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Tom Kyte

Thanks for the question, Kevin.

Asked: December 22, 2004 - 8:21 pm UTC

Last updated: June 16, 2005 - 3:39 am UTC

Version: 8.1.7/10g

Viewed 1000+ times

You Asked

Hi Tom, been a while. Sorry to bother you with what seems like a dumb thing but here goes:

My friend has a book store. He wants to do something like interface a pda of somekind to a live connection to an oracle database so he can do stuff like inventory update on the fly.

Our problem is we can't get any response of our oracle support buddies on how to go about this. They can't even tell us if Oracle10g has a built in development tool for writing mobile apps ** eyes roll here **.

Can you point us in the right direction. Send us to some technical documents, recommend a book or two, or maybe give us a name of somebody to contact. Something that can tell us things like:

what programming languages can we use
what kind of developer skills are we going to need to find
how integrated is it with oracle10g
where can we get sample apps showing oracle integration

My search skills must be getting rusty or I am developing some kind of neural deficiency as the years pass because I have searched high and low for information and how tos and can't find squat.

Thanks, keep trucking, Kevin

and Tom said...

There are three ways to do this (at least)

a) wireless
</code> http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/iaswe/index.html 

b) disconnected client/replication
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/lite/index.html <code>

c) put a cheap wifi card in the pda and just a tiny web interface (many of the wireless concepts in a) apply here for building the screens)


Hope this helps you get started. I'll publish so others who have built similar things can comment over time.

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IPAQ PDA to Oracle Forms on the WEB

Kevin Meade, June 15, 2005 - 8:21 pm UTC

Hello Tom, read the above stuff but it isn't what I need. I'v been to meta link and hardware vendor sites and no answer yet. Let me post a more pointed question than above on using Oracle Forms over the WEB.

We want to develop applications using OracleForms and then run them on an IPAQ PDA via the WEB and IAS (hx4705 to be precise). This device has WIFI.

We don't want to develop using JDeveloper nor Java nor anything other than OracleForms (its what we are good at).

We installed Oracle10g/IAS. We got forms apps. Theses apps run over the internet fine via Jinitiator.

Can we just point our IPAQ hx4705 running its Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC, Second Edition operating system to our URL? If not, do we need to install some JVM from somewhere (some Sun thing maybe)?

Are we pipe dreaming here? Not yet but Oracle is working on this? What?

Kevin

Tom Kyte
June 16, 2005 - 3:39 am UTC

sorry - no ideas (i don't even really know what an IPAQ is or does truth be told)




A few suggestions

Will, June 16, 2005 - 4:35 am UTC

Hi Kevin,

it seems to me that the issue for you is the platform (IPAQ) not connectivity (Wifi or LAN). You can find that sort of information at </code> http://msdn.microsoft.com <code> Try a search for pocket PC development tools.

I'm not up to date with Oracle forms, but I'd suggest that HTMLDB might meet some of your requirements, as you'd easily be able to format the output for the smaller Pocket PC browser screen.



Thanks Tom and Will for the repsonses

Kevin Meade, June 16, 2005 - 9:47 am UTC

Tom, thanks anyways we will let you know what we come up with. Can't understand Oracle's delay in getting a JavaVM certified for this OS seeing it would make it possible to deploy wireless/mobile apps overnight for the 1 million or so OracleForms developers around the world.

Will, thanks for the info, although this might work for others, this won't help us. You are correct that our issue is platform, not connectivity. We are trying to understand what it takes to get OracleIAS to run forms on Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC, Second Edition operating system. We think it may ultimately be and issue of the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) on this platform and that we have to get one for it. This leads us to ask Oracle, which one and where do we get it.

As for "development tools", we have no interest in learning anything new. We have a huge investment in Oracle Forms and want to exploit it. Any solution that suggests using something else is useless as far as we are concerned.

Our frustration comes from knowing that IE on every Windows platform will run our Oracle Forms via IAS and Oracle Jinitiator. But nobody can tell us what we need for the Pocket PC version of Windows. Oracle may not certify Jinitiator on any JAVA VM that runs on a pocket PC but we can accept this is we find one that works. We will live with limitations of it if necessary till Oracle gets around to certifying one.

So, thanks, but we don't want new tools to develop with, we want a solution for Oracle Forms.

Tom, maybe you can put a bug in somebody's ear.

Kevin

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