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PDA, old topic, becoming imperitive

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    #16
    RE: PDA, old topic, becoming imperitive

    I have crystal reports as part of Visual Studio.net. Please give me a little insight on how it works as the middle man from a5 to the Pocket PC, or where I might look in the manuals to make it work for me. Does it allow for 2-way updating and synchronization of Alpha dbf tables between PDA and Desktop? I have the A5 runtime and want to distribute an a5 desktop app along with Pocket PC app for field workers to synch to the desktop via activesynch.

    Thanks in advance - Terry

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      #17
      RE: PDA, old topic, becoming imperitive

      Is A6 part of the upcoming web version or are they two seperate products? Thanks for you attention Jerry, I read tons of the forums and am well aware of your extensive knowledge and time you give to others in solving problems.
      I've worked throouh several obstacles by reading your replies to other's problems.

      Thanks - Terry

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        #18
        RE: PDA, old topic, becoming imperitive

        I was simply using Crystal as a reference of a well used program that can readily access Alpha tables with the Visual Foxpro ODBC driver. I was not suggesting it to be used as a synchronization tool for your problem.

        If the Handbase software ( ODBC component ) works as advertised, it seems logigal that it should be able to at least read the Alpha tables.If you set up the ODBC datasource as I suggested, what happens when you try to access one of the tables??

        When you purchased the handbase software, did you purchase the "ODBC" option? It looked to me like that was a separate component.

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          #19
          RE: PDA, old topic, becoming imperitive

          Terry

          There is some information on the Alpha website, particularly about the upcoming changes for V6. You should find what you need there.

          Jerry

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            #20
            RE: PDA, old topic, becoming imperitive

            Terry,

            You need to do a little learning on ODBC. It doesn't just occur, it needs to be set up. There is infomation in the sub directories where you installed the software for both ODBC and the SyncODBC.

            What you want can be done but you need to query the right software - HanDBase not Alpha. Alphas files are about as easy to deal with under ODBC as it comes.

            Doug

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              #21
              RE: PDA, old topic, becoming imperitive

              I'm also in the process of trying to link information from a Alpha database to my PDA. I'm using a Handspring Visor which is Palm based. The databases for the Palm platform still out number the applications for the Pocket PC. Take a look at Satellite forms for the Pocket PC. You can connect to just about anything. WWW.pumatech.com
              I also use a program called thinkdb which was developed by Thinkingbytes. They have a new program developed for the pocket pc. I don't know too much about it however...their site. Thinkingbytes.com
              Hope this helps a little.

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                #22
                RE: PDA, old topic, becoming imperitive

                I've posted several msgs regarding attempts to synch an A5 db to Pocket PC.

                Is PocketPC a requirement, or can you use a Palm?

                This seems like a tremendous oversight in alpha softeware's plans for retaining future market share.

                No, not really. A5's selling point is ease-of-use. Ease-of-use is expensive, in terms of computer resources. Current handhelds don't have those resources to spare.

                We're planning on handheld capabilities for our app. I took the following steps to outline where we would go:

                1. Figure out which part(s) of your app you want to make available on hand-held.

                2. Figure out which tables you're going to influence.

                3. Figure out what operations you're going to need to synch up in-the-field data with homebase data. For example, if someone is measuring stuff in the field, all you need to be able to do is =add= this data to the homebase. Synchronization is a lot more complex if you need a live connection to the homebase complete with full data-entry transaction processing, etc.

                #3 is the critical part. The more power you need in your handheld, the harder it's going to be to provide. The hardware and software gets more expensive. The development time lengthens.

                It's not really an Alpha issue, per se: Alpha will import and export data. A5 does ODBC. You're not going to do too much better than that right now from anyone. The next version will give you TCP/IP connectivity, which will lower the cost of live interaction--but you'll still need to develop screens according to your needs.

                Cross-platform development is generally challenging. There have been a few good tools that made it easier (IBM's PL/I, Watcom's C compilers, the current Delphi/Kylix) but none of them (yet) have worked on palmtops.

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                  #23
                  RE: PDA, old topic, becoming imperitive

                  DDH Software, the developer of HanDBase, has added an article to their knowledgebase about using Alpha Five data with their software: http://www.ddhsoftware.com/knowledgebase.html?read=237.

                  -Lenny

                  Lenny Forziati
                  Vice President, Internet Products and Technical Services
                  Alpha Software Corporation

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                    #24
                    RE: PDA, old topic, becoming imperitive

                    The theory is great. Let me know when you find someone who has successfully made it work.

                    Comment

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