I am developing an android application for rural villages where 3g access is not always present. The application will be based out of a Google Spreadsheet. It should be such that if there is no internet access, new data entered will be stored on a local file and when there is internet connection, it will automatically sync with the online file. What is the method to properly proceed with this? Can i store a local excel file or something similar and then sync that file with the online google spreadsheets? Are they even compatible?
Sorry for the many questions but any help will be great!
The usual way to store structured data on Android is to use an sqlite database. Save your data , then just copy it to the Google spreadsheet using the API. If you want to get fancy, you can write a sync adapter and let the OS schedule it for you. Not sure how well that is going to work if connections are unreliable though.
MyTracks is an open source that does something similar, you can use it as a reference: http://code.google.com/p/mytracks/