vb.net CF for pda

[Brian]

Hello all, we have visual studio 2003 and want to create an application
on a pda that will go talk to the sql server and pull some data into the
local tables so that they can be displayed while the guys are out in the
yard. We are having a little trouble getting started. Can anyone
explain how we get started. we do not run IIS and don't really want to
if this can be helped. if you need more of an explanation of what we
are trying to do please state this. TIA

 

[Ginny Caughey [MVP]]

Brian,

If you want to use either merge replication or RDA to synchronize data
between the PDA and SQL Server, you will need IIS. If you don't want to set
it up, you can use XML or CSV as an intermediate format between the SQL
Server data and your device, but you will have to write the sync code
yourself.

Since you're just getting started, I'd suggest waiting just a couple of
weeks for VS 2005. All you'd need is the Standard edition for device
development, and you get lots of tool support and a mch richer framework to
develop against as part of the package.

 

[Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]]

It sounds like your devices are always connected to the network, correct?
If so, you want RDA (remote data access). In this situation, you're
continuously talking directly to the server. No, you don't need to add IIS
to make it work. Look at SqlConnection, which is what you'll use to make
the connection to the server, SqlCommand to send a query, a DataSet to
receive the data, a SqlDataAdapter. If you then set the DataSource for,
say, a DataGrid, to the ds.Tables[0], maybe, you'll see the data in the
DataGrid.

You will need a client access license for each device, of course, for them
to access SQL Server. Don't forget that.

Paul T.

 

[Sebastian@IG&A::]

Ok, some thing to know before start a device app.
- If you want to use th CF, and you don't want to use any third party
data providers, you HAVE to use SQL CE.
- If you're using SQL CE, there are three ways, that I know, in order
to create the data base. 1) Replication with SQL Server and IIS 2) SQL
CE query analizer (not recomended at all) 3) Third party programs that
will help you to create the data base like DeKlarit. You can download
the trail version and create you're database with it, no functionality
limitations, just time. I used all of the above and now I use
replication.

Hope it helps.
Sebastián

 

[Steve B.]

For small database, SQL Server CE edition can be a subscriber of a SQL 2000
Server merge replication.
Be aware that merge replication is quite hard to configure with large
Database (in number of tables, not weight).
You can also implement a custom socket layer (Microsoft still did not
implemented remoting in CF ).
IIS is generally a good solution for building 3 tiers apps. If the licence
is what you want to avoid, there is mono implementation that can run on free
systems... but I never tested.

Steve

 

[Arun]

Brian,

First you have to decide on the synchronization technique you are going
to implement in your application. If you have decided not to use IIS,
then the option is minimal as RDA, Merge Replication and Web Services
depends on IIS and HTTP transport.

If your data is minimal, you can opt for Active Sync synchronization of
files either CSV or text files.

You can even opt to connect to SQL Server directly from the Pocket PC
using System.Data.SqlClient.

Check out this thread for more information on the Synchronization
technique.

http://groups.google.com/group/micr...2dd72c3?q=Arun+darren&rnum=1#dfdb90f262dd72c3

There is a link to Darren Shaffer's Webcast in the above thread link,
don't miss that.

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Arun.