Cool!
 
BTW I complained to HanDBase about not being able to specify the folder you want the PDA to sync to, and one of their techs responded that they are actually working on this.  They're getting really close to a really useful product, if they don't get too greedy.

-----Original Message-----
From: McCanlies, Jeff 
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2002 3:49 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: HanDBase WorkAround


I just got a call from Radiation Safety and they are looking to do these types of things also.  I told him to join the listserve and propose his problem for a possible solution.  The flock is growing.
 
Please look for future postings by them and respond if you can be of any help.
 
Thanks

-----Original Message-----
From: Cacy, Jim R. 
Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2002 3:16 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: HanDBase WorkAround


HanDBase is probably one of the oldest PDA databases.  They started with the Palm OS, but they recently came out with a PocketPC version and an ODBC driver.  It's nice and stable, reasonably easy to use, and their support is pretty good.  And it's relatively cheap.  Oh, it's also cross-platform compatible.  If you develop for Palm, you can use the database on a PocketPC and vice versa.  Or you can develop in the desktop and install the database to either Palm or PocketPC (there are separate executables for the Palm and the PocketPC.)
 
HanDBase has its limitations, one of the worst being is that there is currently no way to sync multiple users into one big central database.  HanDBase creates a default folder for each PDA that syncs with the local machine, so that each user has his or her own folder, data segregated from others.
 
Until the ODBC driver came along, the only way to merge multiple users was by hand, exporting one table at a time into a spreadsheet or database where you could then use those tools to merge data from multiple users.   With the ODBC driver you still have to do everything on the local machine under one user logon (so that all PDA folders go into the same My Documents folder), but once you get everything set up the PDAs will automatically transmit  their data into one Access database where you can set up standard queries to run merges, different views, etc.  That is, you will still have one table for each user, linked into a receiving Access database, but each table will be sync'ed with that user when he or she syncs, without you having to do manual exporting etc.  (Note:  Don't have the Access database open when someone syncs, or it won't update.  Also, if you add data on the PDA, you have to close HanDBase before it will sync.)
 
Like I said, so far I've only been able to get this to work on the local machine.  You have to use the default folder that HanDBase creates within the My Documents folder of the logged-on user, which gives you a separate folder for each PDA.  And the Access database you're using to create ODBC links to the multiple tables has to be on the local machine (i.e. a user type ODBC datasource).  It would really be cool if the Access database could be on a server and still receive data from the machine doing the sync'ing, but HanDBase doesn't seem to be there yet.  The help file for the ODBC driver seems to indicate that you can define a user, system, or file DSN, but so far I've only gotten the user DSN to work.  Maybe we can hear from some ODBC gurus for some tips and tricks here.
 
Anyway, for those of you using HanDBase and having to spend a lot of time patching data together from multiple users, this is a workaround that can ease things up a bit.  I don't know yet how robust it is, but I will report back after I give it a workout with some sample data.
 
Jim