C# + PPC

C# + PPC

• skipinator

  Dear SOTY,
  
  I received the following alert from a new post from you, though it doesn't seem to be appearing in the actual forum. Here's what you wrote:
  

  I'm not really great at explaining so here goes.

  I have a pocket access database I want to access data from. I want to write a C# application that will retrieve the data from a selected database and table, and store them in another database.

  My question is basically, what would I need to connect to the PPC Pocket Access database.

  I hope this gives a little more help in what i'm trying to do.

  I asked our partner company, and they won't give us the "secret" way of doing so. Must be a tough thing to do if they won't give us the info.

  
  I believe what you're asking is how you can access and manipulate a Pocket MDB file on a mobile device from a Windows computer. I built a great Data Transfer module for my Pocket Pollster software using the excellent tools provided by http://OpenNetCF.org Please know that this is not a trivial exercise. Once you get the hang of manipulating RAPI then no particular step is that difficult but there are a lot of steps involved!
  
  But, in general terms, here's what happens:
  

  1. When a mobile device syncs, ActiveSync has the ability to notify one or more applications that a device is ready to be communicated with.
  2. In my case, I launched my WinForms app in a special way to signify that this was happening.
  3. A little notification window appears (though some might just like to contain the info for the user in the ActiveSync window itself).
  4. The WinForms app, using RAPI, examines the mobile device, polling it for information and copying down one or more files from the device to the Windows computer.
  5. In your case, you would then open the newly transferred DB file using the ADO library, retrieving the data and doing with it what you want.
  6. You would then likely clear the DB of this just retrieved data and copy it back onto the device.
  7. All the time, you should be keeping the user apprised of what's happening.
     

  I would strongly recommend visiting http://opennetcf.org and getting a copy of their Version 1.4 Framework. Don't hesitate to contact me directly, as I might be able to help you as well.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Robert Werner
  http://PocketPollster.com
  
  
  

• hypo

  That's exactly what I've been trying to get! I found out 2 days ago, that the company that refused to give us information, uses RAPI. I looked into what you said, and still am confused on how abouts I would be able to export the database data.

  Is it possible to export the database tables into a dataset (C#.NET 2005)

  Thanks again, you've been most helpful

  EDIT: I'm currently using ActiveSync 3.8 (the only version that is supported by the third party software our company uses)

  
  

• Fekih Mehdi

  Maybe I'm the only one, but I actually don't understand what you're asking of the community here. Precisely what do you mean by "will pull information". That phrase has at least 3 connotations I can think of. I'd recommend rewording, giving a more detailed explanation of what sits where in terms of your Windows computer and the Pocket PC.
  
  Robert W.
  http://PocketPollster.com
  
  
  

• @nt

  I'm not really great at explaining so here goes.

  I have a pocket access database I want to access data from. I want to write a C# application that will retrieve the data from a selected database and table, and store them in another database.

  My question is basically, what would I need to connect to the PPC Pocket Access database.

  I hope this gives a little more help in what i'm trying to do.

  I asked our partner company, and they won't give us the "secret" way of doing so. Must be a tough thing to do if they won't give us the info.

  Cheers,

  
  

• Martinp23

  The new question you're asking I've already answered. I really get the sense that you should get some more experienced help to accomplish what you want to or else you're going to be trying to figure this out for years.
  
  I say that out of kindness and nothing else.
  
  Robert Werner
  http://PocketPollster.com
  
  
  
• C# + PPC