacts group starting with "Return Visits ..."
The program was designed to handle this...

• First, you need to re-install Field Service Assistant if you previously deleted it.
• Launch the settings application, and go to the settings for Field Service Assistant.
• Turn on the setting, "Enable Multiple Users".
• Next, launch Field Service Assistant.
• After that, go to the "Users" tab that appears at the bottom when Multiple Users is enabled.
• Delete the *all* of the users in the users tab.
• After doing that, immediately quit field service assistant.
• The groups in the contacts application should be gone from your iPhone/iPod/iPad.



After updating to version 3.2.2, the date in the "Record Time" tab won't advance to Today
This problem was fixed with version 3.2.7.  Please update the app accordingly.  Thanks!



How do I change a study back to a return visit?

This is easy to do.  Just view the study you wish to change back to a return visit.  Swipe to delete the date with the label, "Last Study"



Field Service just crashes, what can I do?
I'm very sorry you are having troubles.  I would like to do all I can to prevent this, but it might happen now and again.

First, please update to the latest version of 3.3.5 as of 12/3/11.

If you have the latest version installed, please try to launch the program 6 times in a row.  It should crash 5 of those times.  The program will detect that it has crashed 5 times and will reset some issues and hopefully launch on the 6th attempt.

If, by this point, the app still crashes, please send an email to support

Information that is useful to include:

- Computer OS (Mac, Win XP, Vista, Win 7, etc.)

- Version of the OS (iOS 2.x, iOS 3.x, iOS 4.x, iOS 5.x)

- Version of FieldService
- How do you sync contacts (Microsoft Exchange, gmail, hotmail, iCloud, etc).
- Crash reports

- Version of FieldService:
You can find this by launching the settings application on your iPhone/iPod/iPad.
Go to Settings > FieldService. The version is at the end of the settings.

- Crash reports
Field Service generated a crash report when it crashed. You can retrieve it and send it for analysis.
First, connect your iPhone/iPod/iPad to your computer, and sync your device via iTunes. After you have done this, your crash report has been moved to your computer. You can find your crash report in the following locations:

Mac:
[your home folder]/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/[device_name]

Windows XP:
\Documents and Settings\[your_username]\Application Data\Apple Computer\Logs\Crash Reporter\Mobile Device\[device_name]

Windows Vista and 7:
\Users\[your_username]\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\Logs\CrashReporter\Mobile Device\[device_name]

If you are having trouble finding a crash report, this website explains how to find the crash reports:

http://aplus.rs/apple/how-to-find-crash-logs-for-iphone-applications-on-mac-vista-and-xp/

How do I migrate my information from an old phone to a new phone?

This isn't too hard to do.
First, you need to connect the old device to iTunes and do a backup of that device.
Here is a link that explains how to do this:
http://fieldserviceassistant.com/backuprestore.htm

After you have completed the backup of the old device, connect the new device to your computer via iTunes.

Restore the contents of the old device onto the new device.
The same link explains how to restore from a previous backup:
http://fieldserviceassistant.com/backuprestore.htm


Thanks.

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