Microsoft Sync Framework

Microsoft Sync Framework is a comprehensive synchronization platform that enables collaboration and offline access for applications, services, and devices. Sync Framework features technologies and tools that enable roaming, sharing of data, and taking data offline. By using Sync Framework, developers can build synchronization ecosystems that integrate any application with any data from any store, by using any protocol over any network.

This documentation covers the core Sync Framework components. Sync Framework provides an API that enables you to build applications that target offline and collaboration scenarios for custom data stores. Sync Framework also provides components that enable you to synchronize data between a FeedSync feed, such as an RSS or Atom feed, and a custom data store. This documentation also contains an introduction to the API, how-to topics, and managed and unmanaged API reference topics.

For information about documentation for other Sync Framework components, see this Microsoft Web site.

In This Section

• Sync Framework Overview
  Describes the technologies and architecture of Sync Framework and the advantages of using Sync Framework in your applications.

• Sync Framework Core Participant Types
  Describes the type of participants that can synchronize data using Sync Framework. These participants include full participants that can host the Sync Framework runtime to simple participants that can do nothing more than store item data.

• Fundamentals of Data Synchronization
  Describes the basics of using Sync Framework to synchronize data. Describes how the metadata, providers, and session work together to achieve synchronization.

• Understanding Synchronization Knowledge
  Provides a high-level view of the knowledge structure and how it is used in synchronization.

• Metadata Management
  Describes the metadata structures used in synchronization, strategies for properly managing metadata in a replica, and the metadata storage service.

• Synchronization Providers
  Describes the tasks that are required of a synchronization provider, and provides links to topics that show how to create a simple provider.

• Synchronization Applications
  Describes the tasks that are required of a synchronization application, and provides links to topics that show how to create a simple application.

• Custom Data Synchronization Samples
  Describes the samples that are provided with Sync Framework.

• Synchronizing RSS and Atom Feeds
  Describes Sync Services for FeedSync. Sync Services is used to synchronize RSS and Atom feeds with data in a local store.

• Microsoft Sync Framework Managed Reference: Microsoft.Synchronization and Microsoft.Synchronization.FeedSync
  Provides reference material for the namespaces, types and members in the Sync Framework managed API.

• Microsoft Sync Framework Unmanaged Reference: Sync Framework Core Components and Sync Services for FeedSync Components
  Provides reference material for the interfaces, functions, and data types in the Sync Framework unmanaged API.

• Sync Framework Glossary
  Defines terms that are used in the Sync Framework documentation.