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The only metadata that is synced every time is the schema. The other metadata types are only synced if flagged. There are three ways to cause a metadata sync are:

1. Initial Sync

2. Manual Refresh

3. Forced Refresh

Initial Sync

The first time a user installs and logs into Pulsar, an initial sync occurs, and the metadata and data download to the user’s device.

Manual Refresh

The user may initiate a metadata sync by pressing Refresh Settings and then Sync Now. The user may do this because the admin notifies them of metadata changes, such as permission changes or the addition of fields to a layout. Another common reason to use a manual refresh is if the user notices some fields are missing from a particular layout. On a manual refresh, when possible, Pulsar also tries to apply some optimizations when querying for metadata if the API makes it possible. For example, in FSL enabled orgs, querying for Service Report Templates that have changed (based on their last modified date) since the last successful sync.

Forced Refresh

An admin can force a metadata sync using Pulsar Settings. The admin can use pulsar.sync.enableOneTimeSessionRefresh with a value of TRUE to force a metadata sync on the next catch-up sync. For more information about how to do this, refer to Data Sync settings.

It is important to note that a metadata sync can be forced without a change to the value in this Pulsar SettingsSetting, by updating the last modified date of the Pulsar settings file. To do this, click edit to open the Pulsar Settings filepulsar.sync.enableOneTimeSessionRefresh, and then click save the file without making changes. The last modified date will be updated, forcing a metadata sync the next time the user opens Pulsar or when a catch-up sync happens.

Initial Sync

When a user has an initial sync, the metadata will sync. To force this to happen, a user can delete the profile (and all the data for that profile) from the device, and then log in again. However, this can be time-consuming because all the data for all the objects must be downloaded again.

Why Does Pulsar Sync Metadata This Way?

Pulsar’s initial sync may take quite a bit of time, due to the amount of data and metadata. This option forces a metadata re-sync, so everything gets refreshed on the app as it doesn’t apply the last modified date optimization.

Why Doesn’t Pulsar Sync Metadata During Every Catch-Up Sync?

Most customers want the catchup sync to run fast and metadata sync can be time consuming depending on the number of items it has to download and process. So, Pulsar saves the user time by not syncing all the metadata during each time. Pulsar queries the server to find the last modified date for the metadata and then downloads only the changes.

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subsequent catch-up sync. This is the reason why the refresh settings scenarios described above exist. They trigger a metadata sync.

Special Scenarios

There are some scenarios in which the last modified date for the metadata has not been changed, but a metadata sync is still needed. For example, Permission changes are an example of this. If the admin grants a user access to a field after their initial sync. The , the field will may not automatically appear to the user in the layout. The user attempts to update their layout information by performing a manual refresh. The user presses Refresh Settings and then Sync Now, but the layout still does not update to display the new field. In this case, the admin wants to force a metadata update to allow that new field to appear on the layout for the user. There was no change to the Pulsar Settings file or to the layout file to flag the metadata for sync using the last modified date. The admin forces an update to the last modified date by opening the Pulsar Settings file setting pulsar.sync.enableOneTimeSessionRefresh and saving it. Then the admin instructs the user to try a manual refresh catchup sync again. This time, the user is successful.

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