Microsoft Access Databases and Pocket PC

[Possum48]

Have a Toshiba e335 with PocketPC 2002 operating system. Have looked in my Programs folder and could not find anything for Pocket Access database program.

I need to load a database onto my PPC and need help in finding a database program that will allow me to use the Access database I am using on my PPC.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Jordan Rosenwald]

There are several third-party options open to you. I'd recommend reading through the forums, as this question has been asked a few times now.
To help you along, look for SprintDB, Pocket Database and Handbase.

[Possum48]

I have done just that and have downloaded a trial version of "Date on the Run". Will also try the ones you have suggested.

[famousdavis]

FWIW, I tried a number of programs available -- all the top-selling ones from Handango.com -- and I settled very quickly on SprintDB Pro. Very easy program to use, I thought, and the forms creation was very easy for rudimentary forms, yet quite powerful for more complex forms.

My biggest beef: Apparently, the ADOCE database engine in the Pocket PC operating system doesn't support primary keys, and yet primary key datatypes are required to sync between desktop and PDA. Therefore, you almost have to design the database in Access on the desktop -- using a primary key -- and then import it into your PDA. I didn't do this with my Sprint databases, and so I can't sync with the desktop. That's not really an issue for me, since all my data entry is on my PDA. I do daily backups to a storage card, and periodically copy the backup file onto my desktop, so in the event I have to restore a database, I have options.

Hope this helps.

[Jordan Rosenwald]

My biggest beef: Apparently, the ADOCE database engine in the Pocket PC operating system doesn't support primary keys, and yet primary key datatypes are required to sync between desktop and PDA.

I also settled in with SprintDB and am anxiously awaiting 2.0, which is due later this month. However, I'm not sure what you mean when you say it doesn't support primary keys. SprintD certainly has primary keys and I have three databases that I created on my PPC and sync with an Access version.

[famousdavis]

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2003 3:30 pm Post subject: Primary Keys on SprintDB

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, now I am intrigued!

When I created my Pocket PC databases using SprintDB, I couldn't get the databases to sync to my desktop -- nothing worked, and I wrote to the tech support team who wrote this in reply:

Hello,

Thank you for writing.

ActiveSync needs at least one primary key field in your tables to sync them. Unfortunately, SprintDB is based on ADOCE, but ADOCE does not support Primary Key field.

If there's no primary key field on your tables, ActiveSync will insert a hidden key fields in it. However, it does not seems to be reliable...

I'd like to recommend you to create your tables on your Dekstop by using MS Access first, then convert/sync it to/with Pocket Access files.

Thank you.
Best regards,

Kim
KaioneSoft.
mailto:[email protected]
www.kaione.com


So if you were able to create a SprintDB database on your PocketPC firstly, and then get it to sync with a desktop version of Access .mdb file, then count yourself among the lucky!

BTW, although SprintDB does support the automatic creation of a numeric field, that isn't, apparently, the same thing as a primary key field like in Access on the desktop.

I wish *I* were one of the lucky ones.

I am glad to hear of a version 2.0 coming out -- I'd love it if you could have an easier way of doing table joins. That's my #2 desire on my wishlist, behind creating a primary key datatype.

One more thing -- I'm using ActiveSync 3.6. ActiveSync 3.7 won't work for me, and I didn't want to wrestle it into submission when I have had reliable service from 3.6. What version of ActiveSync are you using? Perhaps 3.7 resolves this unreliability issue?