DroidDB Tip of the Month
DroidDB® Tip for March 2014
What to do when you see 'Start synchronization on device'
When older Android handhelds connect to a desktop/laptop, they are is visible to the desktop/laptop as "Removable Storage" (and is assigned a drive letter). Newer Android handhelds are visible to the desktop/laptop as a "Portable Device" (no drive letter).
Applications on the desktop/laptop (like the DroidDB synchronizer) can't readily see the data on a "Portable Device". So, when you do a FILE | SYNCHRONIZE (or run DDB_SYNC.EXE) when the handheld is a "Portable Device", we do the synchronization using our mEnable synchronizer.
If your desktop/laptop does not have an mEnable server running, FILE | SYNCHRONIZE (or running DDB_SYNC.EXE) runs a limited mEnable server. This limited mEnable server allows one handheld to do one synchronization. When this limited mEnable server is running, you will see a Message Box that says "Start synchronization on device". This mesage box has a Shutdown button that allows you to stop the server without doing a synchronization. After the synchronization completes (or if the Shutdown button is pressed), this limited mEnable server turns itself off.
If your desktop/laptop does have an mEnable server running, FILE | SYNCHRONIZE (or running DDB_SYNC.EXE) uses that mEnable server. You will see a Message Box that says "Start synchronization on device". This message box has an OK button that closes the message box and leaves the server running.
When you see the "Start synchronization on device" message, go to your handheld, run your application, and press a command button whose action is "mEnable synchronize" (the form designer needs to have created this button on the form). This will bring up the SYWARE mEnable dialog box. Enter the IP address of the desktop/laptop as the "host" and press OK.
Useful links:
- To find the IP address of your desktop/laptop, see the September 2013 tip of the month.
- There may be situations where you can not or do not want to use the mEnable synchronizer. In these cases see the February 2014 tip of the month.
Top rated! I needed a solid database application development tool for mobile devices. I chose DroidDB for Android OS because it provided a way to get a strong product to market quickly. DroidDB is relational, gives me control over form layout, handles macros, and supports events. It works on all Android versions I have tried and is a great companion product to SYWARE’s VisualCE.
Mark Read, President
SyntegraTech, Inc.
