Disconnected App With DBF Tables??

[kiwibruce]

Hi
I have a new client that has a heavy investment in V11 Desktop Apps which run over DBF tables
I am tasked with building new Disconnected app to run on iPads. we now have V12 running on their system.
Up to this point I have always built over SQL Server so never even had to think about this.

So here is the silly question... can disconnected Apps work with DBF tables?
I think I know the answer, but I have to ask.

Thanks in advance

[Steve Workings]

Re: Disconnected App With DBF Tables??

Yes. Either way you need to store the data somehow while disconnected and then be able to manage it when you have the connection again. Feed it up and down with JSON then use the necessary Xbasic to work with the tables - just as you would with SQL.

[kiwibruce]

Re: Disconnected App With DBF Tables??

Yes. Either way you need to store the data somehow while disconnected and then be able to manage it when you have the connection again. Feed it up and down with JSON then use the necessary Xbasic to work with the tables - just as you would with SQL.

Hi Steve,
I am asking in relation to the built-in Offline stuff Alpha does with with Lists. does that work with DBF tables?

[Steve Workings]

Re: Disconnected App With DBF Tables??

I've not tried lists against a DBF but I think that won't work well - directly. But what would work well is the relatively simple code to populate the lists:

var listObj = {dialog.object}.getControl('LIST1');
var _d = [
		{firstname: 'John', lastname: 'Smith'},
		{firstname: 'Fred', lastname: 'Harris'}
	]
listObj.populate(_d);

And then there are many ways to handle the disconnected data -- I usually store it all as a javascript array (or, an array of javascript arrays) easily parked in local storage. Then you still have to parse it out and manage it to the tables no matter what back end you're using.

Now, things like data/write conflicts done directly in the list component probably will be tough to manage. But now we're getting into the details of what this app needs to do and that is going to matter quite a bit if you have more questions.

Or, time to prevail on them to consider a move to SQL. It's going to be harder and harder in the long run to find developers who will know how to manage dbf data vs. SQL - whether it's with their local system or the mobile.

[kiwibruce]

Re: Disconnected App With DBF Tables??

Or, time to prevail on them to consider a move to SQL. It's going to be harder and harder in the long run to find developers who will know how to manage dbf data vs. SQL - whether it's with their local system or the mobile.

Thanks Steve, I will get them to head down the SQL Server route.