MobiLink Synchronization User's Guide
  Synchronization Basics
    Consolidated database

How remote tables relate to consolidated tables

Synchronization designs can specify mappings between tables and rows in the remote database with tables and rows in the consolidated database.

Arbitrary relationships permitted 

Tables in a remote database need not be identical to those in the consolidated database. Synchronized data in one remote application table can be distributed between columns in different tables, and even between tables in different consolidated databases. You specify these relationships using synchronization scripts.

Synchronization scripts are associated with the consolidated database. SQL scripts are stored in the consolidated database, and Java and .NET scripts are referenced.

Direct relationships are simple 

You can often simplify your design using a table structure in the remote database that is a subset of that in the consolidated database. Using this method, every table in the remote database exists in the consolidated database. Corresponding tables have the same structure and foreign key relationships as those in the consolidated database.

Tables in the consolidated database will frequently contain extra columns that are not synchronized. Indeed, extra columns can aid synchronization. For example, a timestamp column can identify new or updated rows in the consolidated database. In other cases, extra columns or tables in the consolidated database may hold information that is not required at remote sites.