03-13-2006, 02:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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HanDBase 3.5 For Windows Mobile Released
http://www.ddhsoftware.com/news.html?sub=HanDBase&view=release&num=29&UID=2006031013552272.164.214.130
For the longest time, HanDBase has been a favorite database for mobile computing, from the early days of Palm, through the Pocket PC and now it is available on the Smartphone platform as well. Also for the longest time, at least on the Pocket PC side, it was stuck at 3.49b2 or thereabouts. I mean years. Well, it has finally moved to 3.5, and includes things like square screen support for devices like the HP 6500 series and Palm Treo 700w, support for landscape modes, which will have this K-Jam user rejoicing, category support, auto-save and more.
There are a lot more screenshots here. Pricing starts at $29.99 for HanDBase Plus and goes up to $99.99 for HanDBase Enterprise which includes ODBC connectors and a form designer. For those of you that have never tried HanDBase and need a database for your Pocket PC, give this product a serious look. It was never meant to be a portable version of MS Access. It was designed as a database for portable devices with tiny screens, relatively little memory and modest processors. It succeeds brilliantly at it. 
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03-13-2006, 02:55 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 31
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Ed, thanks for the kind words about our software! Indeed we were stuck for a long time without a real release. That was a problem for us as well as our users. Hoping that problem will be behind us with this release and v4.0 being developed as well.
I'd love to hear any feedback on this version from any PPCT gurus. We're trying to determine what plugins PPC users would most like to see developed. I'm thinking since the WM5 has a standardized camera API, we could easily develop a camera plugin to embed pictures into databases. Or perhaps a GPS coordinate storage one? Would love to hear from users on what they might want to see in a Plugin for HanDBase.
Take care and thanks for posting that press release Ed!
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03-13-2006, 04:27 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 718
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I like HanDBase, especially its multiple platform capability. But since upgrading from 3.0k to 3.5, I've had two major problems.
1. Closing the application via a third party closer tool like WisBar Lite or Magic Button causes a crash to the point of locking up the PPC. I like closing the database I'm on, then closing the app (as opposed to closing the app with the "Exit" command while the database is still open). Unfortunately, I have to use the built in "closer" app in PPC's Settings -> System -> Memory app. And even then, closing this way produces the "Not responding, select OK to close app" dialog, indicating a "hard" close. I'm not sure why its so difficult to close this app. The 3.0 version had no problems.
2. The second, more serious problem is, the databases will no longer sync. Any attempt to sync any database (HanDBase desktop to PPC via Activesync) causes a crash of the "Synchronize HanDBase with PocketPC" app. It worked fine with v3.0. I did the usual troubleshooting, uninstall HanDBase from both the PC and PPC (including cleaning out the registry and deleting directoies). But no go. Its a Sprint (HTC/Audiovox) 6700 running Windows Mobile 5.
I haven't had time to post these to tech support. So I just thought I'd mention them here. In fact, I'll just copy and paste to your support right now since I've already written them out 
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03-13-2006, 04:37 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 68
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I've been a user of Handbase since my Palm days. I used it on a Palm IIIc, a Palm Tungsten, a Dell Axim X5, an HP 4700 and now on an Dell x51v. While HandBase works well enough and does everything I really need from a program like this, there are two minor "features" that drive me mad.
1. On launch, the program comes up to a table loader screen where you can Open, Beam, or Create/Modify tables. Tables in this list are filtered by category. Unfortunately, the default category is always "Unfiled". As a result, anyone that uses categories to organize tables, will always see an empty list. This forces the user to select a category from the category dropdown just to see a list of tables. I think this should be changed to default to "ALL" tables on launch or there should be a mechanism to let the user select which category to display on launch. Likewise, when a user closes a table and returns to the loader screen, the program should remember the last chosen category instead of switching back to "Unfiled" like it does now.
2. There is no "Exit" option from the table loader screen. It seems counter intuitive to have to open a table before you can quit the program. This is the only program I can not close using InClose, Magic Bullet or any of the other common utilities out there. The only way to close the program, other than going to Settings/Memory/Running Programs and stopping the program is to open a table and use the "Exit" option that available only at that point to quit the program. This is the only program I have ever encountered on any version of the PocketPC OS that behaves this way.
I hope the author will respond in a timely fashion with a fix for these two issues. Adding an "Exit" option to the program loader screen and changing the default category to "All" or the last chosen category will make this a better program.
Other than these two issues, I can highly recommend this program to anyone looking for an easy to use, yet powerful, database program. I have always relied on this program and have steadfastly refused to abandon it. Hopefully, now that Palm has a device that runs Windows Mobile 5, the author will begin to release updates on a more frequent basis.
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03-13-2006, 05:24 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 68
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by DaleReeck
2. The second, more serious problem is, the databases will no longer sync. Any attempt to sync any database (HanDBase desktop to PPC via Activesync) causes a crash of the "Synchronize HanDBase with PocketPC" app. It worked fine with v3.0. I did the usual troubleshooting, uninstall HanDBase from both the PC and PPC (including cleaning out the registry and deleting directoies). But no go. Its a Sprint (HTC/Audiovox) 6700 running Windows Mobile 5.
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I do not have a sync problem on my x51v so it will probably be an issue with your build of WM 5 or perhaps a corrupted table. Hopefully, the author will respond to a tech support request from you.
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03-13-2006, 05:46 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 31
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Indeed, I am sure Shannon in tech support will be able to get to the bottom of the syncing problem mentioned above. I use it with my Axim x50v and it is syncing fine, so it's possible that there is something specific to your platform or dbs causing it to choke. Re: Wisbar, I will have to check into that myself. I used to use Wisbar and I remember in the early days of HanDBase all the weird stuff we had to do in order to get HanDBase to close properly on it. I think the issue back then was the way we were able to have a non document form as our default form and MS' workaround to allow that to happen often caused these apps to be unable to close us down.
re: the suggestions from dbman- those are GREAT, GREAT ones. I would expect those to be integrated right away- they are really oversights on our part. One of the funny things about development, at least from a small company like DDH, is that it doesn't seem to matter how long your beta period is, it's only when you release the product that issues like this are found?! Regardless, all of this should be fixed in short order.
I'll post any updates to this thread when that happens!
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03-13-2006, 08:58 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 7
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I can only find the Mac desktop program available for those poor unfortunates who use a palm. Is there a version available for the enlightened souls with Pocket PCs?
In the same vein - are you planning to make cab files available for us Mac users? This would be very much appreciated!
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03-13-2006, 09:22 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 31
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We wondered just how many Mac/PPC users were out there- guess there is at least one of ya! I'll check and find out how we can get you set up with that.
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03-13-2006, 10:43 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 7
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Thankyou. I've used HanDBase for many years on a windows machine & would like to continue after a recent switch to Mac.
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03-14-2006, 07:42 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 31
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djr13, just email [email protected] and they will send you the files you need to get set up on Mac. That goes for any registered users of our Pocket PC product as well!
Hope that helps.
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Linear Mode
