Data Transfer from PDA to SQL without SQL CE

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pat Reddy
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Pat Reddy

I have a client that wants me to upgrade the OS on his symbol PDA to
Pocket PC 2003 and also allow him to transfer a small amount of data
from his PDA to a SQL database. He is not interested in SQL Server CE
or maintaining an IIS server. I proposed that what little data he has
could be stored in simple XML files on the PDA then loaded into datasets
to be sent to the desktop SQL server.

Possible?

I would write a VB.NET app for the PDA that would run when the unit is
docked in the cradle. It is an Ethernet ready cradle that assigns an IP
address to the PDA when docked.


All the resources I've looked into recommend SQL Server CE, but then I
need to create an IIS server, etc. If my PDA has an IP address, can I
not just open a connection to a SQL Server on the network and write the
data?

Thanks

Pat Reddy
Industrial Controls Engineer
MAVERICK Technologies
 
I don't think that you need IIS to communicate with SQL Server, although you
can use it that way. If it's a small amount of data and you just add it to
the database, no replication, it's just about as easy to create a server
program on the PC to receive it via a socket connection from the PPC and the
socket program on the PPC to send the new records when it docks. However,
that means more proprietary code for no additional functionality. It seems
to me that it's more maintainable to just use SQL CE with remote data access
to connect to the server and send it the new records directly...

Paul T.
 
Paul,
Any chance you could direct me to some documentation on how to
achieve this without IIS? I've been Googling for days and everything I
find indicates that both RDA and Merge Replication (the two ways you
sync data between SQL CE and SQL Server) require IIS.

I appreciate the help,

Pat Reddy
Industrial Controls Engineer
MAVERICK Technologies
 
Chris,
I guess that's what I'm asking! "Am I missing something?"
Seriously, can I simply use the SqlClient classes as I would in a
desktop app?

I must point out that I am waiting for my client to ship me his PDA and
therefore I have no device to test with as of yet. I was hoping that I
could even use the popular SQLHelper class that I use in so many of my
vb applications. I thought I'd get ahead of myself and determine if I
was going to run into any roadblocks being as this is my first Smart
Device App. All I found was SQL CE / IIS examples - far more powerful
than what I need for sure. Thanks.

Pat Reddy
Industrial Controls Engineer
MAVERICK Technologies
 
Chris,
I'm only a few paragraphs in, but it looks like exactly what I need.
Thanks!

Pat Reddy
Industrial Controls Engineer
MAVERICK Technologies
 
You can still use the sqlclient classes without the device - just use the
emulator. It works well. The connection speeds are slower than when run on
your device, so just be aware of that and don't get concerned.
 
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