SQL Anywhere Mobile - Lost in the concepts

Author

Lost in the concepts

Philippe Damerval

2005-05-06, 8:25 pm

Hi,
We're trying to use Mobilink to set up data synchronization between an
Oracle backend and ultralite databases on handhelds.
We're getting lost in the jungle of concepts such as consolidated
databases, reference databases, publications, etc. We have a situation
where the database on the handheld is a subset of the database on the
backend, and certain fields have to be calculated after uploading new
rows to the backend from the handheld.
It would be helpful to get an overview of the process so we'd know what
to look in the documentation.
Thanks!

--

Philippe Damerval
Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game
Commercial fisheries division

Greg Fenton

2005-05-07, 3:24 am

Philippe Damerval wrote:
> We're trying to use Mobilink to set up data synchronization between an Oracle
> backend and ultralite databases on handhelds.
> We're getting lost in the jungle of concepts such as consolidated databases,
> reference databases, publications, etc. We have a situation where the database
> on the handheld is a subset of the database on the backend, and certain fields
> have to be calculated after uploading new rows to the backend from the handheld.
> It would be helpful to get an overview of the process so we'd know what
> to look in the documentation.

The order of the events as they fire during the synchronization process
is outlined in the SQLAnywhere online 9.x docs:

MobiLink Administration Guide
Synchronization Events
- Overview of MobiLink events

Where you do your calculations depends on a few things. You might
decide to do it during the upload phase (e.g. end_upload table OR
end_upload connection script), or you might decide to do it after the
upload but before the download in the prepare_for_download
event.

Note that you do not necessarily need to upload remote table FOO to the
consolidated table FOO. You might, for example, upload to a temporary
table and in the end_upload event (or whenever) process the rows in the
temporary table then move them into the "real" table (which, again, does
not necessarily have to be table FOO).

As for the different databases involved in the process, when it comes to
*synchronization* there is only the remote (UL in your case) and the
consolidated (Oracle in your case). The reference is only needed during
the compile phase. BTW: which UL interface are you using?

Philippe, you might be interested in talking to someone from our
Professional Services team to see if there are some knowledge-transfer,
training and/or staff augmentation things we could help you with. I
just came back from a three-day engagement covering these exact same
type of issues:

http://www.ianywhere.com/support/services.html

Hope this helps,
greg.fenton
--
Greg Fenton
Consultant, Solution Services, iAnywhere Solutions
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