Hi all - I’m new around here and am interested in the potential use of Servoy in the development of mobile applications. I’m just trying to get my head around the Servoy way of doing things compared to what I am familiar with now.
A bit of background - I am a Sybase DBA with experience in ASE and ASA. Mobilink synchronisation is something I administer on a daily basis, so I am very comfortable in the backend and with the synching of data.
In the projects I am involved in the development of the application is via Pocket Powerbuilder using an ASA db backend and then both the db and the app are deployed to the PDA with the db then operating as a remote database in a Mobilink synch environment. Then from time to time we use Mobilink functionality to sync data between the PDA db (the ‘remote’ in Mobilink talk) and the centralised Sybase ASE db (the ‘consolidated’ in Mobilink talk).
Basically I want to use Servoy (or something) to develop the frontend as I don’t have the coding skill in either Powerbuilder or C++ etc to develop the frontend in either Sybase Pocket Powerbuilder or MS Visual Studio(the other visual app I’ve investigated using). Hopefully this is where Servoy will come to my rescue
Once I have developed the front end I want to deploy the application and the ASA database to the PDA/Laptop and take care of the synching of data myself using Mobilink and an ASE consolidated. In the first instance this application will be a typical sales representatives app.
As a first step in testing Servoy I have tried to have Servoy recognise an existing test ‘remote’ db of mine , using the Adrian McGilly handbook and the section ‘Creating and Connecting to a New Database’. However Servoy refused to start when ever I tried this method.
So … is anyone else using Servoy in this way ? Can it be done ? Is there a roadmap/tutorial I can follow to do this etc etc ? Or should I be looking for a simpler frontend builder ?
welcome to the forum.
Servoy is for building frontends on PC’s Mac’s etc… not for mobile devices.
You can deploy to mobile devices with the headless client or the webclient of Servoy. (Both are using a webbrowser and require an internet connection)
So you can’t deploy a frontend with a local DB to a mobile-device, you have to use 3th party software for that.
Actually Harjo I thought I heard Servoy can deploy directly on a PDA if Java is installed. I’m trying to remember where but I seem to remember someone saying that some PDAs already were running a true client version of Servoy (other than headless and web client). In other words something that then could be synced back to the consolidated database when the connection was re-established using Mobilink.
yeah, that is possible with PDA’s that can run Java JRE (for example windows CE, expensive onces) not the normal PDA’s which run Windows Mobile 5 or Symbian, or Palm.
“So you can’t deploy a frontend with a local DB to a mobile-device, you have to use 3th party software for that. …”
Thanks Harjo and John for your quick replies … so it sounds like i’m back to PocketBuilder or Visual Studio for the mobile applications on PDA’s ?
Does the same apply if I want to deploy the app to a laptop which is not always connected to the net (but synchs from time to time using Mobilink ) or is Servoy ok in that circumstance due to the full o/s available on the laptop ?
wombarrapete:
"Does the same apply if I want to deploy the app to a laptop which is not always connected to the net (but synchs from time to time using Mobilink ) or is Servoy ok in that circumstance due to the full o/s available on the laptop ?
cheers
pete
With a laptop (Win/MacOSX/Linux) you can use the “disconnected client”, it is a standalone stripped down Servoy Developer (without the editor and designer) and use Mobilink to sync the DBs.
A bit of background - I am a Sybase DBA with experience in ASE and ASA. Mobilink synchronisation is something I administer on a daily basis, so I am very comfortable in the backend and with the synching of data
Welcome to Servoy - with this background I think you should be doing a session at the next Servoy World - I’m sure we could organise some beer served at -5C
I have a couple of clients that could benefit from off-line systems with data-sync but it looked pretty complex last time I played with Mobilink.
Hi Graham - thanks for the offer and if we ever catch up I’ll take you up on it
The mobilink stuff can be as complex or simple as you need. The complexity comes with the business rules you want to implement - the architecture and setup is very straight forward.
The ability to use a wireless devices and synch info in real time, is really where the value lies … ie: the sales rep gets up to the minute info prior to the sales call, can place an order directly at the site, the warehouse gets orders consistently throughout the day (not just at the end of the day when all the reps get home and send through their orders) etc etc … so from sales to fulfillment it has great benefits. And that’s only from a sales force perspective … it has numerous other opportunities once you start thinking about it.
I just need to be able to get the front end done and I’ll be set !!
I was hoping that Servoy was going to be the answer … perhaps it can be for laptops anyway but I would really like to have just one development environment that will work across all devices.
Anyway … if you ever need some help with a synch project i’m happy to have a chat about it.
With a laptop (Win/MacOSX/Linux) you can use the “disconnected client”, it is a standalone stripped down Servoy Developer (without the editor and designer) and use Mobilink to sync the DBs.
I’ve read an article of Servoy http://www.servoy.com/downloads/whitepapers/servoy_dotnet_whitepaper.pdf where the Servoy Disconnected Client is mentioned, but nowhere I’ve read more about that. I can’t find it in the documentation, and only in this topic the “disconnected client” was mentioned.
Did the Servoy Disconnected Client already die?
I’m looking for a solution where a disconnected mobile PC can run a Servoy Application and when the user makes connection to the central office, that database must be synchronized (SQL Server, not Sybase). In that case can I synchronize also the repository so that the mobile PC can be updated in this way with newest solution?
What you describe is the way to go if these are your requirements. And yes, that should work. The big question is if you have a data model that is suitable for replication…
I believe the ‘disconnected’ client is still available. I think you’ll want to run Sybase iAnywhere though on your mobile PC (I’m thinking you are talking about a PDA not a ‘mobile/laptop’ PC) and use it (Mobilink) to synchronize with your SQL Server backend when connected.
(I’m thinking you are talking about a PDA not a ‘mobile/laptop’ PC)
I need that for a Tablet PC; Servoy should run locally and database need to be synchronized (not only data, but also repository). Because I’m more experienced with SQL Server in stead of Sybase I prefer a solution with SQL Server (Compact Edition).
But how does Servoy works with this? I hope I don’t need server licenses on each Tablet PC; but Developer is not a solution as well.
I’ve read about the Disconnected Client. That would be a Developer version but without designer and editor. I can imagine that it would be something like that. Should Servoy then run as a service, where the client connects to?
(I’m thinking you are talking about a PDA not a ‘mobile/laptop’ PC)
I need that for a Tablet PC; Servoy should run locally and database need to be synchronized (not only data, but also repository). Because I’m more experienced with SQL Server in stead of Sybase I prefer a solution with SQL Server (Compact Edition).
But how does Servoy works with this? I hope I don’t need server licenses on each Tablet PC; but Developer is not a solution as well.
I’ve read about the Disconnected Client. That would be a Developer version but without designer and editor. I can imagine that it would be something like that. Should Servoy then run as a service, where the client connects to?
Disconnected client comes in a couple of flavors depending on the exact needs. Locally it runs Sybase ASA by default to offer synchronization (mobilink) with sql server you will have to sort sync-ing yourself.