Programming Visual Basic for the Palm OS

The AppForge Database Converter

In this chapter, we’ve looked at how to create and manipulate a database programmatically, but we’ve ignored the issue of content—how do you get desktop data into the PDB? Typically, you accomplish this by using the HotSync process, with a custom conduit for your database, or with a conversion program developed specifically for your application.

There is an easier way: the AppForge Database Converter. This is a simple tool that moves existing data from the Windows desktop into Palm databases. This tool will create the PDB, populate its records, and generate VB source code that contains the Creator ID and Type ID, the record schema, and functions to read and write records.

The Database Converter requires its input to be in Microsoft Access format; it translates the internal tables into individual Palm PDB files. This is not as restrictive as it sounds, for it is possible to convert almost any data source into an Access MDB file or link table.^[24]

The conversion is an excellent time to think about what information really needs to be transferred. If your Windows desktop database has information that will not be relevant to the user, filter it out before it gets to the Palm device. The more data on the handheld, the slower the handheld will run.

Once the information is in a Microsoft Access database, you must ensure that the tables to be converted to the Palm have supported data types. Table 3-9 shows how each MS Access data type is converted.

Table 3-9. Supported ...