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