What the FFA is mobile computing RAD Development with Java and Ultralite

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What the FFA is mobile computing?RAD
Development with Java and Ultralite
Ken Hunter Debashish Basu-Choudhuri Sybase (UK)
Ltd.
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Agenda

• UltraLite
• Small fingerprint database technology
• Platforms and APIs
• Development cycle
• Enterprise Synchronization
• Synchronization with MobiLink
• What is MobiLink?
• How MobiLink works
• MobiLink scripting

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Agenda

• GUI development
• Designing GUI in Java IDE
• Connecting GUI to Database
• Demonstration Field Force Automation (FFA)
• How to create an Ultralite Database
• Creating and Connecting the GUI
• Doing the Synchronization

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Mobile Devices

• Common characteristics
• No hard disk
• Battery-powered, slow CPU
• Limited memory
• Device-specific operating system
• Applications always stay running
• Examples include palmtops, cellular phones,
  intelligent appliances
• Development environment
• C-based development environment
• Increase in Java development
• Program data management structures from scratch

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UltraLite Philosophy

• UltraLite database compiled directly into
  application
• database customized to fit your application
• only some SQL functionality used
• only some of the schema used
• Generally runs on devices with slow processors,
  little memory

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UltraLite Deployment Technology

• Small fingerprint database
• application-optimized database technology
• analyzer determines required features and tables
• builds in-memory database
• High Performance
• optimized database for in-memory use
• support for indices for fast data updates and
  retrievals

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Cool Features Of UltraLite

• Small fingerprint (50K)
• Transaction processing
• Performance
• in-memory database
• indexes
• Referential integrity
• Standard SQL (subset of ASAs SQL)
• multi-table joins
• BLOB support
• Enterprise synchronization (MobiLink/iAnywhere
  Server)

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UltraLite Supported APIs

• Embedded SQL
• C or C code mixed with SQL statements
• C API
• special API that uses no SQL
• perfect for embedded systems programmers
• Java
• JDBC (uses SQL)
• In all cases, SQL must be STATIC

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Static SQL

• All queries must be predefined
• no ad-hoc queries
• Static SQL is not a major limitation
• Instead of this
• SELECT FROM employee WHERE last_name Smith
• SELECT FROM employee WHERE last_name Jones
• Developers would do this
• SELECT FROM employee WHERE last_name ?

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Field Force Automation Demo

• Build the Ultralite database
• Create a reference database
• Define SQL statements for your application
• Sybase Central
• ul_add_statement
• Generate the Ultralite data access code
• Ultralite Generator

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Supported Platforms

• C/C version
• Windows 95/98/NT/2000 (development only)
• Windows CE
• PalmOS
• WindRiver VxWorks
• MS-DOS (yes, MS-DOS!)
• RIM (beta)
• Java version
• EPOC
• JDK 1.1.4, JDK 1.2 (Java 2)
• Working on KVM support

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Supported Development Tools

• Windows (all versions), RIM
• Microsoft Visual C 6
• Palm
• Metrowerks CodeWarrior for PalmOS 5.0/6.0, GNU
  (soon)
• VxWorks
• WindRiver Tornado (based on GNU)
• DOS
• Microsoft Visual C 1.52c or higher
• Java
• PowerJ, Sun JDK,

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UltraLite for Java

• Java-based solution
• Entirely written in Java no native code
• JDBC 1.2
• Supports everything but full metadata
• Enough metadata support for Java tools like
  PowerJ
• Small and fast
• Application database lt 150KB
• classes.zip is 7MB

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UltraLite Development (Java)
Reference Database
Application Java/JDBC Code
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Field Force Automation Demo

• Build the GUI

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UltraLite Synchronization

• Session-based
• requires a direct connection to the consolidated
  database or iAnywhere Server/m-Business Studio
• TCP/IP, HTTP, HotSync, ScoutSync
• Synchronous
• when finished, databases are in sync
• Supports non-Sybase consolidated databases (via
  ODBC)
• ASA, ASE, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle
• Supports ERP systems
• iAnywhere Server

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What is MobiLink?

• A two-way synchronization technology for large
  scale mobile database deployment
• remote database (mobile, embedded, or workgroup
  server database)
• consolidated database (enterprise, workgroup, or
  desktop database)
• A server that processes synchronization requests
  from mobile databases

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What is MobiLink?
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MobiLink Design Goals

• Heterogeneous consolidated database
• Scalable and robust (tens of thousands)
• Manageable in large deployments
• Support handheld and wireless devices
• Flexible

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MobiLink Consolidated Databases

• Oracle8
• Microsoft SQL Server
• IBM DB2 UDB
• Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE)
• Adaptive Server Anywhere (ASA)
• ODBC

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MobiLink Remote Databases

• Adaptive Server Anywhere (ASA)
• Windows 2000/NT/98/95
• Windows CE
• Linux and Unix
• UltraLite
• Palm Computing Platform
• Windows CE
• Java

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How Synchronization Works

• 1. Upload
• ASA or UltraLite keep track of all changes since
  previous synchronization
• All changes are sent in a single upload stream
• MobiLink applies changes in a single transaction
• 2. Download
• Scripts in the consolidated database determine
  changes that need to be downloaded
• All changes are sent in a single download stream
• 3. Acknowledge download

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The MobiLink Synchronization Process
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MobiLink Scripts

• Scripts define actions performed in the
  consolidated database at each stage or event
  during synchronization
• Some scripts return result sets
• Some scripts are just procedural
• Native language of consolidated database
• Stored in tables in the consolidated database
• Defined using Sybase Central

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Synchronization - Key Features

• Bi-directional
• data flows from consolidated to remote and from
  remote to consolidated
• Data partitioning and subsetting
• each user can get only a subset of the data
• Conflict detection and resolution
• what happens if two remotes change the same data?
• Encryption
• MobiLink uses Certicom (strong encryption -- 128
  bit)
• Efficiency
• only changes are synchronized

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Field Force Automation Demo

• Do the Synchronization

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Architecture Benefits

• Rich functionality
• referential integrity
• complex queries and joins
• transaction processing
• Increased productivity
• develop using SQL
• Platform support
• write database interface once
• use on any of the supported platforms
• Synchronization
• MobiLink server synchronizes an UltraLite
  database with the consolidated database
• ERP connectivity

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Thank You