MobiForms Sync Server 1.1

Application description

The MobiForms Sync Server (MSS) is a complementary tool to the MobiForms Developer offering a true offline store and forward capability with sophisticated online synchronisation, bi-directional replication and offline data buffering.

Unlike most competing products, the MSS offers a solution for a once off licence fee that does not need to be hosted by a third party and does not incur any additional monthly service charges (other than the data usage paid to the mobile Android network provider).

The MSS provides a mechanism to create a seed mobile database containing a duplicate subset of tables from a centrally served database application. The tables are stored in the embedded HSQLDB database engine included with MobiForms. The mobile database is subsequently indentifed by the MobiForms Developer for the creation of a mobile application and deployment via the MobiForms Deployment Wizard to the mobile devices.

Where network routing is enabled, the MSS will replicate data from any central database server running Oracle Server, Oracle Lite, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, Sybase SQL Anywhere Server, IBM DB2 Server, SQLite and Sun MySQL, over any wireless network, to any number of mobile devices running a MobiForms client.

When a mobile Android connects to a wireless network it is usually given a dynamic IP address from the network provider (rather than a static IP address). Everytime this changes on the mobile Android the MobiForms client reports it back to the MSS guaranteeing that the right data is replicated to the right Android.

The MSS includes a sample Microsoft Access database and simple master database application (built using MobiForms).

The MSS includes a comprehensive step by step manual with the aim of teaching the user by example by showing how to build a simple mobile application synchronised from the master database application with bi-directional data replication. Tutorials include:

How to define the database replication rules from the master database

How to define a mobile user

How to build a seed mobile database based on a subset of the master database

How to create a mobile application using the seed mobile database and MobiForms

How to deploy the mobile application and seed mobile database

Demonstration of bi-directional data replication and status updates between the master database and the mobile client database

Using these examples as a guide it is entirely possible to build other similar applications such as for customer relationship management (with prospects and sales), field service (with jobs) or stock control (with parts).

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