M$ Access Files Synced to Device

O

Omi!!!

New member
Following on my question about Word and Excel docs for Touchie (my Touch Pro2 running WM 6.1,) I'm also in need of an app to sync M$ Access databases. I've been using SmartList to Go on my T3, syncing with M$ Access '03. I need to carry that same function to Touchie.

So far, all I've found is HanDBase. It actually looks like it will do what I want, but I was wondering if there are alternatives to consider. Oh, and I don't want to do any manual converting - Behind the scenese converting after an initial setup (like with SLTG) is fine, but manual conversions for each update don't interest me.

What'cha think, Oh Great WM Sages? ;)

TIA!

Joe
 
Thanks, PG! That's basically what I've come to think, based on searching and reading. As I mentioned, I think HanDBase will work fine for me - I was just wondering if there were alternatives to have a look at since I'm in the market...
 
GRRrrr... :mad:

I've come to the conclusion that the single most difficult / cumbersome aspect of a WM device is handling M$ docs. There's just something very, very wrong with that. Getting HanDBase to sync correctly with an Access db table is apparently going to take alien intervention...

I've currently uninstalled everything related to HB from both Touchie and Lappie, and am about to start over. If a clean install (both desktop and mobile apps) doesn't get what I want (which is a simple table with a whopping 30 records as a test for the setup,) I'll be back screaming. ;)

Everybody get your thinking caps on!
 
HELP!!!

OK, as far as I'm concerned at the moment, HanDBase is a total bust as far as syncing with Access. It just doesn't work.

I've got HanDBase Pro (with all the Access sync stuff) RE-installed. I've got a small, simple table from an Access db mapped into it, and a HB db created and on Touchie. Fine. But it does NOT sync changes. Either way.

There's an error in the log saying (per the documentation) that Access "autonumber" fields can't be synced. They should be omitted from the sync. Fine. I did exactly as DDH said on their support page and selected all fields except the record ID (that's an Access default autonumber field.) No change.

So, Great Brightminders - What am I overlooking THIS time in the convoluted, utterly ridiculous path to get a M$ document to actually be useful on a M$ WM device. (I never had the first problem with SLTG and PalmOS...)

My frustration level with this stuff is getting quite high - I've spent more than 10 hours altogether trying to get this to work. If there are no clever ideas (even one pointing out my own stupidity,) my next course of action is going to be a BLAZING email to DDH support. Without full Access sync (that actually, ummm... WORKS,) HB is useless to me. :(
 
Nope - Just plain typed data, no formulae, and nothing hidden. Although HB did add a couple of fields for its own use (and I was not happy about it.) I intentionally chose a small, very simple table to get started with, specifically to avoid any such issues. If it can't handle 30 records with 6 fields, I can only imagine the disaster that would ensue with a "real" database!

The issue appears to be the "autonumber" field, which is a default Access thing for numbering records - It can't be eliminated. Even when I tell the sync config to ignore that field per DDH's support page, it still stumbles on it, sooo...

What next?
 
I'd try creating on Touchie, and sending to Lappie; make a minor change suing Lappie, then sync, and see what happens on the Palm, erm, uh, Touchie (sorry, couldn't help myself )
 
Sometimes being obsessive can be good, in a weird sort of way. I think of it more as "determined." Or a maniacal refusal to give up. :rolleyes:

Some progress! No thanks to the documentation or support pages... There was a vague reference in a support document about omitting an Access "autonumber" field, and a non-specific reference in another statement about using the "sync only mapped fields" option. Well, if you dig and experiment enough, and decide to manually remap EVERY SINGLE FIELD, the default autonumber field can be omitted from the sync.

A test record has now synced a change in each direction, which is a MAJOR accomplishment. My frustration with this is that the online support page steps through setting up a new sync between an Access table and HB. And it specifically says NOT to use the mapped fields option! Now, given that Access has, by default, an unsyncable autonumber field, what does that mean? It means that no Access database will ever sync when set up per the instructions in the documentation and the support pages. And in my case, it means I have well over two full working days of MY time invested in figuring it out, in spite of DDH's worse-than-useless (wrong info is always worse than no info) documentation and support pages. :mad:

It does appear to work now, although I'll be skeptical until I have more history and reliability. And while it's about the only thing available to sync with Access on WM, I honestly can't recommend it. It's a dog on its own, and worse compared to SLTG for Palm OS.

Why there are such glaring, gaping holes in using M$ stuff with M$ stuff is beyond me. I had less problems using WinME for 7 years than I've had using M$ documents on WM.

At any rate, I've had at least some success, but considering the overall cost it's a hollow victory. As far as I'm concerned, DDH should have been paying me to set this crap up. A nap would have been a better use of my time. If I weren't such a stubborn SOB... :rolleyes:
 
Don't you know? It's kinda stupid how M$ can't get one M$ product to work properly with another M$ product. :rolleyes:
Don't you just love management?
 
well, that sounds good; I'll be honest, though, that I don't see how this is, directly, a problem with MS talking with MS. Handbase isn't from MS; if you were trying to directly sync WM-Access to WinXP-Access and were having these issues, then, hell yes, its an MS-MS thing. my 2?

oops, forgot: really good investigative analysis, Joe. totally serious.
 
I agree that this is just a poor implementation by HandBase. If they can't come up with a sync with a feature they know is present in Access, then they've done a poor job of programming, and shouldn't be selling the product for money.
 
Agreed, Rick, re: HanDBase being DDH instead of M$. Stan is correct, though: It's a poor implementation of the sync. Worse than poor.

As for the M$ > M$ vs M$ > DDH thing - Since M$ gives the "impression" that a WM device will work with M$ desktop apps (OL Mobile, Office Mobile, etc etc etc,) why they don't include, or at least offer an upgrade for, some sort of database app is just a glaring hole in their "scheme." I remember coming across something on one of the WM support pages at M$ recommending HB for Access stuff. Same thing with M$ Money - There's supposedly a WM version included which, get this, is a trial of Ultrasoft Money. Go figure. At any rate, M$ apparently includes 3rd party apps as part of their "integration," and since they don't have their own, they have a finger in that pot IMHO.

As I mentioned to some folks earlier, my migration to WM has been, for the most part, pretty good. Considering it's a major platform jump, it's gone relatively smoothly. Until... The whole lack of function for M$ docs on a M$ powered device is more than a huge disappointment. I have more time and energy and money invested in getting their own docs functional than everything else combined with my device move (the actual device hardware excepted, of course.) I think that says all there is to say about that!

In this regard, I suspect Apple has very good reason to be arrogant - For whatever restrictions and gating they might be guilty of, they seem (based solely on posts / comments by others) to at least have their ecosystem integration in top form.
 
I'm BAAAaaack! And not with a good report. :(

NEWS FLASH!
Avoid DDH HanDBase like the plague if you have any interest in syncing a M$ Access database to your Windows Mobile device!

After 6+ months of problems, unreliability, and a general PITA with HanDBase, I'm done. A recent update would, I hoped, improve things. WRONG! Much to my horror, the "new and improved" version was worse than the previous. So I have removed HanDBase from Touchie and Lappie, and I've scrubbed each registry of all traces of DDH or HanDBase. They shall never again be allowed to pollute a system I use.

So where does this leave those of us who want to take an Access database along in our pocket? SOL. That's where. M$ obviously can't integrate their own apps, and they can't even recommend a functional 3rd party for some of their gaps. My primary ire, however, is aimed squarely at DDH - As far as I'm concerned, they have blatantly lied in every marketing statement they've published regarding Access sync. It simply does NOT work. What I thought was some limited success before was a freak exception. The entire setup is a disaster, has NO functionality for syncing Access db's and, worse, is a high risk for corruption of the original data.

I've dumped the Access tables I most want to carry along into an Excel spreadsheet that I can keep on my SD card and use Softmaker Office (not that lame-@$$ excuse called Office Mobile.) Yes, this means I will be maintaining the same data in two files / formats, but that will be much simpler than trying to deal with HanDBase. He!!, printing hardcopy reports from Access and lugging around a 3-ring binder would be easier, more convenient, and faster.

Yes, I'm PO'd. Could you tell? :rolleyes:

On a brighter note: I'm quite settled into WM after half a year and, excepting this unmitigated disaster and a couple of other annoyances, it is working very well for me. In fact, I've had a couple of iPhone fanboys drool at some of the capabilities I have on Touchie that they don't. Hehhehheh... :cool: My move to WM, given that I had to move if I wanted a new device last autumn, was definitely the right move for me.

Now, anybody got any other suggestions (recent developments, perhaps?) for syncing an Access db to a WM device? :p
 
Joe, in your very considerate opinion, WTF is wrong with MS and their own platforms? I mean, databases (heed my words) add up to some 60% of the current software technology. Were not by this thread of yours, I would've thought Microsoft should have the BEST Access implementation for mobile.

I am just chewing the chances for a platform move-on. My eyes were somewhat focused on Symbian, but I gotta admit all I've absorbed about it is Antoine's enthusiasm for the platform; in digital tech subjects, AW has turned out to be a powerful influence in me. Next comes Android, but AFAIG it is in diapers, however evolved I don't see many of the commodities of recent platforms, that or I've also got it all wrong and it's a whole new mobile paradigm. No interest at all in BB. Nothing but curiosity for iPod/iPhone/whatchamacallit OS. Last but not least, WM in any flavor; I know it's no digital tech heaven, but it is very ubiquitous, usually addressed as functional, and speaking of influence, you, Mi An and Jig have made quite the same move into it. Can't tell you're not a powerful influence to me as well. While Jig and Mi An are something of power users, my expectations pretty much resemble yours. Something that converges personal and workie without that much tinkering, PAYG, and in a condition where 'creating a working system' doesn't mean 'make me trip with my own feet'.

(Using Palmie's terms) I've also made a bunch of iPhone dudes drool with what I can do with much much different platforms. For the sole exception of a Moto SLVR, in mobile currently I'm 100% Palm OS. OK, I can't play Garbage Pail Kids or Lightsaber, but that is so irrelevant to me, while I can receive email through a Microsoft Exchange server, or geez how difficult open an MS Word document, without reassembling a whole mobile system throughout the evening :D

News Flash acknowledged: when I'm in the position to choose, I'll avoid HanDBase like the plague :)
 
As I mentioned, I've been very happy with WM, overall. In my experience so far, it has proven to be remarkably stable - The only hard reset I've done was when I upgraded from 6.1 to 6.5, I think I've only done 2 or 3 soft resets due to a "hang" or glitch of some sort, and I've simply not experienced a lot of the issues I've read about. Yes, there are some "quirks," but in all fairness, those are probably more "perception" on my part than real problems, since I had nearly 10 years of Palm OS experience and any other platform was a significant departure from that.

I probably fall into the category of a "power-user," but certainly not to the level of most. I'm not afraid to tweak on my registry, I've installed a number of OS / system tweaks and add-ins to improve the functionality for my personal uses and preferences, etc. A big PLUS for WM, IMHO, is the fact that I CAN make those tweaks - I'm not locked in to what some programmer half-way around the world thinks I need to do.

But the massive black hole between M$'s desktop apps and mobile apps is utterly confusing and ridiculous to me. As I also mentioned, there are some very good 3rd party solutions to fill the gaps. Until you get to Access db's. I simply don't understand... This is not rocket science - I've been effortlessly and flawlessly syncing Access tables to the old Palm OS' SLTG for years. Moving to the newer, "more powerful," and slicker WM platform, however, was a major step backwards in that regard. Looking forward, I'm hoping there's a solution with Android when the time comes for me to move again. With WM, however, it seems those of us who might want to take an Access db along with us in our pocket are SOL.

As for HanDBase - Most of my distaste stems from the fact that DDH actively promotes their product as having sync capability with Access. It's simply not true, in any form or fashion. I don't feel misled - I feel deliberately lied to. In thinking about, I can't even understand why anyone would buy HanDBase solely for the mobile app. There's nothing wrong with that particular aspect of HB, but the free HandyShopper will do everything that HB will do (for me,) and do it more quickly and easily, and with more flexibility, than HB. So why spend the $30?

For your future migration, assuming your uses and preferences remain similar to mine, I think Android is the best potential platform to watch. Yes, it's still in its infancy in some ways, but it is growing very quickly. And for now, at least, it still retains some of the functionality and capability to which you're (and I'm) accustomed.

I've been watching Hook's experiences with Android with particular interest, since his use is more similar to mine than most users, and so far I'm impressed. I'm not planning to migrate anytime soon, which might be a good thing - In another year or two I suspect the Droid platform will be quite sound and well-rounded as far as apps and such are concerned. My only concern is that it might, like so many other platforms, become more solely cloud-based. In that case, unless there are some revolutionary explosions in all aspects of the cloud, I'm simply not interested. At all. For now, though, I'm optimistic! :)
 
OK, REALLY GOT MY INTEREST (darn caps lock) so I went to the DDHsoftware site. this caught my attention:
bannerSEAccess.gif

sorry, uh, quotes around synchronization? what a bunch of rip-off artists
 
I can assure you, even with 30 minutes of "setup" for each table to be "synced," there is NO sync. There's sporadic transfer of some data, along with a jumbling of records, dropping of random fields within records, and it can't even display an Arial font consistently. Forget about an integer number, or a floating point number with zero decimal places. And let's not overlook the fields added to the db structure.

Now, perhaps somewhere, somehow, in the haze of whatever they've been smoking, they call that "synchronization." I call it a dysfunctional CF.

So I've cut my losses and given up on yet another aspect of mobile functionality. It simply doesn't exist. And I find the usefulness and productivity of mobile computing shrinking yet again.

Next thing you know, I'll be back to spiral-bound notebooks. To augment my growing use of Post-It Notes, of course. :rolleyes: ;) :D
 
Sorry, J-Boy, I wasn't willing to undermine your expertise status by keeping you off the list of power users I mentioned. I was unaware you tweak that deep. It's just that you usually keep your contributions to the non-power descriptions level (that by no means imply you're not a power user).

This is a rip-off. That DDH doesn't suggest that you may do that kind of sync. It is mentioned as an expected feature. They should be put out of business.
 
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