Handhelds/PDA's

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sam Goddard
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Sam Goddard

Hello all. I'm trying to create a project that will use Access XP with VBA.
Theidea is to have a database on the server & to be able to interact with it
using handheld devices. As far as I understand, I need to have Access XP
installed on each client that wants to access the program. Is this the case?

If so, can I install it on a handheld PDA, say one that is using the Windows
Mobile 2003 Operating License?

Thanks

Sam
 
don't think so
there is however Visual Basic for CE available
and I presume you won't be needing /using many forms on the PDA, so that is
an option
I haven't gotten around to test VBCE yet so I can't tell you much more I'm
afraid

Pieter
 
What is the best way of using a handheld device within a warehousing
environment in order that it can make use of access databases? Is it best to
create a web-based project that the devices can interact with or is there
another way that I am as yet unaware of?

Thanks

Sam
 
A web-based app works well if the device will have a constant connection to
the web server (e.g. wireless networking, and the device is never out of
range). For disconnected use, SQL Server CE is one option. The following
MSDN article is a good starting point ...

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d...ry/en-us/dnppc2k2/html/dataaccessstrategy.asp

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OK

so, assuming that I have wireless networking in my warehouse & I have an
access-based project that can be manipulated with ASP or something similar,
a handeld device can use this.

Basically it's a stock system that will enable users to take orders from
customers & then procees them in the warehouse.

Does this make sense?
 
I never did much work with 'classic' ASP, but I've written a couple of
ASP.NET mobile web apps using Jet databases and yes, it works well under
appropriate conditions. Strictly speaking, and at the risk of sounding
pedantic, there is no "Access-based project" involved in this, though.
There's an ASP.NET application and a JET database, the only use of Access is
during development, to design the database and create queries. While the
application is running, Access is not involved at all.

I'm not sure about the users taking orders from customers using such an app
though - remember the web-based app will only work while the device can
connect to the web server. If you mean users will visit customers, at the
customers' premises, to take the orders, then you're talking about an
intermittently connected scenario where data will need to be cached locally
on the device and merged with the central database later. (Unless you use
something like GRPS for remote access, which, in this part of the world at
least, is ridiculously expensive.) That's certainly doable, but again, not
with Access. You'll likely get more, and more detailed, answers in other
forums that deal with the technologies involved in that scenario.

There is a *lot* of information about this stuff in the MSDN library. Here's
another URL well worth a visit ...
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnanchor/html/anch_mobilewebdev.asp

.... and I can also recommend the books "Building .NET Applications for
Mobile Devices", Andy Wigley and Peter Roxburgh, and "Microsoft .NET Compact
Framework", Andy Wigley and Stephen Wheelwright, both published by Microsoft
Press.

--
Brendan Reynolds (MVP)
http://brenreyn.blogspot.com

The spammers and script-kiddies have succeeded in making it impossible for
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this post will be deleted without being read. Any e-mail claiming to be
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being read. Follow-up questions should in general be posted to the
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a useable e-mail address at the URL above.
 
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